It's Time for Millennials to Make Lindsay Lohan a Movie Star Again
Even those of us who bemoan straight-to-streaming releases supported her Netflix comedy comebacks. The platform should know, too, that we 100% would've been there, lined up at the movie theater, to support both films with generous box office returns. The millennial generation does not agree on everything. We are actually quite divided on other topics — like preferred boy bands, Ross on 'Friends,' superheroes, and Katy Perry's recent output — but we are in agreement about one thing: Lohan.
More from IndieWire
'Highest 2 Lowest' Trailer: Spike Lee's Latest Joint Is an Entertaining Homage to Akira Kurosawa
Amazon CEO 'Cannot Wait' to Start Denis Villeneuve's James Bond Movie
'Freakier Friday,' therefore, is the most important theatrical release for millennials this year. I heard — and I do accept — David Ehrlich's argument about 'The Naked Gun.' There is a reason, after all, that we at IndieWire have made sure you know about and are prepared to support that fantastic comedy at the cinema. But — hear me out — the 'Freaky Friday' sequel is a big deal.
First of all, none other the Instagram queen herself, Jamie Lee Curtis, made sure that the movie was shot in Los Angeles. She told Deadline last month, 'The movie is a love letter to Los Angeles and the original movie was a love to Los Angeles. We shot in the original house and we shot all over the city of Los Angeles.' Therefore, in the day in age where productions often run to tax credits in other states and countries, 'Freakier Friday' is doing the work by keeping Hollywood alive. And they did that before this summer's big $750 million win in the California state legislature. The trailer has a glimpse of several beloved local locales, including my favorite vinyl shop, The Record Parlour.
Secondly, while it is another sequel or reboot, it is a property that the fans willed into existence. For years and years and years fans hounded Curtis and Lohan about the potential for a continuation, and that hullabaloo spoke it into existence. And unlike Disney's 'Hocus Pocus 2,' this one actually is getting the chance to prove its performance in theaters.
And thirdly, and most importantly, this press tour has given all us millennials the opportunity to bask in our girl Lohan. She, after all, most represents my generation now in this phase of her life. While those boomers and Gen Xers put us down for our incompetence and immaturity for the better part of a decade, now we millennials are the ones that have it all together. And we represent a more emphatic culture, I would like to think, that runs counter with much of what was ugly in the tabloid-laden '00s and what is ugly in today's divisive times. We are out here providing hope in the form of an intergenerational comedy like 'Freakier Friday' — I mean, literally bringing the generations together and swapping them all around.
We just needed our time, as Lohan did. 'I was losing that feeling of excitement about doing a film, and I wanted to live my own life for a bit, figure out how to have a more private life, a real life,' she told The Times. 'I wanted to wait to get that itch again.'
In the same interview, Lohan also offers hope to us IndieWire-loving, Letterboxd-using movie lovers, speaking to exactly what is missing in today's film landscape, 'I miss films that are stories, like 'All About Eve' or 'Breakfast at Tiffany's.' There are not many major movies I want to go and see that are like that — there's a gap and I'm craving to do work like that.'
Next weekend — on August 8 to be exact — the put-upon millennial generation has the chance to prove our buying-power worth, supporting a movie that isn't just another piece of run-of-the-mill nostalgia bait, but the kind of midlevel-budget studio comedy with appealing stars we want to see. And in supporting Lohan — our most universal representative — we might actually, even if inadvertently, get the fun, original content for which we've been waiting.
Go reserve your tickets now, kids.
Best of IndieWire
Guillermo del Toro's Favorite Movies: 56 Films the Director Wants You to See
'Song of the South': 14 Things to Know About Disney's Most Controversial Movie
Nicolas Winding Refn's Favorite Films: 37 Movies the Director Wants You to See
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
‘Wednesday' Season 1 Recap: Everything To Remember For Season 2
Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) got up to plenty of mischief and adventure in Season 1 of the eponymous Netflix series, created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. The coming-of-age series centering the young heroine as she carves out her own path amongst her Outcast peers at Nevermore Academy had plenty of mystery and investigation, none of which daunted her. Some might even say it was the social scene at school that haunted her more than a mysterious monster lurking in the woods, students keeping secrets from her and those very obviously and vocally out to get her. More from Deadline 'Wednesday' Season 2: Everything We Know About The Cast, Premiere Date & More 'Wednesday' Renewed For Season 3 By Netflix Matty Brown Talks 'The Sand Castle' As Migrant Drama Becomes Most Watched Arabic Language Title On Netflix In First Half Of 2025 For those needing a refresher about what happened in Wednesday Season 1 ahead of the arrival of Season 2 Part 1, below lies a recap of the most salient plot points. Wednesday Enrolled At Nevermore Academy At the start of the series, viewers watch Wednesday pour two bags of piranha in the Nancy Reagan High School swimming pool to send a message to one of the swimmers, Dalton, who bullied her younger brother Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez) by shutting him in a locker, tied up, with an apple in his mouth. This action gets her expelled from the 'Normie' high school. She's been to 8 schools in 5 years. Wednesday comes from a family of Outcasts, or people with special abilities that set them apart from regular humans. Wednesday's psychic ability had just begun to show at the beginning of Season 1. She inherits the visions from her mother, Morticia Addams (née Frump), played by Catherine Zeta-Jones. Morticia, Pugsley and her father Gomez (Luis Guzmán) accompanied Wednesday to Nevermore Academy, a school teeming with Outcasts in Jericho, Vermont. Morticia and Gomez met at Nevermore — founded in 1791, and Morticia roomed with Principal Larissa Weems (Gwendoline Christie). A condition of Wednesday starting mid-term at Nevermore was that she attend therapy sessions with Jericho's own Dr. Valerie Kinbott (Rikki Lindhome), but Wednesday is reluctant to participate. Her Roommate Enid Is Quite The Opposite In Personality and Décor Enid Sinclair (Emma Myers) is Wednesday's roommate at Nevermore, and Enid loves color. Wednesday is allergic to color, so she strips her half of the room, only decorating in black and white. Even her school uniform is black and white. Enid's bubbly personality clashes with Wednesday's keep-to-herself exterior, but slowly the two form a distinct bond that culminates in a heartfelt hug, which Wednesday resists until the Season 1 finale. Enid descends from werewolves, but she had not yet 'Wolfed Out,' meaning undergone the full transformation. The furthest she could get is sharpening her rainbow-manicured nails into sharp acrylic-like claws. Luckily Enid's ability came at just the right time later on in the show, and after she stood up to her mother, who was putting pressure on her to go to lycanthropy conversion camps. Enid introduced Wednesday to the social scene at Nevermore — the four main cliques being Furs, Fangs, Stoners and Scales. Furs are werewolves, Fangs are vampires, Stoners are gorgons and Scales are sirens, leader of whom is Bianca Barclay (Joy Sunday). She used to date Xavier Thorpe (Percy Hynes-White), 'resident tortured artist' as Enid describes him. Xavier is an Unknown, but his ability is soon revealed as visions too, which appear in his dreams. He usually transcribes what he sees to paper, and he can make his drawings and paintings come to life. Wednesday's Visions Portend Something Bad Happening At Nevermore Just as she started classes, Wednesday began to have visions. These occur when she comes in contact with a person or object. Her mother left her with an Aztec necklace made of obsidian that priests used to conjur visions. Her first premonition took place while she escaped a therapy session in Jericho and she bumped into an apple farmer, foreseeing his death by a mysterious creature responsible for several other murders in the woods surrounding Jericho and Nevermore. After Rowan (Calum Ross) tried to push a gargoyle statue onto her to kill her, she bumped into him at the Harvest Festival and foresaw his death right before it happened. RELATED: Also in that vision, she saw a mysterious book, fire being set to the Nevermore Quad (Pentagon) and more. The Nightshades Rowan, a telekinetic, claimed his mother foresaw Wednesday in a vision with Joseph Crackstone, founder of Jericho, 25 years ago. He vowed to prevent that from coming true by killing her at his mother's behest because she would destroy the school, but this backfired as the mysterious monster came out of the shadows and killed Rowan. Wednesday tracked down the book from which Rowan ripped his mother's illustration of her and Crackstone backed by a fire. A faded symbol in the upper right-hand corner led her to secret society The Nightshades — members including Bianca, Ajax (Georgie Farmer), Xavier, Divina (Johnna Dias-Watson), Yoko (Naomi J. Ogawa) and Kent (Oliver Watson). Technically, the society lost its charter years ago, but Principal Weems looked the other way as long as they didn't cause trouble. Wednesday's mother was in The Nightshades as well. The Love Triangle Xavier saved Wednesday from the above-mentioned gargoyle incident early on in the series and re-introduced himself after the two had met when they were young at a funeral of one of Wednesday's grandmother's friends. He had hid in the casket and almost got cremated. Wednesday heard him screaming and saved his life. RELATED: Xavier was one of Wednesday's love interests last season, but he competed with Tyler (Hunter Doohan) a Normie Wednesday met at Jericho's Weathervane coffeeshop in town after she escaped from her first therapy session. The Hyde Uncle Fester (Fred Armisen), who appeared in Episode 7 of Season 1, helped Wednesday identify the monster killing people in the woods and taking their body parts by pointing her towards Nathaniel Faulkner's diary, which was in The Nightshades' secret library. As she delved further into the research about Hydes, Wednesday realized that she must track down two people responsible for the killings — the Hyde itself, which she knows is a human because she saw its monstrous footprints transition back into human ones in the mud after an encounter — and its master, the person who has unlocked the Hyde's nature within the human. Because the Hyde haunted Xavier's dreams and he constantly paints it — as discovered by Wednesday in his hidden art studio — she suspected Xavier is the Hyde. And when she saw him call for an emergency session with Dr. Kinbott, she believed Kinbott was responsible for unlocking the Hyde. Turns out, Tyler was the Hyde. His mother was also a Hyde, and she attended Nevermore. Hunter's father Sheriff Donovan Galpin (Jamie McShane) failed to ever mention this detail, but the trauma of her post-partem depression triggering the condition passed onto Tyler, and his master used that information to unlock the creature in him as well. More on the master below. Garrett Gates – Gomez's Shady Past Sheriff Galpin also immediately pinpointed Wednesday because her father had a file with the Jericho Police Department from his days as a student at Nevermore. When Gomez was arrested for murder at Nevermore's Parents' Weekend, Wednesday gets on the case and digs up the dead body of the boy her dad supposedly killed, Garrett Gates. This all happened at the Goth & Glamor Rave'N her parents attended when Garrett approached Morticia, who was the one responsible for stabbing Garrett with a sword. The blue tinge of Garrett's corpse's finger signals that he was poisoned, though, and this led to the discovery that Garrett's father had sent him to the Rave'N to poison the outcasts, only the poison vial cracked and leeched into his skin instead. RELATED: Garett was brother to Laurel Gates, who had supposedly died by drowning overseas when she was sent away from Jericho as an orphan, but later on in the show, Wednesday, Enid and Tyler discover that someone is living in the old Gates mansion in Laurel's bedroom. Principal Weems Died Principal Weems, who had grown fed up with Wednesday's relentless pursuit of the truth, granting Wednesday one last favor to visit Eugene Ottinger Ottinger (Moosa Mostafa) in the hospital after the Hyde had attacked him. There, Eugene tipped Wednesday off as to who the Hyde's master was. Wednesday figured out that Weems was a shapeshifter with Morticia's memory of Weems' 'dead ringer' impression of Judy Garland. This confirmed that it was Weems disguised as Rowan leaving school following his death. Thus, Wednesday had Weems pretend to be Tyler in a confrontation with none other than Nevermore's first Normie teacher Ms. Marilyn Thornhill (Christina Ricci), who was actually Laurel Gates. They drew the confession out of her that she was the Hyde's master, but unfortunately when Weems changed back, Laurel killed her by injecting her with poison. This death made way for Steve Buscemi's Principal Barry Dort. Joseph Crackstone, Laurel Gates & Goody Addams Once Xavier told Wednesday that it was Joseph Crackstone in the illustration, she made Enid switch volunteer assignments on Outreach Day so that she could investigate Pilgrim World, the theme park dedicated to the Founder of Jericho, who imprisoned and alter burned outcasts in a mass genocide, which Wednesday's ancestor Goody Addams (also portrayed by Jenna Ortega) survived. Goody, one of the original outcasts, came over from Mexico, and her line leads to Gomez. At Pilgrim World, Wednesday didn't glean too much about Crackstone other than that he took Goody's Book of Shadows, but the real book had been replaced with a fake Etsy version. Goody later visited Wednesday in visions, and it was she who guided her descendant to the Gates mansion. Goody began to be Wednesday's spirit guide, teaching her the ways of her visions, but she sacrificed her afterlife self to save Wednesday from dying, disappearing from the realm Wednesday looked into in her visions. RELATED: This near-death experience took place when Laurel Gates dragged Wednesday to Crackstone's Crypt, clarifying the purpose of the missing body parts of the Hyde victims. Laurel planned to resurrect Crackstone, using Wednesday's DNA, an incantation and a crazy machine to channel his spirit into a sewn-together body. Crackstone came back to life in the Frankenstein-esque body, but Goody, before she vanished, told Wednesday to stab him in his black heart to kill him, which Wednesday eventually did with the help of Bianca, Xavier and even Enid, who wolfed out just in time to battle Tyler's Hyde in the woods. Someone Almost Killed Thing Before the identities of the Hyde and its master were revealed, someone stabbed Thing, the detached hand that is the Addams family's companion, in the back and left him hanging in Wednesday's room. Wednesday whisked the dexterous appendage and his digits to her Uncle Fester, who wass sleeping in Eugene's bee shed, to revive him with his electric shock ability. This scene held the most emotion viewers saw from Wednesday, who cried and willed Thing back to life Earlier on in the show, Wednesday had shared with Enid that she hadn't cried since she was 6 years old when some bullies ran over and killed her pet scorpion Nero. Wednesday Gets an iPhone, and a Stalker The show left off with Xavier, who was first framed for being the Hyde and then released, gifting Wednesday a phone. The vibe between the pair was uncertain as she had kissed Tyler, which then gave her a vision that he was the Hyde. White will not be returning to Season 2 of Wednesday. As Lurch (George Burcea) drove her away from her first semester at Nevermore in the snow, Wednesday received several texts from a mysterious stalker. RELATED: Best of Deadline 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery 2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Emmys, Oscars, Grammys & More 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery
NBC News
2 hours ago
- NBC News
Amazon lays off over 100 employees in Wondery unit as part of audio business restructuring
Amazon is laying off roughly 110 employees in its Wondery podcast division and the head of the group is leaving as part of a broader reshuffling of the company's audio unit. In a Monday note to staffers, Steve Boom, Amazon's vice president of audio, Twitch and games, said the company is consolidating some Wondery units under its Audible audiobook and podcasting division. Wondery CEO Jen Sargent is also stepping down from her role, Boom said. 'These changes will not only better align our teams as they work to take advantage of the strategic opportunities ahead but, even more crucially, will ensure we have the right structure in place to deliver the very best experience to creators, customers and advertisers,' Boom wrote in the memo, which was viewed by CNBC. 'Unfortunately, these changes also include some role reductions, and we have notified those employees this morning.' Bloomberg was first to report on the job cuts. The move comes nearly five years after Amazon acquired Wondery as part of a push to expand its catalog of original audio content. The podcasting company made a name for itself with hit shows like 'Dirty John' and 'Dr. Death.' More recently, Wondery signed several lucrative licensing deals with Jason and Travis Kelce's 'New Heights' podcast, along with Dax Shepard's 'Armchair Expert.' Amazon is streamlining 'how Wondery further integrates' into the company by separating the teams that oversee its narrative podcasts from those developing 'creator-led shows,' Boom wrote. The narrative podcasting unit will consolidate under Audible, and creator-led content will move to a new unit within Boom's organization in Amazon called 'creator services,' he wrote. Amazon's audio pursuits face a heightened challenge from the growing popularity of video podcasts on Alphabet 's YouTube, which now hosts an increasing number of shows. Video shows require different discovery, growth and monetization strategies than 'audio-first, narrative series,' Boom wrote in the memo to Amazon staffers. 'The podcast landscape has evolved significantly over the past few years,' Boom said.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Amazon denies report it's shutting down Wondery podcast studio
Amazon is denying that it's shutting down Wondery, the podcast studio it acquired in late 2020, after Bloomberg reported on Monday that the company was closing the studio and cutting 110 jobs. Amazon told TechCrunch that Wondery will continue to develop creator-led podcasts under the Wondery brand within a new team. What's changing is that the company is separating the teams that oversee Wondery's narrative podcast efforts from those developing its creator-led shows. Wondery is combining its narrative podcast studio, which includes podcasts like Dr. Death and American Scandal, with Audible. 'The podcast landscape has evolved significantly in the past few years, particularly with the rise of video-forward, creator-led content,' Amazon said in an emailed statement. 'These changes reflect that evolution and will streamline how Wondery integrates further into Amazon. By making these changes, we can better support creators in monetizing their content across multiple channels, help them expand their brand IP, and simplify the process for advertisers while making content more accessible to audiences wherever they prefer to consume it. This evolution builds on Wondery's early success with video-forward shows and positions us to better serve creators, customers, and advertisers.' Despite securing big names in the business, the company is now shifting its strategy in an effort to better compete with rivals like Spotify and YouTube as the podcasting industry embraces video formats. Update: The article was updated to reflect that Amazon denied reports of Wondery shutting down. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
