Month: February 2022

Super Bowl LV between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers was the least exciting Super Bowl in years. Not only was “The Big Game” basically over by halftime (the Bucs won 31-9), but the movie and TV show trailers were also a letdown compared to previous years. There were spots for Old, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Nobody, F9, and not much else. What can Super Bowl LVI viewers expect the night of February 13, 2022? Hopefully a better game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams, for one, but also better trailers.

Nothing is official yet, but Deadline hears that Disney’s “possible” trailers include the Sam Raimi-directed Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Lightyear (which is not about Buzz Lightyear but it is the origin story of the human Buzz Lightyear that the toy is based on), and Disney+’s Moonknight, featuring Oscar Isaac’s British accent.

There’s also talk of spots for The Adam Project (a Ryan Reynolds project) for Netflix and The Lost City (starring Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe) and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Jim Carrey, Idris Elba) for Paramount.

Universal has the most intriguing slate of possible trailers, though. There’s Jurassic World: Dominion, the third and final film in the Jurassic World trilogy; Minions: The Rise of Gru, which has a wildly over-qualified cast for a Minions movie, including Michelle Yeoh, RZA, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lucy Lawless, Dolph Lundgren, Danny Trejo, and Julie Andrews; and Nope, Jordan Peele’s mysterious follow-up to Get Out and Us. Is a Nope trailer during the Super Bowl something that you should be excited for? Yup.

Meanwhile, Forbes reports that new trailers for the frequently-delayed Morbius, Dog (Channing Tatum’s dog movie), Top Gun: Maverick, Pixar’s Turning Red, and Michael Bay’s Ambulance may debut, too. We’ll find out next Sunday. Until then, here’s every Super Bowl LVI-related music event that isn’t the halftime show to look forward to.

(Via Deadline)

Over the years, Epic Games’ Fortnite has increasingly become a home not just for legions of gamers but also for musicians who enjoy the game’s combination of third-person shooter and building mechanics. Those musicians have also partnered with Epic Games for in-game appearances like Travis Scott’s 2020 concert, which broke the game’s streaming record, and Ariana Grande’s 2021 concert.

Today, Epic announced the game’s latest musical partners: Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars — known collectively as Silk Sonic. Rather than playing an in-game concert, though, Silk Sonic will offer their music to gamers another way, via an in-game radio station that will play their hits like “Leave The Door Open.” Their debut hit previously featured in the game as an emote, or a dance that the player’s avatar can perform on command. Emotes have been a big part of the game’s success, as the game itself is free, but players can buy emotes via mini-transactions with real money.

The radio station can be accessed when a player uses one of the vehicles in the game and will be hosted by Bootsy Collins, who is featured on Silk Sonic’s debut album, An Evening With Silk Sonic. In addition, new skins will allow players to dress their avatars in funky, ’70s-style outfits inspired by Andy and Bruno.

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

Inadvertent Borat 2 star Rudy Giuliani really didn’t cooperate with his rise to Hollywood faux-stardom, but it seems that he’s giving it another shot. Rudy, who’s been shunned by the legal community and much of the world after propagating the Big Lie, reportedly took a gig on The Masked Singer. His appearance was so upsetting to judges Ken Jeong and Robin Thicke that they stormed offstage, according to Deadline, which revealed that a Season 7 taping (for an episode to be aired in March) of the weirdly popular show was even more incendiary than Sarah Palin dressed as a bear and rapping, “Baby Got Back.”

Although Deadline stopped short of revealing how Rudy was costumed-up — “We aren’t revealing which costume Rudy wore or what his swan song was — his exit episode won’t air until next month — so you can still revel in his reveal” — The Daily Beast claims that Rudy was actually “belting under the guise of a long-lashed ice cream cone.” Is it true? One can only hope, but all of this is too much to handle for the morning TV news hosts.

“I can’t believe I’m about to tell you this story, it’s so insane,” declared MSNBC’s Willie Geist while passing on the news.

Over on CNN, hosts Brianna Keilar and John Berman reacted with amusement and derision while Berman noted that, after all of Rudy’s political escapades and falling from his “America’s Mayor” title, he “turned up on a game show.” This is a FOX show, so of course, there’s an extra layer of schadenfreude here.

As noted on CNN and by Deadline, the season’s theme is “The Good, The Bad and The Cuddly,” and it’s not too difficult to guess where Rudy gets categorized. And now, we all await the official The Masked Singer reveal in March.

Benee had a big 2020 with her album Hey U X, and now she’s gearing up to drop more new music. This time, it’s an EP called Lychee that’s set to drop on March 4. She previewed the effort today with “Beach Boy,” a breezy indie-pop tune that builds nicely on Hey U X.

Benee says of the song, “‘Beach Boy’ is pure fantasy, set in LA. It’s about being happy alone, but still wanting some love; wanting the thrill without the pain. It was the first time I’d worked with Greg Kurstin, and it was so sick…we got on super well, and I love this track…I think it is perfect for cruising down the freeway with the top down :).”

Listen to “Beach Boy” above and find the Lychee tracklist and Benee’s North American tour dates below.

1. “Beach Boy”
2. “Soft Side”
3. “Hurt You Gus”
4. “Never Ending”
5. “Marry Myself”
6. “Doesn’t Matter”
7. “Make You Sick”

05/31 — Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre
06/01 — Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
06/03 — Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
06/04 — Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre
06/06 — Detroit, MI @ St. Andrew’s Hall
06/07 — Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall
06/08 — Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
06/11 — New York, NY @ The Governors Ball
06/14 — Boston, MA @ House of Blues
06/15 — Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts
06/17 — Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
06/18 — Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival
06/21 — Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre
06/22 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
06/24 — Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
06/25 — Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
06/26 — Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre
06/28 — San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield Theatre
06/30 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Novo

Lychee is out 3/4 via Republic Records. Pre-order it here.

Despite apologizing three times for her claiming that the Holocaust “isn’t about race,” Whoopi Goldberg has been suspended for two weeks from The View, confirming reports that she was in deep trouble with ABC brass. While those reports suggested Goldberg could be fired from the daytime talk show, her punishment was clearly far less severe. However, now the pendulum is swinging in the other direction as Goldberg is reportedly telling people that she’s ready to quit The View. According to a source at the show, Goldberg followed ABC’s advice to the letter, only to find herself suspended.

Via New York Post:

Goldberg, 66, feels “humiliated” at being disciplined by ABC execs after she followed their advice to apologize for the ill-conceived comments, a well-placed insider told The Post.

“She feels ABC executives mishandled this. She followed their playbook. She went on ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ and then apologized again on ‘The View’ the next day,” a source said.

While Goldberg feels the suspension is overkill, conservatives have been making a lot of noise on social media that it’s not enough given the fate of Disney/ABC stars like Gina Carano and Roseanne Barr. Joining that chorus is Goldberg’s former The View co-star, Meghan McCain, who blasted Whoopi’s apology as “half-assed” and accused ABC of having a “double, triple, and even quadrupled standard” when it comes to liberal hosts.

(Via New York Post)

Not so often, a star comes around who breathes charisma into the air through every screen they appear on whether it’s your tv, the cinema, or your phone. Without moving, opening their mouths, or doing anything, really, their mere presence is intoxicating and uplifting, like a human endorphin trigger. HBO Max’s superhero – or more accurately, anti-superhero – series Peacemaker, set in the DC Extended Universe and a spin-off of James Gunn’s 2021 film The Suicide Squad shouldn’t work. It’s a show about a relentless bully’s unlikely journey from douchebag to a little bit less of a douchebag. It’s violent, vile, and messy. But John Cena – the titular Peacemaker – makes the series work because of his relentless charm and intoxicating energy.

In the fifth episode of Peacemaker, Chris Smith (Peacemaker) lists all of the people John Economos (Steve Agee) could have framed for a murder instead of his white supremacist father (played by Robert Patrick). “What about Ariana Grande or Drake?” he screams. “Brad Pitt or Payne Stewart or Doug the Pug? Khloe Kardashain?” Chris goes on and on (and on even more in a tag after the episode’s end credits). Listing a bunch of pop culture references is not a new or groundbreaking form of comedy in a television series, but it feels so fresh because John Cena’s cartoonish facial expressions both clash with and complement his domineering, massive physique. As Chris gets deeper into his list of people, his voice crackles and his veins pop as he cries, “Eugene Levy????” with a hint of pain but a bit of a wink.

Peacemaker/Chris is a little broken; one of those alpha male bullies who exaggerates his masculinity in a misguided effort to mask his pain. The series is about Chris softening up by connecting with people and confronting his buried feelings about his monstrous father and the way he was raised. The wink comes from Cena’s own self-awareness as a performer. While Cena’s performance is sincere and absorbing, there’s always an underlying, ironic awareness that he is John Cena that should not work, but does. It works so well, perhaps, because it lends well to series creator James Gunn’s irreverent tone and style. But essentially it all works because John Cena works best when he is aware that he is John Cena.

Cena’s pro-wrestling to movie star predecessor and peer Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, while also extremely charismatic, is very different in comparison. Johnson has adopted a family-friendly aesthetic that has encompassed his career over the past decade. Johnson almost always plays the same type of guy, and typically does not perform with the meta-awareness that Cena does. Dwayne Johnson – even by simply changing his credit from “The Rock” to Dwayne” The Rock” Johnson to Dwayne Johnson over the course of his career, has abandoned his wrestling personality to be taken seriously as an actor. While in Peacemaker, The Suicide Squad, and 2018’s Blockers, John Cena embraces everything we know about him and puts it into each performance.

Chris’s emotional journey in Peacemaker heightens in episode five when he bonds with his co-workers after, against all odds, defeating an alien gorilla. He has a drink with his co-worker, Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks), who starts to see the human side of him. He also has an emotional moment with his pet eagle, Eagly, in a scene that only John Cena could pull off (all respect to Meryl Streep, who I’m sure would like to try acting with a CGI eagle). But the episode proves that Cena isn’t the only reason the series works. The rest of the cast of misfits – who play a team brought together to eliminate aliens known as butterflies that are taking over the brains of influential people – bounce off Cena’s magnetism brilliantly, but Orange Is the New Black’s Danielle Brooks is a stand out for her natural comedic chemistry with Cena, and the way she playfully competes with Cena’s charm. This team chemistry is demonstrated in the show’s opening credits in which the cast does a coordinated robotic dance with facial expressions that can only be described as “waiting at the DMV”. It’s funny on its own, but like the best opening credits in recent memory (Mad Men, Succession, Yellowjackets) it sets the tone for the series, which is not the same without the opening credit sequence.

Ultimately, the plot of Peacemaker doesn’t really matter. Peacemaker is merely a vehicle for John Cena to showcase his skills, skills that go beyond his natural charisma and into a range and depth as an actor, both comedic and dramatic. With Peacemaker, John Cena has proven that he can carry a show like he could probably carry me (five foot four, no muscles) — in the palm of his hand like a little bird.

‘Peacemaker’ is currently streaming via HBO Max.

Susan Sarandon’s never been one to stay quiet about her political beliefs, although she tends to take things to an extreme. Most recently, she actually protested at AOC’s office while complaining that the democratic socialist representative simply wasn’t far-left enough in the realization of promises, and Sarandon was “losing hope.” That followed Sarandon’s similar response to Bernie Sanders’ 2016 DNC speech, which the actress “literally had the worst time” while watching as a Sanders surrogate. Sarandon claims to be on the left without acting like she’s on the left, and she’s gone back and forth on Trump, and that includes arguing with Debra Messing.

Let’s just say that Susan Sarandon is politically messy, and then she raised more eyebrows while retweeting a #DefundThePolice meme that trashed NYPD cops who attended services for fallen Officers Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora. The meme read, “I’m gonna tell me kids this is what fascism looks like.” And above that, the meme included this: “So, if all these cops weren’t needed for CRIME that day, doesn’t that mean they aren’t needed ANY day.” Here’s the NY Post‘s tweet to their coverage.

Sarandon has now deleted her retweet, and as one can imagine, it’s not going over well.

The Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association of the City of New York weighed in while labeling Sarandon as a “a wealthy actress, safe in her bubble, mocking heroes & making light of the crisis that cops are battling alongside our communities. NYC is uniting to stop the violence.” Officer Zeek Arkham joined in with a response as well.

In addition to the general backlash out there, there’s a definite trend of people (mainly on the left) who are stressing their disavowal of her. In other words, no one wants Susan Sarandon in their party. “People are reacting to Susan Sarandon’s tweet + claiming she represents the left (she doesn’t)” is only the beginning of the tweets pouring forth from people’s fingers.

Like Ted Cruz, maybe Susan Sarandon should take a break from tweeting.

It’s been scientifically proven that everyone, at some point in their lives, will turn on a TV show and – after hearing a hauntingly familiar voice that sounds like the equivalent of a sexy pile of garbage – ask themselves: Is that Jason Mantzoukas?

The actor has earned his unparalleled comedic reputation on-screen by honing a combustible combination of unhinged lunacy and restrained ridiculousness. With a mop of kinky curls and an unruly salt-and-pepper beard, his physical self is undeniably recognizable on TV series like Parks and Rec, Brooklyn 99, and The Good Place. He channels the zaddiness of an Oscar Isaac, blending it with the unkempt hygiene of a man who is on day three of an espresso bender – a potent mix of masculinity and mania that he brings to most of his iconic real-life characters on screen.

But while his corporeal form is easily distinguishable, his vocal performances are a bit harder to pin down.

Sure, Mantzoukas has a sound that Pajiba once described as “a sultry honk,” the grating, gritty sonance of a street-dwelling garbage pilferer that might melt your undergarments clean off or hold you at gunpoint for a pack of gum, depending on the day. But he does such a good job of inhabiting the strange, singular personalities of the legions of animated characters he’s now voiced, that, inevitably, you’re forced to question your auditory instincts – nay, reality itself.

These are some of Mantzoukas’ best voice performances over the years – whether you realized it was him or not.

Tommy Lee’s Penis — Pam & Tommy

Remember this moment, a time before you watched the first few episodes of Hulu’s upcoming biopic show about a rockstar and a Baywatch babe whose sex tape scandalized the masses. This moment is pure, untouched by the sight of Sebastian Stan’s prosthetic penis flailing wildly as it argues with his character, Tommy Lee, over the drummer’s decision to camp out in Pamela Anderson’s vagina instead of the Playboy mansion. The sight is just a bit nauseating, but the confusion over whose voicing this demonically-possessed appendage is even more upsetting. Unless you go in already knowing it’s Mantzoukas, whose scratchy timbre somehow perfectly fits this chode-like being. We didn’t, and we paid the price, focusing so much on why that deep-throated griping gave us a familiar pang that we couldn’t truly appreciate the demented genius on display. Don’t make the same mistake. Yes, Jason Mantzoukas voices Tommy Lee’s penis — here’s hoping Emmy voters take notice.

The Bee – Dickinson

In Apple TV+’s fever dream comedy about famed 19th American poet Emily Dickinson, Mantzoukas appears not as a literary peer to Hailee Steinfeld’s quirky imaginative outcast but as an insect. More specifically, as an animatronic talking bumblebee – an opium-induced hallucination that waltzes, chain-smokes, and makes sexual innuendos using pollen as some kind of metaphor. He pops up when Emily (Steinfeld) is feeling particularly lonesome, and though Bee only has a few credits over the course of the show’s three seasons, each of his appearances is both jarring and hilariously whimsical.

Jay Blizerian/Guy Blizerian/Ghost of Socrates – Big Mouth

No one can compete with Maya Rudolph’s vocal performance on Netflix’s animated comedy Big Mouth, but Mantzoukas has carved out his own niche amongst the show’s unfairly talented cast, playing a pubescent dirtbag whose sexual kink just happens to be inanimate household objects. As Jay Blizerian, Mantzoukas delivers a crass, promiscuous pre-teen who pillow-f*cks his way through life. Loud, attention-seeking, and yet, oddly, pitiful, Jay is a David Copperfield wannabe bisexual with layers – if you can dig through all that jizz to find them. Mantzoukas continues his douchebag streak on the show, playing Jay’s negligent father Guy, a seedy divorce lawyer with some questionable one-liners, and a Queered-up version of Socrates – the dead philosopher who probably wasn’t gay but was definitely a know-it-all. Talk about range.

Vanbo – Solar Opposites

When the dysfunctional family alien refugees on Hulu’s Solar Opposites gets saddled with an extraterrestrial interloper after a time-traveling mission gone wrong, it’s Jason Mantzoukas’ inimitable tenor that delivers Vanbo’s iconic introductory greeting, “Hey futtbuckers.” He quickly becomes the episode’s antagonist, a butterfly effect in an annoying, purple-tinted package that Korvo and Terry must incinerate on Shlorp – for everyone’s sanity. Mantzoukas as a bro-ish Martian whose chest-heavy cackle sparks physical cringes wherever he goes? Practically the (animated) role he was born to play.

Alex Dorpenberger – Close Enough

A neurotic, depressed college professor, Alex Dorpenberger on HBO Max’s Close Enough might be one of the few animated characters on this list that doesn’t make you question whether he’s voiced by Jason Mantzoukas. That’s not because the actor is phoning it in. No, Dorpenberger is just as deranged and eccentric as every other Mantzoukas creation – he like Viking erotica, he lives with his best friend and ex-wife, he has a closet for a bedroom, and he’s an avid conspiracy theorist. But gazing at the cartoonish figure in his slouchy dress pants with his disheveled hair and scruffy caveman beard, you can see just a glimmer of Mantzoukas the man staring back.

Rex Splode – Invincible

Invincible on Amazon Prime Video is one of the more graphic offerings when it comes to animated superhero series on TV so it makes sense that the show would tap Mantzoukas to voice the sassy, arrogant, and emotionally-stunted Rex Splode. A terrible childhood coupled with a preternatural ability to literally blow sh*t up whenever he feels like it means Mantzoukas gets to have fun playing the team member no one wants. Is he a hero? Eh, but he’s damn fun to watch.

Mr. Mucus – Mucinex Commercials

Is the fact that Jason Mantzoukas voiced a gelatinous glob of nasal phlegm stranger than his role voicing a rockstar’s prosthetic penis? We can’t say. But it is weird, to hear this animated lump of fluid-like excretion using cologne czar Dennis Feinstein’s voice to plague the disease-ridden masses? Absolutely. Alas, this is what happens when T.J. Miller becomes too problematic to star in cold medicine commercials.

Though we couldn’t include them all, an honorary mention is reserved for every other animated character Mantzoukas has voiced over the years. From troll-like Tellarites on Star Trek: Prodigy to mangy, one-eyed wildcats on Fox’s Housebroken, Sad Sax Guy, Tim Snodgrass, and one of America’s founding fathers, Samuel Adams — you were all weird as hell, thanks to Mantzoukas’ iconic delivery and frenzied comedic timing. If we hear you again, we’ll try to remember that.

From Thursday morning to the weekend, Texas residents should expect freezing temperatures and icy conditions; tens of thousands of people are already without power. Sound familiar? The storm isn’t expected to be as bad as 2021’s historic winter blast, and officials “do not expect systemwide blackouts” to the energy grid. But speaking as someone who lives in Texas, it’s hard to have faith in our state leaders when 246 people died (although some estimates have the total closer to 750) during last year’s freeze.

Case in point: while Texans prepared for the worst in lengthy grocery store lines, Ted Cruz (the actual worst) was working on his stand-up routine on Twitter.

“Inflation is out of control. Gas prices are [up emoji]. Food prices are [up emoji]. Lumber prices are [up emoji]. And tickets to Cancun are up 32%!” the senator tweeted ahead of the storm. It was a joke about his cowardly trip to Cancun while his constituents froze to death (which he blamed on his daughters), but he was the only one who was laughing.

Another tweet, Cruz wrote, “It is better to be over prepared than underprepared for winter weather. Things to have on hand as the winter weather approaches: Extra warm clothes & blankets, portable lights and extra batteries, first-aid kit, [and] extra nonperishable food and water for family and pets.” You can imagine the replies to that one. Actually, you don’t have to. Here you go:

Think before you tweet, Ted. Or better yet, don’t tweet.

Britney Spears is in the midst of a major life change, as her long-standing conservatorship was recently terminated. Throughout the process of ending the conservatorship, she has on multiple occasions expressed gratitude to her lawyer Mathew Rosengart, like in October when she wrote, “Thankfully I found an amazing attorney Mathew Rosengart who has helped change my life !!!!” Now, Spears has again taken time to give thanks to Rosengart while also revealing that she has some new endeavors in the works.

Yesterday, Spears shared a couple photos of herself and Rosengart on Instagram and wrote, “This man has turned my life around … So many exciting projects ahead !!!! We accidentally matched for lunch !!!! Thank you for being so kind and respectful to me always [rose emojis]!!!!!! Pssss Mathew Rosengart … I simply adore you !!!!”

As for what Spears could have on the horizon, that remains unclear. Back in October, though, she did mention she was writing a book about murder. Meanwhile, while Spears hasn’t given any indication she’s ready to return to performing live, Madonna recently expressed interest in reuniting with Spears for a tour and re-creating their iconic kiss.

In multiple recent Instagram posts, Spears showed off a dress of hers and perhaps indicated she has an interest in fashion, writing in a caption, “If I ever did a clothing line it would be similar to this !!!!” Whatever Spears has planned, it’s possible she’ll be hesitant to promote it with interviews, as she recently said of her sister Jamie Lynn, “I wish I would be able to do what you’re doing and do interviews !!! I’m scared of all of it.”

In terms of music, Spears’ latest release was a 2020 reissue of her 2016 album Glory. This edition added “Mood Ring (By Demand),” which was previously titled “Mood Ring” when it was originally released as a bonus track of the Japanese version of Glory in 2016.