The Weekend Read: Rock ‘N’ Roll ‘Resident Evil’, Inside Taylor Swift’s Emmys Cameo, Rosalind Eleazar’s Dream Role & The Best Party Crasher Ever

• ‘Resident Evil’ – The Verdict

  

  After exploding onto the horror movie scene with fresh and inventive films Barbarian and the Oscar-winning Weapons, I was a little worried to hear Zach Cregger‘s next film was going to be yet another entry in Sony’s Resident Evil franchise that already has spawned about eight movies, six of them starring Milla Jovocich’s Alice — from 2002 to the promised “Final Chapter” in 2016. A reboot came in 2021, a Netflix TV show … you name it for the infamous video game-inspired series. Was Cregger, a truly much needed and acclaimed original voice in the genre, cashing in already? Please God, no…

  Read Pete Hammond’s full review here.

• How Emmys Producers Made Taylor Swift’s Top Secret Emmys Cameo Happen – And Everything Else

  

  That Taylor Swift cameo at the Emmys was actually filmed on the Law & Order: SVU set, by the way.

  After Monday night’s telecast of the 78th Emmy awards, producers Jesse Collins, Dionne Harmon and Jeannae Rouzan-Clay joined NBCUniversal’s EVP of Live Events & Specials Jen Neal to break down the biggest moments from the show, including Swift’s surprise, if pre-recorded, appearance.

  The network went into the night making a splash by hiring Hargitay as the first woman to host the ceremony in 15 years. Naturally, she called upon several of her very equally famous friends for the occasion, spoofed her own show, and even sang.

  Here, the producers explain what worked in their favor during a show that saw several broken records, including for Widow’s Bay (which won a historic number of trophies for a comedy series in a single year) and welcomed many of Hargitay’s personal friends to the Emmys TV stage.

  Read Katie Campione’s interview with the Emmys producers here.

• How Rosalind Eleazar Manifested ‘Misty Green’

  

  Slow Horses star Rosalind Eleazar says she fights hard for roles that “people don’t immediately assume I could play.” The latest example of this is her titular role in Misty Green, the new film from director-writer-producer Chris Rock, in which he also stars.

  Misty Green is a Hollywood actress who no longer has the town at her feet. A fast and loose substance abuse lifestyle has knocked her down from acclaim to disdain and forced her to beg for even minor auditions. Yet, Misty is like “a jaguar” — to use Eleazar’s term. She swirls around Los Angeles with a swaggering brio that belies her penurious circumstances.

  Read Baz Bamigboye’s interview with Eleazar here.

• The Tale Of The Ultimate Hollywood Party Crasher

  

  On Sept. 22, 1985, the Pasadena Civic Auditorium was filled with 2,700 members of the year’s television elite, gathered together for the 37^th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. Hosted by Dynasty star John Forsythe, the ceremony was broadcast on ABC to 15.8 million homes – a staggering number today – and the stage was set to receive a glitterati of Emmy Award recipients: Robert Guillaume, Tyne Daly, Williams Daniels, Richard Crenna, John Larroquette, Rhea Perlman, Edward James Olmos, David Letterman and… a man called Barry Bremen.

  At this moment, it’s fair to ask: Barry who?

  Tall, handsome, tan and, most importantly, possessed of a palpable confidence, Bremen certainly looked the part in his chic tuxedo, trendy pink bowtie and matching cummerbund. But the truth was a lot less glitzy: he had next to zero Industry connections. And yet, he’d happily slid into his third-row aisle seat, and made small talk with his neighbor, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. star Robert Vaughn.

  Read author Scott Huver’s full investigation into Emmys-crasher Barry Bremen here.

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