Nicole Kidman, Kim Kardashian top 2022’s most controversial U.S. magazine covers

Congratulations are in order for actress Nicole Kidman for appearing on two of the most talked-about magazine covers in the U.S. in 2022.
This year, she tied reality TV star Kim Kardashian, who also had two controversial magazine covers. Kardashian is no stranger to “breaking the internet” with her photo shoots.
What follows are the most controversial U.S. magazine covers of 2022.

Much digital ink was spilled this year discussing Nicole Kidman’s cover photo on Vanity Fair’s Hollywood Issue in February. The 54-year-old actress wore an infamously short Miu Miu skirt and matching top, displaying her toned torso.
Critics complained that the outfit was age inappropriate. Others opined that her body must have been Photoshopped. Some insisted that she was fitness-shaming middle-aged women.
(See articles by Yahoo, Fox News, Page Six, Newsweek, and the Independent.)

Kidman courted controversy again with her cover photo for Perfect magazine in August. In the cover shot, she showed off her ripped biceps and tight abs. Again, some people accused the magazine of Photoshop editing.
Also, several opinion writers, including Prof. Joyce Harper, said the magazine was presenting unrealistic fitness standards for older women, including those in menopause.
(See article by the Daily Mail.)

Actress Jennifer Aniston faced similar criticisms for her cover photo on the December issue of Allure. The 53-year-old wore a revealing Chanel “nipplekini,” previously worn by Kim Kardashian. British pundit Piers Morgan slammed the cover as “tacky.”
(See articles by Newsweek, Glamour, Maxim and Slate.)

Speaking of Kim Kardashian, she was accused of “blackfishing” with her March cover of Vogue magazine. Blackfishing means appropriating black American culture through make-up, fashion, styling and poses. (See article by the Sydney Morning Herald.)

Kardashian again courted controversy with her butt-baring cover on the September issue of Interview magazine. (See articles by the New York Post, Fox News, the Daily Mail, Piers Morgan, the Daily Telegraph and Koimoi.com.)

Self Magazine was accused of promoting obesity as the “future of fitness” with its January cover story. (See article by the Federalist.)

Controversial Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson sparked a firestorm of criticism after commenting on plus-size model Yumi Nu on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. He tweeted, “Sorry. Not beautiful.” (See articles by the Daily Mail, Mediaite, Maxim and Forbes.)

People magazine was accused of fat-shaming with its May 30 cover story on actress Rebel Wilson. (See article by New York Post.)

GQ magazine was roasted for its bizarre cover photo on the August issue that made actor Brad Pitt look like a wax figure or a corpse. (See articles by Fox News, the Guardian, Los Angeles Times, and the U.S. Sun.)

Speaking of people that look like corpses, New York Magazine did a cover story in June on 89-year-old U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. The Daily Caller said she looked like the living dead in the cover photo.

New York Magazine also got people talking with its Dec. 19 cover illustration and story on “nepo-babies” and nepotism in Hollywood. (See articles by the Daily Mail, BuzzFeed, the Independent, New York Post, and Deadline.)

2022’s most controversial foreign magazine covers

The most controversial foreign magazine covers of 2022 hit such hot button topics as race and sexism.

Critics accused British Vogue of “fetishizing” black women with its February 2022 cover. Some people called the cover offensive for its dark lighting, makeup, and styling of the nine female African models. (See articles by the Daily Mail and CNN.)

Vanitha Magazine in India was roundly criticized last January for a cover story featuring actor Dileep, who is accused in a kidnapping and sexual assault case involving a female actor. (See articles by The Quint, the News Minute and International Business Times.)

Critics called an i-D magazine cover photo of 16-year-old Cruz Beckham “inappropriate.” The magazine’s spring issue showed the youngest son of David and Victoria Beckham shirtless, in his underwear and with his pants pulled down. (See articles by Yahoo, Daily Record, the Mail, and Irish Mirror.)

CR Fashion Book China incensed fans of legendary film actress Marilyn Monroe in June by digitally recreating her as a modern-day supermodel. The magazine had Monroe dressing in the latest looks from fashion houses such as Miu Miu, Fendi, Balmain and Balenciaga. Fans called it an “exploitative” stunt. (See article by the Daily Mail.)

French movie magazine Le Film Français issued an apology for its Sept. 30 issue that featured seven male filmmakers on the cover but no women. (See article by Deadline.)

Israeli right-wing magazine Channel 14 stirred outrage from the LGBTQ+ community for a May issue. The cover featured an illustration depicting worshipers surrounding a rainbow “golden calf” with the title “LGBT-stan: how radical left-wing organizations control the State of Israel with the LGBT religion.” (See article by the Jerusalem Post.)

Models, athletes, actresses and pop stars who posed nude for magazine covers in 2022

An interesting group of beautiful women tossed off their clothes for magazine covers in 2022. Let’s review.

Actress Hilary Duff posed in the buff for the May/June issue of Women’s Health. (See articles by Women’s Health, Yahoo, ET Online, Daily Hive and the Independent.)

Model Kaia Gerber posed naked with her body covered in temporary tattoos for the Perfect magazine issue released in February. (See article by the Daily Mail.)

Speaking of Perfect magazine, the publication also did naked photo shoots with model Ashley Graham and actress Julia Fox. (See articles by Yahoo and Footwear News.)

Supermodel Elle Macpherson posed topless for the July issue of Elle France magazine. (See articles by Elle France and the Daily Mail.)

Supermodel Gisele Bündchen posed topless for V magazine’s summer issue. (See articles by Page Six and ET Online.)

Singer Charli XCX rocked a revealing fishnet outfit for the cover of V magazine’s fall issue. (See article by the Daily Mail.)

Singer Shenseea was nude on the cover of Numéro Netherlands magazine in April. She criticized the magazine for publishing an unauthorized photo that was heavily edited. (See articles by Yard Hype and Dance Hall Mag.)

Pro wrestler Toni Storm graced the Aug./Sept. cover of Fitness Gurls in her birthday suit. (See articles by Body Slam, Inside the Ropes, Sportskeeda and Wrestling Inc.)

Winter Olympians Lisa Buckwitz, a German bobsledder and skeleton racer, and Janine Flock, an Austrian skeleton racer, posed nude for Playboy Germany’s Olympic issue in February. (See article by the New York Post.)

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame experts make their picks for 2023 class

The nominating committee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame meets next month to come up with a list of music artists it will present to hall voters to select the 2023 class of inductees.
The “nom com” has a hugely important role in deciding who makes it into the hall. Voters can only pick from the candidates selected for them. And as we learned from last year’s voting, the actual vote tends to be a popularity contest, with household names getting an edge. (See Dolly Parton and Lionel Richie in 2022.)
In a previous post, I suggested that the nom com course-correct and offer a list heavily weighted to rock artists next time. Save the country and easy-listening artists for another time.
Artists newly eligible for induction into the hall in 2023 include Destiny’s Child, Missy Elliott, Muse and Queens of the Stone Age. Nominees should be announced in early February.
What follows are some predictions and wishful thinking by notable hall watchers.

The “Rock in Retrospect” podcast, hosted by Nick Bambach, invited four guests to make their predictions for the 2023 Rock Hall nominations. The guests included Tom Lane, Mark Lempke, David Schnelwar and Greg Peurach. The episode posted on Dec. 16.

Mariah Carey
Kate Bush
Outkast
Missy Elliott
Sheryl Crow
Dionne Warwick
Cher
George Michael
Willie Nelson
Cyndi Lauper
The B-52s
The New York Dolls
Smashing Pumpkins
Soundgarden
Kool & the Gang
Sinéad O’Connor
Mary J. Blige
Chaka Khan
Sade
Destiny’s Child
Tears for Fears
Peter Frampton
Jethro Tull
Iron Maiden
Beck

The Hall Watchers podcast announced its “23 for ’23” list of suggested artists for Rock Hall nomination on Dec. 12. The podcast is hosted by Eric Layton of E-Rockracy and his wife Mary.

Grace Jones
Suzi Quatro
Outkast
The Meters
Björk
Selena
Destiny’s Child
The Cramps
Jethro Tull
Queen Latifah
Joy Division/New Order
The Pointer Sisters
Living Colour
Black Flag
Los Lobos
Paula Abdul
Salt-N-Pepper
Motley Crue
Scorpions
Glen Campbell
Smashing Pumpkins
Siouxsie and the Banshees
Warren Zevon

Future Rock Legends made its predictions for the next Rock Hall nominations on Dec. 10.

Kate Bush
Mariah Carey
Destiny’s Child
Devo
Iron Maiden
Fela Kuti
Chaka Khan (with or without Rufus)
MC5
Missy Elliott
Outkast
Rage Against the Machine
Smashing Pumpkins
Sparks
TLC
A Tribe Called Quest
Dionne Warwick

Troy Smith, reporter for Axios Cleveland, announced his predictions for the Rock Hall nominations on Nov. 8 at Cleveland.com.

Kate Bush
Mariah Carey
Glen Campbell
Devo
The J.B.’s
Chaka Khan
Peggy Lee
MC5
George Michael
Alanis Morissette
Iron Maiden
New York Dolls
Salt-N-Pepa
Soundgarden
Sting
Tears for Fears
Dionne Warwick

Update: On Jan. 18, Smith posted an updated list to Axios.com. He scratched Glen Campbell, The J.B.’s, Peggy Lee, Alanis Morissette, Salt-N-Pepa, Sting and Tears for Fears. In their place he added these seven artists:

A Tribe Called Quest
Dr. Dre
King Crimson
Fela Kuti
Motorhead
Emmylou Harris
Thin Lizzy

Update 2: More predictions have come in from the Northumbrian Countdown and the Iconic Rock Talk Show. See also Tom Lane’s Music Blog.

Photo: Guitar artwork outside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland on Sept. 14, 2004. (Photo by Andrew Hitchcock via Creative Commons.)

Amazon Prime Video has no shortage of low-budget post-apocalyptic movies

I keep a running list of notable post-apocalyptic movies on Tech-media-tainment. The list includes theatrical releases and well-reviewed streaming and home video releases. It doesn’t include the plethora of cheap, little-seen and often poorly reviewed post-apocalyptic movies.
Many of those low-budget flicks show up on Amazon Prime Video.
What follows is the latest bunch of such genre films I’ve seen on the service. With this group, I’ve now documented 214 bargain-bin post-apocalyptic movies on Amazon Prime Video.

After The Apocalypse (2004)
Phoenix Point (2005)
Magma: Volcanic Disaster (2006)
Meteor Apocalypse (2010)
2033: Future Apocalypse (2011)
End of the World (2013)
Ninja Apocalypse (2014)
Apocalypse Female Warriors (2015)
April Apocalypse (2015)
Survivors (2015)
The Rare Earth (2015)
Breakdown Lane (2017)
Apocalypse Rising (2018)
The Day of the Living Dead (2020)
American Refugee (2021)
Apocalypse A Go Go (2021)
Companion (2021)
Stellanomicon: Future Fear (2021)
White Girl Apokalypse (2021)

Related article:

Never-ending supply of cheap post-apocalyptic movies on Amazon Prime Video (May 1, 2022)

2022 was a slow year for apocalyptic movies; Is the genre kaput?

Is the public tiring of movies set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland or before a world-ending event? Maybe.
This year, only two such movies had theatrical releases.
In February, Lionsgate released “Moonfall,” which saw the moon crashing into Earth. In September, IFC Films released “Vesper,” which takes place after the collapse of the Earth’s ecosystem. “Moonfall” was a costly flop and “Vesper” barely made a ripple at the box office.
By comparison, there were nine notable post-apocalyptic themed movies in 2021 and the same number in 2020.
No major genre releases are scheduled yet for 2023. However, quite a few high profile post-apocalyptic movies are in production, including sequels and spinoffs to “A Quiet Place,” “Max Max: Fury Road” and “Birdbox.”

Related article: The complete post-apocalyptic movie list

Photo: “Vesper” movie poster.

2023 looks like banner year for post-apocalyptic themed TV shows

Two major post-apocalyptic themed TV series ended their runs in 2022: “The Walking Dead” (AMC) after 11 seasons and “See” (Apple TV+) after three seasons. But more end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it TV shows are coming in 2023.
At least four new series are slated for release in 2023. They include “The Last of Us” on HBO Max, “Wool” on Apple TV+, “The Ark” on Syfy and “The Walking Dead: Dead City” on AMC.
First up is “The Last of Us,” which premieres on Jan. 15. Based on the popular video game series, “The Last of Us” takes place after an outbreak of a mutant Cordyceps fungus ravages the United States, transforming its human hosts into aggressive creatures known as the Infected.
Next up, “Wool” is scheduled for release in March. The series is set in a ruined and toxic future where a community lives in a massive silo, hundreds of levels underground.
Syfy plans to release its series “The Ark” sometime in 2023. The show takes place 100 years in the future, aboard the Ark One — a star-cruising vessel carrying humanity’s last hope for survival. When the ship sustains heavy casualties, the remaining passengers must band together and complete the mission of finding a new planetary home, the destination of which is more than a year away.
Also coming this year is “The Walking Dead: Dead City,” a spinoff of the just-concluded parent series. It’s one of three planned follow-on series. “Dead City” focuses on characters Negan and Maggie navigating the zombie apocalypse in New York City. “Dead City” is likely to premiere in April.
Another planned spinoff show will follow fan-favorite character Daryl Dixon in Europe. And characters Rick Grimes and Michonne will get their own series as well. Those shows don’t have release dates but could come out in 2023 as well.
Another show that could come out in 2023 is “Fallout” on Amazon Prime Video. Based on the video game franchise, “Fallout” is a post-apocalyptic story set after a nuclear war.

Related article: Comprehensive list of live-action post-apocalyptic TV series

Photo: Promotional art for “The Last of Us.”

Twitter isn’t going away, despite handwringing by media pundits

The news media has been in a tizzy since Elon Musk bought Twitter. Many articles have been posted about how Musk is killing Twitter with his changes. Other articles have been talking up inferior alternatives to Twitter like Mastodon and Truth Social.
But the truth is, Twitter isn’t dying, despite the obituaries some media pundits have written about the social media service. Twitter is still a great service, even with the upheaval at Twitter headquarters.
I agree with the commenters who say “I’m leaving Twitter” is the new “I’m moving to Canada.” Those are empty threats by people who think their opinions carry more sway than they actually do.
Simply put, Twitter is the largest public square for open commentary on the internet. Former President Donald Trump will inevitably come back, now that he’s able, simply because he has 87.7 million followers on Twitter, vs. 4.65 million on Truth Social. The only thing keeping him away now are some business obligations he has with Truth Social.
Like many people, I use Twitter as a news feed. I follow tech and entertainment news sources, celebrities, college sports, local news and businesses, experts I respect, and of course friends.
I almost never see the hate speech and misinformation that politicians and mainstream media types complain about. That’s probably because I stay away from politics and political news on Twitter. The only time I see the dark side of Twitter is when I check on trending topics and read some of the comments. Even then, I don’t get up in arms about comments I disagree with. I know there are idiots out there on the internet.
Musk is right to find ways to moderate “free speech” other than just banning accounts. I like his idea for promoting content from verified and paid accounts.
Twitter also should adopt ways to “up vote” and “down vote” tweets, giving more weight to votes from verified accounts.
As for Twitter Blue, that subscription service should be separate from paid verifications. People should be able to pay a one-time fee for verification if they use their real name and Twitter actually checks out their information. Consider Twitter verification like TSA PreCheck.

Photo: “Twittering Times” by Bernard Goldbach (via Creative Commons)

Netflix’s incredible shrinking DVD business

Netflix’s U.S.-only DVD-by-mail business, DVD.com, has been shrinking by 20% year over year each quarter this year. That’s not surprising in the absence of any marketing spend and consumer preference for the immediacy of streaming video.
In the third quarter, Netflix’s DVD revenue dropped 20% to $35 million. Meanwhile, its streaming revenue rose 6% to $7.89 billion.
I love the Netflix DVD service for its deep catalog of older movies as well as new Hollywood releases. But I’m in a shrinking crowd.
The future of Netflix’s DVD business is in the hands of the major studios and their willingness to support the physical media market. However, with retailers cutting back on space for DVD and Blu-ray Disc sales and Redbox trimming its number of rental kiosks, the prospects for DVD don’t look that good.
Add to that the fact that many new movies are no longer being released on video disc. My saved queue has quite a few movies from the past couple of years that haven’t gotten a DVD release.
Also, older movies are not being reissued. So, when Netflix’s copies of older movies get scratched, broken or degrade, they aren’t being replaced.
My current saved queue on DVD.com has 66 titles that don’t have release dates. It would be longer, but I’ve watched a good number of the unreleased movies on multiple streaming services.
By comparison, my Watch queue of available movies has just 33 titles.

Photo: Netflix Chief Executive Reed Hastings with DVD mailers. (Netflix)

How long before TV Guide Magazine ends its print issue?

TV Guide Magazine printed its first issue in April 1953. But after more than 69 years and multiple recent owners, the publication appears to be struggling.
Its annual Fall Preview issue used to be one of TV Guide’s largest issues. But this year’s edition, the 70th annual Fall Preview issue, had just 72 pages. Last year’s issue was 92 pages.
Magazine publisher NTVB Media bought TV Guide Magazine in 2015. But the online brand is now controlled by Fandom, which bought the digital assets of TV Guide as well as review aggregator Metacritic and other entertainment properties earlier this month. (See Wall Street Journal article.)
If production costs are cheap enough, TV Guide Magazine could limp along for some time. But the future of publications is online not print. It’s only a matter of time before the storied magazine prints its last issue. But I’ve been saying that for years.

Forget ad-supported streaming, Netflix should have focused on pay-per-view

For years, Netflix executives rejected the idea of offering a cheaper, advertising-subsidized service level. But when subscriber growth hit a ceiling and started to decline, they changed their minds.
Wall Street analysts applauded the move, but I think it was a mistake. Netflix should have focused on cost-cutting and finding other ways to lower the cost of its service to consumers. It also is right to crack down on rampant password-sharing on the service.
But an ad-supported service level? No. It should have stayed a commercial-free, premium service like Apple TV+. No one likes ads and offering both ad-supported and ad-free service levels complicates the business and muddies the message for consumers.
Netflix also is wasting money trying to make a large video game service for its subscribers. That never made sense to me.
Netflix is about video content – movies, TV series, documentaries and more. It should stick to its core business.
That said, Netflix is missing an opportunity in the transactional, pay-per-view realm. It has ceded that business mostly to rival Amazon.
When Netflix only ran a DVD-by-mail service, it offered every conceivable movie and TV series. Back then, practically everything Hollywood produced was sold as packaged media and thus available from Netflix. But once streaming took over, the availability of movies splintered across numerous subscription services – Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock and more.
By adding a pay-per-view service, Netflix could return to offering every theatrical movie release available on one platform. Right now, subscribers must switch platforms to do that.
Transactional video rentals isn’t as large an addressable market as advertising, but it doesn’t sully the brand like ads do either.
And as subscription services reduce the size of the content libraries they offer, as HBO Max is now doing, transactional pay-per-view provides a way for consumers to still access those titles.

Photo: Netflix celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2022.

Sexy Halloween costumes 2022: Top Gun costumes are hot this year

The United States of America, the greatest country on Earth, gave the world sexy Halloween costumes. Just take any profession and add sexy to it – sexy nurses, sexy teachers, sexy police officers, you name it.
So, what’s new in sexy Halloween costumes for Halloween 2022?
Sexy Top Gun pilots, that’s what. The hit Tom Cruise movie “Top Gun: Maverick” spawned a wide array of sexy flight suits from Yandy.
And it wouldn’t be a Yandy Halloween without at least one ripped-from-the-headlines costume.
This year’s entry is the Con Heiress costume, a sexy take on Anna Sorokin, a con artist and fraudster who posed as a wealthy German heiress to access the upper echelons of the New York social and art scenes from 2013 to 2017. She was the subject of the 2022 Netflix miniseries “Inventing Anna.”

How soon before CES haters try to derail the show with unfounded Covid fears?

Registration for CES 2023 began on Sept. 13, starting the countdown to one of the world’s largest technology conferences. The show is scheduled to run Jan. 5-8 in Las Vegas, with preshow media events starting on Jan. 3.
The 2022 show went ahead despite calls from a small but vocal group of perpetual CES haters on Twitter who demanded that it be canceled because of the omicron wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Organizers ended up shortening CES 2022 by a day but kept the in-person event. The previous year’s show was an all-digital affair because of the pandemic.
While CES malcontents and fearmongers couldn’t get the 2022 show canceled, they did convince numerous major companies not to exhibit, leading to a much smaller conference.
With Covid infections likely to pick up in the winter, the CES haters probably will resume their calls to cancel or boycott the show.
But Covid is less of a concern now, given the widespread acceptance of Covid vaccinations, which boost the immune system and lessen the severity of the illness.
Also, many other large conferences have gone on without problems this year. So, the world is back to business as usual.
On Sept. 14, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said that the end of the pandemic was finally near. “We are not there yet, but the end is in sight,” he said.
U.S. President Joe Biden went a step further. “The pandemic is over,” he told CBS’ “60 Minutes.” (See article by CNN.)
At CES 2022, attendees were required to be vaccinated and wear a mask, among other precautions. Despite some anecdotal reports of people coming down with Covid during the show, the disease was not a problem at CES 2022.
“We had very few cases reported directly to us,” Jamie Kaplan, vice president of communications at the Consumer Technology Association, owner of CES, told me Sept. 16.
“We had very good survey results coming out of the show,” she said. “Attendees said they were satisfied with the health and safety measures.”
The current plans for CES 2023 include no health mandates for attendees, she said. Instead, attendees will be strongly encouraged to get vaxxed and boosted for Covid and get a flu shot. Masks also will be optional, she said.
The Consumer Technology Association currently is forecasting over 100,000 attendees for CES 2023. That compares with 44,400 at the 2022 show. It also expects over 2,000 exhibitors, which would be close to the prior year’s 2,279 exhibitors.
“The industry wants to move forward,” Kaplan said. “Brands are looking to make big announcements at the show.”

Photos: Scenes from CES 2022. (Consumer Technology Association)

Actresses who have portrayed Marilyn Monroe

Ana de Armas plays Marilyn Monroe in the upcoming Netflix movie “Blonde.” But she’s far from the first actress to portray the Hollywood legend.
What follows is a list of actresses who have played the sexy starlet in movies and TV shows (in chronological order).

Misty Rowe, “Goodbye, Norma Jean” (1976)
Catherine Hicks, “Marilyn: The Untold Story” (1980)
Constance Forslund, “This Year’s Blonde” (1980)
Theresa Russell, “Insignificance” (1985)
Paula Lane, “Goodnight, Sweet Marilyn” (1989)
Susan Griffiths, “Marilyn and Me” (1991)
Melody Anderson, “Marilyn & Bobby: Her Final Affair” (1993)
Ashley Judd, “Norma Jean & Marilyn” (1996)
Mira Sorvino, “Norma Jean & Marilyn” (1996)
Barbara Niven, “The Rat Pack” (1998)
Poppy Montgomery, “Blonde” (2001)
Suzie Kennedy, “Me and Marilyn” (2009)
Michelle Williams, “My Week with Marilyn” (2011)
Charlotte Sullivan, “The Kennedys” (2011)
Kelli Garner, “The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe” (2015)
Alisha Soper, “Feud” (2017)
Ana de Armas, “Blonde” (2022)

Photos: Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe in “Blonde” (Netflix) and assorted movie posters.