Month: February 2022

AMC’s hit Breaking Bad prequel Better Call Saul, starring America’s Sweetheart Bob Odenkirk, will return for its highly anticipated final season later the year.

The season will be split into two parts, possibly to lessen the blow of the show coming to an end, and the first will premiere April 18th on AMC and consist of seven episodes. The second half of the season will premiere July 11th. Airing the final season in two parts will also allow the show to be eligible for Emmy nominations both in 2022 and 2023.

Season five ended almost exactly two years earlier on April 20th 2020. Production for the sixth season was halted last summer, when Odenkirk suffered a mild heart attack on set. The final season will hopefully tie up some loose ends while showing the lovable but flawed Jimmy McGill’s transformation into Saul Goodman, the breakout star of Breaking Bad.

“In my eyes, this is our most ambitious, surprising and, yes, heartbreaking season,” said co-creator and showrunner Peter Gould in a statement. “Even under incredibly challenging circumstances, the whole Saul team — writers, cast, producers, directors and crew — have outdone themselves. I couldn’t be more excited to share what we’ve accomplished together.”

AMC also announced a short animated series Slippin’ Jimmy that will premiere digitally this spring. Produced by Rick and Morty animators written by Better Call Saul show-runners, the six episode series will tell stories of young Jimmy McGill’s childhood misadventures in Chicago. There will also be new episodes of the Better Call Saul Employee Training Video streaming later this year.

Doja Cat gets one heck of a makeover in her new ad for Taco Bell, as she and a group of friends escape a drab clown college in the search of some Fire sauce. Set to air during Super Bowl LVI, the ad is set to the tune of Doja covering Hole‘s “Celebrity Skin,” which lands right on the red ball nose as Doja and her friends’ clown makeup flies off during their trek to the local Taco Bell (or maybe one a little further away, considering it’s dark by the time they get there).

It’s not the first time a Doja Cat commercial has soundtracked a Taco Bell ad. Late last year, her soon-to-be single “Get Into It (Yuh)” popped up during an ad about geeky cosplayers falling in love at first sight on the subway. Doja wasn’t above using her new position as Taco Bell partner to lobby for the return of the chain’s fan-favorite Mexican pizza menu item, prompting some fans to urge her and Chief Impact Officer Lil Nas X to make it happen.

Doja’s making something of a habit of recreating classic tunes and movies with her brand partnerships, especially the ones for the Super Bowl. Last year, she put her own spin on Grease for Pepsi, stepping into the classic role of Sandy and covering “You’re The One That I Want.”

The Los Angeles Lakers are down horrendously. After suffering a 107-105 loss on Wednesday evening to the threadbare Portland Trail Blazers, the Lakers fell to 26-30 on the year and got called out by two of the greatest players in franchise history. Add in that the trade deadline is right around the corner and the team is trying to figure out whether it has enough stuff to do anything of note — including ending the Russell Westbrook experiment in L.A. — and things are a bit tense right now in Tinseltown.

The fact of the matter is, the Lakers just do not strike a ton of fear into their opponents, even though they possess LeBron James and Anthony Davis. This was hammered home after the Blazers game, when Phoenix Suns guard Cam Payne hopped into a Twitter Space and let L.A. have it.

“We the No. 1 team in the world, and you worried about the f*ckin’ Lakers,” Payne said. “They the worst team in the West.”

After being told the Space was being recorded, Payne both stressed that it’s fine if anyone on the Lakers hears him and made it a point to say “we respect every team in the NBA.” He also spoke further, saying that he understands there are only 450 players in the NBA and that in order to make it to the league, you have to be good.

“It really don’t matter,” Payne said around the 3:04:20 mark of the Space when he was asked if he wants to play the Lakers, just before the above clip. “Whoever we gotta play, that’s who we gotta play.”

“If there was a million of us, then I’d be cool with what you’re talking about,” he’d go on to say.

Payne, of course, broke out for the Suns last postseason in their opening round win over the Lakers, and Phoenix legitimately is the best team in the NBA this season. Still, between this and Patrick Beverley chirping at Westbrook on Twitter on Thursday morning, it’s been quite a day for the Lakers.

During a tense episode of Fox News The Story, Geraldo Rivera pushed back on Tomi Lahren‘s praise for the Canadian truckers anti-mandate protest that’s been hell for local residents and causing disruptions in other countries. Lahren attempted to paint the truckers as freedom fighters, which left Rivera astounded at what he was hearing.

“Their behavior has been nothing short of thuggish in Ottawa,” Rivera fired back at Lahren following her glowing remarks. While describing the damage the protest has done to everyday Canadians, and even Americans where supply chains have been disrupted, Rivera refused to accept Lahren’s framing that the truckers are sticking it to the elites. “To give them the mantle of freedom fighters is absolutely, appallingly naive.”

As things turned into a back-and-forth, Lahren bristled at Rivera’s use of the word “thuggish,” but the Fox News host was only getting started. Via Mediaite:

Later in the segment, Rivera called the truckers’ actions “selfish.”

“We want this behind us,” he said. “It’s been two years. I get that. But when you have protestors bringing Confederate flags and swastikas, and then to paint them in the same portrait as you name our Founding Fathers, I mean, what the hell is that about? This is very destructive.”

As their on-air dust-up started to make headlines, Lahren defended herself on Twitter by responding to Rivera’s rhetorical question: “Fighting for freedom is what it’s about!”

The situation was yet another example of Rivera trying to change the minds of his Fox News colleagues, which generally, never seems to works. As Lahren demonstrated, they stubbornly stick to their guns.

(Via Mediaite)

In an unexpected but not unwelcome father-son pairing, Mark Ruffalo plays Ryan Reynolds father in Netflix’s latest sci-fi feature, The Adam Project.

From Stranger Things‘ Shawn Levy, the film tells the story of Adam, a troubled boy with a habit of getting into fights at school after the death of his father, played by Ruffalo. Reynolds plays the adult version of Adam as he time travels back to meet his 12-year-old self after his ship breaks down. Eventually, the pair meet up with Ruffalo, who plays a well-known scientist (sound familiar?) who was researching time travel before he died. Also starring is Zoe Saldana as Reynolds’ love interest, who has mysteriously gotten lost while time traveling, and Catherine Keener.

This also marks to return of one of the greatest on-screen couples of the 21st century, Ruffalo and Jennifer Garner, since they co-starred in 13 Going On 30. Maybe they will share a pack of razzles?

Here is the official synopsis from Netflix:

Reynolds plays Adam Reed, a wounded time traveler from 2050 who has ventured into the past on a rogue rescue mission to search for Laura, the woman he loves, who got lost in the time-space continuum under mysterious circumstances. When Adam’s ship gets damaged, he’s sent spiraling back to 2022, and the only place he knows from this era of his life: home. That’s where a 12-year-old version of himself becomes Adam’s suspicious and reluctant ally as the older incarnation tries to heal, rebuild his ship, and continue his journey. About a year before the time traveler’s arrival, Adam’s dad died, who was a scientist whose work posthumously helps open the door to leapfrogging through time. It’s still raw for the kid, who misses him deeply, but the older Adam has grown to resent his absent father over the decades.

The Adam Project premieres March 11th on Netflix. Check out the trailer above.

Latto‘s hit single “Big Energy” has been climbing the Hot 100 ever since its release last year, clocking in at 15 weeks on the chart and currently holding at No. 34 — its peak position to date. With the song doing so well, the timing is better than ever for Latto to release a remix and potentially launch it even further up the standings. But who would be on it? When a recent interview with Bootleg Kev brought up Doja Cat as a potential guest feature, Latto agreed that she “could hear it,” although she remained coy about details, only admitting that the remix is in the works.

It wouldn’t be the first time the pair has collaborated. In 2020, both rappers were tapped to appear on the remix of Chloe X Halle’s hit song “Do It” along with City Girls. Also, incidentally, the song right behind Latto’s on the Hot 100 this week is Doja Cat’s “Kiss Me More” featuring SZA, so both artists could absolutely receive a boost from collaborating.

Doja Cat’s services are in high demand though, with artists like Baby Tate seeking to pair up with her on Doja’s “Get Into It (Yuh)” and burgeoning punk rapper Snot seeking her attention on his own song named after her. But Doja herself has said that she wants to be more picky when it comes to collaborators in the future, which could make it harder for other artists to secure her co-sign.

In any case, Latto’s got enough to do right now as she prepares to headline the Monster Energy Outbreak Tour along with emerging TikTok rapper Kali this spring (Kali would also make for a great guest if Latto wanted to help the younger artist with a leg up). However it turns out, the “Soufside” rapper will likely keep rising in popularity as she plans the release of her second album.

A pair of veteran basketball players who changed teams this offseason are being flipped for one another. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Toronto Raptors and San Antonio Spurs came to terms on a deal ahead of the NBA trade deadline that will send Goran Dragic to Texas and Thaddeus Young north of the border.

Dragic went to Toronto this past offseason in the sign-and-trade that sent Kyle Lowry to the Miami Heat. It had been speculated for some time that the veteran guard would not spend all that much time in Toronto, as a number of teams were interested in acquiring his services. He did, however, appear in a few games at the very start of the season for the Raptors before leaving the team to tend to a personal matter, and has not taken the floor since Nov. 13, 2021.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, this might not be a lengthy stay in San Antonio, as the Spurs and Dragic are expected to work on a buyout.

Young, meanwhile, went to the Spurs in the trade that sent DeMar DeRozan to the Chicago Bulls. He appeared in 26 games for San Antonio this season, but made clear he was not a fan of his situation back in December. Young averages 6.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 14.2 minutes per game this year.

Trade deadline day often starts slowly, as teams ramp up towards the 3 p.m. cutoff when most of the big deals happen with a flurry, but this year things got going with a rare 4-team trade that saw the Kings, Pistons, Bucks, and Clippers all get in on the action just before noon ET.

According to Shams Charania and Adrian Wojnarowski, the deal will see the Marvin Bagley III go to Detroit, Donte DiVincenzo, Josh Jackson, and Trey Lyles go to Sacramento, Serge Ibaka head to Milwaukee, Rodney Hood and Semi Ojeleye to the Clippers, and the Pistons shipping some future second round picks out.

It is quite the shuffling of the deck for all three teams, as the Pistons take a shot on Bagley finding something in a new location after a rather dreadful start to his career in Sacramento, which hasn’t been helped by injuries. The Bucks get the big man they’ve been rather desperately seeking all year with Brook Lopez sidelined with a back injury, both providing depth for the postseason should Lopez get back on the court and offering some insurance in case he isn’t able to be as impactful as he was in their title run while also adding some second round draft capital. The Clippers add some more backcourt and wing depth in Hood and Ojeleye, with the addition of Robert Covington making Ibaka expendable. The Kings add a solid shooter and very good defender on the wing, something they desperately need between De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis as they continue to revamp their roster.

Ivanka Trump and Jared “The Slim Reaper” Kushner reportedly made between $172 million and $640 million during their four years in the White House, giving them plenty of disposable income to spend on a mansion… and another mansion… and a $40,000/month “glass pile.” That’s how Washingtonian describes the Four Seasons in Surfside, Florida, where Trump and Kushner have been staying / retreating from the public eye while their “Billionaire Bunker” is under construction. But many folks living in Surfside, which went to Joe Biden in the 2020 election (although the mayor is “Trumpy”), are not happy about their funeral-crashing neighbors.

“It was, ‘Oh, good, the town is getting recognition.’ Then it was, ‘Oh, no, the psychos are coming,’” town commissioner Eliana Salzhauer told Washingtonian. “What are they doing in our town?” Another resident shared two encounters with the former-president’s daughter and son-in-law, one time with Trump ignoring a sign that forbids dogs from being on the beach and another time involving jellyfish and questionable parenting.

Ivanka and Jared were out at the ocean’s edge with their five-year-old son, Theodore. He walked up to the neighbor (who asked to remain anonymous because she continues to live near the family) and talked about a fish he’d caught. The neighbor reminded Jared, in swim trunks, and Ivanka, in a “cute ruffled outfit,” to watch out for jellyfish. Ivanka indicated she wouldn’t be swimming, but Theodore hurried into the ocean. The neighbor was immediately concerned.

“I’m thinking, Why is this boy in the water alone on a boogie board with this moderate rip current? I’m a mother, and I would never let my child alone in the water like that.”

Sure enough, young Theodore began drifting from shore, prompting Jared to run in after him.

“Slenderman moves quick,” the neighbor quips.

Her encounters with Ivanka only reinforced a long-held impression: “She seems to be about… ‘I live in this little cocoon where the rules don’t apply to me’… in her own little world.”

Hopefully the town of Surfside has good plumbing.

(Via Washingtonian)

50 Cent has come a long way since his humble beginnings in Queens, New York. Long enough that he was actually bemused and dismayed upon learning that the Joe Biden administration’s plans to address America’s ongoing drug problem include distributing crack pipes to addicts — something that you might argue a younger 50 would have approved of in his pre-rap career. “OK, I don’t understand what’s going on now,” he wrote on Instagram while sharing the worrying headline. “Let’s just give them some crack everybody loves CRACK. SMH.”

The thing is, Biden’s plan to mitigate the damage of substance abuse does not include any provisions of the sort. Instead, the administration is working on a $30 million program to distribute safe drug kits — containing life-saving measures such as naloxone, fentanyl test strips, and clean syringes — to reduce the number of annual deaths from substance abuse and some of its side effects.

However, conservative outlets ran with the crack pipe framing because it’s easier to demonize addicts — especially if you can throw in some racist dog whistles — than to address the root causes or symptoms of America’s drug epidemic. The misleading reports were refuted by a statement from the US Department of Health and Human Services, which advised, “These comments are misleading and misinformed. Too many Americans have lost their lives to drug overdose. Evidence-based community harm reduction services such as naloxone, fentanyl test strips, and syringe services programs help people stay alive and are proven strategies for addressing this tragic epidemic.”