Month: July 2020

In a classic case of the Oscars picking the right actor but for the wrong film, Charlize Theron won Best Actress for her performance in Monster, a perfectly fine movie that no one has watched more than once. Meanwhile, Theron should have won her Oscar, or at least been nominated for one, for playing Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road, arguably the best film of the 2010s. Unfortunately, the Academy won’t be able to do right by Theron in director George Miller’s follow-up to Fury Road, because “the film is a prequel centered on a young Furiosa, and Miller is searching for an actress in her 20s to take over the role,” according to the New York Times. Miller considered digital de-aging technology, but “despite the valiant attempts on The Irishman, I think there’s still an uncanny valley.”

It’s a monkey’s paw scenario (“I wish for a Furiosa spin-off movie… oh no, I should have specified with Theron”), and while The Old Guard star finds it “a little heartbreaking” that she won’t reprise the character in the prequel, she’s also not bitter about the re-casting.

“It’s a tough one to swallow. Listen, I fully respect George, if not more so in the aftermath of making that film with him. He’s a master, and I wish him nothing but the best,” Theron told the Hollywood Reporter. “Yeah, it’s a little heartbreaking, for sure. I really love that character, and I’m so grateful that I had a small part in creating her. She will forever be someone I think of and reflect on fondly. Obviously, I would love to see that story continue, and if he feels like he has to go about it this way, then I trust him in that manner. We get so hung up on the smaller details that we forget the thing that we emotionally tap into has nothing to do with that minute thing that we’re focusing on.”

At least Furiosa will be in good hands, if the early casting rumors are true.

Kevin Hart has made a name for himself starring in comedy movies and playing Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s tiny sidekick, but what would happen if the comedian tried to branch out and become the action hero? The answer is Die Hart.

Coming to Quibi in July, Die Hart is a comedy series that features a fictionalized version of Hart as he grows tired of being comedy relief and gets serious about transforming himself into a badass action star. Or he at least tries to do so. From the looks of the first trailer, Hart will spend most of his time being relentlessly brutalized by John Travolta, who plays a washed up, and possibly crazy, action coach. Along for the ride is Game of Thrones‘ Nathalie Emmanuel, who does her best to help Hart survive his training.

Die Hart appears to be a passion project for Hart. He was particularly jazzed when he unveiled a new poster for the series and pumped up his new pivot into action stardom on Instagram:

Brace yourselves people…..Major heat will be coming your way soon….F**k….I’m so proud of my teams right now. I have been trying to create a genre of movie for myself for a while now….I wanted to create something along the lines of Austin Powers but with real action and more of a grounded reality. I am proud to say that we f**king did it….. “Die Hart” which is produced by LOL Studios & HartBeat Productions with be coming your way soon damn it!!!!! I’m about to drop a teaser on y’all assess in a couple of days!!!!! I’m cursing because I’m f**king hype & because I think I’m a ACTION STAR now….stop judging me….Just roll with it!!!!! I’m about to F**K SHIT UP

You can see the official poster below along with Hart’s full message to fans below:

Die Hart hits Quibi on July 20.

As Justice League star Ray Fisher continues to accuse Joss Whedon of being an abusive filmmaker, Kevin Smith has jumped into the fray with some insights of his own.

While discussing Fisher’s claim that Whedon’s behavior was “gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable” when he replaced Zack Snyder as the director on Justice League, Smith revealed on his Fatman Beyond podcast that he had heard rumors about Whedon’s attitude on set. For the record, Smith makes it clear that this is hearsay that “ain’t f**king fact or news,” but it does align with Fisher’s current allegations. Smith also has a track record of hearing all about behind-the-scenes drama on the DC Films, including having extensive knowledge of Snyder’s original Justice League plans. Via CBR:

Again, this is what a special effects guy who worked on both versions of the movie told me. And that [Whedon] would cut down, dismiss and be negative about Zack’s version, which he had seen, and all these people had made together without [Whedon] and stuff. And so the guy that said that it was kind of uncomfortable on set because, like, the people that he was talking to about not liking that version of the movie were all people that had made that version of the movie. So that, I think, is probably the ‘unprofessional’ thing, like, you don’t do that. Especially if you came in to you know, help out during a bad moment in the director’s life.

Not long after Smith weighed in, Fisher continued his campaign against Whedon over the holiday weekend by tweeting his support for Whedon’s ex-wife Kai Cole and Angel actress Charisma Carpenter, who have both accused the Buffy creator of sexist behavior. You can see Fisher’s tweet below:

Cole made headlines back in 2017 when she wrote a column for The Wrap, with which she accusing Whedon of being a “hypocrite preaching feminist ideals” who allegedly admitted to several infidelities with young women who worked for him on his shows, which raised several eyebrows during the #MeToo movement.

As for Carpenter, her character was infamously left in a coma and essentially written off the show after the actress became pregnant between the third and fourth season. It’s long been believed that Whedon fired her for getting pregnant, which has been bolstered by comments from Carpenter over the years.

(Via CBR)

Since Juice WRLD’s death, some posthumous work from the rapper has popped up from time to time. All of this suggests a new album is on the way, and sure enough, one is. Today, Juice’s estate has announced that his posthumous record, Legends Never Die, is coming out this Friday, July 10.

The announcement was made with a brief teaser video. The trailer features a clip of Juice, sitting and relaxing with a couple of associates. Smoking and addressing the camera, Juice freestyles, “You gotta admit yourself, you need some help. I got to admit myself, I’m on these drugs. I feel like I can’t save myself. Sometimes I want to take myself and break myself so I can re-shape myself. Nobody ever felt the pain I felt, so I share it. Put it out to the whole world, I ain’t embarrassed.”

No tracklist has been revealed yet, but there have already been a couple of posthumous Juice singles that will presumably be on the album. In April, he dropped “Righteous,” his first posthumous song. In May, that was followed by “Tell Me U Luv Me,” which featured Trippie Redd.

Watch the album trailer above.

Legends Never Die is out 7/10 via Interscope.

Being that both begin with historical title cards and establishing shots of warships traveling full speed ahead upon enemy seas, Greyhound early on had me convinced that what I was about to watch was a World War II-set version of Master And Commander, that Napoleonic naval war epic that should’ve gotten as many sequels as the books by now.

Which is to say, a rollicking, meticulously recreated high seas swashbuckler filled with epic battles and impenetrable naval jargon shouted by grizzled men. Master And Commander is one of the greatest dad movies ever made, so who better to recapture its appeal than America’s dad, Tom Hanks?

Hanks is both star, as Commander Ernest Krause, and screenwriter in Greyhound (adapting from CS Forester’s novel The Good Shepherd), which is more than a match for Master And Commander in terms of explosions and jargon, but desperately wanting in personality.

Whereas Master and Commander had Cap’n “Lucky Jack” (Russell Crowe) and his bookish ship’s surgeon, Maturin (Paul Bettany), Greyhound (directed by journeyman Aaron Schneider) gives us Krause and his second in command, Charlie, played by Stephen Graham — certainly a match for Crowe and Bettany on paper. The story is set in 1942 during the Battle of the Atlantic, beginning just as first-time captain Krause pilots his destroyer into “the black pit,” the 50-hour leg of the journey from the eastern seaboard of North America to the British isles when the convoy would be without air cover, with only their own warships to protect them from German U-Boats (this at a time when radar tech was still rudimentary and ships mostly communicated via deck-mounted spotlights flashing Morse code). In Greyhound, these U-boats have wolves painted on them and taunt the sailors with wolf howls through the radio, just to complete the whole “shepherd” metaphor.

Naturally, this premise had me hooked. As Herman Melville wrote in the opening paragraphs of Moby Dick, “Why is almost every robust healthy boy with a robust healthy soul in him, at some time or other crazy to go to sea?”

So it is with dads and stories of naval battle. There eventually comes a time in every dad’s life when it’s a damp, drizzly November in their souls and they demand to see large men shout about port, starboard, fore, aft, headings, knots, fathoms; to cheer the destruction of their enemies and become solemn-faced at the deaths of their comrades. Greyhound has all this in spades — the bare minimum to qualify as a watchable, and reasonably enjoyable, naval war movie. It admirably conveys the claustrophobia and seasickness of sea travel and allows us to exult vicariously whenever a depth charge manages to blow a ship full of damned dirty Nazis into shark chum.

It’s just hard to care much about these characters beyond the fact that we’re ostensibly on the same team. The opening scene is fairly representative. We meet Krause after a brief flashback with a love interest (Elisabeth Shue) who defers his marriage proposal until after the war. He’s interrupted from his prayers and reverie by the necessity of meting out punishment to two sailors who had been fighting. They come before Krause and doff their caps (“Sailors, uncover”), revealing bruised eyes, busted lips, split eyebrows and whatnot. Krause tells them “I will not have fisticuffs on my ship!” like a vice principal and orders them to “restore the relationships you have damaged and fill me with peace.”

But before the soldiers (and we) can find out exactly what this restorative justice will look like, the captain is called back to the bridge. This is about all the characterization we ever get in Greyhound. Who are these two soldiers? Why were they fighting? Who cares? There’s Germans to kill and jargon to shout! Battle stations!

Tom Hanks and Stephen Graham (who on his journey from Tommy in Snatch to Al Capone in Boardwalk Empire and beyond has become one of our finest character actors) appear up to the challenge, but the script never gives them much to do besides shout orders and furrow brows. Tom Hanks furrows with the best of them but who the hell is this character? A guy who prays and leads and has a girl he loves somewhere far off camera? Are we to love him simply because he’s square?

In landing as such a far cry from Master And Commander, Greyhound proves that it’s not just the explosions and the jargon and the waves that make us (or fine, me) love stories of naval warfare. It’s the camaraderie. It’s the way ships force men from wildly disparate backgrounds, sardine-like, into shocking intimacy. They have to get along or else they will literally kill one another and everyone else onboard. (“At its heart, it’s really about family,” as goes the producer’s cliché).

Greyhound has a premise and a plot but it doesn’t really have characters. It has uniforms, certainly, but nothing like Master and Commander‘s “lesser of two weevils” scene*, or even that moment, common to almost every Naval battle movie (certainly Master and Commander and Crimson Tide) when the captain has to sacrifice a good man to save a ship.

All of this is to say that Greyhound is an exciting, non-stop battle scene from start to finish. Which might be enough to make us watch it, but is not enough to make us love it.

‘Greyhound’ premieres July 10th on Apple+ TV. Vince Mancini is on Twitter. You can access his archive of reviews here.

*Does anyone who saw Master And Commander even once not remember this scene? It’s a cinematic earworm, as engraved in most Gen Y viewer’s minds as the lyrics to the Fresh Prince theme song.

In 2019, Cardi B’s debut album Invasion Of Privacy won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album over an impressive field that included Mac Miller’s Swimming, Nipsey Hussle’s Victory Lap, Travis Scott’s Astroworld, and Pusha T’s Daytona. However, while some rap fans disagreed with the decision, for Pusha, there are no hard feelings. In a profile for KAZI Magazine, Pusha said that the Grammys committee “got it right” when they awarded Cardi’s album over his, admitting that each of that year’s nominees had an argument for winning.

“Whoever is making that final decision, it depends on what their taste is,” he said. “Honestly, it could have been any of us and it ended up being Cardi B. I was like, ‘Sh*t, what can you say to that?’ I was in LA when her album came out, walking to the gym. Four miles there, four miles back. I was definitely listening to it and I understood perfectly well how she got it. I will say this, they got it right with that category. It was all explainable; you could explain each and every one to me.”

Pusha also spoke on his attention-grabbing back-and-forth with Drake, its repercussions on his career down the line, and his new label HeirWave, with its debut artist, Kahri 1K. Check out the full interview here.

Some artists covered are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

On stage at the 2015 MTV VMAs, Kanye West made a big announcement — he planned on running for the 2020 presidential election. It seems that Kanye hasn’t forgotten his promise, as he aptly announced on the Fourth Of July that he wants to include himself as a presidential candidate in November’s election. If he continues to follow through with his plan, it looks like the rapper has to seek out some last-minute paperwork to become an official candidate, which he has yet to do.

According to a report from Pitchfork, Kanye hasn’t officially filed as a presidential candidate with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), a necessary step in running for office. The report states that the FEC confirmed Kanye had not officially filed for candidacy, though there is allegedly a 2015 filing for a Green Party candidate named “Kanye Deez Nutz West” who hadn’t raised a single dollar for their campaign.

If Kanye plans on running as an Independent candidate, someone who isn’t affiliated with a political party, he needs to submit the paperwork soon in order to appear on ballots. The filing deadline has already passed in states Indiana, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, and Texas. However, it is possible for citizens to vote for the rapper as a write-in on their ballots in November.

It’s almost time to get “peachy keen,” Neil Gaiman fans. The The Sandman Audible reading (of the DC Comics/Vertigo series that began in the late 1980s and spanned decades) is here to haunt your dreams, and maybe make them better, and boy, do comic-book fans need this right now. That’s the case even though this isn’t the long-gestating TV series that will eventually arrive on Netflix (in live-action form) and was due to shoot before the pandemic. That in-process effort followed long after New Line Cinema wanted to give it a go with Joseph Gordon Levitt headlining, but the important thing is this: the Audible version of Gaiman’s creation is nigh with a magnificent cast. And you can listen to great Scotsman James McAvoy as the cast headliner above.

Fans will recognize that McAvoy’s voicing Morpheus, the God of Dreams. He’s soothing yet spooky in the process, though this is the very essence of a tease. We can also look forward to Kat Dennings (as the adorable goth herself, Death, although I feel that we need a visual of her in costume) and Michael Sheen (as Lucifer!), along with Riz Ahmed, Samantha Morton, Andy Serkis, Taron Egerton, and loads more talent.

The Sandman will arrive on Audible come July 15 while we all await Netflix and Warner Bros.’ TV drama to come together as the most expensive DC Entertainment show ever. Strangely, that’s happening on Netflix and not with HBO Max, but as long as we get a hefty supply of The Sandman, that’s what matters. After all, a wise man (Neil Gaiman) once wrote, “The only thing that kept me going was stories. Stories are hope.”

Before Cardi B’s 2016 debut mixtape Gansta B*tch Music Vol I, the rapper had appeared on the reality TV show Love & Hip Hop: New York. But Cardi was making a name for herself well before then. Cardi had already amassed over a million followers on Twitter prior to her reality TV debut, and many of her now-defunct Vine videos had gone viral. Since the rapper is keen on making herself go viral, it’s curious that it took Cardi so long before joining the newest social media platform, TikTok.

Cardi B finally made her inaugural appearance on the app this weekend. On Sunday, the singer posted her first video on the platform and it was a NSFW tribute to her husband Offset. “B*tch I done did my first TikTok,” she wrote alongside the video.

For the TikTok, Cardi took part in a popular challenge where a user busts out their sexiest moves over a superimposed image of their man. Cardi followed suit and using the 2012 track “Marry Me” by Rasheeda, the rapper flashed her wedding ring and danced up on candid photos of Offset.

Watch Cardi B’s first TikTok above.

Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Now is not the best time to release a new album, especially for a band trying to capitalize on the momentum started by a successful debut effort. Such is the story of Chicago-based group Retirement Party, though. Their latest, Runaway Dog, is a reflective and excellent second album that came out in mid-May, when the coronavirus pandemic, as it continues to do today, put a damper on a lot of life’s aspects that had previously been taken for granted.

Still, the band is feeling optimistic. Group leader Avery Springer just graduated college with a degree in Music Business, which should prove useful as her band navigates the uncertain times that lie ahead. Also, as aforementioned, they have a stellar sophomore record under their belts, which is going to really pop when Retirement Party gets the chance to perform it live.

When we spoke with them over the phone in late May, shortly after the release of Runaway Dog, Springer and bandmates James Ringness and Eddie Rodriguez insisted they couldn’t wait to get back on stage. They also spoke about following up a successful debut album, being creative during the quarantine, and maintaining the passion for a craft while devoting yourself to it full-blast.

Your first album earned you guys some buzz as one of that year’s best new bands. Seeing that that album did well, what effect did that have on your mindset making this new album?

Springer: We’ve kind of always had the “never stop running” mindset. It was always, “Well, let’s work harder and harder and make music so that we can go on the road a lot.” That was always kind of the goal, to have a band that can tour and does that successfully.

Ringness: It felt like there was a little more… maybe a little more pressure, I guess. But I think we took it in a good way and took it as an opportunity to just prove ourselves again as a band, rather than worry. I don’t think we worried too much about, “Oh, is everybody going to like our new records?” The first one, it was a thought, but not a big worry for us.

Rodriquez: We just want to write good songs, work together, and make the best songs that he could. That was really what we were worried about: making sure that we were happy with what we were working on.

Again comparing the first album and the new one: The new one was written during what seemed like a pretty tough time in your life, Avery. What kind of space where you in while writing this new album?

Springer: I definitely felt like there was a lot of a loss of control and the feeling of that in the first album. The second one, I feel like it’s coming from a more controlled place emotionally, but it’s a lot of harder reflecting, a little lack of panic, and a little bit more reflection. I come across a little bit more put together.

I was reading this track-by-track look of the album that you did, and one thing I noticed that you mentioned about a lot of the songs is what it’s like to play them live. I would think now that you guys must be itching to get on stage, huh?

Springer: The three of us just love to be on the road and on the stage playing. That’s a happy place, I think for all of us. It definitely hurts to not be on the road and not be able to play these songs, and show them to everyone in their truest form.

Ringness: We were lucky that we went on tour right before this and the record was done. So, we were able to play a lot of the songs from that record, but we were definitely saving a few of them.

Springer: I did the math, and before this, I think we had played nine of the ten songs on the record. But it hurts not being able to play them when people know them.

Speaking to more pandemic stuff, I’ve seen multiple artists talk about this pressure or this obligation they feel to be creative during this time. Is that a feeling you guys have had at all?

Springer: Absolutely. Now, all you have to keep peoples’ attention is whatever your online presence is or whatever you can sell them or offer to them during this weird unprecedented time. We have to be extra creative because we just put out a record and instead of relying on touring, like we were prepared to do to really promote this and prove this record, we have to find other ways and be creative with how we can connect with our fans over this record, because the live experience has been unfortunately taken away from that.

I’m getting sick of doing livestreams, where I’m practicing on my guitar in my room for an hour beforehand. Then I click “go live” and do the same exact thing over again. That’s not cutting it anymore. We’re definitely trying to figure out how we can make a personal connection between us and our fans.

Avery, you just graduated from college recently. The album talks about losing your love for your art, or feeling not as positive about pursuing a career in it. But now that you’re done with school and that the art is your main focus, has that changed your relationship with music?

Springer: Being done with school, I definitely feel at least a little bit better about that balance between the creative side of the industry and the business side, but it continues to exist in my life. I’m currently pursuing endeavors within the business side of the music industry outside of the band right now. But, I feel a little bit better now because I had struggled with it before. I got my struggling out of the way when I was in school. It was like, “Some things are contradicting and it’s a little hard to stay true to yourself but also do what’s best for selling records.”

The way that the industry is set up is an absolutely baffling thing to me still. In the way that it kind of screws over artists, or favors other people over artists, or corporations over artists. But you can exist while staying very true to yourself and the art that you make. You can continue to be a force in the industry. They’re not mutually exclusive. I found that out. It’s helped us. I’ve settled into that.

Since you are a band with a lot of songs about chasing your passions and the feelings that come with that, I was wondering if you had any wisdom or advice for anybody who might be in a similar place, who is feeling a bit unsure about the thing that they’ve always wanted.

Springer: Well, funny timing, but I’d say work your day job and work your other jobs as much as you can while making music coexist. You always have to work really hard, but be conscious of where you’re at. Be smart about the decisions you’re making, learn how to save money. Being an artist is so insanely expensive, so just be as smart as you can with your money and with your time. You’re going to have to put a lot of work in, but being smart about it is the number one. You’ll know when it’s the time to quit your job. I quit my job. And then a global pandemic happened. So, I wasn’t very lucky in that sense, but work hard, keep your nose down, and don’t get a big ego.

Runaway Dog is out now via Counter Intuitive Records. Get it here.