1 hour ago ‘Not second screen enough’: is Netflix deliberately dumbing down TV so people can watch while scrolling?

Streaming insiders have claimed they’re being made to rewrite scripts for viewers who use their phones while watching. Is this the end of prestige TV? Or pure fiction?Be honest: how much attention do you pay when you watch TV? If you’re familiar with the ritual of half-watching a series or film – Netflix on in the background while you check out what your arch enemy has just posted on Instagram, say – it may surprise you to hear that Netflix doesn’t just know you engage in this obscene behaviour. It actually wants you to carry on.The streamer was in the news recently thanks to an excellent piece by Will Tavlin in n+1, which reminded readers of the platform’s microgenre of “casual viewing”: TV shows and movies designed to be watched while doing something else. One paragraph in particular incited a great deal of frustration. Tavlin claimed that Netflix have told various screenwriters to have their protagonists “announce what they’re doing so that viewers who have this program on in the...

Politics

5 hours ago Don’t Look Up director says ‘half a billion people’ have now seen film despite critics

Adam McKay says the Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio-starring satire resonates with a widespread feeling of being deceived by government and mediaAdam McKay, writer-director of climate-crisis satire Don’t Look Up, says that the film’s popularity with viewers shows the popular will to tackle climate change, despite the critical brickbats the film attracted and political inertia around the issue.McKay was speaking to the NME during the wildfire emergency that is currently affecting Los Angeles, which has included many high-profile victims from the Hollywood community. Saying that while Netflix, the film’s distributors, would not release definitive audience figures, he estimated that “somewhere between 400 million and half a billion” people saw it, and that “viewers all really connected with the idea of being gaslit”. Continue reading...

Culture

32 hours ago Cameron Diaz surprises Jamie Foxx after taunting Trump with Elon Musk claim

Foxx couldn’t hide his shock over Diaz’s jab at the president-elect’s friendship with tech billionaire

Politics

33 hours ago Cameron Diaz surprises Jamie Foxx after trolling Trump with Elon Musk comment

Foxx couldn’t hide his shock over Diaz’s jab at the president-elect’s friendship with tech billionaire

Politics

27 hours ago Netflix now showing classic family movie with near perfect rotten tomatoes score

The film is now available to stream on Netflix

Culture

35 hours ago Cameron Diaz shocks Jamie Foxx with comment about 'President' Elon Musk while sharing wild conspiracy theory

The 52-year-old actress made his jaw drop when she made a dig at Elon Musk while trolling President-elect Donald Trump.

Politics

39 hours ago Cameron Diaz makes first red carpet appearance in FIVE YEARS for Netflix's Back in Action premiere in Berlin

Cameron Diaz made a stunning return to the red carpet after a five-year hiatus, marking her first major appearance since stepping away from Hollywood almost a decade ago.

Politics