FOOTBALL FACE-OFFS
The UEFA Champions League round of 16 draw is out and we have some thrilling battles to look forward to. Barcelona is taking on Chelsea, the first time since 2012. The other draw that got us chattering is La Liga giants and trophy holders Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain facing off, giving us a Ronaldo vs Neymar Jr match to remember (hopefully).
TBBT MIC DROP
What’s cooler than The Big Bang Theory (TBBT)? The show’s stars getting into a rap battle. We can’t get over how Kunal Nayyar aka Raj and Mayim Bialik aka Amy brought their A-game to an epic rap battle on the TV show Drop the Mic. The two actors roasted each other bad, hurling hilarious personal insults. When she called Nayyar “a tiny star on The Big Bang Theory”, he responded with, “Maybe change your name, your name sounds awful. Mayim Bialik, is that a side dish for falafel?” Sheldon’s girlfriend, however, came back with a “bang” and taunted Nayyar for being not so famous by name-dropping the hugely successful Aziz Ansari. No wonder she was chosen as the winner by the audience!
HI-BROW CHRISTMAS
Christmas is less than a week away and we are super excited. And while some of us are buying tinsel for our Xmas trees, some are actually making trees on their brow! Women are parting their eyebrows in the middle to give it a feathery look and drawing decorations on them. Red and green are the colours of choice for most, keeping with the Yuletide spirit. Not to be left behind, men are dyeing their beards and clipping decorations on them! A trend worth trying or one that’ll give us nightmares in this merry season? Tell us what you think at t2@abp.in.
ROWLING LET US DOWN
This week J.K. Rowling broke our hearts. Our queen, who takes down bullies, trolls and “trumps” with her epic tweets, put out a statement in support of Johnny Depp playing the title role in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
Many fans have objected to Depp’s casting on the grounds that he was accused by his ex-wife, Amber Heard, of domestic violence in her divorce suit. But the Harry Potter writer said she was “genuinely happy” to have Depp as Gellert Grindelwald, the most feared dark wizard until the rise of Lord Voldermort, in the movie.
This disappointing news comes even as Kevin Spacey, who is facing sexual harassment charges, was dropped from the Netflix series House of Cards, and was replaced by Christopher Plummer in Ridley Scott’s All The Money In The World, just two months before the release of the film.
Some fans have, however, supported JKR and Depp, arguing that Depp and Heard had settled their dispute.
STREEP SWEEP
The 2018 Golden Globes nominations are out and we’re happy about the fantasy drama film, The Shape of Water, and Steven Spielberg’s The Post snapping up seven and six nominations respectively. Also, one of our recent favourite TV series, Big Little Lies, received six nods. And we’re as much elated as in awe of the fact that one of our favourite actresses of all time, Meryl Streep, has received her 31st nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Drama for The Post. And with this, she has bagged the most number of nominations in the 75-year history of the awards.
PS: There’s more good news. Big Little Lies, with its powerful storyline and rocking cast, is coming back for a second season. #Woohoo
#STANDWITHKEATON
A heart-wrenching video of a young schoolboy in the US named Keaton Jones recounting how he was bullied at school went viral. Between sobs, Keaton revealed how his classmates called him “ugly”, picked on him because of his nose, poured milk on him and threw food at him. The video, shot by his mother in her car, was viewed over 22 million times, and soon people rose in solidarity with him, with the hashtag #StandWithKeaton. And then, the Internet did its magic. Chris Evans aka Captain America, Star Wars actor Mark Hamill and popstars like Justin Bieber, Katy Perry and Demi Lovato tweeted their support for Keaton. Chris Evans even invited him and his mother to the Avengers: Infinity War premiere.
CALCUTTA: FOREVER & ROCKING!
Have you been envious of your Delhi-Mumbai friends for having access to all the hottest brands? Well, Calcutta is catching up and how! Forever 21 has opened in South City Mall. Hello, affordable fashion! But that’s not all. Hard Rock Cafe is coming to Park Street very soon. Could this year get any cooler?
SHADY’S BACK!
After his collaboration with Beyonce on Walk On Water that left all of us in awe, Eminem dropped another single and we can’t keep calm! In Untouchable, Eminem addresses the issues of White privilege and racial profiling. Even though Stans, as we fans call ourselves, are divided over his choice of subject, the song surely made us want more of Shady. His new album, Revival, dropped on December 15, four years after his last, The Marshall Mathers LP2.
TURTLES ON SCREEN
After The Fault In Our Stars and Paper Towns, 20th Century Fox is all set to make writer John Green’s latest novel, Turtles All The Way Down, into a movie. The story revolves around 16-year-old Aza who battles a mental illness even as she negotiates life as a regular teenager. But who will land the role of Aza? We loved Shailene Woodley as Hazel and Ansel Elgort as Gus in TFIOS, and while Cara Delevingne didn’t quite shine as Margo Roth Spiegelman in Paper Towns, we adored Nat Wolff as Quentin. Going by this trend, it is possible that Fox will again cast a newcomer.
GAYLE GOES ON
Chris Gayle smashed a record 18 sixes to get to an unbeaten 146 off 69 balls for Rangpur Riders in the Bangladesh Premier League final, beating his previous record of 17 sixes in one innings during IPL 2013. The West Indian hitter, also known as Gayle Storm and Gayle Force, was the highest run scorer in the tournament and adjudged Player of the Series.
Compiled by Sulogna Ghosh, Debolina Banerjee, Deepshikha De, Ravjit Singh, Shubaika Rahman and Sreemoyee Choudhury
