Month: March 2021

Shamir has been on a roll with covers lately. He turned in a wonderful rendition of Billie Eilish’s “Ocean Eyes” a month ago and now he is back with his own version of Sharon Van Etten’s “DsharpG,” as part of the upcoming reissue of her Ten album.

Van Etten wrote of Shamir on Instagram:

“I was drawn to Shamir’s music by the immediate authenticity & originality of his voice and instrumentation choices. It felt simultaneously throwback and very here & now. So many genres melting into one another, I couldn’t peg it and I loved every minute of the wild ride. Not to mention that his vocal range is from another universe and his arrangements are dark and stormy. Self admittedly, I have a hard time keeping up with ‘music today’ because they all blend into each other and sound so homogenized I can’t tell one from another (even if I like it…) But, Shamir’s music is truly original and a force to be reckoned with in his reimagining of a time where I grew up fondly, angsty & dreaming…”⁣

Van Etten previously said of the album, “Epic represents a crossroads for me as an artist — going from intern to artist at Ba Da Bing, from solo folk singer to playing with a band for the first time and beginning to play shows on tour where people showed up. I am in awe of the artists who wanted to participate in celebrating my anniversary and reissue, from young inspiring musicians, to artists who took me under their wing, who I met on tour, and to artists I’ve looked up to since I was a teenager. Each one of these artists continue to influence my writing and provide a sense of camaraderie during this new era of sharing music.”

Listen to Shamir’s rendition of “DsharpG” above.

Epic Ten is out 4/16 via Ba Da Bing. Pre-order it here.

Crypto-art is currently beyond big business as the non-fungible token trading craze continues. The latest high-profile celebrity to get in on the bubble before it bursts is Ja Rule, who bragged of recently selling a painting of the Fyre Festival logo for over $120,000 on the Flipkick market. It was painted by Tripp Derrick Barnes for the company’s New York office but Ja kept it after the disastrous festival weekend.

Although Fyre Festival creator Billy McFarland was sentenced to six years in prison for fraud, investor Ja Rule was cleared of similar charges after a judge determined he didn’t know about the behind-the-scenes logistical failures that turned the luxury festival into a documentary-worthy fiasco. In an interview with Forbes about selling the painting, Ja explained that he really wanted to get rid of the painting because he felt it brought him “bad luck.” Initially commissioning the painting for just $2,000, he originally thought about selling it on eBay but a friend convinced him to get in on the NFT trend.

And while $120,000 seems like a tremendous profit on the $2,000 painting, it’s a big step down from his original asking price of $600,000. I guess people weren’t willing to go in that deeply on something Ja Rule’s selling.

The last time a bunch of celebrities got together to try and “help” with the pandemic, it resulted in the dreaded “Imagine” video, which even its participants have admitted was probably not the best idea. We can safely say the new animated series, Pandemica, is definitely not that.

Produced by the Bono-founded ONE organization, which will stream the series for free across its social media channels, Pandemica boasts a stellar cast and centers on a fictional world that’s a “never-ending pandemic purgatory, where COVID-19 never goes away and no one is sure how long they will be stuck there or if they can ever leave.” The series aims to raise awareness about the importance of everyone in the world getting vaccinated to end the pandemic, and the dangers of wealthy nations hoarding the much-needed shots. Via THR:

“Pandemica’s animated world animates a simple truth — that where you live shouldn’t determine whether you get these life-saving shots,” said U2 frontman Bono, co-founder of ONE and (RED). “Even while many of us still wait our turn, we need to commit to making sure that billions of people around the world aren’t left at the back of the line. It’s the right thing to do, obviously, but it’s also the only way out of this pandemic for all of us. If the vaccine isn’t everywhere, this pandemic isn’t going anywhere.”

Here’s the full cast list: Patrick Adams, Samuel Arnold, Bono, Connie Britton, Penélope Cruz, Meg Donnelly, Danai Gurira, Nick Kroll, Laura Marano, Kumail Nanjiani, David Oyelowo, Phoebe Robinson, Michael Sheen, Wanda Sykes and Calum Worthy.

Pandemica premieres March 25 on ONE.

(Via THR)

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Oprah interview was bound to generate plenty of interest, given that Harry’s standing up for how his wife was treated, a generation after his mother’s plight (which is currently being dramatized on The Crown). Yet things really heated up when Piers Morgan got involved while bashing the heck out of Meghan (who he admitted ghosted him years ago) and even stormed off the Good Morning Britain set. Piers believes that he’s fighting for truth or something, but much of what he’s claiming — that Meghan lied about racist commentary from a Royal and admitted feeling suicidal during her time with the family — only makes Meghan look more sympathetic.

Well, the Meghan-and-Harry story will now be made into a movie — sort of! Deadline reports that Lifetime will do this thing up, and this will actually be the third movie in a trilogy. Following up on Harry & Meghan (2018) and Harry & Meghan: Becoming Royal (2019), viewers will be able to watch Harry & Meghan: Escaping the Palace. This might seem like an unintended trilogy, but apparently, this film went into early development a year ago. One might expect that it will be juicier now, even though (as Lifetime revealed to Deadline), the title certainly isn’t vague. Here’s a plot description:

It will detail Meghan’s growing isolation and sadness, their disappointment that ‘The Firm’ was not defending them against the press’s attacks and Harry’s fear that history would repeat itself and he would not be able to protect his wife and son from the same forces that caused his mother’s untimely death. Harry & Meghan: Escaping the Palace will also look at the private family feuds between Will and Harry, Kate and Meghan, and Harry with Will and Charles, that lead to the ultimate break from the royal ties.

From the sounds of Deadline’s report, casting is underway, and there’s no indication of whether Parisa Fitz-Henley as Meghan and Murray Fraser will reprise their roles from the first two films. I gotta wonder, too: will they work Piers Morgan’s shenanigans into this threequel? And who will play Piers? He seems like he’s free, from the looks of his “moving out” photo from the Good Morning Britain set on Twitter.

(Via Deadline)

The folks behind Big Thief have put their stamp on NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series lately. Back in November, Adrianne Lenker took to a camper in Joshua Tree for her performance. Now it’s Buck Meek’s turn and for his concert, he found himself in a similar setting. Instead of a camper in the desert, though, Meek played from the back of his Toyota Land Cruiser (which is set up very much like a camper) in Topanga Canyon, California.

For his four-song set, he performed “Pareidolia,” “Two Saviors,” “Halo Light,” and “The Undae Dunes” with just his voice and an acoustic guitar. After performing the first track, he explained, “That’s ‘Pareidolia,’ it’s my new favorite word, which means this human instinct to put symbol to stimulus. I’ve been spending this time of solitude in the canyon here, spending a lot of time observing the clouds and things.”

After a couple more songs from his recent album Two Saviors, he wrapped up with a new song that he wrote in quarantine, “The Undae Dunes.” Before playing it, he offered a dedication, saying, “I’m in love with a woman who may be an astronaut someday. She’s applying for the space program, so this one’s for her.”

Watch Meek’s Tiny Desk performance above.

We are living, for better or worse, within a golden age (adaptation-wise) of comic-book superhero deconstruction. There’s a lot of retread going on, and somewhere along the way, “gritty” takes happened, and it’s all quite dizzying. So, it’s easy to think, “Been there, done that” about a new Amazon Prime TV series that very clearly aims to dismantle the superhero on the heels of The Boys, which does so commandingly and with the air of having the last word. It’s true that Invincible takes a similar approach to ultra-violence, and it explores similar themes; yet it’s worth pointing out that The Boys (Garth Ennis’ comic launched years after Robert Kirkman’s Invincible) just happened to have landed first on Amazon. It swung big and succeeded mightily, too, with multiple spinoffs already in development, all while being proudly ostentatious. The Boys landed at the right time in 2019, and it skewered superheroes after the DCEU lost its tonal footing, and as the MCU played things safe throughout the Infinity Saga. So, one might wonder if The Boys could overshadow the quieter merits of Invincible from being recognized since it is, overall, a more contemplative series (aside from the intense action and violence).

However, a groundswell of anticipation exists. An Invincible adaptation — based upon the comic (which ran for 15 freaking years, concluding in 2018) written by The Walking Dead creator (Kirkman, alongside artist Cory Walker) — really has been a long time coming. A live-action movie should eventually arrive and co-exist with this animated show. Both projects can boast Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg as executive producers, so that should tell everyone (even those unfamiliar with the comic) about this show’s sensibilities (or glorious lack thereof), since they’re onboard with The Boys, too. As with The Boys, there’s a lot of DC and Marvel easter eggs and references, and Invincible has a ball with those elements, at least in the first three episodes screened for critics. It’s a good time, even if the show slowly paces itself while introducing this world, which is a lot like a tweaked-up, vibrantly visual version of our own world.

Also tellingly, though, is the fact that this is a Kirkman project, and since he’s the guy who made zombie fare compelling again, one would hope that this show would put a fresh spin on, well, lighting the asses of superheroes on fire. Not only that, but several TWD universe cast members (including Lauren Cohan, Lennie James, Ross Marquand, Chad Coleman, and Michael Cudlitz) are onboard as supporting characters, and the ace in the hole would be leading man Steven Yeun. Add in J.K. Simmons and Sandra Oh in the other leading roles (alongside the likes of Seth Rogen, Walton Goggins, Jason Mantzoukas, Zazie Beetz, Zachary Quinto, and Mark Hamill), and this series is making the case (to me, at least, since I’m sometimes a skeptic in this department) that piling on famous voices can be the right approach for an animated action series.

Those famous vocals likely represent a lot of where the Invincible budget went — hey, I’m not saying that in a bad way. The animation style is very 1990s and filled with blocky shapes and pops of color, including gore and vomit and all that. It’s still fascinating to gawk at, perhaps because we’re so used to unreal-looking CGI these days. We meet Mark Grayson (Yeun, who is consistently great), a 17-year old who only wants to follow in the footsteps of his dad, Omni-Man/Nolan Grayson (Simmons), who’s the greatest superhero on Earth and also rocks an impressive mustache. Mark’s mom, Deborah (Oh) is human, and she’s doing most of the upbringing while dad is off superhero-ing. When Mark comes into his powers, we’ve obviously got a coming-of-age story and the attempted bridging of a gulf between father and son. Mark’s also grappling with a whole new set of moral dilemmas (and there’s more than a suggestion that dad is not all-heroic), which are dealt with in a surprisingly methodical manner.

In that way, Invincible is a more grounded series than expected for an animated comic-book adaptation. There’s also less satire than Kirkman’s source material, and overall, the subject matter is quite graphic when it comes to ultra-violence, but there’s no superhero sex club in the wings (like with The Boys) or a Superman/Captain America-type character ejaculating all over a city. Despite the frequent spattering of blood, Invincible doesn’t otherwise aim to be lurid for the sake of it. Instead, it’s got a story with nuance and heart, including a Peter Parker-like character who doesn’t get to have as much fun coming into his powers as Shazam! does. Instead, Mark’s juggling newfound abilities while attempting to also do the teenage thing.

With that said, Invincible still makes a lot of time, maybe even too much (the episodes each clock in at over 40 minutes and have credits scenes), to toss javelins at existing superhero archetypes and tropes that are relied upon by the MCU and DCEU. Within the wide array of characters who enter the mayhem, fans will easily be able to point out Justice League and Teen Titans and Young Avengers counterparts. The show also smartly sets up a mystery while taking great pain to flesh out the central trio and several supporting characters with richly textured personalities. I especially enjoyed Sandra Oh’s no-nonsense, badass lady. In the show, she’s written to take no garbage from her son or husband, and that’s not the only way the show shakes up the usual superheroes-and-the-women-who-love-them tropes.

For sure, there’s no getting around how Invincible will be mentioned in the same breath as The Boys. Comparisons are unavoidable, yet this is not a zero-sum game. There’s plenty of room in nerd hearts to accept more quality superhero TV shows, after HBO’s Watchmen and The Boys stood out as recent, superior examples — and TV, as a medium, is doing so much better lately at deconstructing superheroes while big-screen attempts can falter. Sometimes, the results can be stunning, like when Damon Lindelof completely retooled Alan Moore’s graphic novel to unite the present with a past that’s never been reconciled (and taking down Zack Snyder’s film version in the process). Meanwhile, The Boys clung closer to the comics and drenched itself in cynicism, along with buckets of blood and other bodily fluids, and now, we’re getting a slightly quieter and (emotionally) more gentle story from Invincible. It’s admittedly an adjustment to reconcile the story’s violence and the softer side of the show. The juxtaposition can be jarring, but this Robert Kirkman adaptation makes a promising start.

Amazon Prime’s ‘Invincible’ will debut three episodes on March 26 with followups arriving weekly until the April 30 finale.

Nomadland took home the top honor at the 32nd Producers Guild of America Awards on Wednesday. The Chloé Zhao-directed film won the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures over Judas and the Black Messiah, Mank, and The Trial of the Chicago 7, among other fellow Best Picture nominees.

“In a year when we have been living such isolated lives, we were proud to make a movie about community and what connects us,” producer Peter Spears said during his acceptance speech. “You honor the entire Nomadland company with this award.”

As noted by Variety, the PGA Awards is “one of the key indicators for the Academy Awards, particularly the best picture category.” Over the past decade, the same movie has won both the Darryl F. Zanuck Award and Best Picture seven times:

2011
PGA: The King’s Speech
Oscar: The King’s Speech

2012
PGA: The Artist
Oscar: The Artist

2013
PGA: Argo
Oscar: Argo

2014
PGA: 12 Years a Slave and Gravity
Oscar: 12 Years a Slave

2015
PGA: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Oscar: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

2016
PGA: The Big Short
Oscar: Spotlight

2017
PGA: La La Land
Oscar: Moonlight

2018
PGA: The Shape of Water
Oscar: The Shape of Water

2019
PGA: Green Book
Oscar: Green Book

2020
PGA: 1917
Oscar: Parasite

Considering Nomadland also won Best Motion Picture – Drama at the Golden Globes, it’s the clear Best Picture frontrunner. The 93rd Academy Awards takes place one month from today, on April 25.

(Via Variety)

Myles Turner patrols the paint better than anyone else in the league. The Indiana Pacers’ big man leads the NBA in shot blocking, oftentimes turning away opponents at the rim like they’re trying to sneak into a bar with a fake ID. He is the lynchpin of the Indiana Pacers defense, and while he’s a kind, smiling face off the court (and, let’s face it, on it from time to time), his shot blocking brings a ferocity that cannot be taught.

Now in year six, Turner’s shot blocking and ability to hit triples gives him a unique skill set. But beyond those two things, the 25-year-old big man is proud of his development into a more complete player on both ends of the floor, and even in the midst of his name constantly popping up in trade rumors, the Pacers have ultimately always kept him, realizing that his value to the team would be difficult to replace.

Turner, who’s teaming up with Mountain Dew to give fans a chance to design a pair of sneakers he’ll wear during a game, sat down with Dime recently to discuss the art of shot blocking, the Pacers’ season, the wonderfully annoying defense of TJ McConnell, and that time a fan demanded $100 on Venmo and he turned it into a huge fundraiser.

You’re a guy who interests me because I feel like you’ve been described as a great “modern” center because you can shoot, but everything always comes back to what you do on the defensive end of the floor. Looking back from when you first came into the league, what’s the main way you feel like you’ve grown on that end?

On the defensive end, I think I came in as a shot blocker but I’ve always been able to block shots. I feel I’ve grown my defensive game so much more as far as getting better in the pick-and-role, being able to guard guards on the perimeter now, getting better at my help-side rotation, all stuff that I had to learn over time. I just relied on my natural instincts coming into the league, but after watching film, having experience, I’ve got better at patrolling the paint, as you will.

I went back and I looked at your numbers from when you were Texas. College numbers are always going to be crazy, but your numbers this year — blocks per game, block percentage, that sort of stuff — it’s not far off. What has led to your play on that and going from someone who’s very, very, very good, to now, you’re right there in the Defensive Player of the Year discussion?

Well, a couple tweaks in our defense. That’s one thing, I think we play a different style of defense than we have in the past. Our new head coach and his system … is that Mountain Dew, I see?

[laughs] No, this is seltzer.

Ah, ok, never mind.

Anyway, I probably think that was me just making a jump in my in my mentality and getting better at what I do. And then just having fun, just getting back to have more fun out there, just bounce around and take a lot more pride in what I do.

So can you expand on the having fun element of it? Blocking shots and just playing defense in general seems like it is a very fun thing. But what has led to you having a more fun on that end of the floor this year?

Just taking a little pride in what I do. Like I said, I’ve led the league in blocks before. I’ve already shown that I can do that. I want to show more elements of my game this year and show what else I’m capable of. And I think the fun also came from the fact that, you know, I think I’ve gained more respect or gotten respect around this league as someone who does influence the game, who is one of the better defensive players. So knowing that I have that target on my back night in and night out, that’s kind of what else would have been what motivates me as well. So I think the fun of it is just knowing that I change games.

It’s funny you say it because I wanted to ask about your reputation. It’s not a stretch to say you’re known for being a very good defensive player, do you find that other guys know this and they either show you respect by going, “Oh, damn, Myles is there, I’m pulling it out, I don’t want to test him,” or kind of the other side of it, they become a little bit more eager, they go, “I want to go at that dude, and I want to test him.”

It’s few and far between. I think some people really take it upon themselves to come in there and challenge me, some teams, definitely put in the scout reports that we got to change up our plan of attack when we’re attacking the paint. I think that has to do with a lot of different things, but it’s just a very case by case sort of thing.

Which one gets you more fired up? When you see someone come and then back out, or when it’s someone who … you have to be on your game, someone’s gonna come and test you, and you have to be there to answer it.

Yeah, definitely gonna test it. I want to step up to that challenge, I enjoy being challenged at the rim, I enjoy being challenged in the paint. It gives me my sense of worth, and this is my job to do that. So yeah.

I want to ask about the art of blocking shots. How much of it is working on being good, you’re putting in the practice watching film, knowing what other guys are going to do? And how much of it is just having that inherent sense of, right now is the time I have to go if I want to be able to get this done?

I’m a big proponent of the fact that you can’t necessarily teach shot blocking, you have it or you don’t. I think that you can try and watch all the film you want, are you can try and work on it in drills, but shot blocking is an instinct, and not everybody has it. I think it’s something that I’ve always had, something that I’ve tried to grow upon, but something that’s, I think, gonna take me very far. So that’s not gonna leave me, you have it or you don’t.

While we’re talking about Indiana Pacers who are really good at playing defense, I got to ask about TJ McConnell. I say lovingly, he has to be one of the biggest pests in the entire league. What does he bring you guys when he’s out there just annoying the hell out of everyone on the other team?

Well, he’s one of those guys that you love him if he’s on your team, but you hate him if he’s not. Even in practice, he’s on the other team, it gets annoying in a sense, because that’s just the way he plays. He’s found his niche in this league. And I have a lot of respect for TJ McConnell because he’s gonna bring that every night. It’s not just something he does on national TV games or something, it’s a playoff game, no. He brings it every single game, every single night. That’s who he is as a player. And sometimes we don’t have it, he has a steal, or he hypes the team up, or he gets himself going, and then we find a way to get it. I got a lot of respect for him, he’s one of my favorite teammates, just because of the way he plays and his approach to the game.

Broadly, I’d love your thoughts on the season. Where have you been happy with the Pacers’ play? Where do you want to see some improvement heading into the final months of the season?

Well, I think that we do a great job of coming out of the gates, but we don’t necessarily do a great job of finishing games very well. And that’s something I think we’ve got to get better at coming down the stretch, but especially into the playoffs where that’s the most important aspect. I think we’ve been really resilient on the road, but we haven’t been able to take care of a lot of our home games. And that’s something that we’re not, especially here in Indiana, we’re not accustomed to. We’re accustomed to having a winning record here at home, something that we definitely need to improve upon. And as a whole, I think we just haven’t been healthy. We’re finally starting to get some guys back. We’ve added Caris and we’re trying to, we’re finally trying to get our full roster together. So I think that the sky’s the limit.

So what do you have going on with Mountain Dew?

Man, I’m glad you asked! So Mountain Dew, there’s a number of things going on here. My biggest thing with Mountain Dew right now is giving fans a chance to interact with me, you know, post-COVID. Here in the past with Mountain Dew, something that I’ve done here in the Indianapolis community, is you have a lot of events around the city or postgame events where I have hundreds of fans able to come in here, have fun with me, and then do a number of things.

So I’m giving the fans a chance to create a shoe for me. And it’s not a shoe that I’m gonna put up somewhere, or put up in my house, I’m actually gonna wear this on the court — I might wear it in the playoffs, I might wear it down the road. And from March 24 to April 7, fans can submit their own designs of shoes to DewKickItOnTheCourt.com, and I want to see everybody’s designs, so use the hashtag KickItOnTheCourt, and I’ll be able to see it. And I’m also partnering with with Sierato, he’s a pretty renowned shoe designer on Instagram, and the winning fans have a chance to sit down with me and him and discuss the design elements, so I think it’s something that’ll be pretty cool, something that I’m looking forward to here in the next couple of days. I love artwork, and I want to see what people come up with here. So, it’s gonna be fun.

Are there any pointers and tips you want to pass along to fans who are going to be designing this? Is there anything specifically you would like to see in these?

I love originality, that’s literally all I care about. I don’t care about color schemes, I don’t care about … everybody knows I love certain movies and certain brands, I don’t care about any of that. I just want to see originality.

I need to ask about the Venmo stuff from a few weeks back. When did it dawn on you that you could take this from a very weird thing that happened and turn it into something really positive for your community?

It’s funny man, as an NBA player, it’s my sixth year now, I get hate messages and death threats and all this stuff all the time after games, it’s something I’ve grown accustomed to. Some of them might intimidate some people who aren’t used to it.

So one day and I saw this guy requested a penny for my performance — it was a Chicago overtime game, we ended up losing the game. He requested money for the way I played. So … no, he requested $100 for the way I played. And on the contrary, I sent him a penny, said here’s a penny for your thoughts. And he decided to post that on Twitter and it got legs, people started sending me penny after penny after penny after penny, and after like three or four hours, I ended up getting like $200 from pennies, so that’s thousands of fans that were sending me pennies and dollars here and there. And it just dawned on me that I can turn this into something positive and in the age of anti-bullying and all this cyberbullying kind of stuff that’s going, it was a great way for me to raise awareness to that and also help out my community at the same time. So it’s been something that worked out very well for me in the end.

Every so often over the past few years, Rihanna says something or writes something on social media that gets fans excited about the possibility of new music. Now she has made yet another comment that suggests new music could be on the way soon.

Rihanna’s most recent album, 2016’s Anti, recently celebrated its fifth anniversary, a milestone that Rihanna observed on social media. Rihanna shared a fan-made video that showed off some clips from the Anti era as well as a recent tweet from Chart Data, which notes, “@rihanna’s ‘ANTI’ has now spent 5 full years on the Billboard 200. First album by a black female artist to reach this milestone in the chart’s history.” In the comments, somebody suggested, “celebrate by releasing a song !!” Rihanna decided to get fans excited with her response: “I think I should [soon emoji].” She added, “just 1 tho lol.”

There’s hope for new Rihanna beyond this. Back in December, she suggested that she wanted to devote some serious energy to her music in 2021, saying, “2021 is a little unknown for everybody and nobody is sure what restrictions there are going to be. My creativity is within my control, though, and I want to take my music and my brands to a different level.”

The NBA’s trade deadline day has officially arrived and not even 30 minutes in on the East Coast we got our first action of what many believe could be a busy day of deals.

It isn’t one of the major trades that people hope to see on Thursday, but it sees the Kings send Cory Joseph and a pair of second rounders to the Detroit Pistons for point guard Delon Wright, who will give the Kings some more length in the backcourt as they shuffle up their point guard rotation.

Joseph makes $3 million more per year than Wright, so the impetus for the Kings is to clear a little off of their books — hence the two second rounders being shipped off to Detroit as the price to pay for such a move — while also getting a younger veteran presence in the backcourt for this year and next. Detroit picks up a couple second round picks as they continue their rebuild, and Joseph can provide them with some point guard minutes this year and, should they want to, he’s only guaranteed for $2.4 million next season should they want to clear some cap room for this summer.

It is the appetizer for trade deadline day activity, and hopefully will just be the beginning of a fun day of moves. For the Kings, specifically, that they cut some money off this year and add some to next seems to indicate they aren’t done and this is a move to set up another.