She hated Tenet, but she now says she loved Oppenheimer.
It was one of the funnier, more bizarre stories you heard this week: Christopher Nolan, the incredible director of mind-bending films from Oppenheimer to Interstellar, was minding his own business, taking a Peloton class … when his instructor ripped on Tenet, his 2020 movie, without knowing he was watching.
People ended up finding the video in question and the instructor, Jenn Sherman, who responded with a new video in which she walked (biked?) things back, saying how much she loved Oppenheimer and invited him for a class in studio.
If I was Nolan, I’d totally do it! Thus ends this very funny story.
Christopher Nolan’s Peloton instructor Jenn Sherman responds with expressing her love for ‘OPPENHEIMER’ and inviting him to a class.
“I have seen ‘Oppenheimer’ twice. That’s 6 hours of my life that I don’t ever want to give back… Mr. Nolan, I’m inviting you to come for a ride… pic.twitter.com/mhZbGGeK9H
Update: The internet found the Peloton video. It’s brutal.
Imagine you’ve been working so hard on a project for months that all you want to do once it’s done is burn off any remaining stress by hopping on a stationary bike and getting a nice bit of exercise in.
Now imagine that, in the middle of your ride, an instructor comes on the screen to tell you how awful your work was. You’d have to feel a bit like Tim Robinson in the Brian’s Hat sketch.
That is precisely what famed director Christopher Nolan said happened to him. In the middle of a Peloton class, his instructor went off on a tangent about one of Nolan’s projects — Nolan didn’t say which one — calling it a complete waste of time while very likely unaware that Nolan was in the class.
The 53-year-old director recalled the story while accepting an award for best director for Oppenheimer from the New York Film Critics Circle. According to Variety’s Zack Sharf, Nolan was praising professional film critics when he dropped in this nugget:
Nolan summed up his appreciation for film criticism by telling a story about how he was once using his Peloton for a workout class only to have the instructor pan one of his movies. The Oscar nominee did not disclose which film it was, but clearly the Peloton instructor had no idea Nolan was in his virtual class that day.
“I was on my Peloton. I’m dying. And the instructor started talking about one of my films and said, ‘Did anyone see this? That’s a couple hours of my life I’ll never get back again!’” Nolan said. “When [film critic] Rex Reed takes a [expletive] on your film he doesn’t ask you to work out!”
Fair enough!
Of course, the internet couldn’t just let the fun little anecdote stand on its own. Immediately people began to wonder which film the instructor could’ve been talking about and a clear consensus emerged: Tenet.
UPDATE: We have video confirmation that the film in question was Tenet, because some intrepid sleuths found the class Nolan was in and the comments are even worse than he made them sound.
The 2020 film staring John David Washington and Robert Pattinson is still dividing audiences due to some plot holes that made the story a bit difficult to follow — though it clearly still has some passionate supporters.
WARNING: AND JUST LIKE THAT … SPOILERS AHEAD. IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED THE FIRST EPISODE, GO BACK AND DO THAT BEFORE READING.
Ready?
OK.
By now you may know that the first episode of the Sex and the City spinoff or reboot or whatever you want to call And Just Like That … had a twist of epic proportions: Mr. Big — Carrie’s husband — has a heart attack after a Peloton ride. It was shocking and devastating and not the best of press for Peloton.
The unexpected demise of a beloved Sex and the City character set Twitter ablaze.
Warning: This post is chock full of spoilers about the first two episodes of HBO Max’s new “Sex and The City” series, “And Just Like That…”, including one that will ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATE YOU IF YOU EVER CARED ABOUT THIS SHOW OR THE MOVIES (EVEN THE SECOND MOVIE WHICH WAS OBJECTIVELY NOT GREAT). Proceed with caution.
Diehard “Sex and The City” fans who’d been eagerly anticipating this week’s premiere of the series’ latest installment, “And Just Like That…” thought they’d only be grieving the absence of Kim Cattrall, who decided not to reprise her role as Samantha.
But it was the unexpected demise of another beloved character that set Twitter ablaze following the release of the show’s first two episodes. Mr. Big — a.k.a. John James Preston, a.k.a. the guy who messed with Carrie’s head for a decade before finally deciding he loved her before finally deciding to marry her before LEAVING HER AT THE ALTAR WITH A BIRD ON HER HEAD BUT WINNING HER BACK WITH A CUSTOM CLOSET AND A PAIR OF ROYAL BLUE SILK MANOLOS — dies in the final minutes of the first episode.
While Big’s death was shocking, it wasn’t so much that he died but how he died that left viewers and longtime SATC fans stunned. After Carrie leaves him at home to attend Charlotte’s daughter’s piano recital, he mounts his trusty Peloton bike — one of the show’s many forced reminders these people are firmly living in 2021 with all the pandemic-induced trappings that come with it — to complete his 1000th ride. He makes it through only to collapse in the shower moments later as the result of a heart attack. Carrie returns home to the horror of finding him barely alive and wraps herself around him in his final moments. Naturally, because this show has the subtlety of a bulldozer, she was wearing those same blue stilettos that reunited them 13 years earlier.
Then, the most jarring end-of-episode voiceover in SATC history:
“And just like that…Big died.”
GOOD.
LORD.
Never mind the fact we’ve invested in this series (which was ultimately anchored by Carrie and Big’s on-again/off-again love story) for 23 YEARS, or that we somehow managed to forgive Big for being the absolute worst boyfriend and fiancé imaginable because Carrie loved him AND WE WANTED TO SEE HER HAPPY, or even how we scrubbed that godawful second movie from our memories when Carrie fled to Abu Dhabi after Big had the audacity to *checks notes* put a TV in their bedroom?!
We stuck with it because Carrie deserved her happily-ever-after — AND SO DID WE, DAMN IT — and they reward our decades-long investment by making her … WIDOWED BY PELOTON?!
To be fair, the second episode works overtime to keep the blame off the bike itself. Miranda tries to comfort a distraught Steve before the funeral by reminding him Big had heart problems for years and that his cardiologist had cleared him for intense exercise. There’s even a subplot crafted around Charlotte’s guilt for inviting Carrie to her daughter’s recital that night when she was supposed to be in the Hamptons with Big.
Man, I feel sorry for those poor Peloton lawyers who didn’t push HBO for more storyline info once they knew Big was getting a bike 😂 #AndJustLikeThat 😂 pic.twitter.com/WC5ebiqEb1
It’s bad enough getting older makes me think about my own mortality!! But to have my fav show slap me in the face with it…is 💔…why couldn’t we have one more season with Carrie & Big on the town!!! And I’m looking at my #peloton so differently now!!! #JustLikeThatpic.twitter.com/W6S3P1atsY
“Mr. Big lived what many would call an extravagant lifestyle — including cocktails, cigars, and big steaks — and was at serious risk as he had a previous cardiac event in season 6. These lifestyle choices and perhaps even his family history, which often is a significant factor, were the likely cause of his death. Riding his Peloton bike may have even helped delay his cardiac event.”
Former Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt had to take to Twitter on Monday morning to clear up that he does not own a Peloton.
The NFL world was abuzz on Monday morning when a Peloton profile allegedly belonging to former Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt was found and published to Twitter.
On the Peloton profile entitled “kJWatt” — either a pun on the unit kilojoules or evidence Watt’s massive fingers clip nearby keys on the regular — some of the locations listed were Super Bowl 56, Green Bay, Cleveland, and Buffalo, indicating that Watt may have visited these cities or spoken with their teams as he looks for a new NFL home.
On March 1 in a normal year, the NFL combine would be going on in Indianapolis and draft prospects would have to answer the media’s questions from podiums and tables. In March 1 of an ongoing pandemic that has squelched human activity, speculation over a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year’s free agency destinations via hints on Peloton ensued.
J.J. Watt has updated his Peloton bio and it now reads: “SB56…GB…CLE…BUF”
Of course, just as Watt has crushed the dreams of many a quarterback dropping back to pass or stifled the progress of any advancing runner, the former 2011 first-round pick from Wisconsin shut down the rampant rumors.
Boston Celtic veteran forward Gordon Hayward will participate as one of 16 contestants in Peloton’s first-ever All-Star Ride this Saturday.
Boston Celtics veteran forward Gordon Hayward will participate in Pelton’s first-ever All-Star ride, reports ESPN Press Room’s Kimberly Elchlepp.
The event, hosted by makers of the popular hi-tech exercise bike, features 16 professional athletes across a variety of sports, and will be held on Saturday, May 30th at noon ET.
The rider with the highest cadence measurement — a combination of pace and and resistance level on the bike — will win their respective division in the virtual race, and if all athletes combined reach a total output score of 3,000, Peloton will donate a million meals to the Food Bank of New York City.
Gordon Hayward is among the 16 pro-athletes participating in Peloton's first-ever All-Star Ride this Saturday. The ride will consist of two 20-minute classes and air on ESPN.
— Boston.com Celtics News (@BDCCeltics) May 26, 2020
Some other notable names in the field of participants include Booger McFarland, Rory McIlroy and Bubba Watson in the men’s division, and Monica Puig, Colleen Quigley, Kyla Ross, Michele Smith and Dawn Staley in the womens’.
Fans will be able to watch the event on ESPN, ESPN App and ESPN Twitter, YouTube and Facebook pages.
SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports’ Peter Barzilai tells us why the Peloton is more than just an exercise bike and how you can use it in ways you may not have known about.
SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports’ Peter Barzilai tells us why the Peloton is more than just an exercise bike and how you can use it in ways you may not have known about.
Rory McIlroy, Billy Horschel and other stars are challenging each other on high-end stationary bikes during the coronavirus pandemic.
With professional golf events around the world being postponed and canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Official World Golf Ranking announced Friday that current rankings will be frozen. Rory McIlroy is locked into the No. 1 position. Now, in a new competition that is playing out on social media and stationary bikes around the world, McIlroy also appears to be the man to beat.
On Monday, March 16, the day after the Players Championship should have concluded, Billy Horschel posted on Instagram that he failed to keep up with McIlroy during a Peloton ride.
Two days later, Horschel posted that he had completed another ride and put out a challenge to McIlroy and Justin Thomas to beat his performance. Out of 14,670 riders who had completed the ride, the 2014 FedEx Cup champion finished 401st. Who says golfers aren’t athletes?
With gyms and health clubs closed in many parts of the United States, many people who want to stay in shape are exercising at home. It turns out that many professional golfers who have home gyms have a Peloton, a high-tech stationary bike that has a large video screen. After connecting the bike to Wifi, riders can stream both live classes from Peloton’s gyms in New York and London. There are about 90 live classes a week, but riders can also opt to do cataloged rides any time they like which are based on criteria like duration (5-75 minutes), type (beginner, climb, intervals, etc.), instructor and music genre. The system lets riders listen to the music and instructor through Bluetooth headphones, plugged-in headphones or through the console’s speakers.
The Peloton’s large screen makes it easy to watch both live and on-demand cycling classes. (Peloton)
A leaderboard ranks every rider’s performance for motivation and to let people track their improvement. Ordinarily, the live classes in the New York and London studios are filled with riders doing the same workout you do at home, but until the coronavirus threat passes, instructors are doing live classes in empty studios for riders at home.
As you might suspect, the bike is not cheap. The $2,245 sticker price is jarring, but Peloton promotes the fact that the bike can be purchased by paying $58 per month for 39 months and 0 percent interest. However, there is a $39 per month membership fee to access the online classes.
With professional golfers posting more and more content on social media from their homes, we’ve now learned that in addition to McIlroy, Horschel and Thomas, Charley Hoffman is a Peloton devotee. Ian Poulter posted a clip on Instagram from his home gym with two Pelotons visible in the background. Jimmy Walker was also captured riding one in a post created by his wife, Erin, after she completed a ride. LPGA Tour star Morgan Pressel also took the same class after Horschel, McIlroy and Thomas rode.
Still, McIlroy remains the man to beat on the bike. On Friday, Horschel completed a HIIT ride (high-intensity interval training) lead by Alex Toussaint that was recorded on March 5, then challenged McIlroy and others to beat his performance of 752 kilojoules (kj), which is a measure of power output. Horschel averaged 23.9 mph during the 45-minute ride, rode over 17.92 miles and burned 1,071 calories.
On Saturday, McIlroy smoked him.
“Billy, JT, Charley and everyone else who wants to do this Peloton thing while we’re in quarantine or social isolation or whatever you want to call it, I beat you again,” McIlroy said on his Instagram story. Smiling as sweat flowed off his chin and with his white Nike shirt and hair soaked, he added, “I just about got to my number. The target was 800 (kj) output. Forty-five minutes with Alex. Just got there. Sixty-ninth on the leaderboard out of nearly 11,500 people. Grinded on this one and yeah … bring it boys.”
Bill Horschel’s Peloton numbers are on the left. McIlroy’s numbers are on the right.
As people around the United States and other parts of the world continue to practice social distancing in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus, it will be interesting to see where the Peloton competition between some of golf’s top pros heads.
Horschel took to Instagram on Saturday afternoon to tell his followers that he was planning to do another ride on Sunday and hopes others will try to beat him. He also said that it’s McIlroy’s turn to pick the next challenge ride.
The Peloton woman is back, and she appears to have moved on from her husband.
The internet has been desperately trying to identify the actress who starred in Peloton’s widely reviled holiday commercial since the spot went viral earlier this week, and while we still don’t know her name, she resurfaced on Friday in a new ad for Aviation Gin, a brand owned by actor Ryan Reynolds.
In the ad, which exists in the same universe where her misguided husband bought her a Peloton for the holidays, the Peloton woman is at a holiday party with her friends, who try to console her with large glasses of gin. She leads a toast “to new beginnings,” which seems to signify that she’s moved on from her alarming past relationship.
This isn’t the first time Reynolds has turned to a viral star to help sell bottles of gin. Earlier this year, Andy King – who you may remember from Netflix’s Fyre Festival documentary – made an appearance in an ad titled “Dedication.”
