The daily gossip: December 30, 2019

1. Barack Obama reveals his favorite movies of 2019

Trying to cram in a few of the year’s best movies before 2020 rolls around? You could always start with the list posted by former U.S. president Barack Obama, who took to social media to reveal his favorite movies of 2019. Obama's personal favorites of the year included Little Women, Marriage Story, and The Irishman, along with a series of other awards hopefuls. (Cats didn't make the list, so we're assuming he just hasn't seen it yet.)

The Hollywood Reporter

2. Sharon Stone got booted from a dating app that assumed her profile was a fake

Dating apps are full of pitfalls, but celebrities face a unique one: Being mistaken for a catfish. That's what happened to actress Sharon Stone, who took to Twitter to complain that she had been booted from Bumble after multiple men — refusing to believe, perhaps understandably, that the Basic Instinct star has swiped right on them — reported her account as a fake. While Bumble has since restored the account, take it from everybody else on the dating apps, Sharon: They were probably doing you a favor.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Page Six

3. Zac Efron hospitalized while filming Killing Zac Efron

In a joke that basically writes itself — but would be way, way less funny if it didn't have a happy ending — Zac Efron was hospitalized with a dangerous bacterial infection while filming an upcoming reality series called Killing Zac Efron. Killing Zac Efron, which premieres on Quibi in 2020, will follow Zac Efron as he spends 21 days wandering around an Australian jungle with nothing but basic gear, and I guess we now have confirmation that he actually committed to the premise. Efron confirmed on social media that he was treated at the hospital but "bounced back quickly" and has since returned home — so maybe it's not too late to change the show's title to Almost Killing Zac Efron.

Page Six

4. Ryan Reynolds confirms Deadpool 3 is happening

When squeaky-clean Disney purchased 21st Century Fox last year, many superhero fans wondered about the fate of the hit Deadpool franchise, which is... well, not exactly squeaky-clean, and has made several pointed potshots at the notoriously humorless Walt Disney Company itself. Never fear, says star Ryan Reynolds: Deadpool 3 is still happening, because even Disney, in all its pride, can't resist the opportunity to scoop another $1 billion or so out of the box office.

Entertainment Weekly

5. Netflix says its most popular original TV shows of 2019 were Stranger Things, The Witcher, The Umbrella Academy

Breaking: Netflix TV shows are popular, says Netflix! The streaming company released a list of what it claims are its most-streamed original TV shows of 2019, which is topped by perennial hit Stranger Things, Game of Thrones wannabe The Witcher, and vaguely superhero-flavored thing The Umbrella Academy, which are all due for new seasons. Of course, since Netflix refuses to provide any actual streaming numbers, you could probably just as accurately call this the list of things people streamed when they ran out of Friends, The Office, and Frasier episodes to stream.

Variety