‘Borat’ star joins ‘Guardians’
Very nice.
“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” breakout star Maria Bakalova, who played the titular reporter’s daughter, is joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a role in the upcoming “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” writerdirector James Gunn said in tweeting an article about the news.
“Yes yes yes, okay, I guess I should be surprised it took you guys this long to get this one. @Mariabakalova96 is incredible,” he wrote Monday.
Details on the 26-yearold Bulgarian actress’ role in the out of this world conclusion to the beloved trilogy — slated to fly into theaters next May — is not yet clear. Bakalova earned Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globes nominations for her “Borat” role.
The previous installments — also starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel and Karen Gillan — hit theaters in 2014 and 2017. Will Poulter ,of “Midsommar” fame, is also joining the cast.
Saldana said that she “was very proud of Disney and all of the executives there” for reinstating Gunn as the film’s director after inappropriate old tweets came to light.
“They’re sending a very strong message that, yes, accountability is important,” she said at the time. “It is a must. We’re not going to surrender that moving forward, but when the opportunity presents itself where it’s just the first step, redemption must be the second step.”
— New York Daily News
“Nightcrawling” gets Oprah book club nod
Oprah Winfrey has chosen 19-year-old Leila Mottley’s “Nightcrawling,” a debut novel about a young Black woman from East Oakland and her battles with poverty, racism and the police, for her next book club
pick.
A spokesperson for Winfrey said Mottley is the youngest author selected for Oprah’s Book Club, founded in 1996.
“It brings me great joy to introduce readers to new authors, and this young poet Leila Mottley wrote a soul-searching portrait of survival and hope,” Winfrey said in a statement Tuesday.
Mottley, born and raised in Oakland, served as the city’s youth poet laureate in 2018.
Her book was published Tuesday and has been praised by James Mcbride and Tommy Orange among others. Kirkus Reviews called “Nightcrawling” a “lovely and poetic” evocation of an “underclass and the disposable women just trying to survive.”
Mottley said in a statement that she was “absolutely floored when Ms. Winfrey popped up” during what she thought was an ordinary publishing meeting.
“It was the surprise of a lifetime!” she added.
Winfrey will speak with Mottley on June 30 for an interactive book club event on Oprahdaily.com. Since starting her book club, Winfrey has often alternated between established authors such as Toni Morrison and Richard Powers and such first-time authors as Mottley, Imbolo Mbue and Cynthia Bond.
Pitt accuses Jolie of souring wine deal
Angelina Jolie selling her stake in a wine business left ex-husband Brad Pitt feeling sour, his attorneys contend in a new legal filing.
Pitt, who is suing Jolie for allegedly selling her stake of the vineyard Chateau Miraval without his approval, accuses the actress in new documents of seeking “to inflict harm on” him with the transaction, People reported.
“Jolie pursued and then consummated the purported sale in secret, purposely keeping Pitt in the dark, and knowingly violating Pitt’s contractual rights,” read the documents, which Pitt’s attorneys submitted to the Los Angeles County Superior Court last Friday.
Jolie, 47, and Pitt, 58, acquired a controlling stake of the French vineyard in 2008.
Pitt sued Jolie earlier this year after she sold her portion of Chateau Miraval last fall to Tenute del Mondo, claiming he and the actress had an agreement that neither would engage in a sale without the other’s approval, according to People. Jolie hasn’t publicly commented on Friday’s filing.