The Rundown: Spectre, MTV VMA Nods, Pixels

Hello from New York City!

This week’s Entertainment News worth knowing…

The Stories:

* A full trailer for the upcoming Bond movie, Spectre, has been released…

Car chases – check!
Explosions – check!
Romance – check!
The new trailer gives us more insight into the story line of the film – as James Bond travels around the world uncovering the organization known as Spectre. In June when I was in Cancun, we got to talk to the cast – but that yielded information that has had to be embargoed until the film’s release later this year (Oct in the UK, Nov for the rest), and it’s not like the cast could say too much anyway. But we do now know a little more about the Spectre storyline. Namely that Christoph Waltz’ nefarious Franz Oberhauser is cause of all Bond’s misery and there is some kind of link between the two of them – perhaps he is Bond’s adopted brother? We still don’t know who will be singing the theme song, but director Sam Mendez has said it is finished so it should be soon.

* Pixels hits the big screen – and continues the wave of nostalgia that’s currently rushing over us…

Adam Sandler has assembled a bunch of his friends for this latest Happy Madison flick – Kevin James, Josh Gad, Peter Dinklage and Michelle Monaghan. The CGI-enhanced film is about aliens intercepting a 1980s time capsule and thinking the video games within it are a declaration of war. It’s up to Adam and his buds to save the planet from their attacks, all built around game characters from a bygone era. It’s directed by Chris Columbus who made Home Alone, and Mrs Doubtfire and wrote The Goonies. The reviews have not been great, but I used the opportunity (in Cancun – again – I know, I know) to speak to the cast about the first video games they played.

* The MTV Video Music Award nominees were announced and it caused a Twar…

Miley Cyrus, who you’ll remember drew massive response for her twerking performance with Robin Thicke in 2013 – and gained the VMAs an audience of 10 million – is hosting the show at the end of next month. Kendrick Lamar has five nods, three from the collab with Taylor Swift on Bad Blood. Beyonce and Ed Sheeran have three each. Taylor Swift’s Bad Blood is up against Beyonce’s 7/11, Sheeran’s Thinking out Loud, Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’ Uptown Funk and Kendrick Lamar’s Alright (which I think is incredible for its mix of social commentary and emotive visuals). But Nicki Minaj spoke out about being upset she didn’t get a Video of the Year nom for Anaconda. She did get three noms, but has accused MTV of snubbing her as a black woman – even though her video, like Taylor’s, became a pop phenomenon this year too. The LA Times has a good piece on the point of Nicki’s argument.

The Route:

I left from the Nike Running store on the Upper East Side (1131 3rd Ave, New York, NY 10065), after taking part in one of their yoga classes. I ran down 3rd Ave until I got to 59 St and took the Queensboro Bridge over to Long Island City. (You’ll forgive my huffing over that bridge but as anyone who’s ever run the NYC Marathon will attest, it’s always a challenge!) I took 23rd St down to Vernon Boulevard and ran all along until reaching Socrates Sculpture Park. After seeing the art pieces there, in particular Agnes Denes’ Living Pyramid, I ran a little further along Broadway Ave to my favourite Greek bakery, Omonia Cafe, for a well-deserved frappe. If you’ve been really good you could even go for the best item they have there, a piece of baklava-cheesecake.