Quick Hits: April 15

• The Stranger Things 4 trailer is finally here, and it’s a doozy!

Here’s an exclusive interview with the Duffers, who break down the trailer for us in a non-spoilery way:

• The RMS Titanic, under the command of Captain Edward Smith, sank into the North Atlantic one hundred and ten years ago today, so it’s a good day to watch a Titanic-themed movie (although I know my hubby will veto this idea).

• Leaving this here for no particular reason:

• Today would have been Glenn Shadix’s 70th birthday. Now I know what you’re asking me: “‘Who the heck is Glenn Shadix?'” You might not know his name, but you’d probably recognize his face, or even just his voice. Shadix made small but memorable appearances in movies like Beetlejuice and Heathers, and he did extensive voice work in animation, including The Nightmare Before Christmas, for which he provided the voice of the Mayor of Halloweentown. Shaddix died in 2010 of blunt force trauma after he fell in the kitchen of his condo.

• Flashdance was released on this day in 1983. The film was a surprise hit, grossing just over $200 million (it was the third-most-profitable movie of the year, after Return of the Jedi and Terms of Endearment) and was nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Song for both “Maniac” and “Flashdance… What a Feeling” (the latter won). The soundtrack, which also includes songs by Kim Carnes, Donna Summer and Laura Branigan, was a huge hit as well, reaching #1 on the Billboard 200. It was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year (it lost, rightfully, to Thriller). Flashdance was the first collaboration between producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, a professional relationship that lasted until Simpson’s untimely death in 1996 and yielded hits like Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun and Crimson Tide.

• Seth Rogen is celebrating his 40th birthday today. If you’re not already following Rogen on Twitter (@Sethrogen), do yourself a favor and check him out. He posts pictures of his pottery and talks about weed and his spaniel Zelda.

• Gilbert Gottfried has died at the age of sixty-seven. After his death, Gottfried’s family revealed that he had suffered from ventricular tachycardia. Gottfried appeared in dozens of films and television series, but to me, he’ll always be Aladdin‘s Iago.

• Bessie Smith, the “Empress of the Blues”, was born on this day in 1894. Raised in poverty and orphaned by the age of nine, Smith used her hardships as fuel for her music. She signed with Columbia Records in 1923, where she made more than 160 recordings. Smith’s recording career ended abruptly with the advent of the Great Depression, but she never stopped performing. Smith died from injuries sustained in a car crash on September 26, 1937; she was just forty-three years old.

• Photos from the set of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer have made their way to the internet. Shown are Cillian Murphy as Robert J. Oppenheimer and Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss, who served as commissioner of the United States Atomic Energy Commission. Other cast members include Emily Blunt as Oppenheimer’s wife Kitty and Matt Damon as Manhattan Project head Leslie Groves. The film is slated for release in July 2023.

• And finally, here is a toddler dancing to Eminem, and now I’m off the listen to The Eminem Show.

@caitlinhunter758

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