Sign up to get Today’s Best Articles in your inbox
Join 350,000+ subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of
The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
1. Mariah Carey's 'All I Want for Christmas is You' finally hit No. 1
'Tis the season for miracles, and here's a pretty good one: Mariah Carey's inescapable "All I Want for Christmas Is You" just hit No. 1 on the charts for the first time ever — a full 25 years after its original 1994 release. The song earned the record via a combination of sales data, radio play, and individual streams, so really, we all earned this honor. The only other Christmas song ever to top the charts is "The Chipmunk Song," so please, Santa, make my wish come true and send that back to No. 1 next.
2. Quentin Tarantino might not make that Star Trek movie after all
It always seemed a little strange that Quentin Tarantino had been tapped to make a new Star Trek movie; the latter is all about exploration and optimism, and the former is all about shooting people in the head while delivering long speeches about The Smurfs or whatever. So it's no shock that the director has decided he might not be interested in making a Star Trek movie after all. "I think I'm steering away from Star Trek, but I haven't had an official conversation with those guys yet," said Tarantino in an interview. Good news, buddy: They've definitely heard now!
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
3. James Bond director Sam Mendes: 'When I think of them my stomach churns'
After Skyfall and Spectre, director Sam Mendes vacated the director's chair for the upcoming 007 movie, No Time to Die, to Cary Fukunaga. And when asked about his reflections on his time spent with James Bond, Mendes didn't mince words: "When I think of them my stomach churns," he said. Mendes also added, rather dramatically, that when you're making a James Bond movie, "There is no victory. Just survival" — so apparently he was also a Bond villain this entire time.
4. Taylor Swift's Cats song has already been snubbed by the Oscars
We're just a few days from the release of a movie that audiences around the world have dreamed about for years and years. The new Star Wars. Oh, and also — maybe, I guess, for somebody? — the Cats movie. Alas, Cats isn't even in theaters yet and it's already taking a few licks: "Beautiful Ghosts," a new song Taylor Swift co-wrote with Andrew Lloyd Webber, hasn't even made the shortlist of potential nominees for Best Song at next year's Academy Awards ceremony. But on the bright side, this does mean we'll probably be spared the sight of the Oscars host strutting out to the stage in a catsuit.
Sign up to get Today’s Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the day’s biggest news and analysis – and the best features from TheWeek.com
5. The Olsen twins weren't asked to return for the new season of Fuller House
Over five seasons, fans of Netflix's Full House sequel series Fuller House have hoped for the return of either Mary-Kate or Ashley Olsen as youngest daughter Michelle. Tragically, both sisters repeatedly turned down offers to appear in early seasons, and the rejection was apparently disappointing enough that star Candace Cameron Bure has revealed that the Olsens weren't even asked to appear in season five. "It was very clear several seasons ago that they did not want to do it," said Bure — and why wouldn't they want to pop in just to turn to the camera and say, "You got it, dude" to a bunch of screaming Full House diehards?
Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.
