Month: November 2021

For the past 16 years, Carson Daly has presided over NBC’s New Year’s Eve coverage. But his reign as the spirit of years past has come to an end as Miley Cyrus and Pete Davidson have signed on to host the 2021/2022 New Year’s Eve-a-palooza on NBC. And even though Cyrus’s Plastic Hearts was snubbed for a Grammy nomination last week, she’s now at the helm of a massive production.

Dubbed Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party Hosted by Miley Cyrus and Pete Davidson, the special is produced by Lorne Michaels, but Cyrus is part of the executive production team. Cyrus recently signed a development deal with NBCUniversal and the Hopetown Entertainment production company that she operates with her mom Tish is also co-producing the special. The special will be recorded in Miami and NBC says the broadcast will feature a “star-studded lineup of special guests and musical performances.”

Cyrus is on top of the pop world, doing everything recently from launching her Miley’s World fan platform to being announced as a headliner at multiple Lollapalooza festivals in South America. Her co-host Davidson has a unique understanding of modern pop culture, namely on how to make fun of it, like he’s done recently on SNL with Aaron Rodgers‘s anti-vaxx stance and absolutely roasting the Jonas Brothers.

Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party airs from 10:30 p.m. ET to 12:30 a.m. ET on New Year’s Eve, on NBC, and live-streamed on Peacock.

It’s almost always fun when high-profile recording artists clear their social media because it usually means a new project is on the way. However, in the case of the artist formerly known as Kanye West, it’s more bemusing than anything else. For one thing, he just dropped a new album, Donda, which received a mixed response from critics and fans, and for another, this is something he does with some degree of regularity for reasons that make sense to him alone (and maybe not even him, if we’re being honest).

As of this writing, Ye’s profile picture on Instagram is simply an empty black field and there are no photos on the grid at all. Meanwhile, on his Twitter, every tweet for the last 12 months has been deleted. His most recent tweets are all from his controversial failed presidential campaign last November, with a sizable number of his tweets from before that cleared out as well. Ominously, most of the remaining posts pertain to his campaign, and it’s probably telling that the first one that appears is his “concession” tweet from the last election that reads “Kanye 2024.”

While we were spared from such a thing mainly due to Ye’s haphazard, slapdash approach to the campaign, his latest social media reset could imply that he’s taking the next effort much more seriously this time around — which could both be good and bad, for any number of reasons. However, it could also be a response to the recent death of his friend and collaborator Virgil Abloh, who passed away on Sunday after a two-year battle with cancer. Either way, we hope Ye uses the reset wisely an makes more responsible use of his social media platforms in the future.

One thing we can always anticipate with the release of a new Halo is the live action trailers. Back when Halo 3 was getting ready for release in 2007, there was a massive marketing campaign push to get as much attention on the game as possible. One of the ways they did that was a live action trailer with actual actors. This trailer was such a hit that it’s pretty much been a staple of the series ever since.

While the multiplayer for Halo Infinite has pretty much been released, with many of us already diving into it, we still have the campaign to look forward to on December 8. In anticipation of the release, which is approaching very quickly, a new live action trailer was released. In it was a pretty simple message for anyone watching: there’s a Spartan in all of us.

The trailer itself features a montage of characters all being put in growingly stressful situations. Of course, at the penultimate moments, it always cuts to a new set of characters. Finally, the trailer cuts to Master Chief standing before a battlefield ready to charge into action. That shot is then followed by everyone else doing similar in their own situations. It’s all very heroic and with a very clear message. There’s a spartan in everyone.

It will be interesting to see how much, if any of this, translates over into the actual game. While we likely won’t see Master Chief in these situations we may see similar theming from trailer to official campaign release. We won’t have to wait too much longer with the game’s release so close.

Broadway Honors Sondheim—’Sunday’ from ‘Sunday in the Park With George’ in Times Square 11/28/21

The massive crowd is a sea of recognizable faces, including Sara Bareilles (“Waitress”) and Josh Groban. Perhaps most easily spotted is teary-eyed Lin Manuel Miranda, a modern-day Sondheim in his own right.

Miranda would later be seen reading a passage about “Sunday in the Park with George” from Sondheim’s memoir, which read:

“Once during the writing of each show, I cry at a notion, a word, a chord, a melodic idea, an accompaniment figure… In this show, it was the word ‘forever’ in ‘Sunday.’ I was suddenly moved by the contemplation of what these people would have thought if they’d know they were being immortalized, and in a major way, in a great painting.”

Towards the verticals of trees
Forever . . .
By the blue purple yellow red water
On the green
Orange violet mass
Of the grass
In our perfect park
Made of flecks of light
And dark,
And parasols . . .
Bumbum bum Bumbumbum
Bumbum bum . . .#Sondheim pic.twitter.com/AG9e5zoAND

— Howard Sherman (@HESherman) November 28, 2021

In an age where we’re more likely to stay at home and watch Netflix than go to a live concert, let alone go see a musical, there are many who have not experienced that inexplicable, magic quality that live theatre possesses. At its best, it inspires people to use their voice, practice empathy and come together in community with one another. Sondheim was the very best of the best at embodying this quality in his works. And if this video is any indication, he will be sorely missed.

Sondheim too will be immortalized, perhaps in a way he’d never imagined during his lifetime.

Before she became a trailblazing star in British avant-pop, FKA Twigs was an in-demand backup dancer for artists like Kylie Minogue and Ed Sheeran. She’s kept that dance background at the center of her visuals throughout her career as a recording artist and famously moves with memorable hypnotism on stage.

Now in the video for the recently released track, “Measure Of A Man,” she shifts from gyrating swordswoman to a downright provocateur. The video is spliced in with some footage from the Matthew Vaughn-directed The King’s Man (where the song is part of the soundtrack) and Twigs is a dynamic interpretive dancer throughout it. She moves with fiery vigor around rapper Central Cee as he delivers his verse, and then leaves little to the imagination as she sensually dances atop a gold ring while wearing a skin-tight see-through top and leather lingerie bottoms.

“This song has such a different sound which is a challenge,” the singer said in a statement. “You’ve got to really embody the song. For me especially with my vocals, I had to pull a different side of my artistry out.”

The song indeed feels like it belongs in the spy movie where it’s drawn from and she adds to that mystique in the clip. Watch it above.

The King’s Man is out on 12/22/2022 in theaters everywhere.

In recent years, Tyler The Creator has been using his full name, Tyler Okonma, more regularly in creative projects, especially in the credits of film projects which credit him more often by his government name than his nom de plume. A big reason for that was the late Virgil Abloh, as Tyler revealed in a touching Instagram post remembering the designer’s passion and impact on Tyler and other Black creatives.

“few years back i started using more of my African last name OKONMA because of how regal Virgils felt,” Tyler shared. “Everything he did felt like he said ‘hey over here, coast is clear’ whenever i questioned things.”

In a longer post than he usually shares, Tyler described Abloh as “a true geek” and “a cheerleader for everyone,” vowing to follow in the late designer’s footsteps. “That hand of his opened doors, lead people in and tossed the keys outside for the next person to have,” Tyler recalled. “wish i was able to see him see what his helping hand did for me. his spirit is around tho. i feel it. he’ll see it. i’ll keep pushing and trying things while leaving the door open. he’ll shake those pom-poms. we’ll keep that on loop. safe travels.”

Abloh’s death was reported on Sunday by his personal accounts and those of the LVMH brand (where he had been artistic director for the last few years), revealing that he’d battled “a rare, aggressive form of cancer” since 2019. His death was met by a wave of appreciative posts from friends and fans, who praised his creativity and pioneering in the world of high fashion, as well as a dedication from Kanye West.

14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible (Netflix documentary) — A fearless Nepali climber, Nirmal “Nimsdai” Purja, feeds into his country’s deep connection to daredevil mountaineering at the top of the world. As the title suggests, he undertakes the mission to climb the world’s 14 highest peak, and he enlists the power of skilled Sherpas to get the job done. In the process, he encounters extreme weather while also processing heavy emotions about his everyday life on sea-level altitude.

9-1-1 (FOX, 8:00pm) — The 118 must race to save lives when a massive LA sinkhole (sounds like, uh, La Brea?) forms as the result of an erupting oil well. Then Athena’s on a decades-old casino-heist case.

The Black Pack: We Three Kings (CW, 8:00pm) — This celebration of the holiday season arrives through a colorful lens, all while highlighting the best music, comedy, and dance on the scene.

4400 (CW, 9:00pm) — Rev’s flock is growing while Med assists, all while Jharrel and Keisha work to build trust and Hayden’s working to spread a message.

We’re Here (HBO, 9:00pm) — The Queens travel to Grand Junction, Colorado to help make more vibrant stage dreams come true.

Wakefield (Showtime, 9:00pm) —

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert — Peter Jackson, Chelsea Cutler

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Alessia Cara, Pistol Annies

In case you missed this recent streaming pick:

Kamikaze (HBO Max series) — This Polish show might not be on your radar yet, but it arrives with a riveting premise: what happens to one’s identity when everything that matters in your life disappears in one panicked heartbeat? Marie Reuther portrays a young woman who gets a terrible text message — her entire family is about to go down in a plane crash — that changes everything. She’s alone and picking up the pieces, and this feels very much like Morvern Callar but with a contemporary spin. Yes, expect tragedy here, but you also won’t be able to look away from where this protagonist goes.

While everyone dining at Beverly Hills Hotel this past Saturday morning was served up a satisfying meal, for one Dutch tourist, breakfast came with quite the show. On November 27 (and mere weeks after debuting their new relationship), socialite Kim Kardashian and actor/comedian Pete Davidson were spotted by Paul Barewijk, a Dutch music journalist on vacation, sharing breakfast together at the hotel’s restaurant.

According to Barewijk (via Page Six), he was chatting on the phone with his mom when he first recognized Davidson. Moments later, he realized the Saturday Night Live star was accompanied by new love interest Kardashian, and quickly approached the couple to ask for photos with them. Barewijk then took to Instagram to share the star-studded photos, captioning them with a very enthusiastic, “OMG MAKE ME CRAZY! SITTING NEXT TO KIM KARDASHIAN AND PETE DAVIDSON FOR BREAKFAST!”

While there’s been no shortage of skepticism regarding the legitimacy of Kardashian, 41, and Davidson’s, 28, relationship, according to Barewijk the couple definitely seemed like “more than” friends at breakfast — which might come as a bit of a bummer to the still grieving Kanye West. Barewijk told Page Six that “it seemed like a true date,” adding that while there was “no kissing,” “they were very close with each other.”

Barewijk went on to say that both Kardashian and Davidson were very kind towards his request for photos, both happily obliging him and Davidson offering to hold the camera for a proper selfie. The Dutch tourist then proceeded to tell Davidson “people in The Netherlands like him because of SNL,” making Barewijk the second person to theorize about just why Davidson is so damn charming in the past couple weeks.

Following the success of her 2019 debut Miss Universe, London’s Nilüfer Yanya has stayed busy releasing two EPs in 2020’s Feeling Lucky? and Inside Out this past September. Earlier this month, she released the single “Stabilise,” the first offering from her proper sophomore album, Painless, due out on March 4th via ATO.

Today, she has just announced a thorough accompanying tour through Europe and North America. Check out the full tour dates below. Pre-sale starts tomorrow at 10am local time and general on-sale begins Friday, Dec 3rd. Get tickets here.

03/10/2022 — Glasgow, UK @ St Lukes
03/12/2022 — Dublin, IE @ Whelans
03/14/2022 — Manchester, UK @ Band On The Wall
03/15/2022 — Bristol, UK @ Trinity
03/16/2022 — London, UK @ Brixton Electric
03/20/2022 — Paris, FR @ Trabendo
03/22/2022 — Zurich, CH @ Bogen F
03/23/2022 — Munich, DE @ Ampere
03/24/2022 — Vienna, AT @ Grelle Forelle
03/26/2022 — Berlin, DE @ Säälchen
03/27/2022 — Hamburg, DE @ Nochtspeicher
03/28/2022 — Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Noord
03/30/2022 — Brussels, BE @ Botanique Orangerie
04/26/2022 — Austin, TX @ Antones
04/28/2022 — Nashville, TN @ Basement East
04/29/2022 — Atlanta, GA @ Shaky Knees
04/30/2022 — Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
05/01/2022 — Asheville, NC @ Grey Eagle
05/03/2022 — Washington, DC @ Black Cat
05/04/2022 — Philadelphia ,PA @ Underground Arts
05/06/2022 — Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
05/07/2022 — New York, NY @ Webster Hall
05/09/2022 — Montreal, QUE @ L’Astral
05/10/2022 — Toronto, ONT @ The Axis Club
05/12/2022 — Detroit, MI @ El Club
05/13/2022 — Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
05/14/2022 — Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line
05/17/2022 — Boulder, CO @ The Fox Theatre
05/18/2022 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Commonwealth
05/20/2022 — Vancouver, BC @ Fortune
05/21/2022 — Seattle, WA @ Crocodile
05/22/2022 — Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom

Painless is out 3/4/2022 via ATO. Pre-order it here.

While a recent storyline on Succession is going very badly for the financial future of Nicholas Braun‘s Cousin Greg, in the real world, it’s sparked a windfall for Greenpeace, which is seeing a surge of donations thanks to the HBO series. As revealed in the fifth episode of the currently airing third season, Greg’s grandfather Ewan Roy (James Cromwell) made the harsh, yet environmentally friendly decision to deprive his grandson of his inheritance and, instead, give the funds to Greenpeace.

The plot point was a crushing blow to Greg, who is hilariously attempting to sue the charity organization, but remarkably, it caused a surge in Succession viewers trying to find out how they can leave the environmental group a portion of their estates. Via The Guardian:

Greenpeace UK’s head of donors and legacies, John Hutchin, says the Emmy award-winning HBO series has brought an important but rarely discussed subject to the fore. “It’s incredible the amount of interest we’ve seen off the back of this storyline,” he says. “Our planet needs protecting now more than ever, and the gifts that people leave to us in their wills really are vital to funding our campaigns.”

Greenpeace UK gets around a sixth of its income from gifts left in wills. This year it expects to receive about £5.5m.

According to the organization, more than 22,000 people “have accessed online advice about making donations in their wills to Greenpeace,” which is a ten-fold increase to what Greenpeace normally sees on its site. Of course, the situation sucks for Cousin Greg, but as Succession‘s cutthroat characters likes to say, it’s just another case of “no real person involved.”

(Via The Guardian)