[Box Office] Crowded Weekend Stuns 'Godzilla: King of the Monsters'; 'Ma' Parties Hard - Bloody Disgusting

In what feels like one of the most crowded early summers in years, Godzilla: King of the Monsters won the box office, only it wasn’t a crowning achievement. Weighed down heavily by competition that included opening weekends for Rocketman and Blumhouse’s Ma, not to mention the second weekend of Aladdin‘s run and the third for John Wick, the latest film in the Monsterverse opened to $49M here in the States, which marks less than half its predecessors Godzilla (2014) and Kong: Skull Island.  Still, it had a strong global opening of $179M ($130 international).

The budget was reportedly $170M, which is on par with the previous two films that both broke even (if not profited). King of the Monsters (read our review) will struggle to hit the black, although Warner Bros. has already completed production on Kong vs. Godzilla, which will open early next year from director Adam Wingard. A spring opening should bode well for the fourth film in the franchise. Nobody is sweating.

Blumhouse’s hot streak won’t end – thanks to Universal Pictures’ distribution model – as their Octavia Spencer thriller Ma (read our review) opened to an incredible $18M ($21M global) on just a $5M budget. It’ll hit the profit zone before the end of next weekend. Maybe we’ll get a direct-to-video sequel (doubtful)?

Sony’s anti-Superman Brightburn is currently sitting at $24M worldwide on a $5M budget giving us some hope for a followup. John Wick is sitting at a whopping $220M globally. It’s been a wild summer for genre fans and it’s only June 2nd. Lots more to come…

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2019-06-02 15:47:24Z
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Priyanka Chopra Defends Meghan Markle and Calls Her a Victim of Racism - E! NEWS

Feud? What feud? Priyanka Chopra has nothing but nice things to say about her longtime "stunning" friend Meghan Markle, and is one of her biggest defenders.

Since her relationship with now-husband Prince Harry was made public in 2017, the Duchess of Sussex, who is of mixed race, has drawn racist and otherwise insulting online remarks by trolls—which recently prompted the royal family to make the decision to start deleting some comments off their Instagram accounts.

In addition, over the past year, Meghan, 37, has also often come under fire from the press, who have published multiple unflattering reports about her, namely about her alleged "difficult" behavior.

Priyanka, 36, told the Sunday Times that the media criticism of Meghan is "really unfortunate," adding, "But if there's anyone who can handle it, it's her." 

When asked if she thinks it's rooted in the inability of some to accept a biracial woman at the heart of the monarchy, Priyanka told the newspaper, "For sure, 100%. Of course it has to do with racism, it's an obvious reason. But the beauty of Meg is that she's been herself through all of this. A lot of people got to know her after everything [once she started dating Harry], but I knew her before and she's the same chick."

"Now that she's got a real platform, she talks about the same things she always did," Priyanka continued. "We spent hours speaking about the difference that influence and dialogue can make to the world before this whole thing happened, so what you see now is authentically her. She's always been the girl wanting to move the needle."

Priyanka made her comments following months of rumors of a feud between her and Meghan, sparked in December after the duchess, who was pregnant with baby Archie Harrisonat the time, did not attend the actress' wedding to Nick Jonas in India. Priyanka dismissed the rumors on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in March. However, they persisted, even after she took to Instagram in May to congratulate Meghan and Harry on the birth of their son.

On Thursday, Priyanka and Nick were photographed together in London and The Sun reported that day that the two visited Meghan and Harry and their baby and even gave him gifts from jeweler Tiffany & Co. The actress denied the report.

In her interview with the Sunday Times, Priyanka opened up about her friendship with Meghan. The two met at a women-in-television dinner a few years ago and found that they share similar interests, such as activism, feminism and race.

"We just connected on how we see the world and as girls," Priyanka said. "Meghan is such a progressive, modern girl. She's what the world is today—a self-made woman who looks like each one of us. I mean, she's stunning. But she is so completely herself."

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2019-06-02 14:44:20Z
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Why Is Meghan Markle One of the Least-Liked Women in the Royal Family? - The Cheat Sheet

Let’s put the cards on the table about the title of this piece you’re reading for proper context. We all know many Americans respect Meghan Markle, and she’s about to become even more popular now that her son Archie Harrison has entered the world. This isn’t to say British polls still don’t show much of their public having some kind of unfounded beef with Meghan.

All we can say to that is: What’s up with these people? Before we make any opinions, though, it’s best to look at the evidence and try to weed out why Meghan Markle is still the second least liked woman in the royal brood.

What do the British polls say about Meghan Markle?

Meghan Markle | Jonathan Brady – WPA Pool/Getty Images

The British people seem decidedly different from Americans on their sentiments about Meghan. According to a recent poll, Kate Middleton has moved far above Meghan in royal likeability factor. Many thought Meghan would shoot up in the U.K. popularity polls after giving birth to the royal baby. It didn’t seem to make any difference there.

Of course, we have to take a minute here to figure out what kind of hard feelings the British people have against Meghan. We’ve theorized that maybe this public reaction is due to the British media essentially going to war with Prince William and Prince Harry with mostly fabricated stories to ruin their reputations.

Another side of this is still the disturbing reality of racism in the U.K. and WASP culture dominating for hundreds of years. Even if some of the public there don’t want to admit to it, this may be the reality, not including the paparazzi convincing everyone Markle isn’t what she seems.

You can see a growing disparity, especially when the more traditional royals all still rank high in the above surveys.

Who’s the least liked royal?

What a pack of lies. Duchess of Cornwall is far from the most hated Royal. She is as far as I can tell from my reading of comments on sm being very well accepted these days. Far more accepted than Meghan. #RoyalFamily https://t.co/LGEm8VRcJM

— BevR (@BevR04859477) May 25, 2019

At least Meghan didn’t end up at No. 1 on this list. It turns out Camilla Parker Bowles is still the least liked of any royal currently living, outside of disputes on this from social media denizens. Many clearly still hold a grudge against her factoring into Diana’s divorce from Charles.

We’ve all certainly wondered had history rebooted, we would have seen Charles marry Camilla from the get-go to avoid Diana so much personal pain. Then again, we’re always reminded negative events often happen for a reason to beget more positive things. Harry and William wouldn’t have existed had this happened, nor Meghan as a royal.

If you wondered, Camilla sits at 24% approval rating, while Meghan is at 39%. Can Meghan really fix this popularity problem by allowing people to learn more about her?

Social media could help Meghan Markle reach out to a still skeptical public

Perhaps that Instagram account Meghan opened with Harry will allow her to communicate with the public more often and explain her actions to prove her good intentions. Enough evidence is already there Meghan just wants to make a difference, no matter if she wants independence from the usual royal protocol.

Either the British public resent her trying to be independent in changing royal rules, or it’s still an inherent bias against a royal being of mixed race. Based on what we’ve seen, it has to be either of these two because Meghan has proven she wants to be a positive force. Plus, the media couldn’t be making the public this gullible based on publishing repeated rumors.

Harry and Meghan’s Instagram account will be the only place she can really set the record straight. We just hope Meghan uses it wisely to address all the falsities being written about her to remind everyone they should do a little vetting before believing a story.

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2019-06-02 08:09:07Z
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‘Rocketman’: Fact-Checking the Elton John Biopic - Rolling Stone

The new Elton John movie Rocketman never pretends to be a traditional biopic. It’s a fantasy musical told from the perspective of a burned-out, drug-addled Elton reflecting on his wild life from a rehab facility in the early 1990s. Characters frequently burst into elaborately choreographed song and dance routines, songs are played long before he wrote them, the timeline is off much of the time and facts are disregarded in favor of creating a compelling narrative and capturing the emotional truth of Elton’s life.

“What I care about is capturing moments cinematically and musically,” Rocketman director Dexter Fletcher told Rolling Stone. “I have to take artistic license, which is what Elton said I should do. He’s a creative, artistic person and that’s the way we approached it.”

Related

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'Rocketman' Review: Elton Gets the Victory-Lap Biopic Treatment

With all that in mind, fact-checking the movie may seem like an unfair exercise. But a lot of people are going to see it with only a passing knowledge of Elton’s life and will emerge from the theater curious as to what was real and what was fictionalized. So here’s a very incomplete list of moments from the movie that aren’t quite historically accurate.

1. Bernie Taupin didn’t write the “Border Song” lyrics in 1967
In real life and the movie, Liberty Records executive Ray Williams introduced John to his longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin. But the movie shows Williams passing along Taupin’s lyrics to “Border Song” before the two even met. That song wouldn’t would be created for another two years. You do briefly see a manuscript for “A Dandelion Dies in the Wind,” which is indeed a tune from 1967.

2. Elton didn’t take his last name from John Lennon
As the movie shows, the man born Reginald Kenneth Dwight took the first part of his stage name from from his Bluesology bandmate Elton Dean. But the “John” didn’t come from John Lennon. It came from Long John Baldry, a mainstay of the 1960s London rock scene that was one of his earliest mentors and also the man that discovered Rod Stewart.

3. Elton didn’t audition for Dick James by playing “Daniel” and “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues”
Ray Williams was impressed by Elton John from the very beginning, but his boss Dick James was much more skeptical. In Rocketman, Elton tries to impress him by playing bits of “Daniel” and “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues.” But this is 1967 and those songs wouldn’t be written until 1972 and 1983.

4. “Crocodile Rock” wasn’t played at Elton’s U.S. debut at the Troubadour
The most crucial evening of Elton John’s career took place on August 25th, 1970, when he made his American debut at the Troubadour and blew the audience away. Rocketman recreates the evening in great detail, but they show him singing “Crocodile Rock” when he and Taupin were two years away from writing it. (We could also be insanely nitpicky and point out the show was on a Tuesday and not a Monday as the movie says.)

5. Neil Young didn’t play the Troubadour a week before Elton
When Elton first shows up at the Troubadour and is surprised by how small it is, owner Doug Weston tells him that Neil Young played two weeks earlier and packed the place. Young had just wrapped up a CSNY tour at the time and was playing far larger venues than the Troubadour with them. He last played the Troubadour well over a year prior to Elton’s U.S. debut and hasn’t done a show there since.

6. John didn’t meet his band that night
Movie Elton was very nervous when Dick James told him he’d booked shows at the Troubadour because he didn’t even have a band yet. Ray Williams says he’ll care of that and Elton meets the musicians when he first arrives at the venue. In real life, Elton had been gigging with drummer Nigel Olson and bassist Dee Murray all over England since April 1970, four months before they went to Los Angeles.

7. He didn’t have a guitar player in 1970
Elton played the Troubadour baked only by Murray and Olsson. There are no tapes of that night, but you can hear what they sounded like on the incredible live album 11/17/70. They wouldn’t be joined by a guitarist until Davey Johnston until 1972. Murray died in 1992, but Olsson and Johnstone are still in his touring band 49 years later.

8. John Reid didn’t enter his life that night
In the movie, Elton and Bernie go to a party at Mama Cass’ house after the Troubadour. Bernie walks off and leaves Elton alone, but then a Scottish man comes up and introduces himself as music manager John Reid. This is a major moment since Reid would become Elton’s lover for a few years and his manager until 1998. But they didn’t meet that night. It actually took place at a Motown Christmas party later that year.

9. 1971 to 1990 isn’t some amorphous blob of time
After this breakthrough at the Troubadour, the timeline of movie Elton’s life gets very hard to follow. We see a quick montage of newspaper headlines and gold records before it’s suddenly 1976 and he’s recording “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” with Kiki Dee. But then a bit later, it’s 1975 and he’s playing Dodger Stadium and then it’s 1979 and recording Victim of Love dressed in a sequined hat that was his signature look 10 years later. It’s all pretty jolting, but then again this is Elton remembering his life from a rehab facility years in the future, so it’s understandable his memory would work like this.

10. He didn’t marry Renate Blauel until 1984
The movie shows him recording the Victim of Love title track in 1979 and falling for sound engineer Renate Blauel as they sing “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down on Me” together. He’s so desperate for a genuine human connection at this point that he marries her even though he’s gay and the marriage is doomed to failure. They cut right from the studio to their wedding, but that didn’t happen until 1984.

11. He didn’t have an extended split with Bernie Taupin
The movie says that John and Taupin “never had an argument” shortly before showing them have quite a few little spats. At the end of a particularly bitter one, Bernie storms off while singing “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.” It’s implied they worked apart for years. There was indeed a period in the late Seventies where Elton worked with Gary Osborne and other lyricists, but it just lasted a couple of albums and the duo have worked together almost exclusively since the early Eighties.

12. “I’m Still Standing” was written years before he went to rehab
The movie ends with him kicking drugs and alcohol in rehab and writing “I’m Still Standing” in a jubilant moment where he recognizes he can still create great music while sober. But the song came out in 1983 and he finished rehab in 1991.

Once again, none of these things really matter and if you want the strict truth about Elton John’s life, there are plenty of books and documentaries that get into it. (May we humbly recommend Tantrums and Tiaras and Elton John: Me, Myself and I.) They won’t have Elton coming into rehab dressed as a giant red devil or singing “Rocket Man” at the bottom of a swimming pool as a duet with his childhood self. They also won’t be quite as outlandishly fun as Rocketman.

In This Article: direct, Elton John, Rocketman, Rocketman2019

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2019-06-01 19:15:46Z
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Trump says Duchess Meghan was ‘nasty’ about him, fueling debate in the U.K. ahead of his state visit - The Washington Post

American actress Meghan Markle and Britain's Prince Harry at their wedding on May 19, 2018. (Gareth Fuller/Pool via AP)

Rick Noack

Foreign affairs reporter focusing on Europe and international security

June 1 at 2:53 PM

President Trump sparked a new debate in Britain this past week, after calling comments made in the past by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, “nasty,” in an interview with the Sun tabloid.

During the 2016 election campaign, the duchess — then Meghan Markle — called Trump “misogynistic” and “divisive.” The American actress also said she might move to Canada if Trump was elected president. Instead, two years on, she married Britain’s Prince Harry and became part of the royal family.

Suggesting that he had been unaware of the duchess’s 2016 remarks ahead of preparations for his upcoming state visit to Britain and his royal reception on Monday, Trump said in an audio recording released by the Sun: “I didn’t know that she was nasty.”

[Britain is at its most delicate political moment in years. Now here comes Trump.]

Trump had previously used the word to describe his Democratic opponent during the 2016 campaign, calling Hillary Clinton a “nasty woman” — words that later became a rallying cry for the anti-Trump movement.

But this time, Trump refrained from provoking a full-blown spat, quickly emphasizing in the same interview with the Sun that “I am sure she will do excellently” as a duchess.

Trump’s remarks ahead of the trip echoed concerns voiced in the lead-up to Meghan’s wedding with Harry: that her past political activism may make things awkward for the royal family, which is not supposed to voice public political views. She started to speak out against sexism as a child and never hid her other personal convictions throughout her acting career, including thoughts on U.S. politics. As member of the British royal family, Meghan has already strayed further into political territory than others, for instance by speaking out against racism, which she herself has faced in recent months.

While her past comments are a nightmare for those knowing the ins and outs of royal protocol, the British public may have a different take. “You know, we don’t care what he thinks about us,” British lawyer and political activist Shola Mos-Shogbamimu told Sky News on Saturday. “Women are going to stand up together and speak out against the lunacy of his presidency,” she said of Trump.

The president has faced major resistance in Europe in the past, and a “Trump Baby” balloon greeted the president when he visited Britain last July during a four-day working visit, to the cheers of bystanders.

A protester holds a sign as the 'Trump Baby,' a six-meter-high, helium-filled effigy of President Trump, flies over Parliament Square in London on Friday, July 13, 2018. (Luke MacGregor/Bloomberg News)

Trump’s state visit, which begins Monday, has been repeatedly delayed. He was originally invited shortly after taking office in 2017. Trump also plans to attend ceremonies commemorating the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings while visiting Britain and France.

Meghan, who is still on maternity leave, and Trump will not meet during the president’s visit to Britain. Harry is expected to attend, according to British media.

As a biracial and divorced American, Meghan’s biography has vastly differed from the life experiences that have so far dominated the halls of Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace. Opening up traditions and acknowledging that even royals can have opinions, her supporters said, has infused royal traditions with a more human and natural touch.

When Harry and Meghan launched their Instagram account in early April, the handle immediately broke records, reaching 1 million followers within less than 6 hours. Many of the couple’s fans are from the United States, where almost 30 million watched their wedding last year, compared to about 23 million who watched Kate Middleton wed Prince William back in 2011. The birth of Harry and Meghan’s first baby, Archie, was celebrated by fans around the globe this May.

Meghan’s popularity in the United States could prove to be an opportunity for a royal family, as evidence that the expensive traditions remain a cornerstone of British influence abroad. But it could also become a pitfall, given that not everyone across the Atlantic agrees with her political views.

Read more:

Britain is at its most delicate political moment in years. Now here comes Trump.

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2019-06-01 18:53:36Z
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Meghan Markle Called Trump A Misogynist In 2016 And Now He Called Her "Nasty" - BuzzFeed News

Dominic Lipinski / AFP / Getty Images

Ahead of his state visit next week to the UK, President Donald Trump has hit back at Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, for her previous criticism of him during the election.

As a new royal, the Duchess is no longer supposed to be making comments that show political favor, but back in 2016 she was free to speak her mind.

"Of course, Trump is divisive," Meghan said in a 2016 interview on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore back when she was an actor on Suits. "Think about just female voters alone, right?"

"You're not just voting for a woman if it's Hillary just because she's a woman," she said, "but certainly because Trump has made it easy to see you don't really want that kind of world."

The Los Angeles-born Meghan dubbed him "misogynistic...and so vocal about it," and said she was considering remaining in Canada, where she filmed Suits, if he won.

Asked Friday by the British newspaper the Sun about Meghan's past comments, Trump said he was unaware of her criticism.

“I didn’t know that," he said. "What can I say? I didn’t know that she was nasty.”

During the 2016 presidential debates, Trump famously called Clinton a "nasty woman," a phrase she and her supporters soon reclaimed as a badge of honor.

Meghan, who is still on maternity leave following the birth of baby Archie, her son with Prince Harry, is not scheduled to meet with Trump when he arrives in the UK on Monday.

Trump told the Sun he was unaware he wouldn't get the chance to meet with Meghan, but said, "I hope she is OK."

Win Mcnamee / Getty Images

Instead, Queen Elizabeth II and some of the other royals with welcome Trump to Buckingham Palace in London on Monday, and then host a state dinner in his honor that evening. All four Trump children and their partners will also attend.

Trump, who met the Queen for the first time in July last year at Windsor Castle, told the Sun he was looking forward to seeing her again.

Despite Meghan's past criticism, the US president told the Sun he was happy the royal family had a new American member.

“It is nice, and I am sure she will do excellently," he said. “She will be very good. I hope she does [succeed].”

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https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidmack/trump-meghan-markle-nasty

2019-06-01 16:50:05Z
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Pioneering rocker Roky Erickson dead at 71 - Fox News

Roky Erickson, the blue-eyed, dark-haired Texan who headed the Austin-based 13th Floor Elevators, a pioneering psychedelic rock band in the 1960s that scored with "You're Gonna Miss Me," has died. He was 71.

Erickson's sinuous lead guitar and wailing vocals didn't turn him into a chart topper, but they cemented his role as a musician's musician. Fans included everyone from Lenny Kaye and the Swedish metal group Ghost — who covered his "If You Have Ghosts" — to ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons.

A 1990 tribute album to Erickson, "Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye," attracted the likes of R.E.M., T-Bone Burnett, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Julian Cope, The Mighty Lemon Drops, Primal Scream and ZZ Top.

Erickson's death on Friday was announced by his brother, Mikel Erickson, on Facebook and confirmed by his agent, Dave Kaplan. The cause and location of death were not revealed.

"It's almost unfathomable to contemplate a world without Roky Erickson. He created his own musical galaxy and early on was a true inspiration," Gibbons said in a statement.

After the trippy 13th Floor Elevators dissolved in the face of drug arrests and instability, Erickson in the early '70s entered an insanity plea to a marijuana possession charge and ended up spending some time in an institution.

A short-lived effort to reunite the Elevators followed. Erickson put out a book of poetry — "Openers" — and continued making music, including the songs "Two Headed Dog" and the LP "The Evil One."

In 1986, he released the album "Don't Slander Me," and a 2005 documentary by Keven McAlester about him was called "You're Gonna Miss Me." His later albums include the mid-1990s effort, "All That May Do My Rhyme," and a 2010 collaboration with Okkervil River, "True Love Cast Out All Evil."

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2019-06-01 18:44:07Z
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