Shine Bright, Shine Far: The "Life-Size" Sequel We Never Knew We Needed

By Spencer Coile 

Let's journey back to 2000: Tyra Banks and Lindsay Lohan lit up the screen in the Disney Channel Original Film, Life-Size. Banks played Eve, the infamous (not to mention, ficitonal) doll who comes to life to help Casey (Lindsay Lohan) cope with the loss of her mother. In true Disney fashion, the film included zany outfits, the occasional musical number, and of course--picked up a cult following of die-hard tween fans. But for those who thought the story ended 17 years ago, think again. Freeform, the sister studio to Disney Channel, has greenlit Life-Size 2, which is expected to make its television debut in December of 2018 as a part of the studio's "25 Days of Christmas" month. 

Although the film will bring back Banks to play Eve and will supposedly be a modern-day Christmas tale, very little is known about this upcoming project. Namely, if Lindsay Lohan will return. Odds are unlikely, but die-hard fans can dream about this reunion in the meantime. Still, I cannot contain my excitement, and I hope I'm not alone. What say you, Life-Size fans? Do we need a sequel? Or for those who haven't seen the first film, are you left with a general feeling of "huh?" 

On this day: Annie Hall, Hot Fuzz, Jessica Lange

On this day (April 20th) in history as it relates to showbiz...

1893 Harold Lloyd, silent comedian of excellence, born in Nebraska

1889 Adolf Hitler born. The German Führer has been played in movies by literally hundreds of actors including in recent years Robert Carlyle, Udo Keir, Noah Taylor, and Bruno Ganz. On this awful subject let's consider it a shame that Jodie Foster never made that rumored Leni Reifenstahl (Triumph of the Will) biopic she was interested in doing. That would have made an interesting less covered piece of the ever-harrowing Nazi puzzle.

⇱ 1924 Oscar nominated actress Nina Foch (Executive Suite, An American in Paris, Spartacus) is born in The Netherlands. She was awesome. 

1937 Modern gay hero George Takei born in Los Angeles. Becomes famous as Lt. Sulu in the Star Trek TV series in the 60s.

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Goodbye to "Girls"

by Chris Feil

This Sunday HBO ended the six season run of Girls, Lena Dunham’s caustic and compassionate take on millennial Brooklynites. The series ended much as it began: with a wide range of qualitative opinions, as frustrating as it was rife with conversation points, uneven but special.

The final season was its the choppiest since its earliest days, often one of its more unsatisfying. After seeming primed to get her shit together at the end of season five, that charged feeling of a new life chapter was delivered in the unexpected form of Hannah’s pregnancy. Marnie was running out of gas as her divorce finalized and her music career was on its most pathetic last legs. Elijah inched closer to Broadway. Jessa took a backseat as a villain without much of a story, and Shoshana was barely there at all, even less than usual. Despite its comic stride holding up from the previous season, this season’s form felt sloppy and scattered despite Hannah’s long-game story arc.

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Feud 1.07 - Abandoned!

In the penultimate episode of the series, Bette gains creative control and Joan loses everything, while B.D. and Mamacita get out while they still can. Here's Jorge...

Feud doesn’t play favorites.  The show has done a good job (for the most part) at digging down into why these two screen legends acted the way they did towards each other. And they’ve made a point (over and over and over) that they were not as different as the world saw them; they were actually very similar, acting from the same place of desperation and clinginess to relevance.

In this week’s episode. Joan repeatedly boycotts the production of Hush, Hush… Sweet Charlotte, unable to cope with the creative control that Bette has over her as a producer. This eventually ends with her being fired from the picture, and Olivia de Havilland stepping in; the only actress willing to take her spot and also Bette's dear friend...

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Wish You Were Linked

Pajiba on the staggering popularity of Adam Sandler movies on Netflix
EW super cute unseen photos from the production of La La Land (it's on DVD very soon)
THR a Richard Gere profile on the new indie phase of his career and why he isn't in the big studio pictures anymore
i09 a tour of Marvel Studios with peeks at all six movies in various stages of production
The Guardian on the making of the wonderful British comedy Wish You Were Here (1987) for its 30th anniversary. God, Emily Lloyd was sensational in that. Remember her? The '87 Oscar Actress lineup was special but I still missed her there.

Tracking Board Bill Condon who did the James Whale biopic Gods and Monsters is in talks to direct Universal's remake of Whale's Bride of Frankenstein. Shouldn't he feel queasy about this as a fan? 
Awards Daily on the TV Drama Series Actress race. Will it be Claire Foy, Keri Russell, or...? 
Variety Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 will feature five, yes five post-credit scenes. Are we really still counting these in the running time? It's probably time to acknowledge them for what they are: commercials. 
The Guardian they're still planning a sequel to Labyrinth (1986)? What is the point? (sigh) 
Coming Soon. Is King Kong in the public domain all of a sudden or something. Hot on the heels of Kong Skull Island there's an unrelated TV series in the works on the big ape and his home island
Coming Soon Taraji P Henson is now trying her hand as an action lead. Proud Mary about a hitwoman with a job gone wrong is now filming 

Theatahhh People
Theater Mania Tony/Oscar winner Kevin Spacey will host the Tony Awards, claiming he was "their 15th choice"
Playbill Sutton Foster is a new mom!
Playbill The complete cast recording of Groundhog Day starring Andy Karl (Rocky, Twentieth Century). He's headed for another Tony nod for sure. I attended opening night and he was terrific. I wish I got invited to more opening nights because it was jampacked w/ celebs: Anna Wintour, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kate Burton, Hope Davis, lots of people I half recognized (as my friend StinkyLulu who I went with would say "30% famous")... and in my row Christian Slater! 
Broadway Blog If you're near St Louis, you should check out The Tennessee Williams Festival May 3rd-7th. It sounds amazing