Trailer: Renée Zellweger In ‘JUDY’

The first trailer for the upcoming JUDY starring Renée Zellweger as Judy Garland.
(photo credit: David Hindley)

The first trailer for the upcoming JUDY starring Renée Zellweger as the iconic Hollywood star, Judy Garland.

“Everyone’s had their troubles…and I’ve had mine.”

Via press release:

Winter 1968 and showbiz legend Judy Garland arrives in Swinging London to perform a five-week sold-out run at The Talk of the Town. It is 30 years since she shot to global stardom in The Wizard of Oz, but if her voice has weakened, its dramatic intensity has only grown.

As she prepares for the show, battles with management, charms musicians and reminisces with friends and adoring fans, her wit and warmth shine through. Even her dreams of love seem undimmed as she embarks on a whirlwind romance with Mickey Deans, her soon-to-be fifth husband.

Featuring some of her best-known songs, the film celebrates the voice, the capacity for love, and the sheer pizzazz of “the world’s greatest entertainer.”

In theaters September 27.

New Madonna Documentary: “The World Of Madame X”

Amazon Prime Video recently added a new short-form documentary, The World of Madame X, which chronicles the evolution of Madonna’s latest number one album, Madame X.

Amazon Prime Video recently added a new short-form documentary, The World of Madame X, which chronicles the evolution of Madonna’s latest number one album, Madame X.

The 23-minute film shares how the Queen of Pop was given the nickname ‘Madame X’ when she was 19-year-old and a new transplant to New York City.

Madge also explains how her new album, Madame X, which recently debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, came to fruition while living in Lisbon, Portugal.

Living in Lisbon, Madonna shares she was happy to be there for her son, who wanted to train for soccer.

But, she also says she became “lonely” as she didn’t really know anyone there, much like when she first moved to New York City. “I knew that I had to find my tribe, so to speak,” she adds.

Along the way, she developed a friendship with Dino d’Santiago, a Portuguese singer, who invited her to living-room music sessions, where local singers and instrumentalists gather in someone’s home to play music.

“What struck me most was this organic, authentic feeling of people being there because they just love music,” says the international pop star. “Money had nothing to do with it. Fame had nothing to do with it. Instagram followers had nothing to do with it. It was really about passion, and music, and art.”

After recording several of the living room jam sessions, Madonna felt she had to “take what I’m hearing, and turn it upside down.”

She sent clips to her longtime producer, Mirwais, writing, “I know this is crazy, but tell me if it inspires you. Let’s chop up the guitar sounds, and synch them to modern sounding drums.”

According to Madge, a week later he had sent back his musical interpretations of the clips, which she described as “amazing,” adding that the new tracks left her “super inspired.”

As she continued “meeting musicians from all these places,” she allowed their work to influence her. And that, as Madonna says, is “how these songs came to be.”

“I had landed in a magical world,” says Madonna in the new documentary-short.

You can check out a 3 minute clip from the documentary below, and find the full short film on Amazon Video here.

There are also two, brand-new Amazon Original remixes of tracks from Madonna’s new album from Robbie Rivera and Erick Morillo.

Madonna is currently prepping for a series of rare, intimate concerts that will be held exclusively in theaters. The best-selling female solo touring artist of all time, her tour begins September 12 in New York City. For more info about the upcoming concerts, click here.

More from the Amazon Video documentary via Instagram:

Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein Arrested On Sex Trafficking Charges

Billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein was arrested for allegedly sex trafficking dozens of minors in New York and Florida between 2002 and 2005, and will appear in court in New York on Monday, according to three law enforcement sources.

From The Daily Beast:

Billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein was arrested for allegedly sex trafficking dozens of minors in New York and Florida between 2002 and 2005, and will appear in court in New York on Monday, according to three law enforcement sources.

Saturday’s arrest by the FBI-NYPD Crimes Against Children Task Force comes about 12 years after the 66-year-old financier essentially got a slap on the wrist for allegedly molesting dozens of underage girls in Florida.

The new indictment — which, according to two sources, will be unsealed Monday in Manhattan federal court — will reportedly allege that Epstein sexually exploited dozens of underage girls in a now-familiar scheme: paying them cash for “massages” and then molesting or sexually abusing them in his Upper East Side mansion or his palatial residence in Palm Beach.

Epstein will be charged with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors—which could put him away for a maximum of 45 years.

Several sources are pointing to Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, who as a U.S. attorney in Miami cut a deal to keep Epstein out of jail and seal all evidence against him.

From Vox:

The FBI had prepared a 53-page sex crimes indictment for Epstein in 2007 that could have sent him to prison for life, according to the Herald.

Instead, he cut a deal with Alexander Acosta, then the US attorney in Miami, which allowed him to serve just 13 months — not in federal or state prison, but in a private wing of a Palm Beach county jail.

He was granted work release to go to a “comfortable office” for 12 hours a day, six days a week, despite the fact that the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Department prohibited work release for sex offenders.

US Women’s National Soccer Team Wins World Cup Over Netherlands 2-0

The US Women’s National Soccer team has won the World Cup beating the Netherlands 2-0.

From CNN:

Competing in its first World Cup final, few gave the Dutch hope. The reigning European champion it may be, but it had not yet come up against the best team in the world, the dominant force of its generation.

The Netherlands held on for over an hour but two goals within eight minutes sealed the underdog’s fate. In a tournament where she has transcended her sport, Megan Rapinoe coolly drilled home a penalty before a Rose Lavelle thunderbolt made sure of a second successive title for the US.

This win makes for back-to-back titles and the fourth championship in total for the US women’s team.

Rep. Justin Amash: High-Level Republicans Thanked Me For Supporting Impeachment

Rep. Justin Amash

During an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union this morning, Rep. Justin Amash (Mich.) told Jake Tapper that many “high-level” Republican officials have privately thanked him for his support for impeaching Donald Trump.

“When I was discussing impeachment I had fellow colleagues and other Republicans, high-level officials, contacting me and saying thank you for what you’re doing,” said Amash. “So, there are lots of Republicans out there saying these things privately, but they’re not saying it publicly, and I think that’s a problem for our country.”

Amash announced last week that he was leaving the GOP to become an Independent in the House.

New Poll Shows Only Biden With Decisive Margin Beating Trump

Donald Trump

Even though most Americans don’t approve of Donald Trump’s performance in most areas (except the economy) and see him as ‘unpresidential,’ new polling by a Washington Post/ABC News shows Trump does have a path to a second term thanks to a healthy economy.

The recent survey found Trump at his highest approval rating in the poll since he took office at 44 percent, with 53 percent disapproving.

The economy is the one topic where Trump edges out positive territory approval with 51 percent approving of his handling of the economy, with 42 percent disapproving.

According to the Washington Post, when asked how much credit Trump deserves for the state of the economy, 47 percent say a “great deal” or a “good amount,” while 48 percent say he deserves “only some” or “hardly any.”

A lopsided 65 percent feel Trump is “unpresidential” while only 28 percent say he is “fitting and proper.”

The recent poll asked respondents about head-to-head matchups between Trump and five possible Democratic nominees: former Vice President Joe Biden, Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Biden had the only decisive margin with the former Vice President beating Trump 53 percent to 43 percent, respectively.

Sen. Harris edged Trump by 2 points, 48 percent to Trump’s 46 percent.

Sen. Sanders barely beat Trump by one point, 49 percent/48 percent, Warren tied Trump at 48 percent, and Buttigieg tied the Trumpster at 47 percent.

There is still a big gender divide among voters with men favoring Trump over four of the Democrats (it’s pretty much a tie between Trump and Biden), and women choosing all five Dems over the president.

I know some folks don’t see how Trump could be re-elected – this is how.

Check out the article at the WaPo here. 

Pete Buttigieg Campaign Expands After Huge 2nd Quarter Donations

Mayor Pete Buttigieg on CNN

Earlier this week, the presidential campaign for Mayor Pete Buttigieg announced an eye-popping $24 million in campaign donations.

According to Politico, those funds are now being utilized to expand the size and scope of the Pete For America campaign.

For months, the South Bend, Ind., mayor has run one of the more frugal 2020 campaigns, eschewing on-the-ground organizers in early caucus and primary states and instead focusing on fundraising, media appearances and the candidate’s travel. But Buttigieg is now rapidly expanding his campaign’s footprint to try and build on his gains in the first half of the year.

In Iowa, Buttigieg’s campaign added 30 organizers at the end of June, filling out what had previously been a four-person skeleton crew. A dozen staffers are now on board in New Hampshire. And by the end of the summer, there will be many more: The campaign plans to swell its staff to 300 people by Labor Day, according to multiple people briefed on its plans.

“As we go into the summer toward the fall, we really need to make sure we’ve got the right kind of ground game. And part of that is how we use my time, and part of that is in between [events] making sure we’ve got folks day in and day out on the ground,” Buttigieg said during a recent campaign stop in Sioux City, Iowa. “So you’ll see the numbers of organizers and volunteers that we have really growing.”

The Randy Report Podcast Is Growing!

I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for their support and listenership of The Randy Report podcast as it continues, thankfully, to expand its reach.
Cheers to all of you!

I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for their support and listenership of The Randy Report podcast as it continues, thankfully, to expand its reach.

I launched the podcast in the fall of 2015 on BlogTalkRadio, having hosted an online radio show there, titled The Candi & Randy Show from 2012 through 2014, with the fabulous Candi Fox.

Instead of a live show, however, I wanted to create a kind of ‘companion piece’ to The Randy Report blog. I felt like there was space for a ‘LGBTQ news magazine’ in the podcasting universe.

Like the blog, I wanted the podcast to reflect my tastes in how I want to access news: brief, easy to understand reports across the LGBTQ political, pop culture and entertainment spectrum.

I moved TRR podcast to Soundcloud as the sound quality was much better, and the ‘back office’ options for following statistics were much more robust.

For instance, in the past twelve months, aside from the United States, my biggest block of listeners come from Germany and the UK, followed closely by Australia.

In the past year, I’m thrilled to see folks approach me to syndicate the podcast making my ’60 Minutes of gay news – only shorter’ that much more available.

Currently, you can listen and/or subscribe to The Randy Report podcast (for free!):

• On Soundcloud here

• On iTunes here

• On Spotify here

• On iHeartRadio here

• On Stitcher here

For portability, its useful to know all of those outlets have apps you can install on your phone – for free!

Additionally, my friend Scott Fullerton has added my episodes to his Wednesday three-hour block of LGBTQ programming on his Left Of Str8 online radio channel.

Thanks again for listening, everyone. It’s always much more fun doing this with you all taking the ride with me.

Happy Saturday!

p.s. since I’m talking podcast, here’s a player with the most recent episodes 🙂