Borderlands, starring Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Ariana Greenblatt, Jack Black, and Jamie Lee Curtis is out in theaters this weekend. The movie is based on the video game series with the same name. It takes place on the fictional planet of Pandora, where players are seeking Vaults with treasures, etc. Video games that are made into TV shows or movies tend to be notoriously hit-or-miss. Some of them translate well onto the screen while others fall flat. Despite its all-star cast, Borderlands is on track to take the prize for one of the lowest-rated video game movies of all time. At one point, it had the distinct honor of having a 0% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

I’m not sure I knew of anyone, Borderlands fan or not, who believed that the movie adaptation of the game was going to be good, based on everything from casting to trailers. Now as reviews come in ahead of its release tomorrow, those fears have been validated. And then some.

As I write this, the Borderlands movie has a flat 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. No positive reviews whatsoever (Update: A single positive review has come in raising it to a 3%), and the ones that are in are not just negative, but brutal. Here’s a sampling:

Discussing Film: “The fans deserve a lot better than whatever director Eli Roth is trying to do with Borderlands. This is the video game movie curse at its worst.”
Men’s Journal: “If Borderlands doesn’t stop studio executives from salivating at the sight of every single IP that comes across their desks, nothing will.”
Next Best Picture: “It’s impressive how Roth can elicit the poor quality of 2000s video game adaptation energy yet somehow forget the discernable sense of fun or style that made even those terrible movies stand out.”
IGN: “Borderlands is an abysmal waste of a beloved franchise that takes a kooky band of murderous misfits and drains the life out of their first adventure together.”

It’s true there are not many reviews in yet, and the score may tick up, but everything I’ve seen outside of some video game influencers who attended premieres (or are literally extras in the movie) has been relentlessly negative, and I would be surprised to find more than a handful of positive reviews come in when all is said and done. If any.

[From Forbes]

As of early Friday morning, the Rotten Tomatoes score was at 6% for critics and up to 50% for audience rating. I’ve never been a gamer, but I thought the trailer looked fun and after I saw how poorly it was doing in reviews, I was curious. So, after a day of being stuck at home with my kids and no electricity thanks to Tropical Storm Debby, I went to see it on Thursday evening. It was…not good. But I also didn’t think it was 0% not good. I don’t want to say anything spoilery, though! Some of the longer sequences that I thought needed to be edited down are ones that I imagine are homages to the video game itself. My son and I both laughed a lot at the one-liners and jokes that Jack Black’s Claptrap delivered. While promoting the movie, the cast looks like they’re having fun, which always makes for good sound bites. The elements were there for it to be a dumb but fun movie, but parts just did not feel cohesive. I read that in post-production, there were different hands involved in editing it, and honestly, that would explain a lot of its issues. Blanchett physically kicks ass in her role, though, and the entire time she was doing her bounty hunter/action hero thang on screen, I kept thinking how cool it is to have a woman in their 50s be the headline action star in a movie.

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Steve Martin confirms that Lorne Michaels called him about potentially playing Tim Walz on Saturday Night Live, but Steve turned the gig down. He feels like he’s not good enough at doing impressions, which I totally get (and I never thought he would do a good Walz either). But who will play JD Vance? Who can capture his creepy, awkward weirdness? [Buzzfeed]
Jennifer Lawrence’s beachy waves are goals. [LaineyGossip]
Gabby Thomas: gold medalist, beautiful & a health clinic volunteer. [Jezebel]
St. Vincent’s pick for worst song ever: John Mayer’s “Daughters.” [OMG Blog]
SAG-Aftra is striking against video game companies. [Pajiba]
Drake wrote “Too Good” about Serena Williams. [JustJared]
Simon Rex lives off the grid in a shipping container. [Socialite Life]
Florida named a stadium after Pitbull. [Hollywood Life]
Why did the Fugees cancel their North American tour? [Seriously OMG]
Blake Lively’s other Versace look. [RCFA]

The media hasn’t known what to do for the past three weeks. Ever since Joe Biden outmaneuvered members of his own party and folded his endorsement of Kamala Harris into his withdrawal announcement, it has all been positive forward momentum for the Harris campaign, and now the Harris-Walz campaign. The campaign is raising money like crazy, Harris’s choice of Walz as her running mate was embraced across the Democratic Party spectrum and all of Harris’s campaign stops and rallies are getting huge numbers. Enthusiasm is off the charts, the campaign has signed up thousands of volunteers and, perhaps best of all, it’s completely thrown off Donald Trump and JD Vance. But the media needs a conflict, they need something to hold over Kamala Harris’s head. They’ve settled on “why isn’t VP Harris giving interviews?!?” From Politico:

Introducing Tim Walz gave the campaign millions in free media: The raucous crowd inside the arena in Philadelphia ate it up. And so did the cable networks, three of which carried the event live and uninterrupted for roughly 80 minutes, starting with another strong and closely watched speech from Pennsylvania Gov. JOSH SHAPIRO, the runner up for Harris’ vice president nod. The free publicity — or “earned media,” as operatives call it — is worth millions, and it was reminiscent of the way cable networks carried countless hours of then-candidate DONALD TRUMP’s campaign rallies in 2016.

Trump isn’t getting that kind of free media anymore: Eight years later, things have changed. Trump, now making his third run for the White House, is delivering his well-worn routine at rallies that only sporadically get live network coverage (the “Right Side Broadcasting” YouTube channel doesn’t count). Now, Harris is the new, exciting thing in the race, her rallies delivering left-leaning MSNBC some of its highest ratings in weeks. And preliminary numbers showed that Tuesday’s rally brought the network an audience that was more than double its four-week norm in the 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. hours.

Kamala isn’t doing interviews right now: The Harris camp is hoping to ride the wave as long as it can. So there is little worry about the candidate avoiding something else that has long been required of presidential nominees: taking questions from the press. While some reporters and columnists have started to grumble about that, JD VANCE, Trump’s running mate who is bracketing Harris and Walz on the road this week, tried on Wednesday to draw more attention to the matter.

Her last interview was defending President Biden in June: On June 27, she appeared on CNN and spoke one-on-one with anchor ANDERSON COOPER less than an hour after Biden’s disastrous debate performance, acknowledging that “it was a slow start” but confidently suggesting that the country should assess his performance in the office over three and a half years, not “90 minutes on a debate stage.”… Harris’ determined on-air defense of Biden three years later — which she came up with independent of the campaign team — offered a template Biden and others would use to try to stop the political bleeding. While Biden’s closest aides also viewed that interview as a true show of loyalty, some in Harris’ orbit saw her confident and forceful responses to Cooper as proof of how far she’s come.

Skepticism: Ever since Biden passed Harris the baton, news organizations have been pushing the vice president’s team for a sit-down interview. According to two people familiar with the campaign’s thinking, there are ongoing discussions about a joint interview with Harris and Walz prior to the convention, which begins on Aug. 19 in Chicago. But on the whole, Harris’ top communications aides are deeply skeptical, as Biden’s inner circle was, that doing big interviews with major TV networks or national newspapers offer much real upside when it comes to reaching swing voters. One longtime Harris ally suggested to West Wing Playbook that Harris could hold off on big interviews until after Labor Day. “There’s really no need,” the person said. “The voters that she needs are at the local level. They’re not reading the national press.”

[From Politico]

There’s more at Politico – even the suggestion that Harris is dependent on a Teleprompter, because airhead women, amirite – but the broad strokes are here. Kamala’s people don’t see an upside and I don’t blame them. She’s always gotten an exceptionally raw deal in the mainstream political press, and she just watched what those same people did to Joe Biden. I would say “f–k ‘em forever and let them die mad” but I know she won’t. She and Tim Walz will probably do an interview together before the convention and she’ll do some TV interviews in the fall. But just so we’re clear… this is a controversy being created by the media, and the longer Harris holds off on “giving an interview,” the ruder and more unpleasant these people will get.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

King Charles has not said or done one single thing around the white nationalist riots spreading across England. It started when a Welsh-born man staged a horrific attack on a Taylor Swift-themed dance class for children. Three little girls were murdered in the attack. Misinformation spread, and white nationalists used the moment to violently assault every Black and brown person they saw, plus there’s widespread arson and a huge amount of civil unrest, rioting and looting. This has played out for over a week, a week in which Charles has been enjoying his summer holiday in Scotland. Over the weekend, he even had fun at the Highland Games. The palace seemed more concerned over the Sussexes’ announced trip to Colombia than the violent white nationalism on display in England. The fact that this is also happening while Charles, Camilla, William and Kate actively ignore the Olympics is also just… weird. But I digress. It looks like some vacationing courtier realized that it looks bad so this is what was released:

The King has asked for daily updates on the evolving situation after unrest around the UK, Sky News understands. He is said to be engaging privately in the issues it has generated.

The King has a record of involvement in issues around community cohesion and interfaith dialogue.

It comes as thousands of specialist police have been mobilised tonight amid fears of further unrest. The trouble began after the stabbing of three young girls in Southport last week and amid false rumours the suspected attacker was an asylum seeker who had arrived by boat.

Many businesses have chosen to shut early in case the gatherings again descend into serious violence. A list of immigration solicitors’ firms and advice agencies was shared in chat groups as possible targets, with the message telling people to “mask up”.

The prime minister and senior police officers have warned the full force of the law will be used to swiftly punish any offenders.

[From Sky News]

The thing is, out of everyone in that horrid family, Charles legitimately is the only one with any kind of history in interfaith dialogue and outreach to immigrant communities. Which is why his silence has been so notable. He’s all about a photo-op in a church, mosque or temple, but when Black or brown folks are being targeted in racist hate crimes across England, he’s silent as the grave. Peter Hunt is openly criticizing Charles as well:

We have a silent head of state.

The palace spin talks of bridge building in private.

Charles is meant to be a unifying figure who champions religious tolerance and mutual respect.

Yet he’s said nothing about racism and rioting.

It’s an untenable position.

If not now, when?

— Peter Hunt (@_PeterHunt) August 8, 2024

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

I’ve written this a few times in the Bennifer posts: I hope Jennifer Lopez has gotten this out of her system. For years, we’ve heard that Jennifer considered Ben Affleck to be the one who got away, and that was the relationship where she had a lot of unfinished business. And to be fair to Jen, she didn’t start this – Ben pursued her in 2021, while she was engaged to Alex Rodriguez. Ben was the one writing her love letters and asking if it was too late. She jumped at the chance to get back with him and now, three years later, he’s totally over it. Now sources tell Page Six that, well, at least they’ve both got closure now. I guess??

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are heading for a multi-million dollar “exercise in closure” — all because they couldn’t stop wondering about the “unfinished business” of their past, according to sources.

“They got caught up in the moment. Jennifer had wanted this wedding — the gowns, the friends, all the trappings and trimmings — for decades,” one friend told Page Six.

After calling off their first engagement in 2004, the two apparently always wondered “what if,” leading to a rekindled romance and wedding in 2022. The three-day affair at Affleck’s $8 million estate in Georgia, was a blow-out, with Lopez wearing not one but three gowns by Ralph Lauren. Now, sources told Page Six, the couple is expected to announce their marriage is officially over by the end of the summer.

The friend said both Affleck and Lopez got caught up in nostalgia and the idea of finally living out their dream from two decades ago. Now, “they’ve turned the page on all the unfinished business of 20 plus years ago. They’ve seen things through to the end — and they know for sure now that they are not built for the long haul,” the friend said. “No further unanswered questions. They’ve seen all they need to see, and it’s over. In the end, it’s gonna be the most elaborate and expensive exercise in closure ever.”

In May, a source told Page Six of Affleck: “If there was a way to divorce on grounds of temporary insanity, he would. He feels like the last two years was just a fever dream …”

[From Page Six]

God, Ben is such a d–k. I hope this does it for Jennifer too. If she’s still pining for him after all of this, I don’t know what to even say anymore. I agree that they weren’t built for the long haul either, but I also thought that after 20 years, they were going into the marriage with their eyes wide open about their fundamental nature. Why did he even propose? Why did he even pursue her again? Sigh.

Photos courtesy of Jennifer Lopez’s Instagram, OntheJLo newsletter and Avalon Red.

There’s a growing narrative about the incipient Bennifer divorce. The narrative: Ben Affleck was the one who wanted out and he’s been done with his marriage for months, all while Jennifer Lopez hoped for reconciliation and wanted to work things out. Not only that, but Jennifer only realized it was truly over when Ben purchased his new place and he closed escrow on her birthday. Now she’s quickly coming to the program and spreading the news that she’s fine and she’s making her peace with his decision. Speaking of, Us Weekly’s cover story is basically all about how Ben was completely over it.

A fresh start: Sources exclusively share in the latest Us Weekly cover story that Affleck, 51 — who’s been busy working on The Accountant 2 and a new Netflix thriller with pal Matt Damon — is ready for a fresh start. One in which he hopes to remain a bit more under the radar. “Ben needed new energy in his life,” says a source, noting that the star’s new home is what he was initially looking for before he and Lopez purchased their estate. “This one is more his speed,” adds the source. “He’s in a better mindset and is pushing forward.”

Jennifer was caught off-guard when Ben bought a new home: A Lopez source confirms that Affleck’s actions caught the singer off guard but says she had her suspicions “[because] he had been living in a rental.” Adds an Affleck source: “Ben moving into a new home was the closure of the relationship.”

Jennifer hoped they could work through it: Lopez was hoping they could make things work despite their issues. As Us previously reported, their hectic work schedules took a toll on the marriage. “Both have demanding careers that often require them to be in different cities,” a Lopez insider said. A second insider told Us that Lopez and Affleck were on “different pages” in life, noting that the twosome“don’t have a lot of common ground, and the honeymoon phase has worn off. In a perfect world, Jen would like to make it work with Ben. It’s heartbreaking to her and she tried very hard to make it work.”

They don’t want to drag this out? “Neither of them want this to be dragged out and contentious,” says a fourth source, noting that the stars have a prenup in place. [Their film, Unstoppable, is set to premiere in September] “Ben and Jen are in agreement that they want it to be seamless.” A fifth source confirms they have a prenup with certain conditions, so if they move forward, it won’t be long and drawn out. “Behind the scenes they have been finalizing what that will look like if they pull the trigger,” explains the fifth source. “Their main goal is to remain amicable.” The Affleck source adds they are in communication.

Ben wants to focus on himself: Affleck’s been focusing on his well-being. (The actor has been open about his past struggles with drug and alcohol addiction.) “Ben feels like he’s been weighed down this year,” says the first source. “He will always care for Jen, but he knows the marriage is done, and he wants to focus on himself right now.”

Matty D & not caring about the attention: “Matt has been so supportive throughout this ordeal,” says a fifth source. Their company, Artists Equity, is producing their upcoming film RIP. “Matt’s a great distraction, and he makes Ben laugh.” A sixth source says the Argo director isn’t overly concerned with the optics of the high-profile split: “Ben doesn’t care about the negative attention.”

[From Us Weekly]

I’m going back and forth on this. Ben’s an a–hole for the way he handled this, but also… I sort of understand why he feels the need to just cut things off rather abruptly and decide that he’s over this marriage. What’s wild is that he was over it back in February, during the premiere of This Is Me… Now, which was about how much she loves him and how she had been waiting for years to get back with him. He’s in the documentary too and they were actually really sweet together. But somewhere in between filming that (last year) and the premiere in February, it’s like Ben completely snapped out of it. Jane Fonda told her dumb ass that this would happen too. A lot of people told J.Lo. She didn’t listen.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, cover courtesy of Us Weekly.

The Princess of Wales hasn’t been seen since the Wimbledon men’s final on July 14th. She likely won’t be seen for the rest of the summer, and there’s growing evidence that she has nothing on her calendar for autumn as well. Which is the subject of this new exclusive from the Daily Beast’s Royalist. Sources tell Royalist’s Tom Sykes that Kate has had a “brush with mortality” and that her focus, going forward, will be on her children. They’re hard-launching “Kate will barely be seen from now on.” It’s not even part-time royalty, it’s not even half-out royalty. It’s something else entirely.

Sources say the Princess of Wales’ treatment for cancer is understood to be going well, but that her “brush with mortality” will lead her to focus on her family and children. On a positive note, reports that Kate is intending to travel to Balmoral for the traditional royal summer vacation coincides with friends telling The Daily Beast that her ongoing treatment for cancer is progressing well.

It is thought the smaller Wales family are unlikely to travel this year to Tresco, a small island off the coast of Cornwall, where they have often spent summer holidays. However, The Daily Beast has been told that the couple are aiming to be in Balmoral either for the opening of the grouse-shooting season on Aug. 12 or shortly thereafter. William and Kate both shoot.

One friend of the couple told The Daily Beast: “Kate has been exceptionally open and honest about her health. Making two appearances before the summer break, at Wimbledon and Trooping the Colour, was a clear signal that she is doing well. That is what we are hearing privately as well—it’s not over but there is lots of optimism, lots of positivity.”

The friend added that they understood Kate was still receiving chemotherapy for cancer which was found when she underwent abdominal surgery at the beginning of the year. The friend said: “It is obviously still an incredibly worrying time but all the signs are that her cancer treatment, which is ongoing, is progressing well.”

Another source, a Buckingham Palace insider, said they understood there was no sense that Kate was expected to be back on duty for the traditionally busy period of royal engagements that kicks off in the first week of September and runs through to Christmas. The source said: “There is still nothing in her diary. My understanding is that people are going to have to get used to seeing a lot less of Kate. The priority for her now is going to be family and the children. The youngest of those kids, Louis, is only 6. Like a lot of people who have a brush with mortality, Kate is going to prioritize the things that matter to her from now on. In her case, that means her kids.”

The source added that ongoing concerns around King Charles’ health were also likely to have shaped her new attitude, saying: “Charles is doing a magnificent job fighting his cancer but he is still unwell. It is being fantastically well managed to give the impression that everything is fine, but it is noticeable to those of us who are aware of such things that the engagements are shorter and carefully scheduled; for example he sometimes arrives by helicopter at the last minute before being choppered away and presumably collapsing in an armchair at home.”

“Charles’ cancer hasn’t gone away, the palace have said as much, and to be brutally honest, the once-popular notion that he will live to a similar age as his mother [94] or father [99] is now less widespread. I think that has very much focused Kate’s mind on the fact that there may only be a few years of freedom left. What does she want to do with them? Nurture her kids and try her best to equip them for the life ahead of them.”

Another friend of the wider family told The Daily Beast that the royals were expected to descend on Balmoral en masse for the opening of the grouse-shooting season on Aug. 12, known colloquially as the “Glorious Twelfth.” The friend said: “Balmoral is basically a very fancy Victorian hunting lodge. That is what you do up there: You go out shooting, you fish, and you have lunch in the hut. It is an important ritual for Kate and William to take their children there for the Glorious Twelfth and that is the goal this year.”

[From The Daily Beast]

“I think that has very much focused Kate’s mind on the fact that there may only be a few years of freedom left” – this sort of goes back to what Tina Brown said and wrote in March, that Kensington Palace was “flailing” from one crisis to the next and “Catherine is battling more — much more — than cancer. A tidal wave of premature responsibility is crashing in her and William’s direction.” She said that Kate and William were “frozen with intense anxiety” because they felt like they would become king and queen sooner rather than later. So basically, Kate isn’t even going to pretend to work until Charles dies and she becomes queen consort? I mean… that does seem to be what these “sources” are saying. Also: lol, no, Kate was not “exceptionally honest about her health.”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

For months, I’ve been trying to put my finger on why Sabrina Carpenter looks and feels sort of familiar in the celebrity world. I think I’ve got it – looks-wise, she’s really reminiscent of a young Hayden Panetierre. Gossip-wise, Sabrina is following an Ariana Grande path. Does that make sense? It makes sense to me. Anyway, it is arguably the “summer of Sabrina.” I would argue that Kendrick Lamar’s Drake-diss tracks were much more important to the summer music scene, but sure, Sabrina’s two singles have been everywhere in recent months. I prefer “Espresso,” which is super-catchy. “Please Please Please” annoys the crap out of me. So, Sabrina covers the latest issue of Variety and they did a pretty decent profile of her, introducing her to people (like me) who really don’t know much about her. Some highlights:

Her child-actor years: “I got an agent — the same one I have now — and he was very realistic. He said, ‘We’ll send you out for things — no promise that they’re even going to see your tape.’ But then, not to brag, I booked one of the first things I ever went for”: an episode of “Law & Order” in which Carpenter played a victim of abuse by a sex-trafficking ring — at the ripe old age of 11. “It was such a sad plotline. I was just fascinated by all of it. I had spent so much time with adults that I just knew how to talk to them. Now all my friends are my age, but when I was younger, I was always working with adults. I just always knew what to say and how to act.”

Her early albums, made when she was a kid: “For the people who love those early records and listen to them, I love you for that. But I personally feel a sense of separation from them, largely due to the shift in who I am as a person and as an artist, pre-pandemic and post-pandemic.”

The love triangle: On it, Carpenter references the narrative around a Gen-Z love triangle allegedly involving her and fellow Disney stars Joshua Bassett and Olivia Rodrigo. Although the full story has never been revealed, all three singers have released songs inspired by the situation — including Rodrigo’s 2021 breakthrough hit, “Drivers License” — and the ensuing scrutiny from fans and the media. For her part, Carpenter sings in “Because I Liked a Boy,” “Now I’m a homewrecker, I’m a slut / I got death threats fillin’ up semi trucks.” (She declines to discuss the situation further.)

Her friendship with Taylor Swift & getting permission to do a Skims campaign: “Taylor is a rock star! She’s just such a gangster with all of it. No matter what people are saying, everything that I’ve ever seen her tackle, she’s done so with grace. The posts about me having to ‘ask for her permission’ — no. She’s one of my best, best friends, and we grab dinner or text and catch up like you would with your best friend.” She nods to the mentorship she’s received from Swift and others as she grapples with her own rapidly rising fame. “It’s so cool for me to get a perspective on this whole process from her and the community of artists that I feel I’m close to — to get advice from them on stuff that you can’t just ask the internet. We’re always playing each other our [music], and whenever I start to think, ‘Maybe I’ll get on Twitter and say something about this,’ I’m always like, ‘Maybe I’ll write a song instead.’”

Dating Bary Keoghan, who stars in the “Please Please Please” video: “He loved the song. He’s obsessed with the lyrics, and I’m so grateful for that. I don’t want to sound biased, but I think he’s one of the best actors of this generation. So getting to see him on the screen with my song as the soundtrack made the video better and all the more special.”

Sabrina is a Taurus: “Barry’s a Libra, and so is my sister. They’re very different, but they have similarities. I tend to gravitate towards Leos as well… My dad’s a Capricorn, so maybe that’s not the direction for my future.”

[From Variety]

She’s 25 years old, in case you’re wondering. She comes across like so many former Disney actors – like she’s used to being the precocious kid in the room, the only kid surrounded by adults. I still say the Disney/child-actor system leads to a huge amount of dysfunction in adulthood, but I will also admit that it seems to be getting better? Like, Disney is no longer so strict with their image-maintenance of child stars and it’s easier for people like Sabrina and Olivia Rodrigo to just transition into adult stardom or adult music careers.

This week’s Variety cover story:

Summer of Sabrina Carpenter: Hitting No. 1 on the Charts, Getting Advice From ‘Best Friend’ Taylor Swift and What Barry Keoghan Really Thinks About Her Lyricshttps://t.co/sp9osTSpa3 pic.twitter.com/N7iCKRwVGq

— Variety (@Variety) August 6, 2024

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Nothing quite makes me feel as old as seeing my son go off to college, but seeing celebrity kids and viral Internet kids grow up is a close second. The Apparently kid, Noah Ritter, became a viral sensation in 2014 after a quick interview at the county fair in Wayne County, Pennsylvania. Noah, who was there with his Grandpa Jack, told WNEP-TV about his experience on the super slide, using the word “apparently” so many times it became a meme. He said, “And apparently, I’ve never been on live television before. I don’t watch the news, because I’m a kid and apparently Grandpa… just gives me the remote after we watch the Powerball.” He went on to say that he was “scared half to death” by the super slide. It was adorable and Noah is full of personality. Well Noah is now 15(!) and is still very close to his Grandpa Jack. The two went back to the Wayne County fair together to recreate his viral moment and talk about what they’re doing now, ten years after his instant fame. This news clip and story were so heartwarming to me! You can see the video below, and here’s People’s writeup:

Over the weekend, now-15-year-old Noah Ritter once again appeared on local Pennsylvania ABC affiliate WNEP to recreate his classic viral video at the Wayne County Fair.

On Sunday, Aug. 4, the outlet shared a video of the teen reciting a few of the iconic lines that he used to steal the show during his accidental monologue at the very same location a decade ago.

“And apparently, I’ve never been on live television before,” he said, imitating his 5-year-old voice. “Grandpa gives me the remote every time [sic] we watch the Powerball”

When asked how it feels to say those words into a WNEP microphone again all these years later, Ritter said that “it feels pretty good.”

“I feel nostalgic about it,” he added. “It makes me reminisce about being here in this exact spot 10 years ago.”

Ritter and partner in crime “Grandpa Jack” also reflected on the days that followed Ritter’s rise to fame, in which they frequently flew to California so Ritter could appear on The Ellen Degeneres Show.

Among the stars he met back in the day because of his hit video were Jennifer Garner, Sofia Vergara, Jim Carrey, Bryce Dallas Howard, and even Bill Clinton.

Ritter and his grandfather still post videos together on his YouTube channel, but the teen has less free time because of his busy high school schedule. “Now I’m juggling YouTube, school, football, track [and] a bunch of other stuff,” Ritter told WNEP. “I’m going into my sophomore year, getting ready to drive.”

[From People]

I didn’t realize that Noah had been on Ellen a couple of times and that he’d also been a child judge on the reality series The Toy Box (which I completely forgot about). This was just a quick news segment so they didn’t get into it, but it sounded like that time was grueling for him. His grandpa said that Noah had to film eight hours a day and get four hours of schooling. The show aired in 2017 and 2018, and Noah was on the only judge who appeared on both seasons, when he was aged seven to eight. How is that legal to do to a kid that age?!

Noah is involved in sports at school including football and track and is going to be in 10th grade next year. Grandpa Jack is now a widower and spends his time with Noah. They love watching movies together, which they review on Noah’s YouTube Channel. I watched their review for The Fall Guy, which I completely disagree with since I loved it and they disliked it, but it’s cute seeing them together. I’m so glad Noah is doing well and that he’s still best friends with his Grandpa Jack.

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A post shared by Noah Ritter (@noahritter)

One of the very first things that children are taught in school, at home, etc. is the “Alphabet Song.” Sung to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” the “Alphabet Song” is a classic tool for teaching the building blocks of literacy. In America, everyone knows it, it’s universal! Apparently, the latest trend in education is to teach a newer version of the song. This version breaks up the rhythm of saying the letters of the alphabet in a way that’s different than we’re used to. Instead of the usual rhyming scheme that contains the infamous “HIJK / LMNOP,” the new way of saying it breaks up the letters differently and eliminates the word “and” in between Y and Z. The new breakdown is as follows: “ABCDEFG / HIJKLMN / OPQ / RST / UVW / XYZ.”

An elementary school teacher has confirmed schools are teaching a different version of the “Alphabet Song” and why they are doing it. Alphabet knowledge and the understanding of letter forms, names and corresponding sounds represents the crucial foundation blocks of emergent literacy in children.

A 2004 longitudinal comparative analysis published in the Journal of Educational Psychology highlighted how a child’s knowledge of these letter names and sounds serves as an accurate predictor of their later reading and spelling abilities.

That’s what makes something like the “Alphabet Song,” sung to the familiar tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” such an important tool in starting to develop those skills and understanding. Rachel, an elementary school teacher from Atlanta, Georgia, who posts TikToks under the handle teacherrachelsorsel, is a keen advocate of the song’s use in her classroom.

Rachel, who asked that her surname not be included, told Newsweek: “When kids are first learning to read, they haven’t yet developed the ‘alphabetic principle,’ which is understanding that those squiggles we call letters each have different names and spell sounds. Songs make learning ‘sticky,’ so the alphabet song is a helpful way to introduce, learn, and practice the beginnings of this concept.”

Now in her fifth year as a first grade teacher, Rachel specializes in structured literacy, literacy intervention, and dyslexia so, when she saw a tweet doing the rounds explaining that the way kids sing the “Alphabet Song” had changed, she was perfectly placed to explain exactly why in a video posted to her TikTok account.

The original post, shared by a user writing under the handle mostly_cheese, read: “My 5-year-old twins have informed me I sing the alphabet wrong. Tune is the same, but the new rendition their teacher prefers breaks down as follows:
ABCDEFG / HIJKLMN / OPQ / RST / UVW / XYZ.”

“One of the first assessments I do when I work with a struggling reader is to have them write the alphabet for me,” she said. “So many of them sing the song to help them get through all of the letters, and let me tell you the amount of kids that get so stumped when they hit ‘LMNOP’ is baffling.”

Rachel noted many kids also struggle with letters at the end of the alphabet because of the “and” between y and z in the traditional song and that represents a fundamental flaw in the old version of the song.

“If students aren’t hearing all of the letter names, there is something missing conceptually,” she said.

When Rachel attempted to explain this on her video, she said many commenting said that the problem was down to the fact kids were not “enunciating all the letters” but she rejects that notion.

“Kids are still developing phonemic awareness, which is the ability to hear, isolate, and manipulate individual sounds in language,” she said. “Even a perfectly enunciated traditional alphabet song may still be confusing to kids.”

Ultimately, when it comes to the new version of the song versus the old, in her experience most kids are “flexible” when it comes to learning. “Kids are really receptive to this practice, and when you explain why the change was made, the majority of kids I work with say ‘Oh that makes so much sense.’ Even kids who don’t necessarily struggle hear this version and explanation and understand the need for the change, noting peers or siblings that say ‘Ellamenoh’ for LMNO!” she said. “If kids were taught a more developmentally appropriate version in the first place, some of this early intervention and reteaching may not be needed.”

Though she noted many commenting on her video insisted they had “turned out fine” despite learning the old version of the song, she is firmly in favor of this more effective approach.

“While learning the alphabet song does not equate to reading, rapid automatic naming of all letters is a strong early predictor of literacy skills. If kids are struggling with the alphabet, then of course they are going to struggle with reading,” Rachel said. “Making changes to the way we teach foundational skills is extremely helpful to lay the groundwork for the trickier parts of teaching and learning reading.”

[From Newsweek]

So…thoughts on the new version of the song? Not to sound like a fuddy duddy but it sounds so weird to me! I suppose if you sing anything with enough repetition, it will catch on, but did it really need to be changed? I can get behind some of the other changes made in schools, like describing sitting with your legs crossed on the ground as “criss cross applesauce” but the ABC song is a GD generational staple! I am all for progress in the classroom to keep up with the times, though, especially if a previously unaddressed, widespread issue is finally getting the attention it deserves. Teachers out there, was “LMNOP” really f-cking kids up that much? Isn’t this where visual learning also comes into play? I would love to hear if there is more on-the-ground educational value behind this change. If there is, then I will adjust my alphabet song reciting accordingly.

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