Month: September 2021

Will Smith is a great interview, but he rarely agrees to a full-blown profile. So it’s a big deal that GQ‘s Wesley Lowery sat down with the Oscar-nominated actor and genie for a lengthy cover story. Topics covered include Smith’s youthful desire to be the biggest movie star in the world (“I wanted to do what Eddie Murphy was doing. I wanted to make people feel how I felt the first time I saw Star Wars“) and why he avoided making movies about slavery until Apple TV+’s Emancipation (“I didn’t want to show Black people in that light. I wanted to be a superhero. So I wanted to depict Black excellence alongside my white counterparts. I wanted to play roles that you would give to Tom Cruise”).

Smith also discussed his previous desire for a harem of girlfriends:

During his first meeting with Michaela Boehm, an intimacy coach he spent years working with, Smith confessed that, if he could have anything in the world, he’d want a harem of girlfriends. “Who?” Boehm demanded, insisting he name specific women he’d want to invite to his harem. Misty Copeland, Smith replied. And Halle Berry too. For the rest of the session, the two of them researched specific women who could round out his aspirational harem. The plan was to then begin contacting the women.

Smith thought it was a “really great idea” to travel “with 20 women that I loved and took care of and all of that,” but after talking out his fantasy with Boehm, he realized something. “I was like, ‘That would be horrific. That would be horrific.’ I was like, ‘Can you imagine how miserable?’ What she was doing was essentially cleaning out my mind, letting it know it was okay to be me and be who I was,” he explained.

Smith’s Christian upbringing taught him that as a married man, it was wrong to think that “Halle is fine” even though she’s literally Halle Berry. “That was really the process that Michaela worked me through to let me realize that my thoughts were not sins and even acting on an impure thought didn’t make me a piece of sh*t,” he added.

You can (and should) read the entire profile here.

(Via GQ)

Rap and standup comedy are very similar performance arts rooted in timing, vocal precision, and crowd interaction. However, they are far from the same — only a handful of standup comics have ever proved adept at rap, including Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, and Zack Fox, while Chance The Rapper’s attempt to try comedy sorta stunk. But there remains an affinity between the two groups, who have an appreciation for each other’s crafts, which occasionally cross over — such as the time Hannibal Buress trolled fans at Adult Swim Festival as an imposter MF DOOM.

The latest rapper to attempt to make the leap to standup is Danny Brown, who is well-known for the goofball comedy of his raps and his fun-loving personality. Last week, he made his standup debut, opening for Hannibal Buress in Huntsville, Texas at a 4,000-attendance venue. Brown tweeted both before and after the show, revealing that it was his first night, asking followers to wish him good luck, then celebrating the fact that “I didn’t bomb!!!!!” In another pair of deleted tweets, Complex reports that the rapper said he was now “addicted” to comedy and dedicating himself to getting better.

“Definitely have a lot to work on but I can honestly say I’m addicted now and want to get better at this so I’m definitely gonna go hard when I get back home,” he wrote. “Thank you to everyone who sent me good luck wishes it definitely helped cause playing in front of 4K for my first stand up set definitely had me missing sleep last night.”

Good news, DC fans! It looks like Warner Bros. has found a few more fish in the ocean to take part in the upcoming and highly-anticipated Aquaman sequel. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jani Zhao (Sentimentos), Indya Moore (Pose, Queen & Silm), and Vincent Regan (Before We Die, Vendetta, 300) have all signed on to be a part of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, the next installment in DC’s Aquaman series. In addition, the outlet confirmed star Randall Park (Fresh Off the Boat, Always Be My Maybe) will be returning to reprise his role as Dr. Stephen Shin.

In Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Zhao will be playing a mysterious character made exclusively for the film named Stingray, though it’s unknown if they’ll wind up being the sea-faring hero’s friend or foe. Moore, on the other hand, is playing a longtime DC character named Karshon, an original shark who gained telepathic powers after being exposed to radiation and ultimately became a Green Lantern villain. Lastly, Regan will be portraying Atlan, the ancient ruler of Atlantis who ultimately is responsible for the lost city’s descent into the sea. While the character appeared briefly in the 2018 movie — albeit played by another actor — it is presumed he will play a much larger part in the sequel.

In addition to Park and the newest members of the cast, Patrick Wilson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Amber Heard, Dolph Lundgren, and of course Aquaman himself, Jason Momoa, are all set to star in the upcoming film. While the new character castings reveal a bit more insight into what the plot of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom might be, DC has done a pretty good job keeping any and all further details completely submerged. However, according to the “giggly” Jason Momoa in an interview with Fandango (via The Wrap) we can expect a lot of comedy in the Aquaman sequel:

“I just know that it’s… even on the page it’s absolutely wonderful. There’s so much going on [..] There’s a lot of comedy. So, I mean, I giggled reading it.”

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdon, directed by Aquaman director and noted horror filmmaker James Wan, is currently slated for a December 16, 2022 release date. Fingers crossed we’ll see the film and its star-studded cast make a splash at the box office then.

As J. Cole embarks on his The Off-Season Tour, fans can also look forward to the return of his Dreamville Festival next year. Dreamville announced the return — and expansion — of its festival today, providing the April dates and location: Raleigh, North Carolina, just an hour away from Cole’s hometown of Fayetteville. The festival returns April 2 and 3, expanding to a two-day schedule which could mean an even greater number of guest artists from outside the label. In the past, the festival has included 21 Savage, 6lack, Big Sean, Davido, Nelly, Rapsody, Saba, and Teyanna Taylor.

The Dreamville Festival, which was obviously planned to be an annual event, has seen its fair share of troubles. The original event was postponed as a result of Hurricane Florence, forcing organizers to forego a planned Young Thug appearance. Then, scheduled to return in 2020, the festival was postponed again due to the COVID-19 pandemic and eventually outright canceled. But it looks like you can’t keep a Dreamer down; the resilience of the event is a testament to Dreamville’s founder’s own stubbornness and persistence.

The festival will require proof of COVID-19 vaccinations or negative COVID-19 test results, and a portion of proceeds will be donated to the Dreamville Foundation and Dorothea Dix Park Conservancy.

Naturally, more information can be found at DreamvilleFest.com, where tickets will go on sale this Friday, October 1.

Media day took place around the NBA on Monday as training camp gets set to begin. The focus for many was on two of the East’s best, where the Sixers and Nets met with the media albeit both were without the physical presence of one of their superstars.

In Brooklyn, Kyrie Irving’s vaccination status was at the forefront of everyone’s mind, as he would be ineligible to play home games for the Nets if he does not get the COVID-19 vaccine. Irving, who called in via Zoom, wouldn’t speak on that, asking they respect his privacy, which will only actually be possible for a few weeks as everyone will know, one way or the other, when the Nets play their first home game in October.

In Philadelphia, Ben Simmons’ holdout and trade request was the main topic of conversation, and he wasn’t just not there physically but also was not going to be calling in to talk. That left the rest of the Sixers to answer questions about Simmons and how they got to this point. Joel Embiid led things off and had plenty to say, from insisting he has no regrets about his comments after Game 7, saying he was asked a question and only stated “facts.” He also said he and everyone on the Sixers had to shoulder blame for the loss, spoke on the difficulty of trade rumors but how it’s part of the business and it’s the front office’s job to always be looking into making the team better.

While Embiid was diplomatic about the situation, there were times where you could tell he was frustrated by it all. That was most notably apparent when he was asked about what he’d want to see from Ben Simmons and referenced his infamous offseason training videos in which he’s hoisting shots and doing all kinds of things offensively, which Embiid remarked very straight-faced, “that would help.”

It is truly incredible delivery from Embiid, who went on to talk about Simmons’ defense and what that brings to the Sixers as well as how there’s room for him to be an even better offensive rebounder. It is incredibly funny for Embiid to bring those videos up, because you know he’s been seeing those things for years and then Simmons comes into camp and refuses to do any of the shot creation stuff we see in the offseason when the real games start. Embiid said he loved playing with Simmons and hopes he comes back, but it seems he and everyone else know the score at this point and are hoping the situation gets resolved. In the meantime, Embiid can’t help but speak the truth and say what everyone’s thinking, which is sometimes hilarious.

Saturday Night Live officially returns for its 47th season this weekend, so they’re cutting it close to the wire when it comes to detailing its casting. On Monday afternoon, the long-running sketch comedy show finally announced its cast members for Season 47, which includes a list of new and returning members, some of whom were reportedly on the edge of leaving the show following Season 46’s return to filming in front of a live audience during the pandemic.

Here is the official cast list for SNL Season 47:

Aidy Bryant, Michael Che, Pete Davidson, Mikey Day, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, Colin Jost, Kate McKinnon, Alex Moffat, Kyle Mooney, Ego Nwodim, Chris Redd, Cecily Strong, Kenan Thompson, Melissa Villaseñor and Bowen Yang, featuring Aristotle Athari, Andrew Dismukes, James Austin Johnson, Punkie Johnson, and Sarah Sherman.

James Austin Johnson is best known for his viral Trump impersonation videos, which makes him an interesting addition to the cast alongside new additions Aristotle Athari and Sarah Sherman. Dave Itzkoff also reports that Bowen Yang and Chloe Fineman have been bumped up to full cast members. As of this writing, Beck Bennett and Lauren Holt are not returning.

The casting announcements arrive after a longer-than-usual process, as producer Lorne Michaels reportedly got serious about locking down fan-favorite cast members like McKinnon, Strong, and Bryant until at least Season 50. Those negotiations appear to have been successful as far as getting them to stick around for one more season.

As previously announced, Season 47’s first set of hosts are Owen Wilson with musical guest Kacey Musgraves, Kim Kardashian West with musical guest Halsey, Rami Malek with musical guest Young Thug, and Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis with musical guest Brandi Carlile. Also, for the first time in SNL history, the show will live-stream on Peacock the same night it airs on NBC.

According to Variety, the sketch comedy show was “the most-watched entertainment program on TV among viewers between 18 and 49, the demographic most preferred by advertisers,” making SNL an enduring property for NBC. A live-stream will only further boost those numbers, particularly with the rapidly expanding audience of cable-cutters.

Saturday Night Live returns October 2 on NBC and Peacock.

Brandi Carlile, being a Washington State native, has a history of honoring Seattle’s music history. Back in August, Carlile brought up the surviving members of Soundgarden — Kim Thayil, Ben Shepherd, and Matt Cameron — to perform with her at the Gorge Amphitheatre, where they played “Black Hole Sun” and “Searching With My Good Eye Closed.” Now, over the weekend, Carlile, who is releasing the new album In These Silent Days on October 1, joined another grunge pioneer, Pearl Jam, onstage at Ohana Fest in in Dana Point, California. As Pearl Jam closed out the three-day fest, Carlile, who’d played earlier in the evening, joined Eddie Vedder & Co. onstage to perform “Better Man.” Carlile also performed her rendition of the aforementioned Soundgarden track “Searching With My Good Eye Closed.”

As he introduced Carlile to the stage, Vedder joked about how he’d been granted permission to refer to a group of female performers as “power bitches” on the next stage over. “We had some great people on these two stages, and some of them were gentlemen…,” Vedder said. “But there was a [husband and wife] group called Shovels & Rope… We had Jade Bird and the incredible Sharon Van Etten, and we had Mon Laferte… Another woman who blew my mind was Yola.”

He continued, “So what my friend Brandi Carlile said was, she said, ‘Man, there are a lot of power bitches on this stage.’ I couldn’t agree more. Don’t cancel me for saying ‘bitches’ in the nicest way possible. And Brandi would know about power bitches because it takes one to know one!”

Watch Carlile and Vedder perform “Better Man” above.

Rifle Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) can’t quit the Twitter. She recently got buried in an avalanche of scorn after a particularly hysterical tweet about the U.S.-Mexico border situation. This followed a disastrous toilet joke and basically blaming God for her place in Congress. No one will ever forget her praise of the Taliban, so what’s Boebert offering up in her latest head-scratcher of a tweet?

She’s, uh, referencing the Office Space boss and his “that would be great” non-catchphrase, and she’s doing so while sarcastically (?) suggesting that it’s dumb to expect everyone to take Tylenol to cure someone else’s headache. It’s a mind-numbingly ineffective attempt to rationalize her disagreement with how herd-immunity-by-vaccination can help keep everyone from getting sick from a virus.

Unfortunately, we must note that Boebert did not graduate high school and has spoken about passing the GED exam not too long before being elected to the House. She can’t be making GED earners too happy with her persistent misspellings, and people aren’t thrilled with her straw-man argument which makes zero sense because headaches aren’t communicable, and therefore, they’re not even comparable to Covid.

Also worth noting: in the 1980s, less than 10 deaths prompted a massive Tylenol recall by Johnson & Johnson, who later transformed the face of the over-the-counter packaging game. That could be a lesson for Boebert (but it likely won’t be).

The Los Angeles Clippers are a championship-caliber team. There’s just one problem: It’s heading into the year without one of the best basketball players in the world, and there’s no word on when he’ll be able to suit back up (if at all this season). The Clippers dang near made it to the NBA Finals despite Kawhi Leonard’s knee injury last year, but now, they have to survive an entire season. There’s more than enough in the cupboard to make it to the postseason, and if Leonard can get his body right and return in time for the postseason, the Clippers should feel good about their chances against anyone in the Western Conference.

Roster:

Nicolas Batum
Eric Bledsoe
Brandon Boston
Paul George
Harry Giles
Isaiah Hartenstein
Serge Ibaka
Reggie Jackson
Keon Johnson
Luke Kennard
George King
Kawhi Leonard
Terance Mann
Marcus Morris
Jason Preston
Jay Scrubb (two-way)
Justise Winslow
Moses Wright
Ivica Zubac

Projected Vegas Win Total: 45.5

Biggest Addition: Eric Bledsoe

Los Angeles opted to lean more in a “run it back” direction than an “overreact to no Kawhi” direction. As such, they brought in some youngsters, a few younger players who are something of reclamation projects, and Bledsoe, a former Clipper who is here after one year with the Pelicans. He is almost certainly not going to be asked to run the show — Reggie Jackson is here for that — but there are minutes to be had as a backup point guard who provides reliable minutes and can keep things moving. The less Paul George is asked to run the show on offense, the less likely he enters the postseason worn down, and Bledsoe should help.

Biggest Loss: Patrick Beverley

Losing Beverley on the floor probably is not the end of the world — while a good player, he isn’t exactly the kind of guy who will go out and take over a basketball game. You can argue that Bledsoe is an upgrade over him, although Beverley’s shooting is quite valuable. The biggest loss, though, is how Beverley set the tone every single night and provided toughness and leadership whenever he’d play. He seemed like a major piece to the puzzle in Los Angeles, especially in the locker room. Again, Los Angeles should be fine, but not having Beverley will take some adjustment.

Biggest Question: Does Kawhi Leonard come back…

…and when he does, will he have enough time to become Kawhi. Leonard. before the postseason starts? This very well could be the difference between Los Angeles competing for a championship and losing in the first round if they get a less-than-favorable matchup, because Leonard is that good. If he cannot, Paul George is certainly capable of playing at an MVP level — we saw it in Oklahoma City and he was sensational after Leonard went down last year — while there are tons of really solid pieces around him, with a coach in Tyronn Lue who is very good at his job. But for a team that wants to compete for titles, it’s hard to see them elevating to that level without Leonard. The only other team in a similar spot is Denver with Jamal Murray, and even then, Leonard is more important to his team’s championship aspirations.

What Makes This Season A Success: The first championship in franchise history. If Leonard can come back and play up to his standard, this is a team that has what it takes to win the Western Conference and take on whomever comes from the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals. L.A. may have been able to do that last year if he was healthy — you can make a pretty compelling case they would have — but they came up short. As a bonus, the West feels very winnable this year.

What Makes This Season A Failure: Well, it’s complicated. The Clippers probably have a wider range here than any other team. No Kawhi? Just making the playoffs in the West might be ok, depending on how their exit would go. Kawhi comes back and is good, but not great? Then they can win a series or two. Kawhi comes back and can play like a superstar? The expectation is winning the West.

Interpol have announced that they’re currently recording their seventh studio album. The new, currently untitled album will drop sometime next year via Matador. It follows 2018’s Marauder and will be produced with producers Flood & Moulder (Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins). “We are overjoyed to announce Flood & Moulder will be producing and mixing the next Interpol record,” Daniel Kessler said in a statement. “We are longtime admirers of their work and delighted to be in the studio with them. Starting this party right.”

The seminal NYC rock post-punk act have already announced 2022 shows at the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles headlining Just Like Heaven Fest, Mexico City’s Palacio De Los Deportes, and a headlining set at Primavera Sound in Barcelona.

“The root of this band has been playing live,” drummer Sam Fogarino told Uproxx in 2018. “When we write music at this point, it’s thoroughly opposite of what’s going on today in terms of popular music all across the board. We’re closer to operating like a band like Yes as opposed to Migos.”

He added, “If you go someplace you didn’t even really feel like going because you thought it was a good idea and then people don’t go there with you, then you’re a dumb ass.” Whereas, if you just go wherever your artistic muse really sincerely takes you, then, hey man, whether or not people come, at least you got somewhere honest and that still has integrity.”