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After months of anticipation, HBO Max has finally arrived. And while we’re still a year out from Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the latest entrant into the Streaming Wars has a lot to offer, and a few things to work out. Granted, it’s only been available for a few hours, but many of the bells and […]

Marie Antoinette is one of history’s most infamous royals for better or for worse. Held up as a symbol of an out of touch, gluttonous, and extravagant monarch, the last queen of France before the Revolution was often made the scapegoat for a lot of forces that were beyond her control. She may not have said “let them eat cake,” but she was rich and distant at a time when people were starving. Yet she had an appeal to some and fame that’s lasted long after her death—and it has trickled all the way to her accessories.

According to The Guardian, a “travel bag belonging to Marie Antoinette has sold for more than five times its estimate in an auction of royal memorabilia near her one-time home in Versailles.” The leather travel bag featured a studded “Queen’s room number 10” inscription, and it was estimated to be worth between €8,000 and €10,000, but ended up for selling for €43,750 (that’s about $54k).

The Osenat auction house said that there was fierce bidding late on Sunday “both in the room, over the telephone and on the internet” for Marie Antoinette’s belongings. I’m not shocked, because if I was that rich and extravagant, maybe I’d drop a year’s salary on something like that. Maybe? Probably more so if it was a gown.

That was only one of the number of items sold that belonged to the late Austrian-born queen:

The damask serviette, embroidered with the fleur-de-lis insignia and leaf crowns with a bouquet of roses at its centre, went for €14,500. A lock of hair from her husband, Louis XVI, who was also executed, went for €4,000. The couple are still regarded as martyr saints to French monarchists, with the king’s hair kept inside a medallion of rock crystal in the shape of a heart.

Okay, wait … French monarchists are still a thing? You learn something new every day.

I’d recommend anyone who wants to know more about Marie Antoinette should check out the Antonia Fraser biography: Marie Antoinette: The Journey as it is one of the most highly regarded of recent publication and has a fairly balanced view of the royal.

Much cheaper than €43,750

(via The Guardian, image: Columbia Pictures)

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We can all agree that spending Saturday morning in detention is the worst. So let’s do something on the opposite end of the spectrum instead. Join us here at Nerdist for the latest and greatest installment of #NerdistFromHome this Saturday, May 30, because we’re going to be watching The Breakfast Club with none other than Brat Pack legend Anthony Michael Hall, a.k.a. Brian Johnson in the movie. It has been a minute since we’ve visited this too cool for school crew, and we’re hyped.

The 1985 film directed by John Hughes is a classic. Starring Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy, the movie focuses on a group of teens stuck in Saturday detention. Like, all-day dentention. It sounds tedious. And on top of the whole thing being a drag, a very bossy assistant principal rules the roost. But this group—all from varying cliques at Shermer High School—finds ways to work around him and have a memorable day.

Eminently quotable, The Breakfast Club shows what happen when teens step outside their usual circles and take the time to get to know others. Sure, there are misunderstandings. Even a little snobbery. However, hours and hours of being stuck together softens the lines and everyone comes together for some truth-spilling and plenty of comedy.

You can get The Breakfast Club on digital now. Buy it here. The film is also currently streaming on Hulu, so you have a couple of ways to watch along with us.

Universal Pictures

Join us on Twitter, @Nerdist and @UniAllAccess (Anthony Michael Hall will be taking over that handle!), and watch and tweet with us on Saturday, 5/30 at 1:00pm PT. Be sure to use the hashtags #NerdistFromHome and #TheBreakfastClubAtHome to join the conversation. We look forward to conning Assistant Principal Vernon with you.

Featured Image: Universal Pictures

Amy Ratcliffe is the Managing Editor for Nerdist and the author of Star Wars: Women of the Galaxy. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

The post Watch THE BREAKFAST CLUB with Anthony Michael Hall and the Nerdist Team! appeared first on Nerdist.

The upcoming event “D&D Live 2020: Roll w/ Advantage” brings together an all-star group of gamers to reveal the latest storyline in June—and it’s raising money for a great cause.

Dungeons & Dragons has been going strong with folks spending a lot of time inside; when you can’t venture out to the street or to stores or bars, you can still have a rollicking adventure. And now Wizards of the Coast is giving us a game event on an epic scale with their “D&D Live 2020” announcement:

An amazing cast of characters led by expert storytellers preview the latest D&D storyline with live gaming sessions, all while raising money for Red Nose Day to help the most vulnerable children across the US and around the world, who have been so affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. The adventure begins 10:00am PT on June 18, 2020 and will run through June 20, 2020 at dungeonsanddragons.com.

Big names in geekery like Karen Gillan, David Harbour, and Brandon Routh will be playing along, and some other faces you might recognize:

Funny people like Brian Posehn, Kevin Sussman and Thomas Middleditch will work together to solve problems or, more likely, cause some hilarious new ones. WWE ® Superstars Xavier Woods ®, Tyler Breeze ®, Ember Moon ®, Alexa Bliss ® and Dio Maddin ® will contend with beefcake destroyer Jeremy Crawford, a.k.a. Principal Rules Designer for D&D. Deborah Ann Woll will lead a group of actors in improvising a way to help people in a fantasy world not that different from ours. And principal D&D writer Chris Perkins takes players new to D&D, including Brandon Routh and David Harbour, through adventures sure to de-mystify the hobby for all who tune in.

You can view the whole schedule for #DnDLive2020 at dungeonsanddragons.com, and there’s a frankly adorable t-shirt commemorating the D&D partnership with Red Nose Day and featuring creature companion Snowy Owlbear. I’m kind of obsessed with this shirt design:

I already grabbed my Snowy Owlbear shirt, and the campaign for that stays open until June 1st, 2020. There’s also “a custom-designed adventure families can easily play together” available. Here’s a bit more info on what D&D Live 2020 has in store, and how to better benefit Red Nose Day:

Fans of D&D will learn all about the new setting and storyline as well as accompanying new products plus tons of unique gameplay available on June 18, 2020. D&D Adventurers League has four new short adventures everyone can enjoy. By donating a small amount to Red Nose Day, fans will have access to sign up for D&D sessions with players around the world! During #DnDLive2020, fans will also be able to choose the character best suited to help the region through Reality RP, a mashup of fantasy storytelling, community engagement, and reality television.

(images: Wizards of the Coast/screengrab)

It’s Memorial Day, and we hope everyone was safe out there (and inside). What did you see today?

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—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—