Month: March 2021

More of Maya Rudolph is always a good thing. The comedy actress and Saturday Night Live alum will star in a new half hour comedy series for Apple TV that will re-team her with the Emmy-winning creators behind Forever Alan Yang and Matt Hubbard. While the title for the project has yet to be announced, it has already received a straight-to-series order from Apple as the streaming service seeks to aggressively boost its original content offerings. Via Deadline:

On the new Apple series, Rudolph will play Molly, a woman whose seemingly perfect life is upended after her husband leaves her with nothing but 87 billion dollars. Creators/writers Yang and Hubbard executive produce alongside Rudolph through her production company, Animal Pictures, with the company’s Natasha Lyonne and Danielle Renfrew Behrens also executive producing.

Yang and Hubbard aren’t the only ones with Emmys under their belts. Rudolph knocked out an impressive double Emmy win in 2020 thanks to her work as Kamala Harris on SNL and her voiceover work for Big Mouth where she plays the female hormone monstress Connie. Thanks to Rudolph’s impressive vocal talents and comedic wit, the role has been a breakout hit for fans who can’t over the way the character pronounces “bubble bath.” Conan O’Brien has even admitted to being impressed by the unusual pronunciation, which Rudolph revealed was a process to create.

“I remember sort of doing it and I remember sort of being egged on to… can you find more? Can you actually find more?” Rudolph told Conan on his podcast. “And we were trying to make — I think maybe initially because she’s meant to be a hormone monsters we were trying to make her voice a roller coaster. Just like a roller coaster of emotions. So it was sort of that low, high, low dipping stuff.”

(Via Deadline)

It’s been three years since prolific band Big Thief released two LPs, Two Hands and U.F.O.F, just months apart from each other. Vocalist Adrianne Lenker has since released a solo project of her own, and guitarist Buck Meek is also recently debuted his sophomore solo LP Two Saviors. But that’s left fans wondering when the next time they’ll hear new Big Thief music is. Fortunately, Buck Meek has revealed that it won’t be too long from now.

Buck Meek sat down for an interview with Guitar where he discussed his unique guitar playing style, while offering insight into the status of Big Thief’s fifth studio album. The musician said the record is “pretty much done” and sounds “certainly different” from their last release. “Lockdown was a well-needed respite, I needed a break,” he said. “And then Big Thief ended up making new music for nearly six months, which was really nice because we’ve been touring so hard we’ve had little chance to record in the last couple of years.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Meek praised Lenker’s songwriting abilities:

“I loved her sense of invention. She works in so many alternate tunings, a new tuning almost every time she writes a song. Her sense of rhythm is so strong and fluid, with so many interweaving picking patterns and a complex sense of harmony, but all centered around the song. She’s constantly changing time signatures, but it doesn’t feel contrived, it moves with so much swing. Her rhythm is very straight, like a train. Coming from a ragtime and Western Swing background, my approach is more syncopated, I play behind the beat. That was one of the first moments of excitement for us, combining those two feels.”

Two Saviors is out now via Keeled Scales. Get it here.

Not only is Filipino tita-imitating Bay Area R&B singer H.E.R. a newly-minted Grammy Award winner but she is also a burgeoning movie star. She recently made her acting debut playing herself in Netflix’s new comedy Yes Day. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, H.E.R. stated her ambition to continue pursuing acting.

“I’ve been so focused on making music but I think it’s time now for me to go full throttle with acting,” she said. “I’m working on that right now, following my passion for acting.”

However, that doesn’t mean she’s falling back from doing music anytime soon. In fact, she may soon join her fellow Filipino entertainer Bruno Mars in his latest endeavor. Posting a photo to Instagram with Bruno, his Silk Sonic musical partner Anderson .Paak, and their “Leave The Door Open” co-producer Dernst “D’Mile” Emile, H.E.R. joked, “Tried to audition to be in Silk Sonic. Idk if I made the cut.” Both acts performed at the recent Grammy Awards, where H.E.R. won her first award for Song Of The Year for “I Can’t Breathe.”

And although she just got started on her acting career, she’ll still be competing for an Oscar at the upcoming 93rd Academy Awards, as she’s nominated for her song “Fight For You” from the soundtrack to Judas And The Black Messiah.

Read H.E.R.’s full interview with Entertainment Weekly here.

The Los Angeles Clippers got trounced by the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night, 105-89. Despite being one of the few players on the team who had a big night, Paul George griped to the media after the game about the fact that the officials swallowed their whistles while the Clippers were trying to be aggressive and potentially get to the free throw line.

When asked about Los Angeles’ inability to draw fouls — it was noted that despite the team taking 30 shots at the rim, only three fouls were called — George accused the officials of being liars.

“Just a bunch of lies,” George said. “Can’t go too much further than that, it’s a bunch of lies. They know what’s going on.”

When asked about how the Clippers can change whatever he was implying due to the fact that they are making it a point to try and get fouled by attacking the rim, George more or less threw his hands up in the air.

“Our job is to be aggressive, attack,” George said. “We can’t do much more than that. If they not gonna call it, they not gonna call it. And that’s the sad part about it, because we’re not flopping players. We’re not players that’s, like, throwing our bodies into other players, we play physical, no different from any other player in this league. There’s nothing more than we can do.”

There will never be an NBA player who is satisfied with how their games are officiated, but having said that, George is right that he and Kawhi Leonard aren’t the sorts of dudes who egregiously flop in an attempt to get to the charity stripe. These sorts of public calls are oftentimes more attempts to sway refs outside of games, though, so maybe George, Leonard, and co. will start getting a more charitable whistle going forward.

Following the shooting in Atlanta earlier in the week that left eight people need after a gunman entered three separate massage parlors and predominantly shot Asian women, actress Olivia Munn has been doing her part to raise the alarm that this event was not an isolated incident and is part of a larger problem of increased anti-Asian violence. During an interview on Thursday morning, Munn explained how the coronavirus pandemic has been a catalyst for racial violence against Asian-Americans for over a year now, and as the shooting in Atlanta has shown, the situation is not improving. Via TODAY:

I think the thing that we need everyone to know is that the pandemic was weaponized against Asian Americans and we have a target on our backs. And it feels like it’s open season on us. And we need help and we need people to care about what is happening to us. You look at what happened in Atlanta. This doesn’t happen in a vacuum.

Munn’s statement echoes her previous appearance on MSNBC where she ramped up her message that the Asian community desperately needs their fellow Americans to do something to stop the violence. “We are living in a country that is attacking us simply for being us. And we really don’t know what we have to do to get help,” Munn told Nicole Wallace. “We need more people to care about us.”

The actress has also been vocal on social media following the Atlanta shooting:

While it would seem that the shooting was rooted in anti-Asian violence, Munn has every reason to be frustrated with how the country is responding to the deadly event. The Atlanta sheriff’s department has been hesitant to describe the shooting as a hate crime and even went so far as to say the shooter had a “bad day,” which did prompt considerable backlash. That backlash only intensified as it was later revealed that the spokesman who downplayed the shooting had posting images on Facebook that called the pandemic the “China virus,” which is the same rhetoric that former president Donald Trump has continued to used since the coronavirus arrived in America last March. According to the New York Times, there have been nearly 3,800 hate incidents against Asian Americans since that time.

(Via TODAY, MSNBC)

After WandaVision, especially those earlier episodes that offer barely a hint of what else was going on besides a classic sitcom, it might seem tempting to proclaim The Falcon and The Winter Soldier as Marvel returning to something more like what they usually do. After all, there’s Sam Wilson, aka The Falcon (Anthony Mackie), flying through the air over Tunisia trying to stop a terrorist from escaping to Libya. It’s a pretty nifty scene that, at least looks like, it involved some real parachuting stunts. But we’ve seen scenes like that before in Marvel movies. (The parachuting stunt in Iron Man 3 isn’t talked about near enough.) But what’s ambitious about The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is the groundwork being laid out for what’s to come. And this series could go in some interesting, pretty remarkable directions.

In the first episode of six (I’ve only seen one), Sam still owns the shield that Steve Rogers gave him at the end of Avengers: Endgame. He contemplates his life as a future Captain America and wrestles with the notion that he doesn’t believe it belongs to him. And officials from the United States government are all too eager to commend Sam on his “right” decision, not telling him that they have other plans anyway. As I watched that all unfold (and Mackie really sells the anguish over what he’s deciding and why he’s making the decisions that he’s making) it struck me that that’s how it would pretty much exactly go down in real life. The people in charge who don’t want Sam to be the face of America wouldn’t just tell him “no,” they’d somehow twist the whole thing into being “Sam’s own decision.”

And that’s part of the genius of what creators of this show are doing. Because there are going to be viewers who, if Sam had just taken over as Cap, would say, “Well, I like Sam, but I’m not sure he should be Captain America.” (Almost 100 percent of the people who think this way will be white people for what it’s worth.) By the end of this series, I suspect that the overwhelming majority of viewers who felt that way will be actively rooting for Sam to become Cap. (If he even wants it at that point.) And even that fact gets into a lot of tricky discussions about race and why would viewers need this kind of arc in the first place to accept Sam? But that’s what The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is here to do, to make people think about these kinds of questions. (I interviewed Malcolm Spellman, the head writer for the series and he is adamant about this aspect. The interview will run Friday after the episode airs.)

Meanwhile, Bucky Barns (Sebastian Stan) is lying low, going to therapy, and trying his best to atone for his past actions, even though they weren’t really his fault. (If you haven’t seen the movies, yes, Bucky’s past will probably be confusing.) But we see a lot of Bucky just hanging out. Actually, we see a lot of that from Sam, too. It’s nice to see what these two are doing when they are not fighting Thanos. There’s a very interesting scene with Sam and his sister trying to get a bank loan to keep their family business open. Sam is an Avenger and a national hero, but he’s also a Black man and he’s asked about where his income comes from. (Which is something that hasn’t really been addressed before over the course of these movies other than for people like Tony Stark who are just “rich.”) But after one episode we don’t even know how Sam and Bucky’s stories intersect yet.

The series also leans into the effects of “the blip,” which now takes on greater meaning in our own world due to the pandemic, and the series filmed during the pandemic so you can almost feel the notion of losing time having a greater effect on the overall mood of the show than if it had been filmed before. (Sam is also questioned by the bank why he hasn’t had a job in the last five years.)

And on top of all that we have the introduction of the Flag Smashers to the MCU. It’s unclear where that arc is going at this point, but it’s a good bet it will have something to do with the white nationalism we’ve seen spread throughout the United States and abroad.

This first episode is for sure in setup mode. And, no, it’s not weird like WandaVision. But my gosh there’s a lot going on in this series that will unfold over the coming few weeks. And then there’s the final scene of this first episode when a character shows up who puts a lot of things in laser focus. (This character has been publicly announced, but I’ll still not mention him specifically here.) It truly feels like this is a series trying to tackle the multiple things that are actually going on right now in our real world. It may not automatically feel ambitious in that, no, there’s no laugh track and live studio audience. But what this series is trying to do certainly feels like a lot. And my gosh I hope they pull it off.

‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ debuts this weekend via Apple TV+. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Since its release last August, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s song “WAP” has been drawing in criticism from pearl-clutchers and conservatives who apparently think children are being taught to read the raunchy lyrics in school (they’re not). The controversy surrounding the song was reignited last week with the two rappers took the 2021 Grammys stage to put on a showstopping and extremely censored performance of the track. Even still, Cardi and Megan’s stage presence prompted many viewers to file complaints with the FCC.

Texas television station WFAA was able to obtain dozens of the complaints submitted to the FCC following Grammys night. Despite Cardi and Meg’s dance moves receiving many positive reviews on social media, WFAA reports that over 80 people submitted their grievances about the performance to the FCC. “The outfits they were wearing and the movements they did were absolutely disgusting,” one viewer from Idaho wrote. “This network should face very stiff penalties.”

Another FCC complaint from a viewer from Texas compared “WAP” to the six Dr. Seuss books that his estate decided to stop publishing due to racist imagery. “The media has a problem with Dr. Seuss, yet allows Cardi B to sing about her [WAP] on national television,” they wrote.

They weren’t the first one to compare Cardi’s performance to the Dr. Seuss book discontinuation. Earlier this week, a conservative comedian said “WAP” is “more welcome in some schools than Dr. Seuss books,” which prompted a response from Cardi herself. The rapper, who has admitted to shielding her daughter’s ears from the track, told the comedian to “stop comparing a sensual song to books that has RACIST content,” adding: “How can ya not tell the difference?I see that common sense aint that common.”

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

If you thought Piers Morgan would go quietly into the night…. well, you never thought that would happen. Yet the former Good Morning Britain and chronic grumpyman is outdoing himself after scoring the highest number of complaints in British TV history. Now, Piers is turning his wrath upon Gayle King after she told the CBS This Morning audience that she spoke with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, and Meghan has proof of “everything” she told Oprah during the infamous CBS Evening News interview. Given that said proof would make Piers look even worse — since he stormed off live TV, quit his job, and thanked his haters over his claim that Meghan made up allegations of racism against the British Royal Family — Morgan is not happy at all with Gayle.

“Hi @GayleKing,” Piers tweeted. “[R]ather than acting as your Sussex friends’ PR mouthpiece to facilitate their ongoing public trashing of our Royal Family, how about doing your job as a journalist and ask them about all the lies they told in @Oprah’s interview? America should hear THE truth.”

It bears mentioning that Piers also declared that he doesn’t believe Meghan’s admission that she felt suicidal during her time with the British Royal Family, and much of this still reflects upon his admission that she ghosted him after a “pub date” years ago. Piers is definitely still looking out for #1, and this week, he told CNN Business, “There is a lot of interest in securing my services.” Will he land in a stateside gig? It’s actually not hard to believe that some entertainment-news outlet will pick him up since he’d certainly generate ratings, although complaints will arrive as well.

Then again, Piers might simply be angling for a Knightdom from Queen Elizabeth? His cheerleading for the Royal Fam is over the top, to put it mildly. “There’s a very deliberate & malicious campaign being perpetrated by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to smear, defame and trash Britain, our Monarchy & the Royal Family as a bunch of heartless racists,” Morgan recently tweeted. “It’s disgusting. Time to stand up for our Queen.” Well, “Sir Piers” would be an unexpected development, but never say never.

When Justin Bieber originally announced his new album Justice, a lot of folks noticed that the logo on the album art featured text that was stylistically similar to the logo the band Justice has used for years. The group’s label, Ed Banger Records, joked about it at the time, but they’re not laughing anymore. The band’s management accused Bieber earlier this month of stealing the Justice logo, and now the band has sent Bieber a cease-and-desist letter.

Justice’s co-manager, Tyler Goldberg of Jet Management, told Rolling Stone, “The morning Bieber announced his album, it was pretty tough to miss. Aside from seeing it all over the internet ourselves, we heard from hundreds of people throughout the day — industry people, Justice fans — and the Justice guys received a ton of messages, not only compelled to point out the similarities between the Justice Justin Bieber album, but confused. ‘Is this a Justice collaboration?’”

A March 10-dated letter from Justice’s counsel to Bieber’s lawyer and management reads in part:

“Your use of the Mark [the cross symbol] is illegal. You have not received permission from Justice to utilize the Mark. Moreover, Bieber’s work is in no way affiliated with, supported by, or sponsored by Justice. Such use of the Mark is not only illegal, but likely to deceive and confuse consumers. […] Through your illegal co-opting of the Mark, you are now subject to immediate legal action and damages including, but not limited to, punitive and injustice relief. […] Not only was Bieber’s team actually aware of Justice’s use of the Mark, they sought to use the same artist to essentially duplicate it for the Album. This is textbook bad faith and willful infringement.”

Goldberg also told the publication, “Global patent and trademark offices do not police the use of trademarks by third parties. As a result, trademarks need to be defended at all times by the trademark holder. The onus is on the trademark owner to protect against an unlawful use by third parties, regardless of the third party being a billionaire manager or a music superstar. We’ll continue to protect the Justice logo — the trademark that was established 15 years ago — at all costs.”

Neither Bieber nor his team have offered a public comment on the situation as of yet.

There has been a disturbing increase of hate crimes against Asian-Americans since the pandemic started last year. The Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, found that while hate crimes overall decreased by seven percent in 2020, “those targeting Asian people rose by nearly 150 percent.” Bruce Lee’s daughter, Shannon, attributed the increase to former-president Donald Trump and his racist insistence on calling the coronavirus the “kung flu” or “China virus.”

“This is where ‘kung flu’ leads,” Lee tweeted, referring to the gunman who shot and killed eight people, including six women of Asian descent, at three spas in the Atlanta area on Tuesday. “You think it’s a joke and that we shouldn’t be so serious about it. But then there are those who latch onto it with hatred and xenophobia and use it to fuel their fear and contempt until it explodes into heinous acts. This is what happens when we try to break the oneness into separate parts and decide to categorize and rank the parts as good and bad, better or worse, belonging or not belonging.”

The daughter of the martial arts legend continued:

“What would it cost you to decide we are all one family? But really? What is lost by transforming contempt to acceptance? t’s time to look within and ask yourself, do I want to be at peace? Can I operate from love? Will I stand with my human family and embody the end of hate? You’re invited to the family gathering. Please join us.”

She also used the #StopAsianHate hashtag, which leads to many helpful resources to support the Asian-American community, including where to donate.