Latest news with #Ephron
The Age
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Two new books delve into the 20th century's wittiest women
Kaplan's lavishly illustrated book would certainly catch the eye on anyone's coffee-table (although the captioning of the pictures is eye-rollingly literal and sometimes just plain wrong). But much of her commentary about Ephron reads like marketing hype. 'Think of her as the fairy godmother of modern-day rom-coms,' she urges. 'After years of a genre lying in wait, she waved her magic wand and penned dazzling scripts, equivalent to charming ball gowns for women who wouldn't take any shit.' And her afterword – in which she confesses that 'Nora's trio of groundbreaking genre films had shaped (her) core beliefs of finding true romance' – is simply embarrassing. And it's 'Nora' throughout, even though she never knew her. She's alert to the primary focus of Ephron's work: 'Each project focuses on women who were three-dimensional and who had something to prove – either to themselves or to the world at large.' She also attends to her public persona – her humour, her fashion sense, her love affair with food – and to how her mantra that 'everything is copy' fuelled her work, especially her 1983 novel, Heartburn, a thinly disguised account of the collapse of her marriage to famed Washington Post journalist Carl Bernstein. But she never looks far beyond the surface, relying far too heavily on others' observations or assessments and coming up with few insights of her own. Jacob Bernstein's 2015 documentary about his mother, Everything Is Copy, is much more illuminating. Only in the book's final chapter, made up of interviews with some of those who worked with Ephron on her films, does Kaplan seem on more solid ground. By way of contrast, British academic Gail Crowther's fluently written book about Parker is much more revealing, attentive to detail and interested in what might lie beneath the surface. She easily dispenses with the most dominant myth regarding Parker: that she was a bouncy, carefree soul, tossing witticisms across the famous Round Table with her illustrious peers in the literary world (among them Robert Benchley, Alexander Woollcott, Robert Sherwood and Donald Ogden Stewart) at New York's Algonquin Hotel during the 1920s, before heading off to Hollywood where real money beckoned. Her account instead fixes on the collision between two early 20th-century phenomena, Parker and Hollywood, neither nice to be around, despite the surface glitter attached to both. Like Crowther's 2021 book, Three-Martin Afternoons at the Ritz: The Rebellion of Sylvia Plath & Anne Sexton, her portrait of Parker ponders what went wrong, what made this professionally successful woman so mean, why she seemed to be forever sabotaging herself, why she repeatedly attempted suicide, why she suffered such a sad, lonely death. Intrigued, compassionate and affectionate at the same time as she keeps her distance, Crowther hones in on Parker's 'mix of helplessness and viciousness' as she situates her biography in the social circumstances of the time. Significant events swirl in the background: the 'Roaring '20s', the Great Depression, the imposition of the Hays Code to counter Hollywood's perceived debauchery, the general oppression of women in the social hierarchy, the rise of the 'Red Threat' and the establishment of HUAC (the House Un-American Activities Commission) to deal with it. Meanwhile, in the foreground, her Parker is a restless figure, struggling to make her way in a world that has no serious interest in anything she has to offer aside from her reputation, suffering the consequences of her alcoholism, dealing with the torture of miscarriages and failed relationships, discovering a political cause and finding herself blacklisted. Loading Curiously, Crowther largely sidesteps the possibility that traces of Parker's personality might be found in her work, whether on the page or the screen. But otherwise thorough in her research, she draws intelligently on her sources pointing to the gaps in their examinations and recognising that, perhaps inevitably, everyone's inner life is, finally, fated to remain a mystery.
Sydney Morning Herald
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Two new books delve into the 20th century's wittiest women
Kaplan's lavishly illustrated book would certainly catch the eye on anyone's coffee-table (although the captioning of the pictures is eye-rollingly literal and sometimes just plain wrong). But much of her commentary about Ephron reads like marketing hype. 'Think of her as the fairy godmother of modern-day rom-coms,' she urges. 'After years of a genre lying in wait, she waved her magic wand and penned dazzling scripts, equivalent to charming ball gowns for women who wouldn't take any shit.' And her afterword – in which she confesses that 'Nora's trio of groundbreaking genre films had shaped (her) core beliefs of finding true romance' – is simply embarrassing. And it's 'Nora' throughout, even though she never knew her. She's alert to the primary focus of Ephron's work: 'Each project focuses on women who were three-dimensional and who had something to prove – either to themselves or to the world at large.' She also attends to her public persona – her humour, her fashion sense, her love affair with food – and to how her mantra that 'everything is copy' fuelled her work, especially her 1983 novel, Heartburn, a thinly disguised account of the collapse of her marriage to famed Washington Post journalist Carl Bernstein. But she never looks far beyond the surface, relying far too heavily on others' observations or assessments and coming up with few insights of her own. Jacob Bernstein's 2015 documentary about his mother, Everything Is Copy, is much more illuminating. Only in the book's final chapter, made up of interviews with some of those who worked with Ephron on her films, does Kaplan seem on more solid ground. By way of contrast, British academic Gail Crowther's fluently written book about Parker is much more revealing, attentive to detail and interested in what might lie beneath the surface. She easily dispenses with the most dominant myth regarding Parker: that she was a bouncy, carefree soul, tossing witticisms across the famous Round Table with her illustrious peers in the literary world (among them Robert Benchley, Alexander Woollcott, Robert Sherwood and Donald Ogden Stewart) at New York's Algonquin Hotel during the 1920s, before heading off to Hollywood where real money beckoned. Her account instead fixes on the collision between two early 20th-century phenomena, Parker and Hollywood, neither nice to be around, despite the surface glitter attached to both. Like Crowther's 2021 book, Three-Martin Afternoons at the Ritz: The Rebellion of Sylvia Plath & Anne Sexton, her portrait of Parker ponders what went wrong, what made this professionally successful woman so mean, why she seemed to be forever sabotaging herself, why she repeatedly attempted suicide, why she suffered such a sad, lonely death. Intrigued, compassionate and affectionate at the same time as she keeps her distance, Crowther hones in on Parker's 'mix of helplessness and viciousness' as she situates her biography in the social circumstances of the time. Significant events swirl in the background: the 'Roaring '20s', the Great Depression, the imposition of the Hays Code to counter Hollywood's perceived debauchery, the general oppression of women in the social hierarchy, the rise of the 'Red Threat' and the establishment of HUAC (the House Un-American Activities Commission) to deal with it. Meanwhile, in the foreground, her Parker is a restless figure, struggling to make her way in a world that has no serious interest in anything she has to offer aside from her reputation, suffering the consequences of her alcoholism, dealing with the torture of miscarriages and failed relationships, discovering a political cause and finding herself blacklisted. Loading Curiously, Crowther largely sidesteps the possibility that traces of Parker's personality might be found in her work, whether on the page or the screen. But otherwise thorough in her research, she draws intelligently on her sources pointing to the gaps in their examinations and recognising that, perhaps inevitably, everyone's inner life is, finally, fated to remain a mystery.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
A$AP Rocky Found Not Guilty in Felony Assault Trial
On Tuesday, A$AP Rocky was acquitted of two felony counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm for an altercation that took place around the corner from the Hollywood and Vine intersection in Hollywood back in November 36-year-old rapper, whose legal name is Rakim Mayers, was arrested and released on bail in 2022 over the 2021 incident with former friend Terell Ephron, known as A$AP Relli. Ephron claimed that the rapper shot him twice during an argument, leaving him with wounded knuckles. Rocky and Ephron met in high school and were both members of the New York rap collective A$AP Mob, which is no longer the start of the trial last month, Rocky rejected a plea deal from prosecutors, which would have included 180 days in jail. If he was convicted of the charges, he would have faced up to 24 years in testimony, police officers reported finding no evidence at the scene, though Ephron later claimed he discovered two shell casings there himself. Ephron also admitted to firing a semi-automatic gun at an L.A. gun range just before the 2021 attorney Joe Tacopina argued that Ephron planted the casings and was attempting to extort his client, pointing to Ephron's $30 million lawsuit against Mayers over the alleged the jury announced their decision, Mayers leaped over the courtroom barrier to hug his partner, Rihanna, and his family, including his mother, Renee the verdict, Rihanna took to Instagram to celebrate. Outside the courthouse, Mayers told reporters, "This whole experience has been crazy for the past four years. I'm thankful, and it's blessed to be here right now, to be a free man talking to y'all."
Express Tribune
19-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
A$AP Rocky cleared of assault charges
Rapper A$AP Rocky was found not guilty of two counts of felony assault at the conclusion of a trial in Los Angeles on Tuesday, AFP reported. The musician, who has two children with singer Rihanna, had faced more than two decades in prison if he had been convicted of the alleged attack on a former friend in Hollywood in 2021. There was commotion in the courtroom as the jury's verdict was read out, with the Grammy-nominated hip hop star, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, hugging people in relief as he was declared not guilty. During the weeks-long trial, prosecutors said Mayers had shot a nine-millimeter semi-automatic weapon during a confrontation with Terell Ephron, also known as A$AP Relli, on November 6, 2021, in the heart of Hollywood, grazing Ephron's hand. Mayers, 36, had insisted he had been carrying only a harmless prop gun. The two had previously been friends, and had both been part of A$AP, a rap collective from New York, but had fallen out because other members of the group felt Mayers' commercial success had made him arrogant. Ephron told the jury he had been lured to a parking garage for an encounter that was partially caught on grainy surveillance video. He claimed that after the two exchanged words, Mayers pulled a gun from his waistband, put it toward Relli's stomach and said, "I'll kill you right now." Ephron said two bullets were fired, with one of them grazing his knuckles. Defending attorney Joe Tacopina said the weapon was "absolutely nothing more than a prop gun... a starter gun, a blank gun, a fake gun. It's used in pop movies and music videos."
Telegraph
19-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Watch: A$AP Rocky dives into Rihanna's arms after not-guilty verdict
A$AP Rocky ran to embrace his partner Rihanna on Tuesday after he was found not guilty on two counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm. Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, then hugged supporters and told the 12-person jury: 'Thank y'all for saving my life.' He was accused of pointing a handgun at Terell Ephron, a former friend, during a heated argument, before firing twice in Mr Ephron's direction during a second confrontation. Both encounters occurred on Nov 6 2021. Mr Ephron said he suffered a minor injury when his knuckles were grazed by a bullet. The three-time Grammy nominee's defence attorneys said the gun involved in the incident was a prop that the artist had used in a music video and only blanks. They claimed Mr Ephron was the aggressor in the confrontation. Outside the courthouse, Mr Mayers told reporters: 'We want to thank God first. This is crazy right now. 'I'm thankful and blessed to be here right now, to be a free man talking to y'all.'
