The trailer for AppleTV’s Palm Royale, starring Kristen Wiig, Ricky Martin, Allison Janney, Kaia Gerber & Carol Burnett. [OMG Blog]
Kelly Rowland backs up Jay-Z’s Grammy speech. [Just Jared]
Lainey’s dog needed surgery, poor Barney. [LaineyGossip]
Jonathan Bailey is so hot. That is all. [Socialite Life]
What haunts the detectives of True Detective: Night County? [Pajiba]
Paul Mescal & Andrew Scott at the LCCAs! [Go Fug Yourself]
Should we read sexy dragon books?? [Jezebel]
I would have loved Maisie Williams’ outfit without the hat. [RCFA]
Animal Control got a third season. [Seriously OMG]
What were Lisa Barlow’s controversial fur comments? [Starcasm]
Details about Mariah Carey’s new Vegas residency. [Hollywood Life]
I read a lot of romantasy (some with dragons, some without) and like all genres, there’s a definite spectrum of quality. Fourth Wing was really good actually, overall, but she pulls from so many other series that it was distracting and lacked originality, but I still enjoyed it overall. by the end of Iron Flame I threw the book across the room because……well, we’ve read that one before, let me just say.
but basically if you’ve read a lot of YA fantasy books or romantasy, Fourth Wing is going to ring a LOT of bells for you.
I love Sarah J Maas but never read A Court of Silver flames because I got annoyed at how she extended the storyline. It’s okay to just have a trilogy Maas!! I do love the ToG series though.
“she pulls from so many other series that it was distracting and lacked originality” hard agree here. You could see every “twist” coming a mile away. I barely finished the 1st book and didnt bother with the 2nd.
When I say I “read” the second one I mean I would skip 50 pages, read for 30 pages, skip 20, lol. SO MANY TROPES. ALL THE TROPES. EVERYWHERE.
lol honestly I’m sure you didn’t miss much
I hated the Court of Thorns and Roses series but really enjoyed Fourth Wing. However, I have heard terrible things about Iron Flame so I don’t know if I will continue the series. I feel like if you’ve read one YA fantasy you’ve read them all. The tropes have gotten so tired and overdone.
@Ameerah agreed. I don’t really read much romance or fantasy and until Fourth Wing had never heard the term “romantasy” so I wasn’t familiar with any of the content that has apparently been pulled from other books/series. Her work isn’t highbrow etc. but it is extremely fun and readable. I was skeptical (received Fourth Wing as a gift and held off due to said skepticism) but liked it so much I bought and read the second (which suffers from sequel syndrome admittedly).
The only thing I read by Maas was the first book in the glass throne series (I think?) and I couldn’t stop rolling my eyes, it was such bad writing and the main character was painfully unlikable and a total Mary Sue. Bad enough that I decided I wouldn’t read another book by Maas. Bad enough that I DNF. Like not even halfway through.
ETA the Fourth Wing series is actually “new adult” which is a ya spinoff. Anyone looking for something darker/more in depth might like Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo which is also new adult fantasy. I didn’t care for the sequel Hell Bent.
I left a thoughtful comment with book recommendations etc. and the website ate it after I already posted it 😭
Update lol nvm there it is 🤣
Sorry I know I’m commenting a lot. I read the jezebel piece and it reminded me of a podcast I enjoy called Hot & Bothered. They discuss romance novels and have even done interviews with well known authors in the genre. They’ve also done deep dive chapter by chapter talks into classic romance like Jane Eyre and Pride & Prejudice. Their philosophy is that romance is inherently feminist which really helped me see the genre differently. Definitely recommend it.
@Sass I liked Hell Bent but thought it was a little….hard to follow, I guess? but it came together enough for me at the end that I read Hell Bent and did not like that as well, no interest in reading the next one.
If you liked Fourth Wing I would definitely give Throne of Glass another chance, especialy if you didn’t even finish. (ToG is my least favorite one in that series, lol.) The main character changes and grows a lot and ends up being one of the more interesting characters in that genre, in my opinion. She’s definitely better than Violet Sorrengail LOL. One of the interesting things about her is that as the series goes on, Maas isn’t afraid to have her make mistakes, show her flaws, etc. She’s still the heroine and that doesn’t change but the Mary Sue part both fades away and makes more sense.
I can’t comment on the writing quality bc I spent half of Fourth Wing rolling my eyes at some of the writing, lol, so we might just have different opinions.
Whatever you do though, don’t fall down any romantasy rabbit holes on booktok. ooohhhh those people take the rhysand vs. xaden debates VERY VERY seriously, LOL.
I’ve read the series. I dislike Freya intensely lol. She got better in later books but she is in no way a favorite of mine. Honestly a lot of what SM writes are rip offs of older adult romance series. It’s funny to me how people talk about other authors ripping off Maas but nothing she writes is all that original either. I’ve been reading romance fantasy for over two decades now. And basically all she and a lot of other YA fantasy novelists have done is take from earlier books and adjust them to YA fantasy.
@Ameerah Freya is from ACOTAR, not Throne of Glass. Throne of Glass is a much longer series.
and oh Maas definitely rips off other authors. The same way Rowling ripped off Tolkien for Harry Potter. The romantasy series are not stellar examples of original storytelling, in general. I mean they all have the same male lead character, lol. I get super shocked if a male lead does not have dark, almost black hair, haha.
Which is why it says something that it stood out to me how much Fourth Wing copied from other series. Not just Maas. It was like Yarros took every YA or fantasy trope she could find and just threw it into one book. And I liked Fourth Wing overall! but Iron Flame…..I thought she had used up all the YA tropes and then, well, she proved me wrong. She went for some series that I haven’t read in years, lololol. And besides that, I just didn’t like the plot nearly as well as Fourth Wing. Violet got super annoying. But you obviously might feel differently! It certainly got a lot of love on social media so I think I’m more in the minority.
Basically with Fourth Wing I was able to overlook the tropes and still enjoy the plot and with Iron Flame I could not do that.
I always get the two mixed up but yes I read ACOTAR. That was enough for me. I don’t like Maas as an author. For me she is the Colleen Hoover of YA. And that’s NOT a compliment lol.
I am totally watching Palm Royale-great cast, beautiful clothes, lovely scenery, looks like a mystery/comedy. AppleTV has another show I love, Acapulco-waiting on the next season.
It looks fun
Same here, I think it looks fun and campy, and I love the visuals. The cast is amazing! I’m definitely watching. Just as I was about to discontinue AppleTV for a while too…
They had me at Allison Janney and “Special guest star” Carol Burnett
+1 Fred!
Same lol .. I LOVE Allison Janey and Carol Burnett!
Re Maisey’ outfit: I actually like the hat a lot, but could do without the gloves. Don’t like the length, don’t like the fabric, don’t like the busy flounce on the cuff. Plus, gloves.
How is that the actual Ricky Martin…he’s 52. No 52 year old’s face looks that smooth. It’s actually really distracting. Did they use AI?
I’ve wondered if they’re using light filters on a lot of shows lately and maybe touching up more actors if it’s in their contract or something. I’ve seen a lot of “too perfect” looking/line erasure even in HD and I’m guessing it’s just becoming more standard to give actors 45+ a little boost here and there as needed.
They had to have done something digitally because his skin looks fake, it’s so smooth. I don’t think botox and fillers can do that on their own.
Peacock and other streamers have started airbrushing tf out of their “posters” for shows and movies to the point where my husband and I are like “why does he look 25” and “why doesn’t Jane Fonda as Grace from Grace and Frankie have any wrinkles?” It’s annoying and stupid.
I am here for Palm Royale! I don’t have Apple TV but will burn my free trial for this.
In defense of Liz Danvers, we don’t have a lot of experience watching a 62 year old woman age naturally while unapologetically sleeping around, bully colleagues, and behave like a toxic man. I actually adore her character (save for moments where she comes across as a tad racist in her dismissiveness of the step-daughter’s culture). We should still appreciate that Jodie friggin’ Foster is owning this role like a G-D boss as a huge departure from her usual roles as women we can easily admire.
Wiig needs to tone down the Botox or fillers or whatever. For a second I didn’t realize it was her.
Same, I thought it looked like her but not quite 🙁
@bettyrose -💯 Jodie Foster is killing it. This is award worthy.
OMG not to thread jack but William posed repeatedly with Tom Cruise at the evening gala. Apparently Tom is now his emotional support celebrity? Perhaps he will get recruited for Scientology? We should have much to discuss tomorrow!
Like a James Bond situated Gilded Age? Maybe the scripts will be better….
PR bears some resemblance to 60s Miami-set Magic City, one of the many attempts to replicate Mad Men’s success. Though MC was way more overloaded on the testosterone…
Palm Royale looks awesome. Look forward to watching it. Hope it is good!
Gosh, Ben Mendelsohn, Juliette Binoche, Maisie Williams, John Malkovich, Emily Mortimer… the cast of The New Look is STACKED, I hope it’s incredible.