Month: July 2021

“Even the smallest person can change the course of the future,” author J.R.R. Tolkien once said. Some big-shot movie producers once tried to change the course of The Lord of the Rings with a ridiculous suggestion. But like Frodo taking the One Ring to Mount Doom, their idea was (figuratively) cast into the fire.

While discussing their The Friendship Onion podcast with IGN, Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd, who played Merry and Pippin in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, revealed that director Peter Jackson faced “pressure from above” to kill one of the four main Hobbits.

It didn’t happen, thankfully, but Monaghan thinks he knows who it would have been.

“It’s a good job that didn’t happen, because it would have been me,” he said. “It definitely would have. There’s no way they are killing Frodo and Sam, and the only ones that would be left would be Merry and Pippin. They wouldn’t kill Pippin because Pippin has a really strong story with Gandalf. It would have definitely been me. I think Pete quite rightly was like, ‘This is a luminary piece of written work, and we need to stick close to the text.’ So, he stuck by his guns. Yeah, I’m thankful that didn’t happen.”

Monaghan already has one iconic pop culture death. He didn’t need another.

(Via IGN)

While promoting the upcoming release of The Suicide Squad, Margot Robbie assured fans that she is still very interested in making a Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy romance happen on screen despite admitting that she needs a break from her DC Comics character after making The Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey in rapid succession.

When asked about getting Harley and Ivy together in a live-action film (similar to what happened in the Harley Quinn animated series), Robbie told Comic Book said that she’s “enthusiastic about this prospect,” and it’s one of the boxes she wants to check after getting a chance to dip into Harley’s post-Joker love life in The Suicide Squad:

“I mean, I really am quite invested in Harley’s romantic life,” Robbie revealed. “So a box that I did like to check in this one is seeing her try and date new guys because it’s something that I’ve always enjoyed seeing when it’s popped up in the comics and something I would like to explore like you said, Poison Ivy, that is a relationship I’d love to see play out on screen.”

As a fan of the comics herself, Robbie hasn’t been shy about wanting to make Harley and Ivy happen, and she revealed back in May that she’s been relentlessly hounding Warner Bros., going all the way back to the development of Birds of Prey.

“Trust me, I chew their ear off about it all the time,” Robbie told Den of Geek. “They must be sick of hearing it, but I’m like, ‘Poison Ivy, Poison Ivy. Come on, let’s do it.’ I’m very keen to see a Harley-Poison Ivy relationship on screen. It’d be so fun. So I’ll keep pestering them. Don’t worry.”

(Via Comic Book)

Earlier this month, Angel Olsen announced her Aisles EP, which contains a handful of ’80s covers. Now, she has shared her spin on one of the decade’s defining songs: “Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats. As opposed to the jaunty original, Olsen’s rendition of the song slows down the tempo and gives it more of a dark post-punk/new wave feel.

Olsen says of the cover, “I felt this song could be reinterpreted to be about the time of quarantine and the fear of being around anyone or having too much fun. It made me wonder, is it safe to laugh or dance or be free of it all for just a moment?”

She also previously said of the project more broadly, “I know it’s not really in my history to do something unintentional or just for the hell of it, but my connection to these songs is pretty straightforward, I just wanted to have a little fun and be a little more spontaneous, and I think I needed to remember that I could!”

Listen to Olsen’s cover of “Safety Dance” above and revisit Men Without Hats’ original version of the song below.

Aisles is out 8/20 via somethingscosmic. Pre-order it here.

After the Travis Scott and J Balvin meals helped to lift McDonald’s out of a pandemic-induced sales slump, it’s only natural that the fast-food titan would want to continue its collaborations with popular musicians to keep the party going — and it looks like the next choice is one that already gets plenty of attention thanks to her exotic and elaborate snack concoctions. That’s right, Saweetie is getting her own McDonald’s meal, a combination that the phrase “match made in heaven” was coined to describe to a T.

The Saweetie meal goes on sale on August 9 and includes a Big Mac, a four-piece Chicken McNuggets, medium fries, a medium Sprite, and “Saweetie ‘N Sour” and BBQ sauce. The meal will come in new packaging inspired by Saweetie’s “Icy” branding and the restaurant chain wants fans to “remix” the meal by topping the burger with fries, just like the “My Type” star has done on her fan-favorite live streams.

Saweetie’s food concoctions regularly go viral as she combines items that some fans don’t believe go together — like spaghetti and ranch dressing — prompting jokes that the rapper has an “iron stomach.” The McDonald’s meal makes sense, as one of her most infamous combos prominently featured the restaurant’s sandwiches, namely a McChicken and a McDouble put together. She’s also joked about removing her brand new tongue piercing just so she could enjoy a burger.

Saweetie has also been working on her debut album, Pretty B*tch Music, although she’s pushed it back a few times to tweak some things after meeting Cher and having an epiphany. In the meantime, fans can chow down on the Saweetie meal and run back her hits “Back To The Streets,” “Best Friend,” and “Fast (Motion).”

Saweetie is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

To fans of South Park, Casa Bonita is the oft-mentioned Mexican restaurant where Kyle had a birthday party back in 2003 episode aptly titled “Casa Bonita.” To millions of people who grew up in the American southwest in the ‘70s and ‘80s, the Mexican restaurant/theme park is a beloved relic of childhood family outings. And for South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, it could very well be their next creative collaboration.

Originally opened in Oklahoma City in 1968, Casa Bonita is a very real, adventure-filled restaurant that blossomed into a locally beloved mini-chain back in the day, with most of its eateries located in Arizona. While the so-called “eatertainment” venue began to lose its luster when the ‘90s came knocking — not long before South Park premiered in 1997. Eventually, all but the Lakewood, Colorado location of Casa Bonita closed, and it’s a place that has long held great memories for both Parker and Stone. Which is why the restaurant — which can seat more than 1,000 people at once and features a 30-foot waterfall with cliff divers — has become South Park canon. And why the Emmy Award-winning duo are attempting to buy the restaurant, which closed in 2020 due to the pandemic and filed for bankruptcy in April of this year.

“We want to buy Casa Bonita and treat it right,” Parker told The Hollywood Reporter. “I feel like it was neglected even before the pandemic.” One of their main goals is to improve the quality of the food, which The Denver Post says “has never been the restaurant’s strong suit.”

But what do two dudes who make an R-rated animated TV show that featured a talking poop know about running a restaurant? Probably not a whole lot, which is why they’re partnering with a couple of local restaurateurs on what could be an epic culinary adventure — and a crowning professional achievement.

“It’s just sitting there. It sucks,” Parker told THR. “For a moment when it was like, ‘Casa Bonita is going to close down,’ we said, ‘We’re going to go buy it.’ And I felt like it was the crowning achievement of my life.”

The deal, however, is far from done. According to a local news report from Fox 31, Casa Bonita might already be getting ready to reopen once it passes a health and fire inspection. Still, Parker and Stone can hope — and dream.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

Apple TV+’s See turned out to be wild and wooly that it worked as one of the tech giant’s first offerings. Jason Momoa donned more fur coats as Baba Voss, the fierce warrior leader of a post-apocalyptic world, in which everyone is blind. That’s kind-of a waste, if you really think about it, given that the other characters can’t see Momoa, and now, I’m just being silly. Yet his muscles and sword-fighting (through “echolocation”) and beard game will receive some true competition from Baba’s brother, Edo, portrayed by Dave Bautista. The first trailer showed the pair’s tense reunion, and in this followup trailer, it sure looks like Edo has the upper hand.

Let’s just say that the Voss family reunion isn’t a happy one. Nesta Cooper’s Haniwa (the adopted twin daughter of Baba) will have some run-ins with Edo, too, and Baba looks to be taken prisoner at some point. The masturbating Queen Kane (Sylvia Hoeks) is back, and yes, you read that correctly, all while there’s war, war, and more war. Let’s do the synopsis:

Baba Voss (Momoa) is struggling to reunite his family while protecting them as the threat of war looms between the Kingdom of Paya and the Trivantian Republic. Despite his best efforts, his wife and sighted children are pulled to the forefront of the conflict, where they come to the attention of his estranged brother, Edo Voss (Bautista), a powerful and cunning Trivantian General, whose long-simmering hatred for his brother imperils them all even further.

Man, everyone is so intense on this show. No one ever gets to rest and relax, everyone’s always on the run, and the twins are likely still in danger, given that they both possess miraculous sight. So, it’s a slightly stressful watch, but Momoa digs this archetypical character, who has at least a little bit in common with Game of Thrones‘ Khal Drogo, Frontier‘s Declan Harp, and the Conan the Barbarian title character. And the addition of Bautista always makes things better.

See will return on August 27 with new episodes arriving weekly.

The music world was met with some tragic news yesterday, when it was revealed that ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill died at 72 years old. The band was in the midst of a tour when he passed, and it appears they will finish that run of dates and perhaps continue into the future without Hill.

Eddie Trunk, host of “Trunk Nation” on SiriusXM, shared some texts he received from Billy Gibbons, which read, “As Dusty said upon his departure, ‘ Let the show go on!’.and…with respect, we’ll do well to get beyond this and honor his wishes. […] Dusty emphatically grabbed my arm and said, ‘Give [longtime guitar tech Elwood Francis] the bottom end and take it to the Top’. He meant it, amigo. He really did.”

As Consequence notes, ZZ Top canceled last night’s Simpsonville, South Carolina concert, but as of now, the rest of the band’s upcoming shows appear to still be on, with the tour set to resume tomorrow (July 30) in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Hill left the tour last week to address a “hip issue,” and while he was gone, Francis performed in his place, an arrangement that will presumably continue going forward. The band has yet to make an announcement of the fate of their tour beyond the canceled South Carolina show.

DaBaby continues to miss the point of the backlash against his Rolling Loud comments, issuing another statement on Instagram trying to defend himself from accusations of homophobia. Posting a snippet of his new video, “Giving What It’s Supposed To Give” (an example of appropriated LGBTQ slang), he noted the hard work that he put into the video, insisted that he already apologized (he didn’t), and boasted that he would overcome, all while bemoaning the fact that he has had to face consequences for his insensitive remarks such as losing his Boohooman deal. Read it below.

You ever wrote a video, you and 3 others produce it, you direct it while starring AND rapping in it, film the video for 16 HOURS straight wrap up at 4am, take a shower & jump on a jet to @rollingloud and with only 2 hours of rest give one of the BEST performances of the entire festival yet the most controversial and emotion provoking performance as well; due to things deemed “insensitive” said during your performance even though you’re an ENTERTAINER, try to apologize and explain that you meant no harm & that you were only entertaining as you are paid to do, & have no problem with anyone’s sexual preference that is outside of yours, only to have a substantial amount of people refuse to understand your logic, tag along with a trending topic & play with your character and do everything they can to take money out of your pockets and food out your kids mouth, and have everybody around you panicking only for you to apologize anyway stand on the fact that you were entertaining and truly didn’t mean to offend anybody or start no commotion, although they’re currently offending you, & COINCIDENTALLY the video you were shooting till 4am the DAY OF @rollingloud touches on EVERY controversial topic trending in the headlines, so you then go against the grain in the opposite direction of every scared person around you & stay true to yourself & DROP DAT BITCH in the height of the commotion & show the world once again that you CANT BE F*CKED WIT?
I have. I just did. God’s Work.

Okay. So. Let’s address this. There’s a reason that people are still mad and it isn’t because it’s a “trending topic.” Regardless of his intent, the impact of his words is very real. Right now, there are queer people facing levels of violence and persecution that literally put their lives in danger, and cracks like “if you ain’t suck a n**** dick in the parking lot…” only serve to reinforce the way of thinking that justifies it in the minds of bigots. Secondly, DaBaby didn’t really apologize. “I’m sorry you feel that way” isn’t an apology because it isn’t acknowledging the harm — intentional or not — and resolving to do better.

Doubling down by releasing this video only serves to mock the people who want to see him take responsibility and downplay how egregious his words were. When Elton John tweets you to tell you how your comments cause real-world harm and you still laugh it off, you’re not being an entertainer, you’re acting like an asshole. Admitting you were wrong doesn’t mean you’re admitting you are a bad person. But you still have to admit when you mess up and try not to do it again.

Finally, trying to draw attention to the other controversy within the set is probably not the move here. Because, again, that was an asshole move. Get your money or whatever, but if you have to step on people’s toes to do so, maybe that check isn’t worth it.

Anyway, here’s hoping that someone close to DaBaby can explain these things to him and that they’ll catch him at a time when he’s feeling more receptive, less combative, and ready to grow up instead of living down to his name.

In one of the more bizarre interviews you’ll see this year, Cuomo Prime Time host Chris Cuomo had a heated conversation on Wednesday with the owner of a restaurant that will only serve unvaccinated people. Basilico’s Pasta e Vino, a neighborhood Italian restaurant in Huntington Beach, California, recently posted a sign on its window reading, “Notice. Proof of being UNvaccinated required. We have zero tolerance for treasonous, anti-American stupidity. Thank you for pondering.” Owner Tony Roman, a wannabe movie mobster who looks like he wears Stanzo brand fedoras (“they’re nice!”), said on Instagram that “masks are the greatest weapons of the lockdowns. They are used to divide Americans, just like the vaccination, and they represent fear, control and surrender.” He continued to defend his indefensible position on Cuomo’s CNN show.

In response to Cuomo asking if sign was “a little bit of a joke,” Roman replied, “You’re a smart guy. It’s an IQ test. Like I say to people when they ask me, if they’re so blinded with their rage and their hate, I tell them, you know what, if you don’t understand it, maybe we should put up a sign that says you’re too stupid to come into the restaurant.”

This made no sense to Cuomo, who asked Roman if he was vaccinated. Roman responded by demanding Cuomo give his vaccination status first, to which Cuomo replied that he and his family were vaccinated. “You’re failing the IQ test,” Roman replied, before then saying that barring vaccinated people from eating at his restaurant was not intended to be an anti-vaccine statement.

This was the hostile tone for most of interview. Roman brought up a pre-vaccinated Cuomo being caught not wearing a mask in public during the pandemic and his governor brother’s “nursing home fiasco,” while Cuomo grew increasingly exacerbated by Roman’s tired right-wing talking points. “This is not about whether I’m pro-vaccine or not, I’m pro-freedom and anti-tyranny,” he said. At the end of the interview, after accurately pointing that it “doesn’t make sense” for someone to claim they’re “pro-freedom” if his customers “can’t wear masks,” a frustrated Cuomo told Roman that he sounds “like an idiot.” Also, $20 bucks for spaghetti and meatballs? Get outta here with that.

You can watch the interview above.

(Via Raw Story)

As Marvel’s What If…? gets ready to kick off a massive dive into alternate realities, and the start of a new in-house animation studio for Marvel, the quickly approaching Disney+ series is now teasing its connection to the multiverse that was officially cracked open in the final moments of the Loki season finale.

In a new promotional tweet for What If…?, Marvel Studios writes that “A multiverse of infinite possibilities awaits,” which appears to be a strong hint that the animated series has ties to the reality-shattering events that occurred in Loki.

While there has yet to be an official confirmation from Kevin Feige or Marvel Studios on whether or not What If…? is canon, there have been online rumors that some of the alternate reality characters will appear in live-action form. But, again, these are online rumors that should be taken with huge grains of salt. The closest thing we have to knowing how connected What If…? will be to the greater MCU is an answer to an interview question from Loki himself, Tom Hiddleston.

During an appearance on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, Hiddleston was asked about his voice work on Marvel’s What If…? After describing the premise of the show, he dropped what may be a hint to its greater impact on the Marvel universe.

“I am intrigued because I haven’t seen the whole thing,” Hiddleston told Fallon (via CBR), “And then it sets up a whole bunch of stuff in the MCU, which I know nothing about.” Naturally, Hiddleston added that last part with a little bit of sly Loki flourish, but that’s the closest intel we have to how far-reaching the impact of What If…? might be.

Marvel’s What If…? premieres August 11 on Disney+.

(Via What If…? on Twitter)