Pop star George Michael’s Christmas Day death in 2016 came as a shock, but the day the 53-year-old singer died was especially poignant, especially to those who knew how much Michael loved Christmas.
Michael’s former music manager, Simon Napier-Bell was enjoying a peaceful, candlelit dinner with his partner of 30 years when his phone rang on that fateful day.
“I was sitting by the River Sarawak in Borneo having Christmas dinner with my partner, my boyfriend of 30 years,” he recalled to Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “And there it came on my phone all of a sudden. ‘Can I talk to you?’ Journalists, journalists, journalists saying, ‘We got to talk to you. George Michael is dead.”
Napier-Bell added with a laugh, “It definitely, definitely spoiled my Christmas. So thank you, George. But I would have said that to him if he had been there. It was a shock and was really an awful thing to happen.
Michael’s former music manager, Simon Napier-Bell was enjoying a peaceful, candlelit dinner with his partner of 30 years when his phone rang on that fateful day.
“I was sitting by the River Sarawak in Borneo having Christmas dinner with my partner, my boyfriend of 30 years,” he recalled to Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “And there it came on my phone all of a sudden. ‘Can I talk to you?’ Journalists, journalists, journalists saying, ‘We got to talk to you. George Michael is dead.”
Napier-Bell added with a laugh, “It definitely, definitely spoiled my Christmas. So thank you, George. But I would have said that to him if he had been there. It was a shock and was really an awful thing to happen.
- 7/21/2023
- by Gina Ragusa
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Animated adventures as well as classics based on true stories abound on Netflix in July 2023. From theatrical releases that made waves — such as James Cameron’s “Titanic” to DreamWorks’ “Puss in Boots” — we’re running down some of the best new movies to stream on Netflix this month.
Those in the mood for family fun should check out “They Cloned Tyrone,” “The Out-Laws” and “Happiness for Beginners.” “Tyrone,” starring John Boyega and Jamie Foxx promises thrilling scenes and an overall suspenseful setting. “The Out-Laws,” starring Adam Devine, Nina Dobrev, Ellen Barkin, Pierce Brosnan and Poorna Jagannathan, combines action, danger and raunchy humor. “Happiness for Beginners” was adapted from comfort book queen Katherine Center, author of the novel of the same name, and stars Ellie Kemper and Luke Grimes.
Read on below for our curated picks for the best new movies to watch on Netflix in July.
Also Read:
The 25 Best...
Those in the mood for family fun should check out “They Cloned Tyrone,” “The Out-Laws” and “Happiness for Beginners.” “Tyrone,” starring John Boyega and Jamie Foxx promises thrilling scenes and an overall suspenseful setting. “The Out-Laws,” starring Adam Devine, Nina Dobrev, Ellen Barkin, Pierce Brosnan and Poorna Jagannathan, combines action, danger and raunchy humor. “Happiness for Beginners” was adapted from comfort book queen Katherine Center, author of the novel of the same name, and stars Ellie Kemper and Luke Grimes.
Read on below for our curated picks for the best new movies to watch on Netflix in July.
Also Read:
The 25 Best...
- 7/16/2023
- by Dessi Gomez and Drew Taylor
- The Wrap
The “Wham!” documentary on Netflix hit me like, well, you can guess.
Wham! was formed in 1982, the year after I was born; by the time I turned four, the pop duo was done. So you’ll forgive me if I lacked some context of the group’s real-time rise to stardom and ultimate split. Enter: Netflix, director Chris Smith (“Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond”), and Andrew Ridgeley’s mom.
When I streamed the self-titled Netflix doc, released on June 17, I didn’t expect much more than 92 minutes of schlock, a few catchy tunes, and maybe a good explanation for the “Choose Life” shirts from 1984’s very 1980s “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” music video.
To my surprise, what we also didn’t get from “Wham!” was much George Michael drama. If that sounds like a major omission, given his various drug charges and one very famous 1998 arrest for...
Wham! was formed in 1982, the year after I was born; by the time I turned four, the pop duo was done. So you’ll forgive me if I lacked some context of the group’s real-time rise to stardom and ultimate split. Enter: Netflix, director Chris Smith (“Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond”), and Andrew Ridgeley’s mom.
When I streamed the self-titled Netflix doc, released on June 17, I didn’t expect much more than 92 minutes of schlock, a few catchy tunes, and maybe a good explanation for the “Choose Life” shirts from 1984’s very 1980s “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” music video.
To my surprise, what we also didn’t get from “Wham!” was much George Michael drama. If that sounds like a major omission, given his various drug charges and one very famous 1998 arrest for...
- 7/13/2023
- by Tony Maglio
- Indiewire
George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley in Wham! Photo: Courtesy of Netflix © 2023 Wham!, Netflix, streaming now
This breezy and warm-hearted look at the brief but bright career of Wham! Is a perfect slice of summer entertainment. Focused on the friendship between Andrew Ridgeley and George Michael from childhood on up, voiceover from the two of them flows over well-edited archive footage, including home video and more familiar concert film. While Chris Smith’s film doesn’t shy away from Michael’s personal struggles at the time, its main focus is on the fast development of his talent. It also gives Ridgeley his due as a vital part of the band and their success. As is fitting for the bubblegum pop outfit, it fizzes along with plenty of fun details and, of course, all the hits.
It Follows, 9pm, HorrorXtra (Freeview Channel 69), Monday, July 9
Jennie Kermode writes: Premiered at Cannes in 2014, in...
This breezy and warm-hearted look at the brief but bright career of Wham! Is a perfect slice of summer entertainment. Focused on the friendship between Andrew Ridgeley and George Michael from childhood on up, voiceover from the two of them flows over well-edited archive footage, including home video and more familiar concert film. While Chris Smith’s film doesn’t shy away from Michael’s personal struggles at the time, its main focus is on the fast development of his talent. It also gives Ridgeley his due as a vital part of the band and their success. As is fitting for the bubblegum pop outfit, it fizzes along with plenty of fun details and, of course, all the hits.
It Follows, 9pm, HorrorXtra (Freeview Channel 69), Monday, July 9
Jennie Kermode writes: Premiered at Cannes in 2014, in...
- 7/10/2023
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Unabashed pop groups with fervid teenage followings tend to get trivialized, at least in the media. They’re dismissed as being slick and calculated and superficial. But there’s a story in “Wham!,” the new Netflix documentary about the quintessential pop duo of the 1980s, that testifies to what a chancy and audacious artist George Michael was even back in his teen-idol days.
The year is 1983. Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, coming off their first album, “Fantastic”, have established Wham! as an effective lightweight pop machine, with its two young stars prancing around the stage in sexy sportswear. The time has come to record “Careless Whisper,” a song they’ve had in their back pocket for several years (we hear the super-early demo version of it that they recorded in 1981 in Ridgeley’s living room on a Teac 4-track Portastudio). Michael has become enough of a powerhouse to hook up with Jerry Wexler,...
The year is 1983. Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, coming off their first album, “Fantastic”, have established Wham! as an effective lightweight pop machine, with its two young stars prancing around the stage in sexy sportswear. The time has come to record “Careless Whisper,” a song they’ve had in their back pocket for several years (we hear the super-early demo version of it that they recorded in 1981 in Ridgeley’s living room on a Teac 4-track Portastudio). Michael has become enough of a powerhouse to hook up with Jerry Wexler,...
- 7/8/2023
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
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