Month: October 2021

Hayley Williams has been online for a long time, as Paramore was huge in the blog and Myspace era (here’s an archived version of their page from 2006, in case you want a quick nostalgia trip). Now, though, Williams is changing her relationship with the internet, as she declared over the weekend that she’s taking a step back from social media.

Williams shared a message on Instagram, in which she notes that while social media “has been a useful and mostly beautiful part of the job,” she’s moving away from her personal accounts due to her “interest in keeping a boundary between a public and a private life… and wanting to spend more time looking up and out, rather than down.”

Find Williams’ message in full below.

“I’ve been on the internet and more specifically, social media, since I was 15. Maybe even younger. It started with the blog sites… then Myspace. Then Paramore became a thing and social media wasn’t even just for my can personal use anymore but it was part of the job. It has been a useful and mostly beautiful part of the job. I crave connection and the internet is a pretty good tool for that when it’s not tearing us apart.

The thing is, connection is and will always be a part of my job (thankfully). As for my own personal experience with social media, I just don’t want it anymore. I’ve carefully considered this decision for almost a year now. Now I know for sure that my desire to move away from personal accounts (yes, even my finsta) is based on nothing more than my interest in keeping a boundary between a public and a private life… and wanting to spend more time looking up and out, rather than down.

No judgement to anyone who loves their social media. Just a huge encouragement to anyone needing permission to create more boundaries and space to grow — sometimes ‘no’ is the kindest thing you can say… to anyone!… even yourself.”

Finally, if you’re lookin for me, don’t look here. Follow @paramore.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Matrix Resurrections doesn’t come out until Christmas time, but if you looked closely in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, you might have seen a sneak peek. Both films, which otherwise have little in common (although I would love it if someone replaced Keanu Reeves’ iconic “woah” with a “yummy”), filmed in San Francisco at the same time. In fact, in the scene where Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock scales the Coit Tower, the helicopters flying through the air in the background were actually filming for The Matrix 4.

“Lots of stuff impacted filming. A lot of our driving shots went away because Matrix controlled all of downtown,” Venom: Let There Be Carnage location manager Christopher Kusiak told Screen Rant. “We ended up moving a stunt up onto the top of the parking garage because we couldn’t get to the areas we wanted because of The Matrix. But if we would’ve been there first, it probably would’ve gone the other way.” He added, “The helicopters were actually on the Matrix movie. The Matrix was filming at the same time so we were catching part of their activity on camera.”

You know what this means? There needs to be a Neo vs. Agent Smith-style fight in The Matrix Resurrections, except every Agent is Venom. It’s only fair.

The Matrix Resurrections comes out on December 22.

(Via Screen Rant)

Charli XCX has in recent months spent some time talking up her next album, and she did some more of that recently. She declared a few days ago that it’s dropping around early 2022, and now she says that it’s both “sexy” and “demonic.”

In an interview on Apple Music 1’s The Chart Show, Charli explained how her recent single “Good Ones” relates to the rest of her upcoming album, saying:

“It definitely sets the palette for the rest of the album. It is heavily ’80s-inspired. There are a lot of uptempo tracks. It’s dark, it’s kind of sexy and sexual and sort of demonic at points, I suppose. But then there are lighter moments, too. But yeah, I think the whole record is about my relationship with relationships and sex and power. But the song itself, I suppose, it’s about falling for a toxic person, being always ready to put myself in the most dangerous positions, just to feel something, which I guess it’s kind of the whole record, but I feel like we’ve all been there at points in life.”

She later added, “The fans can expect an overload of sexiness. I want it to all feel sexy. Like the music, the sounds, the tour, the videos, the clothes, the way they feel. So that’s kind of my hope really that everyone just discovers they’re in a sexy demon and it all comes out.”

Meanwhile, Charli recently hinted at a collaboration between Christine And The Queens, Caroline Polachek, and herself.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Comedy Central’s The Daily Show recently took aim at Ainsley Earhardt for her most obnoxious habit (mentioning “my friend” in countless instances to support her points, whether these friends exist or not). This week, HBO’s Last Week Tonight takes aim at another Fox and Friends host, Brian Kilmeade, during an episode that aired on the eve of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. That newly Biden-installed federal holiday, of course, runs concurrent to what the U.S. still recognizes as Columbus Day, and no one is more excited about Christopher Columbus than Brian Kilmeade.

Kilmeade, who once claimed to have read Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf in high school, is absolutely obsessed with his hero, Christopher Columbus. On that note, John Oliver was thrilled to introduce this exhaustively repetitive montage called “Brian Kilmeade likes Christopher Columbus way, way too much.” It ended with the kicker of Steve Doocy (who’s used to this by now) smiling and nodding while Kilmeade admitted, “I was Christopher Columbus for Halloween, no pictures available.” To which Ainsley Earhardt responded, “I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’”

That followed a barrage of Kilmeade excitedly repeating (in different contexts) how Columbus’ explorer deeds were “like going to the moon, today, in the 1960s, only more dangerous.” The continued “more dangerous” claims only grow more ridiculous, so then, it was time for Kilmeade to claim that the Fox News morning show is “going to be the Christopher Columbus of knockerball.” And then comes Kilmeade bragging, “I was almost the Christopher Columbus of this show.” He also defended his hero to Steve Doocy as “totally Italian. Couldn’t be more Italian.”

In the end, Kilmeade declared, “If you read one reputable book on Columbus and still don’t think we should have a Columbus Day, you’re not paying attention.”

Meanwhile, the New York Times has published a primer on Indigenous Peoples’ Day. The supporters of this federal holiday are pushing back against the holiday that celebrates a navigator who arguably paved the way for genocide and colonization, which in turn, has fostered continued discrimination against Indigenous peoples.

This past summer, Rolling Loud became one of the first major music festivals to hold a showcase after the pandemic all but the industry down. The Miami edition of the festival took place in late July 23-25 at Hard Rock Stadium, boasting headlining performances from ASAP Rocky, Travis Scott, and Post Malone. Elsewhere Lil Baby, 21 Savage, DaBaby (as controversial as his set was), Young Thug, Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Uzi Vert, Playboi Carti, Roddy Ricch, Rod Wave, Lil Tjay.

For those who were unable to attend the festival, Rolling Loud has an alternative: Organizers recently released an “aftermovie” that captured all the wild and fiery moments of the Miami show. The 10-minute video features many of the aforementioned names, as well as others like The Kid Laroi, City Girls, Lil Yachty, Rod Wave, Morray, and more.

The video arrives less than three weeks before festival organizers bring the showcase to New York for a festival headlined by J. Cole, Travis Scott, and 50 Cent. Other performers for the New York show include Lil Uzi Vert, Gunna, Lil Baby, Roddy Ricch, Lil Durk, Jack Harlow, Rick Ross, Gucci Mane, Polo G, Moneybagg Yo, Joey Badass, Playboi Carti, Wale, Young Dolph, and Griselda Records.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

There’s a Willy Wonka prequel, because of course there is. And it stars twentysomething Timothée Chalamet, because of course it does. The young actor, about to be seen headlining the latest cinematic stab at Frank Herbert’s Dune, personally dropped the first look at him as the iconic Roald Dahl character on social media. And it inspired a lot of different reactions, because of course it did.

Chalamet took to both Instagram and Twitter to drop two separate images. One shows him in a raspberry turncoat and old-timey hat, looking very serious. Apparently it will take some doing for him to evolve into the weirdo eccentric embodied by Gene Wilder in 1971 and Johnny Depp in 2005. The other picture was a close-up on his signature cane, which boasts a tiny wrapped gift, presumably containing chocolate.

It was an unexpected Sunday surprise, and while many were delighted to see everyone’s favorite floppy-haired young movie star taking on the beloved chocolatier of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, it also inspired a lot of yuks.

Some thought his coat looked familiar.

Some thought he looked like a Brooklyn hipster.

Others tried to wrestle with the idea of Hot Willy Wonka.

Some thought that Hot Willy Wonka was not a great idea.

Others thought he was no Gene Wilder.

Or no Johnny Depp.

Some wondered if they’ll wind up modernizing a classic character in creative ways.

But maybe, some pointed out, Willy Wonka is just too weird for this world.

Adding in a secret ending for players to find has become something of a tradition for the Far Cry series. Typically these endings are early on in the game and can be found by doing the non-video game thing. For example, in Far Cry 4 the main antagonist tells the player to stay right there and “not move.” Of course, what anyone would do in this situation is immediately get moving. If the player doesn’t do that though and stays there for over 10 minutes they will be escorted to an early ending for the game. Far Cry 5 had one of these secret endings as well, so it was an easy assumption that Far Cry 6 would have one too.

SPOILERS FOR THE ALTERNATE ENDING OF FAR CRY 6 AHEAD.

In Far Cry 6, they do have a secret ending, but it’s not quite as early on as it was in previous games. This alternative ending takes place later in the game following the mission “Libertad Rises.” At the end of the mission, the main protagonist Dani Rojas is given the option to take a boat and flee to the United States. Of course, the game strongly implies that this is not the correct path to take. If the player chooses to ignore that though and take the boat off into the distance it will fade to black and re-open three months later with Rojas sunbathing on a beach. The radio nearby announces that the revolution in Yara was a failure and the game’s antagonist, Anton Castillo, has successfully quelled it. (h/t GameSpot)

Obviously, it’s not an upbeat ending! Of course, with the game strongly trying to tell the player how bad an idea this is it would make sense for the ending to be a “punishment” for that. Anyone that wants to see the way the game is truly meant to go will need to play through it and experience the whole thing.

While some people are tired of the Far Cry formula, these alternate endings included, it is one of the few games that still do stuff like this. It’s fun when a game rewards the player for doing something out of the ordinary and Far Cry 6 doing that is a plus.

Earlier this year, Taylor Swift returned with a new version of her sophomore album, Fearless — her third project in less than 12 months, following Folklore and Evermore. It eventually topped the albums chart and gave the singer her third No. 1 album in under a year, making her the first woman in music history to achieve such a feat. Swift also tied Madonna for the second-most No. 1 albums in a career for a female artist, behind Barbra Streisand’s 11. Now, more than six months later, it’s made its way back to the top of the Billboard 200.

Fearless (Taylor’s Version) earned its second nonconsecutive week at No. 1 thanks to 152,000 album units sold for the October 16-dated Billboard 200 chart. That number is comprised of 146,000 pure albums and 6,000 streaming equivalent album units. The album’s return to No. 1 is due to the sale of signed CDs that were available only on Swift’s website as well as the release of a vinyl LP version.

Of the 146,000 album sales the project received this week, CD sales made up 77,000 while vinyl LP sales made up 67,000, which amounts to the fourth-largest week for a vinyl album since MRC Data began tracking music sales in 1991. It comes behind Swift’s Evermore at No. 1, Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour at No. 2, and Billie Eilish’s Happier Than Ever at No. 3.

You can revisit our review of Swift’s Fearless (Taylor’s Version) here.

More than 50 years ago, The Beatles, came to an end after Paul McCartney announced that he would be walking away from the group. The band attempted to reunite on several occasions but it never happened, and in 1980 John Lennon was tragically assassinated. While it’s been noted that Lennon privately expressed a desire to walk away from the band before McCartney’s announcement, McCartney has long been blamed for the band’s breakup. During an upcoming interview on BBC Radio 4, McCartney pointed the finger elsewhere.

“I didn’t instigate the split. That was our Johnny,” McCartney said, according to The Guardian. “I am not the person who instigated the split. Oh no, no, no. John walked into a room one day and said I am leaving the Beatles. Is that instigating the split, or not?” He added that Lennon described his departure from The Beatles as “quite thrilling” and “rather like a divorce,” despite the fact that the other group members were “left to pick up the pieces.”

McCartney notes that confusion about who instigated the band’s dissolution was caused by the group’s new manager at the time, Allen Klein, who sought to wrap up some business deals before announcing the split. “So for a few months we had to pretend,” McCartney said. “It was weird because we all knew it was the end of the Beatles but we couldn’t just walk away.” McCartney admits he became “fed up of hiding it” and it led to his decision to publicly announce the split and “let the cat out of the bag.”

“I had to fight and the only way I could fight was in suing the other Beatles, because they were going with Klein. And they thanked me for it years later,” he said about the legal drama that ensued after the group’s split. “But I didn’t instigate the split. That was our Johnny coming in one day and saying ‘I’m leaving the group.’”

McCartney’s full interview on BBC Radio 4 will air on October 23

Few people have profited off being Donald Trump’s spawn like Ivanka Trump. Apart from clearly being the former president’s favorite child, she’s also ascended to White House positions to which she was almost certainly unqualified, along with making a ton of money for herself and husband Jared Kushner. But there was one major job she almost nabbed, had it not been for one meddling Trump staffer.

As per Insider, Ivanka came awfully close to nabbing the role of leader of the World Bank, the international institution that oversees loans and grant to low- and middle-income nations. Would the greedy daughter of one of the world’s greediest men have been a good fit for that? Probably not! Luckily Steve Mnuchin, the Warner Bros. exec-turned-Secretary of the Treasury, put the kibosh on that one.

It was early 2019, and Jim Young Kim, the physician and anthropologist who had helmed the institution since 2012, announced he was stepping down. This, Insider says, “presented then-President Donald Trump with the ability to reshape the leadership of the World Bank.” On his list of replacements was Ivanka, on the basis that, as he told The Atlantic, “she’s very good with numbers.”

Ivanka didn’t get the job, and she later claimed she turned it down. But two sources told The Intercept that it was Mnuchin who stopped her from nabbing the gig. “It came incredibly close to happening,” one claimed.

So while Donald Trump may have exited the presidency, the world may still have had to put up with the wife of a notorious alleged slumlord lording over which struggling nation gets financial assistance. And it’s thanks to one of the producers of the Kevin Hart-Will Ferrell prison comedy Get Hard (and lots of other WB titles, including Mad Max: Fury Road) that that nightmare never happened.

(Via Insider)