Recap: April 2021

roundup

Nomadland continued dominating the award season; Taylor Swift released the rerecording of Fearless; and more international news from the month of April

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- Nomadland won the Best Film trophy at every award ceremony that was held in the known universe.

- Production of the second Downton Abbey film commenced. The sequel will be out in time for Christmas because something good finally has to happen this year, right? RIGHT?!!

- The release of the Top Gun sequel was delayed for the 9271835th time.

- Nia Vardalos confirmed that a third My Big Fat Greek Wedding film is in the works, leaving us all with the question: there was a second My Big Fat Greek Wedding film?!

- There is going to be a fifth Indiana Jones movie? Meh.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge has joined the cast of the fifth Indiana Jones movie? Ok, now we’re listening…

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- More anachronistic corsets and striking sideburns are coming your way. Star Regé-Jean Page may be out but the show’s creator Chris Van Dusen confirmed that Bridgerton has been renewed for a third and fourth season, even before the unveiling of its sophomore outing.

- Apparently it takes three years to make a dozen or so episodes of Stranger Things. Fans were not pleased when Finn Wolfhard revealed that we will have to wait till next year for our reunion with the residents of Hawkins. The previous season was released two years ago; that’s 24 in dog years, which is pretty much how long it feels in human years as well.

- The MacGyver reboot was cancelled. It ran for five seasons, so basically five seasons longer than it should have.

- Dominic Purcell was either angry or upset or joking or trolling the press as he announced his departure from DC's Legends of Tomorrow.

- Hank Azaria, who voiced Indian character Apu on The Simpsons for decades before stepping away from the role earlier this year, apologized for reinforcing negative South Asian stereotypes.

- Just when we thought we were finally getting rid of them, Kim Kardashian revealed that her famous family will now have a new show on Hulu that will premiere after Keeping Up with the Kardashians ends. Woe is us.

- There was drama in the world of beauty pageants. Mrs. Ireland, Kate Schneider, was appointed Mrs. World 2020 after reigning titleholder, Caroline Jurie from Sri Lanka, took the crown off the head of the 2021 Mrs. Sri Lanka World winner, Pushpika De Silva, claiming she was divorced and ineligible to win, leaving us appalled by the fact that beauty pageants are still a thing.

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- Following her Scooter Braun masters drama, Taylor Swift released the rerecording of her 2008 album Fearless. Swifties rejoiced, because, being fans of Swift’s music, they clearly like listening to slightly different versions of the same song over and over again anyway.

- Following the release of a YouTube documentary that covered, among other topics, her near-fatal overdose in 2018, Demi Lovato unveiled her first album in four years, Dancing with the Devil... The Art of Starting Over. She then got into a feud with … a froyo shop (!) because … they sell options catering to dietary restrictions … which somehow triggered the singer who has battled an eating disorder.

- The Wallflowers, Twenty One Pilots, The Black Keys, and Steps all announced new albums.

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- Rapper DMX died at the age of 50 after reportedly suffering an overdose that resulted in a heart attack.

- We also lost the lovely Helen McCrory, who died of cancer at age 52.

- Prince Philip, the longest serving consort in British history, passed away at age 99. The fallout from Meghan and Harry’s interview with Oprah, meanwhile, continued, although the problematic prince did reunite with his family for the funeral of his grandfather.

- Ashley Cain’s eight month old baby daughter Azaylia’s battle with terminal leukaemia broke everyone’s heart.

- Harvey Weinstein, currently incarcerated in New York, was indicted on sexual assault charges in California.

- The downfall of Armie Hammer continued. After dropping out of pretty much all his upcoming film projects, the actor – who is under investigation for sexual assault – will now no longer star in the Broadway play The Minutes.

- After trying to squash breakup rumours weeks earlier, J.Lo and A-Rod changed their minds and broke up. 

- Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song had a baby … is a sentence guaranteed to instantly make you feel old.

- Dwayne Johnson might run for U.S. President. Matthew McConaughey might run for governor of Texas. Caitlyn Jenner might run for governor of California. 

The rest of us might run away to another planet because this one is just getting ridiculous at this point.

- By Sameen Amer

Instep, The News International - 25th April, 2021 *