Month: June 2021

Teyana Taylor may be retired from music, but she’s still hard at work. She’s since pivoted to acting, appearing in Coming 2 America and confirming a reality TV series. Now, her success has earned her another title. Taylor has officially been named Maxim Magazine‘s “Sexiest Woman Alive” for their latest issue.

Taylor graces Maxim‘s annual Hot 100 cover, making her the first Black woman to earn the magazine’s “Sexiest Woman Alive” title. “Somebody pinch me!!!!,” Taylor wrote alongside her cover shoot photos. The musician went on to explain that she showed up to the shoot bare-faced in sweatpants thinking a team would give her a makeover. Instead, the photographer wanted her to be her most authentic self:

“This particular day was dope because it made me see another side of myself. I had just dropped JUNIE off at school before heading straight to the shoot; sweatpants a beanie and an army jacket. My hair wasn’t done for a ‘shoot’ because I planned on throwing on a wig & I didn’t have on any make up. But when I got there the legendary @Gilles_bensimon said and I quote…. ‘Let’s shoot! I want you to stay in this…’ I said ‘HUH?! Well let me at least start my make up.. ‘ as y’all can see I barely had any lashes left He says no ‘my dear this is pure.’ And in regular Teyana Taylor fashion I said ‘okay but look Ah b*tch doing her baby hairs’ LOL I was like SO LET ME UNDERSTAND THIS…I WILL BE THE SEXIEST Woman Alive IN SWEATS AND A SKULLY? Um I guess….’ as confused as I was my heart also melted… I say all of this to say in the true words of Audrey Hepburn… ‘The beauty of a woman is not in facial mode but the true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives the passion that she shows. The beauty of a woman grows with the passing years.’ Embrace and love yourselves for who & what you are because only the purest heart shines through.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CP1PAHgB6N8/

The Queen of the North is back. Or at least her hair is.

Sophie Turner is a natural blonde, but she’s an honorary member of the Redhead Club for her dragon-fire hair on Game of Thrones, where she played Sansa Stark for seven seasons. (You’re telling me there were eight seasons? If you say so…) The Emmy-nominated actress, who will return to HBO for an adaptation of The Staircase, has been blonde since the fantasy series ended, but she recently brought back the red hair:

Sophie and Joe Jonas were spotted at a Los Angeles Dodgers game on Sunday in Atlanta and, in pics, Sophie can be seen rocking some newly-dyed red hair. This is the first time the actress has worn her hair that color since filming Game of Thrones and Dark Phoenix back in 2019. Since then, she’s been wearing her hair her natural blonde hue. Sophie also showed off the new look in a mirror selfie posted on her Instagram Stories.

In the Instagram photo, she’s covering her face with her phone, but her newly-dyed red hair is on display, as is her Olivia Rodrigo shirt. “I feel like I would do anything, I really do,” Turner told Allure in 2018 about changing her hair. “I’m very experimental, and having been a redhead for so long and not being allowed to do anything to my hair, now I’m like, I just want to do everything!” That includes going back to being a redhead.

The Game of Thrones healing has begun.

(Via Seventeen)

As they journey further into this new world known as Kaotica, Coldplay are bringing more guests into their new realm. First debuting the new Max Martin-produced single for their new era, “Higher Ground,” with a real astronaut on a space station, the British band have now enlisted none other than director Dave Meyers to tell the visual story of the track. In their “Higher Power” video, which premiered today, the band explore the planet of Kaotica, which is a colorful trash planet that comes complete with dancing aliens (courtesy of Seoul’s Ambiguous Dance Company), robot dogs, and giant holograms. (Don’t worry Gaga fans, besides the intergalactic nature and name similarity, Kaotica and Chromatica are very different.)

Along with a live performance of the song on American Idol, today’s new video makes it clear that the band are going all in for this new pop-focused phase… with a little bit of sci-fi sprinkled in as well. For the “Higher Ground” video Meyers said it he thinks it reflects the isolation and alienation that most people felt during the pandemic. “The video is a metaphor for how, right now, we all feel alienated, far removed from our world, almost like we’re on an alien planet,” he said in a press release. “And ultimately we find love in the streets and that euphoria shoots us off into the stratosphere of our own energy and higher power.”

Check out the clip above and see if you can catch references to iconic films like The Terminator, Blade Runner, and The Fifth Element in the mix.

Back in ‘the day’ the Marvel multiverse was kind of a fringe thing. In that you could be a big fan of Spider-Man, or, I dunno, Nova, and not really have to deal with thinking about different timelines or different universes much. This changed with Marvel’s Ultimate universe, which, with characters like Miles Morales, became very popular. This was always the difference between Marvel and DC. Marvel just kind of ignored the passage of time and the Peter Parker in comics today is the same one who was introduced in Amazing Fantasy #15. As opposed to DC, who introduced Earth-1 and Earth-2 very early, so to read DC comics you really did have to have a working knowledge of how that all worked. Which became such a mess it culminated in Crises on Infinite Earths that was designed to get rid of all the nonsense multiverses. So it’s kind of weird that multiverses went from, “well how do we keep our characters young?,” to, “Maybe this is just a cool thing to do.”

The first two episodes of Loki, streaming on Disney+ starting on Wednesday, basically serves as an instruction booklet to the MCU opening up the multiverse. See, this is where I get nervous. I still have the DC mentality that it’s better to have everyone in one universe than making confusing different timelines and different Earths. And the multiverse was created out of necessity and not “fun.” But, here’s a fun fact: I don’t get a say in this and this is what’s going to happen.

God bless Owen Wilson. He plays Mobius M. Mobius, a lifer desk jockey for the Time Variance Authority (TVA). Wilson is tasked with explaining a lot to Loki (Tom Hiddleston) about how time travel, and alternate realities, and magic space timekeepers work, which means he’s explaining it to us, the viewer. He is Mr. Exposition, but also he’s Owen Wilson so of course he can make this entertaining. This really is inspired casting. Also, it’s really something to watch Wilson not playing a free spirit, drifting through life and the story we are watching. His job here is order. His literal job is order. He’s here to make sure there’s only one timeline and to nip in the bud any new timelines that may happen because something did not go as planned, like Loki picking up the Tesseract in Avengers: Endgame and transporting himself to who knows where. Well, we learn “where” quickly in Loki and the Time Variance Authority shows up very quickly to take care of business and make sure Loki doesn’t create a whole new timeline. So Loki is brought to the TVA, which feels kind of like a big DMV where powers don’t work and there seems to be a lot of paperwork trying to keep everything in order.

So Loki is branded a “variant” very quickly (the real Loki died in Avengers: Infinity War), but Wilson’s Mobius saves Loki – from Wunmi Mosaku’s Hunter B-15, who seems determined to kill Loki and seems to be having a lot of fun trying, and from Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s Ravonna Renslayer, who basically plays a galactic time judge – because he thinks Loki might be able to help track down a villain who’s been causing a lot of problems for the TVA. So, with that it becomes kind of (*kind of) a 48 Hours buddy cop comedy with a cop and a criminal trying to chase down a worse criminal. (*Owen Wilson is not the ornery cuss that Nick Nolte played and Tom Hiddleston is bringing something different to the table than Eddie Murphy. So, no, it’s not a great comparison, but you get the point.)

So far the most interesting thing about Loki is how it deconstructs the character. Loki, in this world of the TVA, has no powers, so he’s faced with a lot of questions from Mobius about his actions. Did he enjoy killing people? Did he enjoy betraying people? Did he enjoy literally stabbing people in the back? His answers are revealing, though at this point we don’t know if Loki is really doing some soul searching or if he’s just telling Mobius what he thinks Mobius wants to hear. Both things can be true at the same time.

But, at least so far, it seems the purpose of this show is to explain to people what a multiverse is. And, you know what, if I were hell-bent on bringing the multiverse to the MCU (I would not be, but, again, they do not ask me; I know, weird, right?) I would for sure make a series like Loki. Where rules could be established going forward in what seems like will be, let’s say, some unruly future plots. Look, I get it, after Thanos what do you do? Galactus? Yeah, maybe? But isn’t Galactus’s end goal about the same as Thanos? In that in the end a lot of people die? (I know the difference, I do not need tweets explaining the difference between the two.) But, cinematically, to up the ante, yeah, I get why the multiverse is appealing. We are going to see some weird stuff. Involving actors and characters we never thought we’d see again. I hope it works! But, I dunno, it just all seems like a lot.

But, in the meantime, we have our ol’ pal Loki to ask the questions we have about how this all works and another ol’ pal, Owen Wilson, to answer. As a primer, for something I’m not very excited about, well, at least this part is pretty entertaining.

‘Loki’ begins streaming via Disney+ on June 9th. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

It appears that finally, Lorde season is approaching. A couple weeks ago, she was announced as part of the massive Primavera Sound lineup for 2022. A few days ago, she starting trending, seemingly for no reason beyond fans just wanting new music from her. Then, yesterday happened: Lorde shared what seems to be album art for a project called Solar Power. The image in question quickly went viral, as the cheeky photo used was shot from a super-low perspective and shows off a lot of skin from the waist down.

It’s certainly an atypical sort of image, at least as it relates to Lorde and album covers. Naturally, the photo quickly caught fire online and spawned a bunch of hilarious memes. For example, some folks hilariously compared it to the one-off Family Guy cutaway gag character Legs Go All The Way Up Griffin:

Elsewhere, Lorde was edited into a scene from Attack On Titan, a popular mange and anime that features gigantic human-like creatures that eat normal-sized humans:

Then there’s somebody who reckons they’ve spotted Solar Power Lorde in the real world, comparing her to a leggy and artistic clock statue:

Check out some more reactions to Lorde’s apparent album cover below.

It was looking hopeful last June when New York Governor Andrew Cuomo gave the MTV VMAs the go-ahead to take place at the Barclays Center in 2020 with a “limited” audience. However, following an uptick in COVID cases, the VMAs instead opted to host the event at an outdoor space, invite only a virtual audience, and have just a handful of in-person performances. But now as large-scale events eye a late summer return, the VMAs are looking to host their 2021 event indoors.

The VMAs announced Tuesday that the awards show will make an in-person return this year. It’s slated to take place September 12 at the Barclays Center once again, and organizers say they plan to allow fans to attend. According to press materials, the event will “feature epic performances from the biggest names in music and bring fans together from across the globe to celebrate the return of live entertainment.”

Though organizers are feeling confident about gathering indoors, they are still making sure to take safety protocols seriously. “The health and safety of artists, fans, staff, and partners remain the number one priority, and MTV and Barclays Center are working closely with state and local officials to implement best practices in order to safely bring together music fans from around the globe,” organizers wrote in a statement.

The VMAs have yet to announce which artists are set to take the stage in September. Last year’s ceremony saw some showstopping performances by The Weeknd, Ariana Grande, BTS, and Lady Gaga, whose various eye-catching masks stole the show.

Over the past year, more and more music venues have been forced to close by the ongoing pandemic. However, there will soon be a new one in Toronto, courtesy of hometown hero Drake and Live Nation. Billboard reports that the new venue, History, will open later this year with a capacity of just 2,500.

Drake said in a statement that his passion for playing intimate shows early in his career was the driving sentiment behind the smaller size. “Some of my most memorable shows were playing smaller rooms,” he recalled. “I wanted to take those memories and what I learned to create an incredible experience for both the artists and the fans.”

The club has been in development for three years, and once open, will host around 200 events a year. History is just one of many venues that were in planning or construction during the pandemic; while Live Nation has the 5,000-capacity Terminal opening this November in Houston, Billboard lists a number of venues set to open in the future, such as The Factory in St. Louis and the Harry Styles-backed Co-Op Live in Manchester. While many other venues — particularly independently-owned venues — across the nation have been forced to close, others are set to return in 2021. While this creates space for new ventures, it’ll still be some time until the live entertainment industry fully recovers.

Jay Williams is a ubiquitous presence on ESPN’s morning programming. He’s one of the hosts of ESPN Radio’s morning show, Keyshawn, JWill, and Zubin, and makes frequent appearances on Get Up!

That means there are lots of opportunities to double-dip when it comes to analysis, takes, and stories, and we got a great example of the car wash of takes on Tuesday morning. Unsurprisingly, one of the lead topics of the day was the Brooklyn Nets dominating the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 2, winning by 39 points to take a 2-0 series lead to Milwaukee. Kevin Durant was magnificent once again, leading all scorers with 32 points, including a few moments where he took Giannis Antetokounmpo one-on-one and gave him the business.

Williams decided to tell a story about how one time he called Giannis, physically, something akin to if Anthony Davis and Kevin Durant had a baby, praising what the Greek Freak is capable of as a ball-handler and physical presence. According to Williams — who told this story on both shows — that led to KD confronting him about it at a holiday party to tell him to never compare him to Giannis again. Williams believes this indicates that Durant has something personal to prove in this matchup against Giannis.

This, of course, quickly began making the rounds, and for most athletes, they wouldn’t respond quickly. But this is Kevin Durant, who is very aware of what’s happening online, and within an hour or two, he had ripped Williams for telling a “f*ckin lie” in Instagram comments and then expanded on that to torch Williams on Twitter and ask to be left out of all legacy and “who’s better” conversations, calling it “corny ass talk.”

It’s quite possible this conversation really did happen but that Williams took it as some big thing (and is embellishing it for the good of television), where KD was simply saying “I don’t like being compared to guys” on a general scale — something he stresses here — and not saying he has some issue with Giannis. That seems more likely than Williams flat out making things up, but it does point to an interesting dynamic with former players turned media. Former players do often have relationships with the guys they cover and have plenty of stories and conversations that are had as friends, not as athlete talking to media, and when they don’t have the right filter for what stories should be told on TV and what need to remain just for them, they can find themselves in awkward situations — just see the Shannon Sharpe-Julio Jones situation.

In this case, Williams seems to have struck a nerve with Durant, as he’s been pitted against players before in beefs and seems to want to avoid that going forward. KD called out Williams for trying to use him to advance his career, effectively reminding him that the media business is a fickle one and he should be careful about burning bridges to try and make good TV, because ESPN will one day kick him to the curb.

In 2005, Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn teamed up for the comedy Wedding Crashers and it was an unexpectedly huge hit. Now it’s 2021, and Wilson and Vaughn are 52 and 51 years old, respectively, and they’re still talking about making a sequel.

Rumors of a second Wedding Crashers first sprung up almost immediately after the original movie took in a tidy sum of nearly $210 million in U.S. theaters. According to Variety, the “rumors” became more than that a few times over the years—first in 2014, when director David Dobkin mentioned that he was working on an idea for a sequel that somehow also “involved Daniel Craig in a Speedo.”

Two years later, co-star Isla Fisher mentioned the possibility of a second film during an appearance on the Today show. Now, Wilson—who is currently promoting his role in the new Loki series—seemed to indicate that the sequel could be getting closer to a greenlight.

“Some people are saying that ‘You guys are going to be going in August,’ and that’s not right,” Wilson told Variety. However, he did confirm that Dobkin “has been working on something” and “talking with Vince,” but that’s about as far as they’ve gotten so far.

Which means that fans of the buddy-comedy will likely have a while to wait to see where Wilson and Vaughn’s characters, John Beckwith and Jeremy Grey, are today. (And how that maple syrup conglomerate worked out for them.) But first, they have to come up with an idea they all agree works.

“If we all agree that we have a good idea, then we’re trying to make something good,” Wilson said. “But it’s sort of figuring out what that idea would be and if we think we could do something worthwhile.”

Now, about Daniel Craig in a Speedo…

(Via Variety)

After a few days of teasing, John Mayer recently confirmed that his next album is called Sob Rock and it’s on the way. The album is set for July 16, but ahead of then, he dropped a video for his Maren Morris-featuring single “Last Train Home.” Last night, just a few days after the song dropped, Mayer gave it its television debut with a performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.

Mayer and his accompanying performers did a fine job at re-creating the studio version of the song, although there are a few differences. For the Kimmel performance, Morris didn’t join in with her background vocals. Additionally, while the studio version of the song just fades out, that’s not really how live performances work, so Mayer wrapped the song up by showing off his guitar skills with a solo.

This appearance was also good practice for Mayer being on TV, practice that may end up coming in useful for him. It was reported recently that Mayer is set to get his own Paramount Plus talk show based on the long-running and renowned UK program Later With Jools Holland.

Watch Mayer perform “Last Train Home” on Kimmel above.

Sob Rock is out 7/16 via Columbia. Pre-order it here.