Month: June 2021

If there’s one thing director James Gunn has proven to us with his work in the Marvel Universe, it’s that he truly knows all the wackiest plot points and characters in comics and, more importantly, embraces them like no one else in the biz. Based on The Suicide Squad’s trailers (which feature villains such as Polka Dot Man and Weasel), we can expect to see him give the same fun and quirky treatment to the DC Universe, and — with added context of the film’s newest trailer — we think we have a slightly better idea of what to expect. In the trailer, we see glimpses of the film’s big (literally) villain, and hear a bit about a “Project Starfish.” For those wondering a bit more about what all this means, we’ve got you covered.

What is “Project Starfish?”

While what exactly “Project Starfish” entails has yet to be revealed, we do know perhaps the most important thing about it: it involves the Suicide Squad taking on Starro and, presumably, a few creatures under its control. Director James Gunn confirmed this in an interview earlier this year, where he explained why choosing Starro as The Suicide Squad‘s villain perfectly suited the tone of film:

“Starro is hilarious because he’s ridiculous. He’s a giant, cerulean blue starfish, but he’s also fucking terrifying. When I was a kid I thought that was the scariest thing of all time… and I think that exemplifies what this movie is: it is ridiculous and it’s also terrifying, and serious. So he works really well as the villain of the movie—as one of the villains, actually.”

While Starro probably won’t be the star of the show (yes, that was bad, I know), it is the big bad that brings the Suicide Squad together which, coincidentally, isn’t the first DC superhero team it united — but we’ll get to that later.

Who is Starro?

First appearing in the DC Universe in 1960, Starro is a hyper-intelligent alien lifeform that appears as a giant, blue starfish. When the cosmic entity first landed on Earth, it imbued three starfish with his power in order to help it conquer the planet. Between Starro and its three hench…fish, the team managed to explode an atomic bomb, absorb its energy, kidnap leading scientists, and place the entirety of Rhode Island under mind control using face-hugging spores pictured here:

Aside from telepathy, mind control, and being strangely cunning for a kaiju starfish, Starro’s greatest asset is its ability to reproduce asexually and create clones, giving it a nearly endless army. So, while Starro might seem pretty laughable, it actually has given a lot of DC characters a lot of grief, and is responsible for creating the biggest team in all of DC comics.

Wait, really? What team?

Believe it or not, Starro is the villian responsible for creating the original Justice League. Remember how I said he popped up in 1960? Well, in the very same issue he debuted in — The Brave and the Bold #28 — the Justice League was formed in an effort to take him down. After becoming seemingly unstoppable, DC heroes Aquaman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Wonder Woman banded together to coat the creature in a chemical substance that rendered its powers useless, and thus the Justice League was born. Pretty wild to think out of all of DC’s villains, Starro was the one who forced the universe’s biggest team-up. Even wilder to think what that means for the Suicide Squad in the upcoming film.

The Suicide Squad hits theaters and HBO Max on August 6, 2021.

James Holzhauer became a household name two years ago when he went on one of the greatest Jeopardy! runs in history. He has since parlayed that fame into more TV game show opportunities, but his first love is and always will be sports, where he carved out quite the career for himself in Las Vegas as a professional sports gambler before his Jeopardy! fame.

Life as a pro sports gambler involves being willing to throw around large sums of money and at times accept some big losses, which can be a terrifying proposition. Getting past that and trusting the systems you’ve built to win money in the long run is key for a gambler, but it can be much harder for spouses and family members to accept those same wild swings. Holzhauer is now a sports betting columnist for The Athletic, and he is a big baseball fan and recently joined Jayson Stark and Doug Glanville on their Starkville podcast to talk about the bet that he knew was a lock but absolutely terrified his wife.

When Ken Griffey Jr. was up for Hall of Fame election, Holzhauer just happened to have $50,000 sitting around in his account and threw it on a “Griffey to be elected to the Hall” bet that netted him…a grand total off $500. His wife was, understandably, not thrilled about risking that amount for such little reward, even if Holzhauer was sure it would pay.

I cannot blame James Holzhauer’s wife, because if you have $50,000 just laying around in your account, is it really worth the risk for $500. At the same time, Holzhauer is right, there was no way Griffey wasn’t going to make the Hall of Fame and it’s actually fairly stunning that there were even odds available for him. In short, being the spouse of a professional gambler seems wildly stressful and I am sure Mrs. Holzhauer is thrilled to have all that Jeopardy! money now that is much more stable in case James tosses $50,000 out the window one day on a sure thing.

As for Holzhauer, he learned that, on the other side, you don’t have to always tell everyone how the sausage gets made when it comes to your job, when that job is sometimes risking lots of money to win a little money. In the end, he got his $500 and now has a very good story.

Before Fortnite was the king of video games, there was Minecraft, the blocky, Lego-like game where the only goal was to build and survive. It was insanely popular when it officially came out back in 2011, but it had been available to play as early as 2009. Eventually, it became the highest-selling game ever made with t-shirts, merchandise, and its own convention. While it may not be the media juggernaut it was pre-Fortnite, there is still plenty of interest in Minecraft these days with spin-offs, ports, and variants of the game frequently releasing.

Of course, with a title as big as Minecraft, there needs to be some crossover with other large franchises, and on Tuesday, Minecraft announced some interesting DLC. Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends will entering the Minecraft universe, but this is more than just some Sonic skins for your Minecraft characters — players can run through some of Sonic’s most iconic levels as if they were Minecraft worlds. It looks absolutely fantastic.

This is way more in-depth than anyone would expect from what is essentially a crossover. While most games would just give the player some cool skins and call it a day, this looks like a fully-fledged out Sonic game in the form of Minecraft. Crossovers never go the extra mile anymore and it’s kind of disappointing, so maybe this will start a positive trend.

For anyone wondering why Sonic is making an appearance in Minecraft, it’s because this is a part of his 30th anniversary celebration. Via Minecraft.net:

Sonic isn’t only known for his speed or spikes, but also as a generous celebrator of birthdays. He doesn’t expect gifts on his special day, he hands out his own! That’s classy. Get your hands on a Character Creator item, available for free in the Minecraft Marketplace.

You can also celebrate Sonic’s birthday by joining the special server event! Starting soon, The Hive are hosting a two-week server-hub takeover featuring mini-games and a few festive surprises. I heard a rumor that something special is happening on one of the weekends, so make sure to check in regularly! Keep an eye on @minecraft on Twitter for details!

This doesn’t feel like the last we’ll see of Sonic before the year is up, but for now, let’s all go enjoy him running around in Minecraft.

In a newspaper portrait from last May, Becca Eldredge flashes a delighted smile as she stands beside her husband and son and their newly-adopted 13-year-old daughter outside their Florida home. The teen girl a floral dress and a tiara and holds a small marquee that reads After 1,783 days in foster care, today I was adopted.

“There are so many children who need a home and love,” Eldredge says. “My daughter has brought so much joy and fun into our house.”

Over 400,000 children across the U.S. currently live in foster care, due in large part to the country’s opioid crisis. More than 120,000 of these kids have been permanently relinquished by birth parents; they often wait years for adoptive families and a stable home. Many age out of the system without either, leaving them vulnerable to poverty, homelessness, and substance abuse. But Familyfinder–a new Florida-based digital program relying on targeted advertising–may change all that.

Matthew Straeb is president of the Sarasota Heart Gallery, a national organization that displays professional portraits of adoptable foster youth in businesses across the country with the hope that adults might see and adopt them. He came up with Familyfinder in response to a sharp decline in adoption and foster care applications during the pandemic.

The program searches for public information on a potential parent’s geographic location, ethnicity, and other pertinent details, then delivers ads via Facebook and Google. In one, a child in purple shorts and a blue t-shirt grins in front of a palm tree below the words, “With our support, you could change a child’s life and make a difference.”

Click on ad’s “Apply Now” link, and you get a personal call from staff within a day, along with digital tools and animated videos that describe the process of adopting a child from the foster care system. Staff maintain continuous contact with potential parents to maintain their momentum. The result? Teens and sibling groups—difficult to place because many moms and dads want single babies—are finally ditching their duffle bags filled with meager personal belongings and moving into permanent homes with adoptive parents.

Photo courtesy of Matthew Straeb of the Sarasota Heart Gallery.

Katie Nail entered foster care at six months old and lived in 15 different placements before she was a teen. Twice, she was featured in The Heart Gallery, in her home state of Alabama. There’s a video of her at age 11 with big blue eyes and shoulder-length black hair, explaining to the person interviewing her that she wants a family that “loves me forever, and to know that I’m safe for all my life.” Seven years ago, a couple saw the video and adopted her. Now, Nail is a student at Yale.

Still, The Heart Gallery seemed to Straeb an inefficient way to match children with adoptive parents, especially knowing the trauma that incurs every day a kid languishes in the foster care system. “Let’s say you’re a nine-year-old kid and the police come to your house and give you a trash bag and tell you to go get your stuff,” he says. “You’re ripped out of your home, away from your family, and put into a stranger’s house. The longer a kid is in that situation, the more negative the impact. We want to reduce a child’s time in foster care.”

A tech-minded entrepreneur, Straeb contemplated the ways in which he might harness the power of Google and Facebook advertising to locate adoptive parents. “I mean, all I have to do is think about buying a bicycle, and before I know it, I’ve got a hundred ads on my phone telling me about bicycles,” he explains. “If tech can do that, then why can’t we flip the model for our purposes? Rather than wait around for families for these kids, let’s go find the families.”

He and colleagues identified the characteristics of adults most likely to adopt. “For instance, we know that seventy percent of foster and adoptive families in our region are faith-based,” he explains. “And we know, based on experience, that there’s a certain age range, and that females are most likely to germinate the idea of adoption. Right there, we’ve nailed down the parameters quite a bit.” He adds locale, ethnicity, and specific religious practices into the mix to increase the chances of a positive match.

Since its launch last June, Familyfinder has shown a significant increase in foster and adoptive parent inquiries, and saved the state $28,200 for every child placed with a family. Straeb and his colleagues plan to expand the program throughout Florida, and hope to conduct pilot projects in Colorado, Utah, and Nevada. Ideally, they’d like a philanthropy group attached to Google or Facebook to take over the project. “Then we could offer it to the whole country,” he says. “With their support, we could solve this whole problem of getting these kids adopted.”

Becca Eldredge is hopeful, as well. “Familyfinder is a way to get more information out there so that people understand that they can adopt from the foster care system,” she says. “I don’t think people realize how many children are waiting for homes.”

She describes the rewards of adopting a teen from the state—benefits that expand beyond the personal to the global. “A lot of these kids, if they’re given love and support, are huge change-makers, because they’ve had to develop resilience at such a young age,” she says. “If people step up for them, they’re going to be the kids who make a difference in the next generation. I know for a fact that my daughter is going to change some part of the world someday.”

Melissa Hart is the author, most recently, of Better with Books: 500 Diverse Books to Ignite Empathy and Encourage Self-Acceptance in Tweens and Teens. Twitter @WildMelissaHart .

Busy Philipps doesn’t have to act. The Freaks and Geeks alum has enough going on. She’s the author of a best-selling memoir, she’s the host of a popular podcast, and her Instagram account runs strong. She was even ready to give up the job that first made her a name. But then they pulled her back in: As per The Daily Beast, Tina Fey made her reconsider quitting the acting side of the biz when she gave her one of the leads in the new Peacock show Girls5eva.

Philipps recently appeared on the publication’s podcast The Last Laugh, where she discussed her two decades in the entertainment industry, dating back to Dawson’s Creek and including the likes of her short-lived late-night E! show Busy Tonight. She said her disillusionment with acting reaches back to 2017, when NBC didn’t pick up a pilot, produced by Fey, that would have seen her star alongside Carey Wilson and Bradley Whitford.

“That was when I was like, I’m done. I don’t want to act anymore,” she said, confessing that she felt like she “hit the end of the road creatively,” and adding, “I really struggled with this industry and the systems in place and so many things that just felt fundamentally stacked against me from the beginning.” Besides, it seemed, for her at least, that “the jobs didn’t exist,” and that those that did were “like, oh, three lines as Jennifer Garner’s best friend?”

When Fey came calling, she’d even stopped going to auditions. The rest, as they say, is incredibly recent and still-developing history. Since dropping onto Peacock in early May, Girls5eva — in which Philipps plays part of a ’90s all-girl pop group who reconvene after their one hit becomes popular once more, with messy results — has received rave reviews. So it seems we may see more of the one-time Kim Kelly from here on out.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Long-time Jackass member Bam Margera isn’t in Jackass 4, but Johnny Knoxville has put together an all-star team, including Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Wee Man, and Preston Lacy, to be in the film. It’s like the “Avengers assemble” scene from Avengers: Endgame, if Captain America got kicked in the nuts by Doctor Strange.

The cast was confirmed in a video on Steve-O’s YouTube channel, “On The Set Of Jackass 4 (New Cast Members Revealed!),” which, as you may have guessed based on the title, also revealed the new members of the Jackass crew.

First up, there’s Odd Future founding member Jasper Dolphin, who starred in Adult Swim’s Loiter Squad and Viceland’s Jasper & Errol’s First Time and appeared in the most recent season of The Eric Andre Show. There’s also Sean McInerney, a.k.a. Poopsies, who Steve-O describes as “royalty in the world of surfing,” and Zach Holmes, better known as Zackass, seen here wearing a shock collar in the drive-thru line.

He’ll fit right in.

Jackass 4 will be Knoxville’s final Jackass film, as he explained in an interview with GQ last month. “You can only take so many chances before something irreversible happens,” he said. “I feel like I’ve been extremely lucky to take the chances I’ve taken and still be walking around.” Jackass 4 is scheduled to come out on October 22.

After Elon Musk made repeated promises to take Dogecoin “to the moon,” the coin is now on the list of the “worst performing crypto” thanks to a steady plunge that can be traced back to the Tesla CEO’s Saturday Night Live hosting gig. According to The Wrap, Dogecoin’s price has dropped over 75% since Musk’s SNL appearance, and things went rapidly downhill in the past 24 hours as investors fled the canine-themed coin.

However, while Dogecoin may be the worst performing crypto, it’s not alone as the entire crpyto market is reportedly in turmoil:

Cryptos have been crashing since May, following Musk’s criticism of bitcoin and China’s recent crackdown on the currency mining that led to $400 billion in value wiped off the market. Musk pulled bitcoin payments for Tesla, blaming it for “insane” energy consumption.

Analysts say this isn’t coming as a total surprise, having warned that currencies like dogecoin have been hyped and driven by speculation and influence by celebrities.

It’s exactly that last part that has caused Musk to run afoul of Anonymous, who recently accused the Space X founder of market manipulation. In a video posted to YouTube at the beginning of June, the hacker collective called out Musk for the conditions at his Tesla plant as well as using his Twitter account to dupe people into buying crypto.

“Reading from the comments on your Twitter posts it seems that that games you have played with the crypto markets have destroyed lives. Millions of retail investors were counting on your crypto games to improve their lives,” the collective said. “This is something you will never understand because you were born into the stolen wealth of a South African apartheid emerald mine and have no clue what struggle is like for most of the working people in the world.”

(Via The Wrap)

According to a new feature on Billboard, Atlanta rapper Killer Mike has been cast in a cameo role in the fourth-and-final season of Netflix’s award-winning crime drama Ozark. Mike has apparently been a fan of the show for some time, remarking, “I went from waiting to find out what happens next to being part of it … I’m excited.” Although details about the role are sparse, according to Billboard, Mike’s character will meet teen criminal Ruth Langmore “at her lowest point.”

Emmy Award winner Julia Garner, who portrays Ruth, recently joked that she wanted to tell off anti-maskers at the real-life Lake of the Ozarks in-character on social media. The show recently wrapped up a production that was hampered by COVID-19 safety protocols which changed the way the show was shot, so her reaction is understandable. Co-star Jason Bateman remarked that it broke his heart to break the tradition of directing an episode or two himself, but he was willing to make the sacrifice to get the supersized season completed on-scheduled.

Meanwhile, Killer Mike had to make some similar tough business decisions regarding his barbershop, which he didn’t reopen during Georgia’s first wave of attempts to get back to normal last spring. Now that live entertainment is slowly coming back, though, he’ll be on tour with Run The Jewels and Rage Against The Machine next year.

Motherland: Fort Salem: Season 2 (Freeform, 10:00pm) — In this world, witches not only enlist in the U.S. Army, but they also use their spells to rule the world and take down terrorists, who are (in turn) hell-bent upon getting witches out of the military. The Season 2 premiere sees the discovery of new witches while Tally struggles with her role, and other witches return to Fort Salem to confront the Camarilla threat.

This Is Pop (Netflix series) — This docuseries aims to reveal true stories behind persistent earworms of years and decades past while exploring the the realms of auto-tune, boybands, and the rise of the festival circuit.

The Flash (CW, 8:00pm) — Sarah must rise to the leadership challenge after Grelock loses power, and naturally, utility companies aren’t playing nice, so Sarah hatches a controversial plan.

Superman & Lois (CW, 9:00pm) — Sure, we’ve seen several incarnations of these title characters over the decades, but the CW’s doing it again with Clark making an unexpected discovery regarding Morgan Edge.

Mental Samurai (FOX 9:00pm) — Is Rob Lowe on every show now? Not quite, but Season 2 continues with Mr. Handsome welcoming contestants and throwing out interactive questions and puzzles to challenge everyone’s memory.

Mr Inbetween (FX, 10:00 & 10:30pm) — This season, Ray’s life is looking different while Brittany is growing ever-closer to discovering who Ray really is and what he does, which is doing the hitman thing while holding onto his own strict ethical code and balancing his family life. Meanwhile, severing ties with Freddy complicates matters when a criminal kingpin makes Ray’s struggle feel even more intense.

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert — Wanda Sykes, Craig Melvin

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Vin Diesel, Riley Keough, Modest Mouse

Late Night With Seth Meyers — Graham Norton, Zosia Mamet, Brandon Taylor, Kristina Schiano

The Late Late Show With James Corden — Elizabeth Olsen, Edgar Wright

In case you missed this streaming pick from last Tuesday:

Revolution Rent (HBO, 9:00pm) — Executive produced by Neil Patrick Harris and Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment, this documentary special heads to Cuba, where Andy Señor Jr. (who originally played the Angel character in the 1990s) directs a stage production of Rent. Yep, that’s not only the same Rent that won Tony awards, but it’s also the first time Cuba’s seen a Broadway musical from an American company in at least 50 years. Señor Jr. reimagines the show in light of his Cuban family’s heritage and their relationship with their home country.

Ben Simmons has been the leading topic of conversation around NBA circles for the past two days after the Sixers lost Game 7 at home to the Atlanta Hawks, with Simmons’ continued refusal to even attempt a shot in the fourth quarter garnering major headlines and even commentary from Doc Rivers and Joel Embiid.

As such, there is plenty of speculation that the All-Star will be on the trade block this summer, although the Sixers have spent the last 24 hours playing a bit of damage control with both Doc Rivers and Daryl Morey professing their belief in Simmons to continue getting better and being a part of their long-term success. Still, there’s skepticism that is much more than the necessary vote of confidence in case a trade can’t materialize (and keeping his value as propped up as possible).

However, while Simmons has been buried for the past few days (and really for much of the series), at least one of his teammates wanted to offer him some public support in Dwight Howard. The Sixers backup center knows all about hearing criticism and wanted to voice his support for Ben and also note that he believes this will make Simmons better in the long run and fuel him to come back as the best version of Ben Simmons we’ve seen yet.

Howard is right to point out that the criticism of guys who struggle in a spot like Simmons can go way too far, and as his teammate he’s absolutely right to stand up for him and make sure he knows he’s loved and supported in that locker room. It’s very possible Simmons bounces back from this in a big way and takes those critiques head on and becomes a better player from this. He’s a special talent whose biggest weakness just happens to be the part of the game that is easiest to watch for, and it leads to a lot of wild commentary that devalues all the other great things he can do for a team.

At the same time, it’s possible that a trade (depending on where it is to) would be good for Simmons, who noted after Game 7 that he loves Philly but needs to take a step away this offseason to get his mind right. From the persistent fit questions alongside Embiid, who is the clear focal point for the Sixers, to how he’s become the martyr for this year’s playoff failure, being in a new situation might be the thing that helps Simmons unlock the best of his game. A new organization would have new voices and new ideas for him, and it might free him up from some of the burden of expectation that exists in Philly and with that fanbase.