Denis Villeneuve Pays Tribute to "Untamable" Jean-Marc Vallée

►"He was a man of no compromises." In a guest column for THR, French-Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve pays a deeply personal homage to his compatriot and beloved competitor Jean-Marc Vallée, who died this week at age 58. The column.  

—"Did not meet our editorial standards." The BBC is set to investigate itself over over the decision to interview Alan Dershowitz — Jeffrey Epstein’s former lawyer and someone who is himself facing accusations of sexual abuse of a minor — immediately following Ghislaine Maxwell’s guilty verdict. The story.

—$65m!!! The late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s former Enchanted Hill estate has sold for $65 miillion. The 120-acre property in Beverly Hills, once home to a storied Wallace Neff residence designed for 1920s screenwriter Frances Marion and silent film cowboy Fred Thomson, first hit the market in 2018 for $150 million. The story. 

—Samantha back? Kinda. THR's Abbey White recaps the latest episode of Sex and the City sequel series And Just Like That... and how it went beyond acknowledging Samantha is alive by giving her some lines. Warning spoilers. The story. 

A Close Reading of the Japanese Wife Scenes in 'Licorice Pizza'

►Triggering for some viewers. THR's diversity and inclusion editor Rebecca Sun considers the controversy stalking Paul Thomas Anderson's awards contender Licorice Pizza, specifically two scenes involving side character Jerry Frick and his interaction with his Japanese wives. The jarring scenes play into the well-worn trope of deploying casual anti-Asian racism in the name of art. The analysis.  

—"I wouldn’t make that movie today without a lead being from the community." I Am Sam, the drama that starred Sean Penn as an intellectually disabled father fighting to retain custody of his daughter, celebrates its 20th anniversary this week. THR livewire Ryan Gajewski spoke to director and co-writer Jessie Nelson about the film that still makes her proud, despite the struggles to direct it the way she wanted as well as that Tropic Thunder jab, being a female helmer in Hollywood and being sent to "director's jail." The story. 

—What's going to be hot, and what's not. With the cost of the streaming wars accelerating, Wall Street is likely to spend much of the new year debating what subscriber trends and production budget news will mean for 2022’s stock winners and losers. THR's business editor, and wrestling enthusiast, Georg Szalai takes stock of six media-entertainment analysts' recent upgrades and stock picks for the year ahead. The story. 

—"The timing of these restrictions was unfortunate." Spider-Man: No Way Home has broken pandemic box office records, but Canada’s new capacity and other cinema restrictions amid the Omicron variant surge has blunted key Christmas season ticket sales for local exhibition giant Cineplex. The story. 

'The Matrix Resurrections' Encourages Audience Division

►"The film will undoubtedly mean many things to many people." THR's Richard Newby takes a deep dive into the critical and audience reaction to Lana Wachowski's The Matrix Resurrections, which has veered between love and outright hostility. Richard writes that all these years later, some viewers are still trying to bend the spoon, instead of accepting that there is no spoon. The analysis.  

—How the film was "shaped" by its secret stars. THR's second nicest man Aaron Couch spoke to Spider-Man: No Way Home screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers about working with the film's mystery protagonists and dive into the biggest twists of the $1 billion grossing superhero film: "No one knows the character as well as — or gives as much thought to the character — as someone who has to then embody it and sell it." The story. 

—"A Latino family, not particularly entrenched stereotypical Latino story types." THR's Ryan Parker spoke to Cobra Kai star Vanessa Rubio about the Netflix series' strong Latino representation, especially given the appalling statistics of Latinos in film and TV, and how empowered she feels playing the character of Carmen. The story. 

Thank Pod It's Friday

►All the latest content from THR's podcast studio.

—TV's Top 5. Lesley Goldberg and Dan Fienberg break down the latest TV news. This week the guys discuss the most anticipated new TV shows of 2022 including Halo, Lord of the Rings and House of the Dragon, as well as the most anticipated returning shows which include Atlanta, Stranger Things and Russian Doll. Cobra Kai creators Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg drop by for a chat. And Dan reviews Book of Boba Fett, the Harry Potter reunion, Cobra Kai, Fox’s The Cleaning Lady, ABC’s Abbott Elementary and Women of the Movement, NBC’s American Auto and Grand Crew and CBS’ Good Sam. Listen here.

—Awards Chatter. Awards analyst Scott Feinberg talks to the great and the good of Hollywood. In this episode, Scott speaks to Denis Villeneuve. The Dune director reflects on his beginnings in Canada, why he took nine years off from directing features and how he made six major movies in the last eight years, including, most recently, one he has dreamed of making since he was 13. Listen here. 

What else we're reading...

—BTS’s NFT Venture Hits Sour Note With Fans [Wall Street Journal]

—What Louis C.K. Has Really Lost [Slate]

—Farewell, Bob Iger. Disney’s Bob Chapek Era Starts Now [Los Angeles Times]

—Cheugy, Murraya and Critical Race Theory: The Words That Defined 2021 [Time]

—Sam Fender, a Songwriter Caught Between Stardom and His Hometown [New York Times]

Today... 

Today's birthdays: Val Kilmer (62), Anthony Hopkins (84), Ben Kingsley (78), James Remar (68), Bebe Neuwirth (63), Gong Li (56), Taylor Hackford (77), Susan Wokoma (34), Nicholas Sparks (56), Chris Terrio (45), Hunter Schafer (23), Tim Matheson (74)