PopHampton: Pop the Cork! It’s a New Year on TV!
Happy New Year, Hamptonites! We’re winding down the first month of 2014, and there are already some great pop culture happenings that we need to discuss.
The Golden Globes aired on January 12, and the evening was full of East End connections. Among the nominees were Helena Bonham Carter, for her role as Elizabeth Taylor in Burton & Taylor, which screened at HIFF; Hamptons fan Sofia Vergara for Modern Family; Long Islander Edie Falco and many more. Sagaponack’s Jimmy Fallon was also in attendance.
One of the more high-profile films of the evening was Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street, which is based on the life of real-life Hamptonite Jordan Belfort. The film, based on Belfort’s memoir of the same name, chronicles Belfort’s time as a New York stockbroker for a firm that engaged in securities fraud and corruption. While some critics (myself included) found The Wolf of Wall Street to be a tad excessive in the cynical message it was trying to send out, everyone seems to agree that star Leonardo DiCaprio was fantastic. The Hollywood Foreign Press apparently agrees as well; DiCaprio won Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture— Musical or Comedy. One movie that wasn’t nominated but did get a lot of buzz (and some great jokes by hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler) was Her, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson, which also screened at HIFF.
Amagansett’s Gwyneth Paltrow is among the stars who will be returning for Glee’s two-part 100th episode celebration on March 18 and 25. Paltrow won an Emmy for her guest-starring role as quirky substitute teacher Holly Holiday during the show’s second season, where she belted out tunes like Cee Lo Green’s “Forget You,” Adele’s “Turning Tables” and more. Glee, which was the subject of some real-world tragedy last summer when star Cory Monteith was found dead of a drug overdose, is set to conclude in Season 6, which will air next year. Paltrow was also among the celebs present at Sean Penn’s 3rd annual Help Haiti Home Gala, where Paltrow and her husband, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, purchased a $650,000 Banksy piece. Quiogue’s Anderson Cooper, who traveled to Haiti following the 2010 earthquake to report on the devastation, purchased a $1.4 million Jeff Koons sculpture. Cooper’s now-famous CNN coverage of the 2010 tragedy struck a chord with viewers; one especially powerful moment captured on raw film saw Cooper saving a bleeding Haitian boy from violent looters. At press time, Cooper was still dating boyfriend Benjamin Maisani, so he was unable to respond to my date invitation.
Now that the always-dreaded “winter hiatuses” are winding down, it’s time to get back into all the best TV series! Hamptons set Revenge returned with quite a bang earlier this month, as Emily lost her memory and regained it within the span of one episode and managed to get a leg up on Victoria and the Graysons, even after it looked like she her ruse was up. Lifetime series Devious Maids is set to return for its second season on April 22, with Susan Lucci’s neurotic Genevieve returning to make life (unintentionally) more difficult for her maid, Zoila (Judy Reyes).
American Idol returned on January 15, with Water Mill’s Jennifer Lopez back in the judge’s seat. Now in its 13th season, American Idol is changing things around. Lopez joins Keith Urban and Harry Connick Jr. at the judge’s table, and the show will be introducing a new challenge for the pop star hopefuls: “Hollywood or Home.” The new round, which airs on February 5, will throw certain contestants in front of the judges and make them perform solo at the beginning of Hollywood week; if the judges aren’t satisfied, the aspiring go home before even packing their bags.
That’s all for January! Be sure to check danspapers.com for weekly Revenge recaps and more on your favorite Hamptons celebs.