A New Film Starring Amanda Seyfried Tackles Postpartum Depression

LOS ANGELES, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Hollywood actor Amanda Seyfried has gone to great lengths to see her new movie "A Mouthful of Air" about postpartum depression hit the cinemas.

Based on the 2003 book of the same name by Amy Koppelman, who wrote about her own experience, the film came to fruition after Koppelman heard a woman talking on the radio about having the condition. She then reached out to Seyfried to see if they could make a film to shed light on it.

Seyfried and Koppelman managed to secure funding for the film, but when it went into production, Seyfried realized she had another obstacle to overcome.

"I had to look a lot of my own mental illness in the eye. I suffer from OCD and panic attacks," she said. "I had to portray that on screen and that was tricky but I could do it. I felt I was safe with Amy to go there and not be suffering while I went there."

According to a study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in eight women suffered depressive symptoms during the postpartum period in 2018.

After a fruitless search for a director, Koppelman took the helm of the project despite having no filming experience, because of her understanding of the condition.

Koppelman told Reuters via Zoom: "I hope that it lets women, whether they're depressed or not depressed, feel like sometimes in playgroup, they can say 'I'm terrified'."

The film was picked up for distribution by Sony Pictures and will be released on Oct. 29.

Seyfried said she was lucky to have had a team of people to help her through her suffering, and wants more to be done to tackle postpartum depression.

"It's going to help the audience understand what a woman's going through when she has a baby, when she has postpartum depression, when there's trauma, all the issues that people are afraid to discuss. It's still stigmatized. Why?," she said.

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Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck Cope With Their Long Distance Relationship This Fall Season

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck's summer of spending practically every day together has led to being apart for autumn because of work. A source explained, Bennifer really is still thriving. Lopez is shooting Netflix thriller The Mother in Vancouver, Canada, while Affleck is working on Robert Rodriguez's Hypnotic in Austin, Texas.

How are they making it work? Exactly how you'd imagine two wealthy, A-list stars would: regular visits.

They are both filming during the week on location, but they have met up whenever possible. Ben has been in L.A., and J.Lo flew in from Vancouver to spend time with him. They hung out at his house and then left for the airport together on Sunday night. J.Lo has had her kids visit her in Vancouver, but she is also coming back and forth to L.A.

“They are working out their schedules so that they can be sure to see each other every few days,” the source added. “Things are good between them, and they are staying connected. They are busy with their projects, but also making time to be together”.

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The World's Rarest Bourbon Found At Bardstown Bourbon Company

A pour from the Discovery Series — A blend of straight bourbon whiskies from across Kentucky 

BARDSTOWN BOURBON COMPANY

In the late summer of 2019, the Bardstown Bourbon Company cut the ribbon on a sleek visitors center in its namesake hometown. Although they’d already been distilling here for more than 5 years, this particular phase of the operation made good on the founder’s promise to deliver a “Napa Valley experience on the Bourbon Trail.” It cost a small fortune to bring that vision to life, but all signs point to the wisdom of the investment.

As the Kentucky Bourbon Trail welcomed over 1.7 million whiskey drinkers, in the final year before the pandemic, BBC solidified its status as a can’t-miss destination along the way. That’s because this place offers something for everyone: a bar and restaurant, cocktail classes, art installations, even windowed warehouses offering elevated views of the sprawling landscape. Of course, if you’re here just for the bourbon, you will not be disappointed. They hold a wider array of American whiskeys—current and vintage—than you’ll find anywhere else in the state.

Part of that is owed to the varied selections behind the stick at the Bottle & Bond Kitchen and Bar. BBC is one of the rare stops along the trail to dish out full-service fare—everything from filet mignon to pickle-brined fried chicken and waffles—along with bourbons from all the major producers in Kentucky and beyond. So, not only can you sample the latest liquids from the brand’s exciting Discovery Series, but you can also enjoy it on a flight alongside Eagle Rare or Michter’s or whatever.

“We are whiskey lovers at our core,” explains Brandon Smith, a marketing manager for Bardstown. “We not only highlight our collaborative distilling partners but also the industry at large. In doing so, we can truly celebrate the entire whiskey category with respect towards tradition and innovation.”

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A TikTok Video Reveals How Much A Hooters Server Can Make In Tips

A server at Hooters has revealed how much money she makes in tips during an average week. 

Kirsten Songer, who works at a restaurant in South Carolina, posted a video on TikTok earlier this year, divulging how much she made in tips for each shift in one week, which she said she gets on top of her $2.13 per hour wage. 

"This is how much I make in a week at Hooters," Songer – who is now in medical school – said in the clip. "This is a really good week to show, ‘cause I had some really great shifts and then some not-so-hot shifts."

In the video, she said she bartended for seven hours on Sunday and made $408 in tips. On Monday, she said she worked a double shift and made $300 for the first shift from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., but that night, she made only $50 from 5:30 p.m. to midnight.

On Tuesday, she made $190 for a six-hour shift, while on Wednesday, she made only $50 in tips for a four-hour shift. 

Then on Saturday, she said she made $260, with $60 coming from one person who tipped her "for talking to him today," she said. 

She also mentioned that she did a photoshoot for the Hooters calendar on Friday morning, where she made the company’s promotional pay of $10 an hour, totaling about $50.

In total, Songer made $1,258 in tips, plus the $50 for the photoshoot. 

Songer did not immediately respond to the request for comment. 

Since she posted the clip in June, the video has been viewed more than 237,000 times.

Many of the commenters were shocked by Songer’s base pay of $2.13 an hour. 

One person wrote: "YOU’RE WHAT AN HOUR???!? Might just be me living in California but idk."

Someone else said: "Oh my goodness!! It was 2.13 an hour when I last waitressed…..which was  21 years ago."

Though the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, the government’s minimum cash wage for tipped workers is $2.13 an hour, as long as they get at least $7.25 an hour total.

Aside from discussing her tips, Songer has also weighed in on Hooters’ new shorts on TikTok.

In one clip, which has been viewed more than 9.5 million times, Songer wrote: "Alright so we all know something made Kirsten wanna quit today."

"And that somebody is named the new shorts," she added.

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'Dune' Opens to $40 Million at the Box Office

"Dune," an adaptation of Frank Herbert's sci-fi epic, opened to $40.1 million at the North American box office. It's a respectable start given the ongoing pandemic and the film's unconventional theatrical debut. In addition to playing in 4,125 domestic theaters, "Dune" (like all Warner Bros. movies in 2021) premiered simultaneously on HBO Max, which might have taken a chunk out of overall ticket sales.

"I'm smiling," Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution Jeff Goldstein said on Sunday morning. "Exhibitors are thrilled. The best part is, fans are loving what they're seeing. They're loving the big-screen experience. It's been a winner of a weekend for movie-lovers."

Directed by Oscar nominee Denis Villeneuve ("Blade Runner 2049" and "Arrival") and starring Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, and Josh Brolin, "Dune" is the first chapter in an expected two-part saga. Villeneuve and the cast of the movie have said they would like to make the follow-up to complete the story about warring political dynasties that clash over access to a vital planet. The question now: will ticket sales start to be enough to justify a sequel? Given the film's hefty $165 million price tag, including the millions spent to market it as a cinematic event, it's unclear if box office revenues alone will be enough to warrant a return to the desert land of Arrakis. In that case, "Dune" will have to perform very well on HBO Max to convince the studio it should inject another $165 million to complete the star-studded interplanetary tale. Legendary Pictures co-financed "Dune" in addition to producing and developing the movie.

Read more Here.