Florence Pugh releases first songs as singer-songwriter

The Best Part and I Hate Myself are performed by her character in A Good Person, written and directed by Zach Braff

Florence Pugh has released her first performances as a singer-songwriter, which are included on the soundtrack to her new film A Good Person.

The British actor has written and performed two songs: the slow ambient ballad The Best Part, and the self-lacerating piano-driven number I Hate Myself. Each are presented in the film as being sung by her character, Allison, a promising musician whose career is set back by personal tragedy.

Continue reading...

Olivia Wilde shuts down Don’t Worry Darling rumours amid controversy

The director dodged awkward questions over Florence Pugh and Shia LaBeouf ahead of the film’s Venice premiere

From its starry cast to its seemingly volcanic behind-the-scenes drama, Olivia Wilde’s new film Don’t Worry Darling has become the talk of the town in Venice. All eyes were on the director as she faced the world’s press ahead of the film’s premiere – and after days of controversy involving Shia LaBeouf’s withdrawal from the project and Florence Pugh’s reluctance to take part in any press tours.

But the rumour mill was swiftly stifled after Wilde repeated the party line that everything was totally fine, and the festival’s press conference moderator shut down any further awkward questions. “Florence is a force; we are so grateful she is able to make it tonight [to the premiere] despite being in production,” Wilde said in response to a question about Pugh’s absence. “As for the endless tabloid gossip and noise out there, the internet feeds itself. I don’t feel I need to contribute to it.”

Continue reading...

Florence Pugh hits back at ‘vulgar’ criticism of her body on social media

Black Widow actor rails at ‘how easy it is for men to totally destroy a woman’s body, publicly, proudly, for everyone to see’

Florence Pugh has hit back at “vulgar” social media users who criticised her body, after she posted photographs of herself wearing a sheer dress at a fashion show.

“What happened to you to be so content on being so loudly upset by the size of my boobs and body?” said Pugh in an Instagram post on Sunday to her 7.4 million followers.

Continue reading...

Black Widow review – Scarlett Johansson, the Russian super spy with an electra complex

Great fun is had in giving us the backstory to the assassin’s place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

The sensuous cough-syrup purr of Scarlett Johansson’s voice is something I’ve missed in lockdown; now it’s back with a throaty vengeance in the highly enjoyable standalone episode for which her character Black Widow was well overdue. It is co-written by WandaVision creator Jac Schaeffer and directed with gusto by Cate Shortland, with touches of Terminator 2 and Mission: Impossible but undoubtedly keeping the tonal consistency of a typical MCU melodrama.

This movie gives us the backstory to Black Widow’s presence in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, involving an origin-myth tale of family trauma, identity crisis and sibling rivalry with a pugnacious kid sister, Yelena, entertainingly played by Florence Pugh. Yelena can’t help mocking – but also maybe envying – Black Widow’s balletic fight stance which involves absurd posing and resembles the mane-tossing antics of a woman in a shampoo advert.

Continue reading...