Month: August 2020

DaBaby’s first new song from the upcoming deluxe version of his No. 1-selling Blame It On Baby album is “Peephole,” a sober look at the downsides of fame. DaBaby shared the video for the new song today to hype up the impending release later this week. It’s once again directed by Reel Goats but unlike their previous efforts for DaBaby, it’s a relatively tame, low-key venture, with DaBaby rapping directly to the camera in designer clothes.

The departure from DaBaby’s usual unhinged comedic approach is likely the result of pandemic precautions, which have reportedly curtailed the rapper’s income this year by millions of dollars. Although he’s seemingly tried to mitigate the impact of lockdown, he landed himself in hot water when it turned out the “safe” show he performed in Georgia last month didn’t live up to the standards promised by its promoters.

Fortunately for the North Carolinian star, his Blame It On Baby single “Rockstar” with Roddy Ricch continues to be a fan favorite, generating enough streams to keep his name near the top of the charts. He also has contributions with Jack Harlow and Pop Smoke keeping him in the top ten, making him one of only a handful of performers with multiple top ten records at the same time.

Watch the “Peephole” video above.

The deluxe edition of Blame It On Baby is due 8/7 via Interscope and South Coast Music Group.

Hollywood blockbusters can’t be stopped from production for too long, it seems, even as theaters struggle to know exactly when they can bring them to audiences in the largest U.S. cities. Jurassic World: Dominion resumed in the U.K. about a month ago, and we should have known that nothing can prevent Tom Cruise from performing daring stunts longer than necessary for the Mission: Impossible franchise. What’s on the menu? Well, he’s throwing out Fallout vibes by hurling himself out of a helicopter again, as seen in photos published by the Daily Mail. Business as usual is on again for the Cruise!

Meanwhile, the M:I 7 production is stirring up controversy elsewhere in Europe. According to a report from The Independent, the film is planning to film a stunt at Poland’s Lake Pilchowickie that isn’t going over well. Locals fear that the production aims to “blow up” a century-old suspension bridge that’s beloved by locals, who want it to be declared as a national monument. However, the bridge was actually decommissioned in 2016, and Deputy Culture Minister Pawel Lewandowski issued a statement about “only a small part” of the bridge being on the table for the production. He also appears to be signaling that stunts are about to be afoot with these words:

”I would not be fixated on the fact that the Pilchowicki Bridge is a monument. It stands in ruins and has no value. Not all old things are monuments. The law clearly states that a monument is only that which has social, artistic or scientific value. In art and culture, that value only emerges when there is a relation between the cultural object and people. So if an object is unused, unavailable, it has no such value. Therefore it is not a monument.”

It must be noted that the plans to film this stunt at the Pilchowicki Bridge haven’t been fully confirmed by the M:I 7 production, even though the argument has grown heated for both locals who wish to preserve the structure and those who think it’s nothing to fuss about. However and if the story is true, then maybe a Tom Cruise film should choose CGI at least in this one instance, if for nothing else at all.

Lewandowski also maintains that the shoot will bring more public attention to Poland, which could help with tourism and such, but it doesn’t seem like tourism is too hopping these days, so that might be a moot point. The stunts must go on, somewhere, but Cruise can probably satisfy those urges in any number of ways. I wouldn’t even put it past the daredevil actor to want to jump out of the International Space Station in his upcoming space movie (like the rebooted Magnum P.I. pretended to do) at some point. That’s probably not doable, but one can dream.

(Via Daily Mail & The Independent)

While essentially every music festival that was set to take place this summer has been canceled, some of those have found ways to continue celebrating and propagating music. A common way that has happened is for fests to host some sort of online event in place of the in-person festival. Newport Folk Festival did just that this past weekend, and the virtual event managed to produce at least one highlight: Phoebe Bridgers and Courtney Barnett came together virtually to perform a cover of Gillian Welch’s “Everything Is Free.”

The pair kept their set-up simple, with Barnett sitting on her floor with a guitar in hand and both artists singing, sometimes harmonizing and other times trading verses. The whole thing went off without a hitch and whatever digital barriers may have existed didn’t get in the way of two of indie’s finest.

Bridgers has had a big 2020 so far with the release of her new album Punisher, which she recently promoted with a video for “I Know The End.” Barnett hasn’t had as big of a year, although she did manage to tour the US solo for the first time before the pandemic essentially shut down the music industry completely.

Watch Bridgers and Barnett perform “Everything Is Free” above.

John Oliver failed to respond to Sean Hannity calling him “not funny” (sick burn, Sean), but don’t let that you stop from watching the new episode of Last Week Tonight, which detailed “how the history of race in America is currently taught in schools — what some of the gaps are, why they’re there, and how we can fill them.” Turns out, it’s not taught well! (As seen by the number of people, myself included, who learn about the Black Wall Street Massacre from Watchmen.) A 28-minute segment can’t possibly cover everything that needs to be updated in high school history textbooks, but Oliver did outline the “three big mistakes” that historians say need to be corrected “in schools and beyond.”

Those mistakes: “We don’t fully acknowledge white supremacy,” “We view history’s progress as if it was constant and inevitable,” and “We don’t connect the dots to the present,” with Oliver noting that history books tend to “trail off” after the civil rights movement. (Crazy how the United States went straight from the 1960s to September 11, 2001, with nothing in between. At least the books looked good in a paper bag cover.)

You can watch the whole segment above, but Oliver’s main takeaway is, “History, when taught well, shows us how to improve the world, but history, when taught poorly, falsely claims there is nothing to improve. So we have to teach it well and continue to learn it.”

A lot has happened with Britney Spears’ conservatorship and the #FreeBritney movement over the years. Now, Jamie Spears — her father, who has had control over her finances since 2008 — has spoken out, and he disagrees with his critics. In fact, he claims #FreeBritney “is a joke.”

Speaking to the New York Post over the weekend, Spears called the movement’s supporters “conspiracy theorists,” saying, “All these conspiracy theorists don’t know anything. The world don’t have a clue. It’s up to the court of California to decide what’s best for my daughter. It’s no one else’s business.”

Denying rumors that he is stealing money from his daughter, he continued, “I have to report every nickel and dime spent to the court every year. How the hell would I steal something?”

He then spoke about the backlash he and others involved have received, saying, “People are being stalked and targeted with death threats. It’s horrible. We don’t want those kinds of fans. I love my daughter. I love all my kids. But this is our business. It’s private.”

This follows a report last month that refuted speculation of the singer being held hostage by her conservator.

Get caught up on the #FreeBritney movement and read our timeline of everything that has happened here.

The Orlando Magic have been one of the most pleasant surprises through two games of the NBA’s restart in their backyard at Disney. The Magic have routed the Nets and Kings in the first two games, and although those are two of the worst teams in Orlando, it’s still been an impressive start for a team few discussed going in.

The Magic had gotten a big boost during restart camp when Jonathan Isaac was announced as available to play, after having suffered a sprained left knee on January 1 that ended his season. Orlando had initially said they’d be cautious with Isaac and were going into the restart not expecting him to play, but he cleared all of the necessary medical hurdles to get back on the court once scrimmages began.

Isaac showed flashes of the incredible defensive talent he is as he ramped up his on-court minutes, and the boost he gives the Magic on that end of the floor is undeniable. Sadly, on Sunday, Isaac was taken off the court in a wheelchair after a non-contact injury to that same left knee early in the fourth quarter against Sacramento. Later that night, the Magic confirmed that an MRI revealed Isaac had torn his ACL.

It’s a brutal way for Isaac’s season to end once again, and now he faces another arduous rehab and lengthy recovery that could potentially keep him out for much of, if not all of, next season depending on when the league starts the 2020-21 campaign. The Magic lose a versatile defensive presence as they look to challenge a top seed, likely Toronto, in a first round series, and maybe more importantly, lose significant time with their young budding star for next season.

The Houston Rockets have proven to be one of the bubble’s most exciting teams through two games, which comes as little surprise given their style of play, but what does raise eyebrows is that they are off to a 2-0 start. After dispatching of the Mavs thanks to a furious second half comeback to win in overtime in the opener, they stared down the Milwaukee Bucks in their second game in primetime en route to a 120-116 win that was as impressive as any this season.

Houston’s frantic small-ball approach has been much discussed since they debuted it after the trade deadline, but what they’ve proven is that it can work against the league’s best. On Sunday, we got another data point with that as the Rockets downed a Bucks team that got tremendous play from Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, and Brook Lopez. As expected, the length of Milwaukee gave Houston problems on the glass as the Bucks out-rebounded the Rockets 65-36, but like so often with this Rockets team, it was the havoc they can create, forcing 22 Milwaukee turnovers, and their three-point shooting that carried the day.

The Rockets tied the NBA record for threes taken in a game with 61, making 21 of those, while the Bucks were a rather dismal 9-of-25 from distance. Houston created a ton of great looks, and it felt like they missed a lot of open corner threes they should’ve made, as James Harden and Russell Westbrook probed the paint, collapsed the Bucks defense, and put passes right in the pocket for their shooters.

As has been the case often in the super small-ball era, Westbrook thrived in this one with 31 points, eight assists, and six rebounds. Harden, meanwhile, had 24 points, seven boards, and seven assists in a somewhat pedestrian offensive outing for him, but he was engaged on defense and came up with six steals as he was part of the key Rockets effort late in forcing Milwaukee into turnovers to finish things off.

For the Bucks, they were led by Giannis, Middleton, and Lopez who combined for 86 of their 116 points, with Giannis posting an absurd 36 points, 18 rebounds, and eight assists.

Lopez had 23 points and 12 rebounds, playing spectacularly despite how Houston has been able to at times play traditional centers off the court with their small lineups.

Middleton had 27 and 12, and was the catalyst for their late run that put them ahead by what seemed to be enough to pull away before they found themselves ice cold for the final two minutes.

In the end, it was Houston’s defense that came through when they needed it most. P.J. Tucker, Robert Covington, and Danuel House all made some big plays, as their effort and energy on that end continues to allow them to overcome size disadvantages with active hands and forcing tons of turnovers.

The takeaways from this game are pretty simple. The Rockets, when at their best, are capable of playing with anyone in the league and it just remains to be seen how long they can keep the necessary energy level up to play this style come playoff time. The Bucks are a dominant force, but when they don’t get quality perimeter shooting from role players, they’re beatable. We’ve learned this in the past two postseasons and that remains their biggest question moving forward, but both are going to be very tough outs in the postseason.

It may have a 20% on Rotten Tomatoes, with 63 “fresh” reviews — a number that seems worryingly high — but there’s been few movies more unloved than Cats, last year’s instant anti- classic movie version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s beloved musical. Even the writer of Battleship Earth — one of bad cinema’s brightest lights — thought it was an all-time worst. Six months after its disastrous theatrical release, the Cats earned another hater: the man who wrote its once-popular songs.

As per Deadline, Andrew Lloyd Webber finally broke his silence about the movie that may have permanently destroyed the reputation of one of his most popular productions. Part of the problem, he surmised, was that the filmmakers never consulted him, perhaps afraid that the composer for Phantom of the Opera, Evita, and Jesus Christ Superstar might point out that having visible buttholes and humans as puny mice might be kind of creepy.

“The problem with the film was that Tom Hooper decided that he didn’t want anybody involved in it who was involved in the original show,” Webber recently told The Sunday Times. “The whole thing was ridiculous.”

Webber is far from the only person whose name is on the film — which reportedly lost Universal Pictures some $113 million — to diss Hooper’s movie. Stars James Corden and Rebel Wilson mocked its visual effects at the Oscars — rightfully earning the ire of some of its hard-working tech crew — and Judi Dench mocked her “battered, mangy” look as the eldest feline. Meanwhile, “Macavity” chanteuse Taylor Swift survived the ordeal, and half a year later scored her seventh-ever No. 1 album.

Webber’s choice words for the Cats movie may be him trying to salvage both his name and his show, which for decades has been mounted all over the world and whose rep may forever be tainted by a movie that started getting The Room-style laugh-at-it screenings within its first week of release. Maybe it will work and a major studio will think it’s smart to pour a ton of money into a movie version of Webber’s model train musical, Starlight Express.

(Via Deadline)

As the NFL prepares to come back and training camp gets set to begin, they face the same challenges as Major League Baseball, which has seen some teams struggle to avoid internal outbreaks as they operate without a bubble and players remain at their homes and able to interact with the outside world as the U.S. continues to see tens of thousands of cases per day.

The NFL, like other leagues, has given players the option to opt out of the season for no penalty (aside from giving up their salary), and a number have taken advantage. There have also been some key players that have been placed on the COVID-19 reserve list, including Matthew Stafford and Gardner Minshew, who plan to play but have either tested positive or have been exposed to someone who has.

However, this is something that impacts far more than just the players, as there are coaches, staffers, equipment personnel, and more that have to be in these facilities to make them go. On Sunday, we learned through multiple reports that Eagles head coach Doug Pederson has tested positive, per ESPN’s Tim McManus, and informed the team of that result on Sunday evening.

The team confirmed the news shortly after.

Assistant head coach Duce Staley will take over in-house head coaching responsibilities, while Pederson continues to work virtually while he quarantines, per Jeff McLane.

The good news is that he’s asymptomatic, but the 52-year-old Pederson’s positive test represents just how massive an undertaking this is for the league, and how difficult it will be to pull off a season. A head coach testing positive offers just as serious a chance at an internal outbreak as he conducts meetings with other coaches and interacts with players and executive personnel. On top of that, a head coach potentially having to miss games represents another potential in-season hurdle the league would have to figure out how to clear, even if that case is somehow isolated.

Hopefully Pederson’s case remains asymptomatic and he is cleared to return in the relatively near future, but as test results from around the league continue be released, the reality of the situation for the NFL becomes increasingly clear of just how massive an undertaking this all is — and precarious a position the season’s start is in.

There has been a concerted effort from players and coaches during the NBA and WNBA restarts to keep attention on the issues of social justice whenever possible. Most every player availability features some sort of statement on the racial injustice the Black community faces, calls for the police who killed Breonna Taylor to be arrested, and/or calls for people to get out and vote.

Jaylen Brown has been one of the most prominent voices in speaking out against racial injustice in recent months, as the Celtics third-year star wing has taken on a leadership role in the league and the community. During the bubble, Brown has used his press conferences to call attention to issues he finds critical, encouraging people to get out and vote and, on Sunday, taking some time to lay out why he appreciates the league allowing players to peacefully protest during the anthem — and why the anthem itself is an example of systemic racism in the United States

“I want to address the national anthem. I want to show my solidarity to the NBA and Adam Silver for allowing us to peacefully protest some of the injustices that we felt. Proud of the Boston Celtics as well. Angela Davis once said that racism is so dangerous not because of individual actors but because it’s deeply embedded in the apparatus. I think about that quote a lot when I think about the national anthem, which was written by Francis Scott Key, who was a slave owner. When we talk about the national anthem we don’t talk a lot about the third verse that was written, which addresses slavery, mentions there’s no hope for a “hierling” or a slave but the gloom of the grave. So, racism is so deeply embedded in our country that people don’t even flinch or even shift at the idea, it kind of is what it is. It’s not the police officers or police brutality — it is, all of that is important — but it’s also the framework that starts systemic oppression, and that’s starting with the national anthem. I think being able to take a knee is appropriate, and it may not even be enough. But I’m proud of the NBA for being a part of the right side of how people feel.”

That third verse Brown references goes as follows.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
A home and a Country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash’d out their foul footstep’s pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Brown’s point is to show how deeply ingrained racism is in America and why the steps to eradicate must go so much farther than many are willing to admit. He continues to come to his postgame pressers not just wanting to talk about these issues, but is well prepared with examples to help prove his point. His comments are based in fact and he presents those to back up his points, which make them all the more powerful and make them impossible to ignore.