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Elton John’s annual Oscars viewing party was not shaken by the pandemic. Keeping up a yearly tradition, the 29th Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards celebration shifted to a virtual format this year instead of its usual venue in West Hollywood.
Sunday’s gala, hosted by John, husband David Furnish and actor Neil Patrick Harris, featured a performance from pop musician Dua Lipa, who sang “Levitating,” “Pretty Please,” “Hallucinate” and “Don’t Start Now” from her acclaimed sophomore album, “Future Nostalgia.”
The crescendo of the night featured a piano-backed duet with John and Lipa who changed into a long-sleeved silver gown embedded with diamonds. The duo performed “Bennie and the Jets” from John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” album and “Love Again” from “Future Nostalgia.”
Skip to main content It s a Sin on HBO Max shows an utterly devastating view of AIDS in 1980s London
Peter-Astrid Kane
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Lydia West as Jill Baxter and Nathaniel Curtis as Ash Mukherjee in It s a Sin on HBO Max.Ben Blackall/HBO Max
“La!”
Sung cheerfully, that one syllable occurs again and again in HBO Max’s It’s a Sin as a marker of group identity. Set in London in 1981 (but filmed in Manchester), the show stars a group of gay men and their straight den mother who utter la to one another in every possible context. It s Liverpool slang, but sun-spoken in their staccato, theatrical way, it s more like aloha. It functions as hello and goodbye, but also “I’m here for you” and “I see you” and “I’m going out for the night, and when I get home, there’s a good chance something terrible may have happened and I will need you to help me get through it.”
Russell T. Davies Receives Positive Note From Tony Kushner Amid It’s a Sin Controversy
Dave Benett/Getty Images; Walter McBride/Getty Images
HBO Max s acclaimed series about the HIV crisis in England has faced backlash for a monologue about promiscuity, but the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer offered support to the series creator.
During amfAR s virtual conversation for
It s a Sin, HBO Max s epic tale of the HIV crisis in England, host and Tony-nominated playwright Matthew Lopez (
The Inheritance) asked creator Russell T. Davies to respond to criticism of the show from such well-known AIDS activists as Peter Staley.
Despite an overwhelmingly positive reception from critics and audiences alike, Staley, posting on his personal Facebook page, took issue with the series-ending monologue that connects shame and homophobia to promiscuity, particularly when it came to the lead character of Ritchie, played by Olly Alexander. Staley connected the dots and called bullshit, adding,
It s A Sin breaks your heart—and it should | The McGill Tribune mcgilltribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mcgilltribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.