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Alden Enrenreich, 26, cast as the ‘young Han Solo’: great choice or meh?

Last year, we learned that a huge slate of Star Wars-themed sequels, prequels and spin-offs were in the pipeline at Disney. One of the biggest projects was a combo prequel/spinoff, featuring the story of a pre-New Hope Han Solo. This is not going to be a straight up origin story with Han Solo’s childhood! The focus was always going to be on Han Solo as a 20-something dude, what he was up to before he met Luke Skywalker. The casting call went far and wide, and eventually Disney had the list culled to a who’s who of “really?” The shortlist featured names like Miles Teller, Scott Eastwood, Alden Ehrenreich, Logan Lerman, Emory Cohen and Ansel Elgort. The list was culled even further back in March, and now industry sources say that Disney has finally found their Young Solo: 26-year-old Alden Ehrenreich. After thousands of actors were considered to portray a younger Han Solo for a “Star Wars” spinoff, Alden Ehrenreich has landed the coveted role. Hollywood sources tell us Ehrenreich has signed on to play the iconic role, made famous by Harrison Ford, in the new movie, slated for 2018, which will focus on Solo before he joined the Rebel Alliance. One insider told us of Ehrenreich, 26, who most recently appeared in “Hail, Caesar!”: “Alden really impressed Disney and Lucasfilm execs with his screen tests. The deal is basically done.” Relatively little-known Ehrenreich — who’s also the lead in Warren Beatty’s upcoming, untitled Howard Hughes project with Fox — beat out candidates including “Divergent” stars Miles Teller and Ansel Elgort, Scott Eastwood, “Kingsman” and “Eddie the Eagle” star Taron Egerton, and “Sing Street” star Jack Reynor. The casting of the Han Solo character has been so shrouded in secrecy it was named “Project Red Cup,” in reference to the ubiquitous red plastic Solo cups. The film won’t start shooting until January, but reports are that the early casting is because the new Solo will have a cameo in “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” which is now shooting. That film is said to be set between “Episode III” and “Episode IV.” Reps for Ehrenreich didn’t get back to us. [From Page Six] I thought Rogue One was already in the can, but maybe not if they’re giving themselves time to film a quickie cameo with the new Solo. As for this choice… I don’t hate it. Alden is probably one of the best choices from the shortlist they had. He’s attractive (very much so), boyish, but with a slight bad-boy vibe that is desperately needed for Han Solo. I wanted to hear his voice, so I looked up some interviews and… this kid is CUTE. He has a really sexy smile. Nice voice too. Photos courtesy of WENN.

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Chris Hemsworth adorably bonds with his fellow administrative professionals

I know it’s belated, but happy administrative professionals day! I could never express my appreciation for all that you hard working folks do quite as adequately as Ellen DeGeneres did on Wednesday’s episode of Ellen, so I’m not even going to give it a go. Apparently, one of the admins on the Warner Brothers lot is quite a fan of the Thor star (currently in The Huntsman: Winter’s War). Ellen, no stranger to the hidden camera gag, hooked the lucky lady up with the object of her cubicle dreams and the results were highly amusing. Check out the video below and enjoy the Edible Arrangement someone in your office got: Chris, who plays the hunky secretary to the ladies of the upcoming Ghostbusters reboot, was awesome during this prank, don’t you think? I mean, look at how he expertly maneuvered around not only avoiding a naked massage, but an admin/Ellen threesome. What a great actor! And, if any of Ellen’s producers happen to read this, I’d love for Jon Hamm to stop by my office. Just saying. Although the hunky Aussie has a prominent role in one of the most anticipated movies of the summer, he has jokingly made reference to the lack of Thor in the upcoming Avengers spin-off Captain America: Civil War. In a video on Walt Disney Studio’s Facebook page, the actor seemingly takes a moment out of his “workout” to address his character’s absence from the upcoming flick. He jokes, “You know it’s funny. Everybody keeps asking me: Are you Team Cap? Are you Team Iron Man? Who cares? I mean, where was the invite for me and Hulk? Just leave the two strongest, biggest Avengers out of this one, did you?” Is it just me, or does anyone else think the Ghostbusters reboot may fare better than Civil War? I love me some Robert Downey Jr., but Chris is making me miss Thor. I think Chris will do just fine in Ghostbusters though, he’s gotten nothing but chuckles from the audiences I’ve sat through the trailer with. If nothing else, he certainly increased the number of resumes going into Warner Brothers for administrative staff! Photo credit: WENN.com, Fame Flynet

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THR: Japanese fans aren’t upset with Scarlett Johansson’s ‘Ghost’ casting

Earlier this week, we discussed the whitewashing drama that surrounds the Hollywood adaptation of the popular manga property Ghost in the Shell – go here to review Monday’s post. Interestingly enough, it seems that Americans and Europeans are the ones most upset about Scarlett Johansson’s casting as a character who was originally a Japanese woman. While Americans – specifically Asian-Americans – think this is just another terrible case of Hollywood whitewashing, it seems like ScarJo’s casting has been met with a shrug in Japan. The Hollywood Reporter did an interesting story about the reaction of Japanese fans to both Scarlett’s casting and the American whitewashing criticism. The casting of Scarlett Johansson as Major Motoko Kusanagi in the Paramount/DreamWorks adaptation of Japanese anime hit Ghost in the Shell has drawn accusations of “whitewashing” and sparked fierce debate on social media across the Western world. But in the home of the manga and anime cult classic, the reaction to the media firestorm was mostly surprise as many Japanese had already assumed that the lead role in a Hollywood version of the story would go to a white actress. The original manga, written by Masamune Shirow, was published in 1989 by Kodansha, which licensed it for Mamoru Oshii’s seminal 1995 anime feature, a number of Japanese spin-off films and anime series, and most recently for the Hollywood live-action version. “Looking at her career so far, I think Scarlett Johansson is well cast,” Sam Yoshiba, director of the international business division at Kodansha’s Tokyo headquarters, tells The Hollywood Reporter. “She has the cyberpunk feel. And we never imagined it would be a Japanese actress in the first place…. This is a chance for a Japanese property to be seen around the world.” Yoshiba recently returned from a visit to the New Zealand set of the movie, where he says he was impressed by the respect being shown for the source material. Many ordinary Japanese manga fans are also nonplussed at the outrage over the casting. “If you want a Japanese cast, then a Japanese company should make the film in Japan,” said long-time manga fan Tetsuya Kataoka. Interestingly, the casting of an Asian-looking actress may have avoided the “whitewashing” accusations and likely placated some fans in Europe and America, but provoked a worse reaction in Japan. “It’s a shame they didn’t choose a Japanese person to tell such an interesting story. But at least they didn’t cast a Chinese actress, like they did in Memoirs of a Geisha,” said Ai Ries Collazo, another manga fan. “[Zhang Ziyi] actually did an amazing job, but it was like: really? Again, can’t they find a Japanese actress? Though casting an Asian actress would probably have gone down better in America.” Japanese manga and anime fans pointed out that similar “race-bending” casting takes place in reverse for domestic productions. Two live-action movies based on the Attack on Titan manga, also originally published by Kodansha, were released last year. The characters in the manga by Hajime Isayama were Western, but the cast for the movies was all Japanese. [From The Hollywood Reporter] I guess it probably bodes well that Japanese manga fans don’t care that a white woman was cast, and I also see their point about “well, at least they didn’t cast some vaguely Asian actress in lieu of getting a Japanese actress.” I agree that it would have been worse if they hired a Chinese-American or Korean-American actress, like all Asian ethnicities are interchangeable. But still…despite what these manga fans and Japanese fans say, I still think this is pretty egregious whitewashing. Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet, Dreamworks.

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Fuller House Teaser: Go Behind the Scenes!

As previously detailed, the cast of Full House has come a long way. You can click on the link above to see what we mean, but you can also take a look at the video below. Netflix has released a new trailer for Fuller House, though this one is unlike past Fuller House previews. Instead of showing fans upcoming footage from the wildly anticipated Full House spinoff, it takes us behind the scenes with various cast members with whom we've literally grown up. "Fuller House carries the same emotional, loving, family tone through the show that the original did," Candace Cameron Bure (DJ Tanner-Fuller) says in the featurette. "It's crazy to be back here again!" The Netflix series will drop on February 26 and will center on a newly-widowed DJ Tanner. She's the single mother of three boys and she relies on the help of her sister, Stephanie and her fellow single mom/best friend, Kimmy Gibbler, for parental guidance and support. All three women live in the Tanners' childhood home in San Francisco. "We are a family and have been since we started doing the show 28 years ago," says Jodie Sweetin. "[The plot] is sort of the reverse: It's now three women raising these three boys." Look for appearances by familiar/beloved faces such as John Stamos and Bob Saget and, yes, prepare to have mercy. Go behind the scenes with the cast of Fuller House now:

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YouTuber Matthew Santoro claims abuse by Nicole Arbour: ‘men get hit too’

I know popular YouTuber Matthew Santoro because my son watches his educational videos and often quotes facts from them. Santoro’s videos are similar to John Green’s channel MentalFloss in that he gives fast-paced and interesting facts. I know YouTuber Nicole Arbour because she’s somewhat of a professional troll. Her obnoxious video, Dear Fat People, earned her headlines around the world and a spot on The View, when she stirred up sh*t when The View ladies arguably disparaged nursing as a profession. (Here’s the background on that controversy.) One of Arbour’s latest videos, Dear Feminists (NSFW language), characterizes feminists as women who hate men and don’t shave their legs. I wish I was making that up. In December, Santoro recorded an emotional and revealing video about the abuse he suffered in a previous relationship. He made the video private at first but accidentally set it to public recently. The response was positive and so he decided to leave it up. In the video (above), Santoro cried as he revealed how a former partner controlled him, cut him off from friends and family and once hit him in the face, which he described as more devastating emotionally than physically. He emphasized that abuse knows no gender and encouraged victims to come forward. While he never named the person whom he claimed abused him, Santoro’s former partner, Nicole Arbour, responded by posting a comment on one of her recent videos, writing “Heard the little bitch I dumped months ago is still trying to use me to get attention on his vlog channel. Ew.” [via Raw Story] Here’s some of what Santoro said in the video, which was heartfelt and powerful and really moved me. On being isolated from friends and family I pushed my family away, I pushed my closet friends away. It wasn’t always explicit… this individual I was with was extremely jealous… I had to cut every female out of my life and it was because everything was made to be about her. I lost my closest friends because I was made to believe everybody else was a loser. Claims she hit him on the face Early in the relationship I had a verbal altercation [after] I had a panic attack… and I broke it off with this individual. This person prevented me from leaving their home and said “you’re not going anywhere” at which point I was hit in the face for the first time in my life. When someone you care about strikes you there are so many emotions… you feel sadness… shame… embarrassment. You think ‘was it my fault?’… luckily I was able to leave that night. He broke it off but took her back Through manipulation… about a month down the road [she] contacted me and told me that [she’d] changed… and I took her back. That is incredibly embarrassing to say. What people don’t realize is, when I took her back the real damage was psychological… I cut everyone out of my life and my business suffered… everything became about her. He was manipulated and controlled I allowed myself to be in a relationship where I was controlled, where I was manipulated, where I was made to do things and act in a way that I never would on my own. It wasn’t until just a few weeks ago that I decided to break it off from her… I wanted my life back. I allowed somebody to emotionally and physically abuse me for almost a year of my life. It’s really embarrassing to say that, but it’s the truth. On why he made the video The reason I’m making this video is not to disparage anyone… it’s to tell you that domestic violence knows no gender [cries]. It happens to men and women. It’s something that men never talk about because we’re made to believe that we’re supposed to be strong. Men get hit too. Tell someone Men get hit too. Abuse knows no gender, it’s something that people don’t talk about… Whether you’re a man or a female, if somebody hits you, tell somebody. Tell a family member, tell a friend. Don’t bottle it up, because it will do damage to you that lasts for years. [From My Abuse Story video, by Matthew Santoro] Holy crap. I truly believe that this guy just helped SO MANY people by sharing his story so honestly. That must have been incredibly hard. After posting that really telling comment, Arbour recorded two videos in response to Santoro’s video. Arbour claims that she broke up with Santoro, not the other way around, and posted a brief video of the two of them together in which they’re goofing around and he play hits her, bites her shoulder and sort-of asks her to marry him. Here’s some of what she said: Claims it’s not true That [playful video with Santoro] was one week before I broke up with my ex boyfriend, who has recently put out a video, not saying my name but… insinuating that we were in a domestic abusive relationship, which was not true. It’s just not true. This sucks, because whether you like what I do or not as a performer… I’m a comedian… whether you like my act or my rants or not, I don’t care… but I had asked repeatedly while dating him that my private life not be put on the Internet and he repeatedly overstepped that boundary over and over. Claims he moved down the street from her after their first breakup We broke up briefly and he moved down the street from me after we broke up… in hopes that we would get back together and we did. We dated for a bunch of months after that and it was fine… Claims she broke up with him, he violated her privacy Something in my heart just didn’t feel it anymore… his lifestyle and the way that he wanted to be a youtuber and have everything public all the time wasn’t for me and I broke up with him and it was as amicable as it could possibly be at the time until his hurt over the breakup turned to anger turned to a whole bunch of lies… as my videos were doing well he suddenly [did] interviews about me and our personal life… I don’t want my real private life out there… Claims he’s just trying to damage her career His video that he put out is just another way to hurt me and my career that’s growing quickly. It is abuse… of his platform, it’s abuse to all the people who suffer from something. He didn’t suffer from domestic abuse. It didn’t happen. Don’t use kids to be a hate army. I think that’s what’s wrong with YouTube… the obsession with manufactured drama. He’s “taking a tiny little thing and spinning it” Crying wolf on a serious subject… and trying to fabricate a very large story and taking a tiny little thing and spinning it into something that just didn’t happen is sick. [From Abuse Story – My Side of Things by Nicole Arbour] Read those last lines “taking a tiny little thing and spinning it.” She never specifically denied hitting him. She did say that “it did not happen… there was no domestic abuse.” However not once did she say “I did not hit him.” After Arbour recorded that first video refuting Santoro, she recorded another video, claiming that “people are equating subscribers with truth” and saying that the court of opinion is on Santoro’s side because he has more followers on YouTube than she does. She then challenged Santoro to come on her channel and do a live stream polygraph test with the two of them. Again, I would have liked to hear her say “I never hit him.” I’m sure there’s more to the story than he’s claiming, there are always two sides to a story, but if she did hit him that’s pretty damning. Plus if he’s not telling the truth he’s an incredible actor.