| Hey, folks! I'm Matt Brennan, (relatively) newly minted editor in chief of The Envelope, and this is my first letter from the editor. |
| Don't worry — you'll still receive the entertainment digest you've come to expect most other Wednesdays of the year. But I hope this special edition newsletter, accompanying each new issue, will become your guide to highlights from the Los Angeles Times' awards magazine — our must-read profiles, trend stories, episode breakdowns and more, plus the occasional cockamamie scheme I've been cooking up. |
| Here are a few snapshots from our Aug. 7 issue: |
Digital cover story: 'Penguin' lessons |
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| (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times) |
| High and low. |
| That's the combination that led HBO's limited series "The Penguin" — a richly observed mob drama drawn from the pop! whiz! bang! pages of DC Comics — to 24 Emmy nominations last month. So it was fitting to see stars Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti mirror the same dynamic on set at the Los Angeles Times for The Envelope's inaugural digital cover shoot. |
| The former, nominated for disappearing into his role as rising Gotham power broker Oz Cobb, walked onto set barefoot, in a T-shirt and thrifted slacks; the latter, nominated for her acclaimed turn as wild-eyed heiress Sofia Falcone, wore a floor-length black dress with a striking electric blue stripe. (And heels.) |
| As in Lauren LeFranc's "Batman" spin-off, their contrasting sartorial approaches fit together like a glove. To LeFranc's "unusual perspective, burrowing deeply into new histories of twisted, impassioned characters," Michael Ordoña writes in his digital cover story on the limited series, Farrell, Milioti and co-star Deirdre O'Connell "enthusiastically bought in." |
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A field guide to Martin Scorsese, actor |
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| (Louise Pomeroy / For The Times) |
| There have been guides aplenty to the oeuvre of one of our greatest living filmmakers — but as Tim Grierson writes in his new field guide to Scorsese's screen appearances, he's an indelible onscreen presence in his work and others'. |
| Taking the director's Emmy-nominated guest role on "The Studio" as his jumping-off point, Grierson takes us on a tour of some of his most memorable roles, from "Taxi Driver" to American Express and much more in between. |
| No word yet on whether we'll be able to add a cameo in "Kool-Aid" to the list in time for "The Studio" Season 2. |
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Streaming ads really don't need to be this awful |
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| (llustration by Los Angeles Times; photos by Getty) |
| If you've ever had a car commercial interrupt a rom-com meet-cute or a tearful dramatic monologue, you'll be nodding your head to Times culture critic Mary McNamara's column on the many indignities of ad-supported streaming. |
| Poorly placed, low-quality, repetitive ads are more the scourge of streaming than they ever were of broadcast prime-time, she writes, and if this is the business model of the next generation, a fix is urgently needed. |
| Hollywood executives reading this, we're begging you! |
| Keep up with California | Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Subscribe to the Los Angeles Times. | | | | | |
Read more from our August 7 issue |
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