Jennifer Lynn Lopez was born on July 24, 1969, in The Bronx borough of New York City, to Puerto Rican parents Guadalupe Rodríguez and David López. She has an older sister, Leslie, and a younger sister, Lynda, a journalist. David worked the night shift at the Guardian Insurance Company before becoming a computer technician at the firm, while Guadalupe was a homemaker. When Lopez was born, the family was living in a small apartment in the Castle Hill neighborhood. A few years later, her parents had saved up enough money to be able to purchase a two-story house, which was considered a big deal for the relatively poor family. At the age of five, Lopez began taking singing and dancing lessons. She toured New York with her school when she was seven years old. Her parents stressed the importance of work ethic and being able to speak English. They encouraged their three daughters to put on performances at home—singing and dancing in front of each other and their friends so that they would stay "out of trouble". Lopez spent her entire academic career in Catholic schools, finishing at Preston High School. In school, Lopez did gymnastics, ran track on a national level, and was a member of the school's softball team. She excelled athletically rather than academically, competing in national track championships.
In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside Downton Abbey and Rambo: Last Blood, and was projected to gross $15–20 million from 3,450 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $7.2 million on its first day, including $1.5 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $19 million, finishing second behind Downton Abbey. The opening was compared to First Man (2018), another drama involving outer space which received high praise from critics but a lukewarm audience reception, resulting in a muted box office turnout despite its cast and budget. Deadline Hollywood deduced the film would lose $30 million off a projected $150 million final worldwide gross (a figure it would ultimately fall short of). The film made $10.1 million in its second weekend and $4.4 million in its third, finishing fifth and sixth, respectively.
More InfoVariety critic Owen Gleiberman praised Pitt's performance, explaining, "Gray proves beyond measure that he's got the chops to make a movie like this. He also has a vision, of sorts — one that's expressed, nearly inadvertently, in the metaphor of that space antenna." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone rated the film four out of five stars and referred to it as "absolutely enthralling" and praised Gray for his direction and his unique approach to the science fiction genre, as well as the cinematography and Pitt's performance (whom he referred to as "marvel of nuanced feeling"). He also drew comparisons of the film's tone and themes to other notable films set in space, particularly 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Solaris (1972), Gravity (2013), and Interstellar (2014). Critic Kurt Loder praised the visual effects but criticized the lack of originality and the patchwork style of the script. Adam Graham writing for The Detroit News found problems with the film, giving it a "C" rating: "This is slow, obtuse filmmaking with little emotional connection."
More InfoOn Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 84% based on 369 reviews, with an average rating of 7.56/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Ad Astra takes a visually thrilling journey through the vast reaches of space while charting an ambitious course for the heart of the bond between parent and child." On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the film has a score of 80 out of 100, based on 56 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B-" on an A+ to F scale, while those surveyed at PostTrak gave it an average 2.5 out of 5 stars, with 40% saying they would definitely recommend it.
More InfoIn February 2020, Phoenix starred in Guardians of Life, the first of twelve short films by the environmental organization Mobilize Earth that highlight the most pressing issues facing humanity and the natural world. Funds raised by the project will go to Amazon Watch and Extinction Rebellion. During his 2020 Oscar acceptance speech, he passionately promoted societal equality and animal rights, ending with a tribute to his brother, River Phoenix. This speech garnered acclaim and a backlash from the dairy industry.
More InfoJoker received negative reviews from critics. The film currently has a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. Based on 16 reviews, review aggregate site desimartini.com gave the film the verdict, "Apart from an interesting concept and a handful of funny moments, Joker is drag and doesn't work as a comedy or as a sci-fi caper. Skip it!" The site's average audience rating is 2/5. Independent Bollywood gave 2.5 out of 5 stars and said "A Funny and weird entertainer with message". Soumyadipta Banerjee of In.com gave 0.5 out of 5 stars and said "Not only that the aliens are weird, the whole movie seems be in some weird planet after a point of time". Saibal Chatterjee of NDTVMovies.com gave the film 1 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Joker is a crude joke of a film that will leave you in tears unless you have a stomach strong enough to digest such unmitigated junk." Film critic Taran Adarsh also gave it 1 out of 5 stars and labelled it as a complete "disaster" and a "joke of a film".
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