Gosling to perform song at Oscars
The Oscars are getting an infusion of Kenergy. Ryan Gosling will sing the pop power ballad “I’m
Just Ken” at the ceremony, the show’s producers announced Wednesday.
Others set to perform their nominated original songs include Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell,
Jon Batiste, Scott George and the Osage Singers, and Becky G.
Gosling is also nominated for best supporting actor that evening. While in character as Ken in a promotion for the show with Jimmy Kimmel, he shrugged that he’s not going to win. In fairness, even if it was a joke, he might not be wrong. His fellow nominee Robert Downey Jr. has been sweeping the season.
“I’m Just Ken,” written by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, still has a chance, even if the other “Barbie” song, Eilish and Finneas’ soulful “What Was I Made For” seems to be the clear awards favorite, having already won a Grammy. But the Ken ballad is also the song everyone has wanted to see on the Oscars telecast, which will mark Gosling’s first time performing at the show.
The other nominated songs include Diane Warren’s “The Fire
Inside” from “Flamin’ Hot,” Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson’s “It Never Went Away” from “American Symphony” and Scott George’s “Wahzhazhe” from “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
The 96th Oscars will be broadcast live March 10 on ABC.
Rooney to release new novel:
Sally Rooney will have a new novel out this fall, “Intermezzo,” a story of love, family and grief centered on two brothers.
Farrar, Straus and
Giroux announced Thursday that the novel, the Irish author’s fourth, will be published Sept. 24.
“Since I began work on this novel several years ago, its characters and their relationships have become an important part of my life,” Rooney said in a statement. “I hope that I’ve done them some justice in writing the book, and that they might find a place in the lives of readers too.”
Rooney, 33, is one of the world’s most popular, celebrated and talked about literary authors. Her novels have sold millions of copies and two of them, “Conversations with Friends” and “Normal People,” were adapted into television miniseries.
‘Naked Gun’ gets a reboot:
Lt. Frank Drebin is back on the case. Paramount Pictures is moving ahead with a long-gestating remake of “Naked Gun,” the studio announced
Wednesday. Liam Neeson will star as the bumbling police detective Drebin in the role made famous by Leslie Nielsen.
Akiva Schaffer (“Hot Rod,” “Pop Star: Never Stop Stopping”) will direct the film, set for release in July 2025. The script is by Dan Gregor, Doug Man and Schaffer (“Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers”).
The “Naked Gun” movies, derived from the television series “Police Squad!”, were highwater marks for slapstick comedy.
Author John Irving is 82. Actor Laraine Newman is 72. Singer Jon Bon Jovi is 62. Singer Alvin Youngblood Hart is 61. Actor Daniel Craig is 56. Singer Chris Martin is 47. Actor Rebel Wilson is 44. Actor Bryce Dallas Howard is 43. Actor Nathalie Emmanuel is 35. Singer Luke Combs is 34. Singer Becky G is 27.