Month: July 2021

While it might not be the spinoff series he deserves, the fan favorite Alligator Loki made his big return during a brief appearance in the Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Loki special. The scale-covered God of Mischief is seen in the the special’s later half, where the reptile is seen wearing his original costume as designed by Rodney Fuentebella. Fuentebella later shared an image his original design on his Instagram, where he thanked Marvel Studios Head of Visual Development Ryan Meinerding for the opportunity to work on the “fun and crazy cool project.”

While the Alligator Loki we saw in the series merely boasts a the character’s signature horned crown, the Loki in the above photo shows the gator suited up in green leather and is a whole lot more green in general. Now, for those still wondering just why an alligator was in Loki, Alligator Loki is rumored to be a Loki variant that was turned into an alligator, or one who simply chooses that shape to inhabit. However, he could simply a part of a universe where all of Asgard is run by reptiles, which sounds as terrifying as it is cool. In Loki, the alligator variant makes his big debut in the show’s fourth episode. It’s later revealed in the episode “Journey Into Mystery” that Alligator Loki was pruned for for eating a neighbor’s cat, which ultimately led to a dreaded Nexus Event.

Unfortunately for fans of the wacky character, his screen time in Loki is fairly limited, making his appearance in Marvel Studios Assembled all the more exciting. The ongoing Disney+ series chronicles the making of its various Marvel shows, with behind the scenes footage and concept art. The latest episode all about Loki is streaming now on Disney+, and if you like the above screenshot, there’s a lot more on the whole variant gang where that came from.

Lil Nas X is dropping his latest single, “Industry Baby,” tomorrow, and ahead of then, the rapper shared a letter he wrote to his 20-year-old self (he’s 22 now).

In the note, he seems to reference the COVID-19 pandemic and shelter-in-place orders, so specifically, in a super-literal sense, it appears he’s addressing himself in March and April 2020 (he turned 21 years old in the latter month), at which point his only singles were “Old Town Road,” “Panini,” and “Rodeo.” The letter reads:

“dear 20 year old montero

i wrote a song for us. i know sometimes you feel like it’s all downhill from here. i know your sexuality has made you feel like an outcast amongst your peers. i know going from having the biggest song in the world to being trapped in your apartment is weighing heavy on you. and i know if you hear the phrase ‘one hit wonder’ one more time you might combust. but i need you to keep going. i need you to realize that you have the opportunity to be the person that you needed growing up. i need you to stop feeling sorry for yourself. and i need you to remember that the only person who has to believe in YOU is YOU.

-lnx”

Check out the tweet below.

The Bucks celebrated their NBA championship on Thursday with a parade through the streets of Milwaukee. The entire team hopped onto a big ol bus and celebrated along with thousands upon thousands of adoring fans draped in green. As is oftentimes the case when this happens, plenty of videos have popped up showing players, coaches, fans, and just about everyone else had the time of their lives.

One player-turned-fan who had a particularly great time was none other than Brandon Jennings, who was drafted by the franchise in 2009 and spent the first four years of his NBA career in Milwaukee with one additional cameo in 2016-17. Jennings, of course, is famous for proclaiming that the Bucks would beat the Big 3 Heat in the first round of the 2013 NBA playoffs in six games. That did not happen — the Heat swept them — but “Bucks In Six” has been a rallying cry for Milwaukee fans over the years.

Jennings was in attendance for their Finals-clinching win, which, as fate would have it, took place in a Game 6. As such, Bucks In Six came to fruition, and Jennings got the chance to celebrate a championship he willed into existence.

Unsurprisingly, a chant broke out while he enjoyed a beer from the bed of a pickup truck.

While he did not take the floor in the Finals, Jennings is a cult hero in Milwaukee for his time with the franchise, so it’s wonderful to see that he’s partaking in the parade and having a blast while doing it.

Better work on those archery skills because a new bow-wielding beast slayer is joining Genshin Impact. On Thursday, PlayStation, Guerrilla Games, and Genshin Impact developer miHoYo announced a major crossover between the companies — in the form of Horizon Zero Dawn protagonist Aloy joining the massively popular action RPG exclusively for players on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. The limited time release is scheduled to launch with Genshin Impact‘s upcoming 2.1 update, which should hit sometime in August.

While the tweet made by PlayStation was fairly vague, miHoYo went into more detail about the collaboration in a blog post. According to the studio, “all Travelers who have reached Adventure Rank 20 or above will be able to obtain the event-exclusive 5-star character ‘Savior From Another World’ Aloy (Cryo) directly through in-game mail.” In addition, players above Adventure Rank 20 will also be able to obtain Aloy’s famous Predator Bow, which comes with a four-star rating as well as the move Strong Strike.

This event marks the first time Genshin Impact has teamed up with another studio and might very well be the first of many. Within six months of the game’s launch, Genshin Impact solidified itself as one of the most popular mobile games ever, having surpassed $1 billion in player spending. While Genshin has been criticized for it’s “gacha” mechanics, or selling addictive loot boxes containing random characters that improve player’s game play experience (if they can find them), the game has retained its popularity and is sure to grow with more crossover events.

(Via miHoYo)

Just 24 hours ago, fans of Yasiin Bey’s film work were excited to learn he’d be returning to the screen in the fascinating role of jazz legend Thelonius Monk. However, it took less than a day for those hopes to be dashed, as Bey revealed he’d been advised to join the project under false pretexts on social media. In a rare video posted to Instagram, Bey says that he was originally informed that the project had the Monk estate’s approval, however, after the project was announced, the estate made a statement condemning it.

As he says in the video, “Let me be clear. If the Monk estate is not happy with it, if Mr. Monk III is not happy with it, then neither am I.” He goes on to explain, “I was given every indication by the production company that the family was on board, one of my primary questions. Just as important as the music, if not more important, is that the family supported the project. I took them at their word and clearly that wasn’t the case.”

The rapper/actor also expresses his disappointment at the project not receiving the go-ahead, as he was eager to begin acting again. “I’m tight,” he says. “I haven’t done a film in a while. I haven’t had a great yearning to do one but this one, I was really excited about. Perhaps another time under better auspices. C’est la vie.”

Watch Yasiin Bey’s explanation video above.

Some people wish they could go back in time and relive their 20’s. For most, the wish is nothing but a nostalgic pipe dream. But with Paul McCartney‘s latest video, the singer was able to go back in time and relive the days of Beatlemania — sort of.

McCartney dropped his funky “Find My Way” video Thursday featuring Beck, a song which appears on his collaborative McCartney III Imagined LP. The far-out visual uses de-aging technology to show McCartney in his Beatles days shimmying through the halls of a vintage-looking hotel. “Step back in time and onto the dancefloor,” McCartney wrote alongside the video.

So how were directors able to make it look like a 20-something McCartney was actually dancing through around a hotel? They tapped creators from the company Hyperreal Digital to take on the task, a company which specializes in the creation of hyper-realistic digital avatars. “The technology to de-age talent and have them perform in creative environments like this is now fully-realized, even with one of the most recognized faces in the world,” Hyperreal’s CEO Remington Scott said in a statement about the visual.

Watch McCartney’s “Find My Way” video above.

McCartney III Imagined is out now via Capitol Records. Get it here.

Nicole Kidman’s one of several A-listers who’ve made themselves at home on the so-called “small screen” in recent years, and she’s taken home award gold (and nods) as a result. She took home a few Emmys and a Golden Globe for Big Little Lies and a Globe nomination for The Undoing, and she’s not done yet. The Paddington villain is here to shake up your little world again as a wellness guru in Hulu’s upcoming limited series, Nine Perfect Strangers.

The story’s another adaptation of a Liane Moriarty novel because heck, why not? Her material pairs well with Kidman’s acting style, and this time around, Kidman aims to give you some chills. She portrays a wellness guru that might remind you of certain celebrities who shill bizarre products and claim that they’ll change your life with a dash of snake oil. In the process of this trailer, we see several “strangers” — including Melissa McCarthy, Michael Shannon, and Bobby Cannavale — fall under her guidance before things start to go very wrong. From the synopsis:

“Nine Perfect Strangers” takes place at a boutique health-and-wellness resort that promises healing and transformation as nine stressed city dwellers try to get on a path to a better way of living. Watching over them during this 10-day retreat is the resort’s director, Masha, a woman on a mission to reinvigorate their tired minds and bodies. However, these nine “perfect” strangers have no idea what is about to hit them.

Nine Perfect Strangers also stars Luke Evans, Regina Hall, Samara Weaving, Melvin Gregg, Asher Keddie, Grace Van Patten, Tiffany Boone, and Manny Jacinto. The eight-part series streams on August 18.

Hide your Judy doll, put your manger scene cookies in a safe place, and make sure you’re not blocking the ice cream freezer at the grocery store: Larry David is coming back! AT&T CEO John Stankey delivered the pretty, pretty, pretty good news that Curb Your Enthusiasm’s 11th season will debut by the end of the year during a Q2 earnings call on Thursday morning.

“Our lineup in the back half of the year is even stronger, with new seasons of popular series such as Succession, Raised by Wolves, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Love Life,” Stankey said, according to The Wrap. OK, so that’s not a ton of information—but it’s the first piece of news we’ve gotten about a potential release date for the new season.

HBO announced that Curb Your Enthusiasm would be getting an eleventh season in late June 2020. David’s response? “Believe me, I’m as upset about this as you are. One day I can only hope that HBO will come to their senses and grant me the cancellation I so richly deserve.”

According to David’s Curb co-star Jeff Garlin, fans shouldn’t expect too many more seasons of the largely improvised comedy. In June, Garlin predicted that, “We could maybe do one more [season], maybe. You know, Larry is in his 70s.” Ouch!

(Via The Wrap)

In theory, Timothée Chalamet is the star of Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming adaptation of Dune, but you wouldn’t know it by the reactions to the newest trailer because people are all about one thing and one thing only: Oscar Isaac‘s beard. Almost immediately after the new trailer dropped on Thursday morning, social media started thirsting over Isaac’s look as Duke Leto Atreides when the latest Dune preview gave them even more chances to screengrab his space beard. Man, are they here for it.

Here’s just a taste of the reactions on Twitter, where Isaac is already being hailed as a “bearded space DILF,” which is one of the internet’s highest honors, or something that people just came up with today after being beguiled by them whiskers.

Of course, the beard love shouldn’t arrive as a total surprise as people we’re already going to town on the Dune character posters that were released earlier in the week. Case in point, one intrepid Twitter user changed Isaac’s character name to simply “Daddy,” and it plays.

Here’s the official synopsis:

A mythic and emotionally charged hero’s journey, “Dune” tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence—a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential—only those who can conquer their fear will survive.

Dune rides a sandworm into theaters and HBO Max on October 22.

Florida rapper Ski Mask The Slump God continues the bloody revenge tale from his Sin City-themed “Admit It” video in his new video for “Dr. Suess,” delivering martial-arts hijinks, shootouts galore, and a final, satisfactory conclusion. As in the previous video, he uses the CGI coloring techniques from the Sin City films, resulting in some truly stunning imagery, including a shot inspired by Marv’s contrast bandages using Ski Mask’s tattoos and grill.

Ski Mask’s latest project — the aptly titled Sin City The Mixtape — dropped at the end of June, nearly three years after his debut album Stokeley. Intriguingly enough, it became his second-highest charting project after Stokeley, peaking at No. 39 on the Billboard 200 albums chart despite minimal promotion. That indicates a growing interest in the amped-up rapper, who only released one single, “Burn The Hoods,” in 2020. He also featured on DJ Scheme’s “Soda” with Cordae, likely contributing to his increasing popularity.

After announcing the release date for Sin City The Mixtape, Ski Mask promised his fans that the next album wouldn’t take nearly as long. We’ll see if he can stick to that promise and maintain the momentum he’s built.

Watch Ski Mask The Slump God’s ultraviolent “Dr. Suess” video above.