Month: March 2022

After going sequel-heavy in the late-2010s (Finding Dory, Cars 3, Incredibles 2, and Toy Story 4 were released in a three-year span), Pixar has been on a strong run of original films. Onward was a successfully charming attempt at fantasy; Soul won Best Animated Feature Film at last year’s Oscars; Luca is up for Best Animated Feature Film at this year’s Oscars; and Turning Red is being called the studio’s best movie in years.

Directed by Domee Shi (Bao), Turning Red is about a boy band-loving teenage girl who turns into a red panda whenever she experiences strong emotions (“which is practically ALWAYS,” as the official plot description notes). In her glowing review, Thrillist‘s Emma Stefansky wrote, “What’s so wonderful about Turning Red is that its themes of growing up and learning to live with a complex and mature set of feelings are clear without being obvious or simplistic,” while Polygon‘s Petrana Radulovic noted, “With a bright visual style and specific, evocative storytelling, Turning Red is an incredibly special addition to the Pixar canon, and one of its best films.” The praise is near-universal.

The Hollywood Reporter:

Turning Red is original, funny, and tender, an affectionate reminder that adolescence is a time of life not easily tamed, and sometimes the animal inside us demands release.

The Globe and Mail:

There may not be a gut-punch moment of overwhelming emotion like, say, the climax of Toy Story 3, the profoundly unexpected imagination of Up, or the form-busting audaciousness of Wall-E (though the plush-toy-ready Panda Mei is as easy a product to sell as Toy Story 4′s Forky). But Turning Red immediately announces itself as top-tier Pixar.

SlashFilm:

Turning Red is another Pixar home run, a low-stakes adventure turned high-stakes thanks to its heightened emotions and envelope-pushing animation style. It’s loud and unapologetic, and while that frenzy of stuff can sometimes turn frantic, it’s one of the most accurate cinematic depictions of what it was like to be a hormonal teenage girl — city-destroying kaiju fights, and all.

Little White Lies:

With all of its visual delights and expert use of its colourful onscreen spaces, its ever-a-shame that it’s the latest Pixar movie exiled to Disney’s streaming services – because it’s one of their best animated movies in years.

ScreenCrush:

It’s not only the studio’s best movie (and metaphor) since Inside Out — it’s one of their best movies ever. Wherever the company’s next project premieres, I just hope they keep getting to make original, heartfelt, beautiful films like Turning Red. It’s one of those special movies where during your first viewing you already know there’s going to be a 100th viewing someday.

It sure would be nice to see Turning Red in a movie theater. Instead, it’s coming out on Disney+ in March 11.

What a freaking concept. Back in January 2019, Russian Doll kicked off a fantastic year on TV with a hefty (and much needed dose) of Natasha Lyonne, who executive produced alongside Amy Poehler and Leslye Headland. The first season (of Groundhog Day-esque universe f*ckery) was close to perfect, which (of course) presented quite a challenge: how to actually do justice to that debut while upping the stakes on Nadia and Charlie’s respective ongoing plights in a followup.

That’s a tall bill. The good news is that Russian Doll (hopefully) took the time to get the job done right, and Season 2 will will not only recruit Annie Murphy but also shows Nadia toasting the universe over its insistence upon sh*tting all over her. The YouTube revealed tagline — “The universe is back on its bulls@%t” — surfaces alongside this teaser, and oh boy, we’ve got subway stairs. Here’s the season synopsis from Netflix:

Set four years after Nadia (Natasha Lyonne) and Alan (Charlie Barnett) escaped mortality’s time loop together, season two of Russian Doll will continue to explore existential thematics through an often humorous and sci-fi lens. Discovering a fate even worse than endless death, this season finds Nadia and Alan delving deeper into their pasts through an unexpected time portal located in one of Manhattan’s most notorious locations. At first they experience this as an ever-expanding, era-spanning, intergenerational adventure but they soon discover this extraordinary event might be more than they bargained for and, together, must search for a way out.

Charlie Barnett’s mustache is certainly a twist. I’m still waiting on that Oatmeal spinoff over here, but I can be patient.

Also important: Russian Doll will return on April 20.

Phoebe Bridgers is heading back on the road to extend last year’s Reunion Tour. The recent Billboard Trailblazer and radio show host has announced a massive run through the US, the UK, Europe, and Canada. Since her breakout album Punisher was released during the pandemic, her first tour on the album had to be virtual; now she’s trying to catch up on everywhere she hasn’t stepped foot. Bridgers is known for having special, meaningful live performances, so this is something to keep an eye on.

Check out the dates below and get more information on tickets here.

04/13 — Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Federal Theatre
04/15 — Indio, CA @ Coachella
04/22 — Indio, CA @ Coachella
05/13 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Amp at Craig Ranch
05/14 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Block Party
05/17 — Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre
05/19 — Dallas, TX @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
05/20 — Austin, TX @ Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Park
05/21 — Houston, TX @ The Lawn at White Oak Music Hall
05/22 — Gulf Shores, AL @ Hangout Fest
05/24 — Tampa, FL @ The Cuban Club
05/25 — St Augustine, FL @ St Augustine Amphitheatre
05/27 — Atlanta, GA @ Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park
05/28 — Louisville, KY @ Forecastle Festival
05/31 — Kansas City, MO @ Starlight Theatre
06/01 — Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room Outdoors
06/03 — Milwaukee, WI @ BMO Harris Pavilion
06/04 — Chicago, IL @ Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island
06/07 — Toronto, ON @ RBC Echo Beach
06/08 — Montreal, QC @ MTelus
06/09 — Portland, ME @ Thompson’s Point
06/11 — Washington, DC @ The Anthem
06/12 — Washington, DC @ The Anthem
06/13 — Asbury Park, NJ @ Stone Pony Summer Stage
06/15 — Brooklyn, NY @ BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival at Prospect Park Bandshell
06/20 — Dublin, IE @ Fairview Park
06/22 — Glasgow, UK @ Barrowland
06/24-25 — Somerset, UK @ Glastonbury
06/26 — Birmingham, UK @ O2 Academy
06/30 — Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival
07/02 — Werchter, BE @ Rock Werchter Festival
07/03 — Ewijk, NL @ Down The Rabbit Hole Festival
07/05 — Milan, IT @ Carroponte
07/07 — Bilbao, ES @ Bilbao BBK Festival
07/08 — Madrid, ES @ Mad Cool Festival
07/09 — Lisbon, PT @ NOS Alive Festival
07/14 — Ostrava, CZ @ Colours of Ostrava
07/17 — Paris, FR @ Lollapalooza Paris
07/22 — Suffolk, UK @ Latitude Festival
07/23 — Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo
07/26 — London, UK @ O2 Academy Brixton
08/07 — Saint Charles, IA @ Hinterland
08/18 — Spokane, WA @ Spokane Pavilion
08/20 — Vancouver, BC @ Orpheum Theatre
08/23 — Redmond, WA @ Marymoor Park
08/25 — Troudale, OR @ Edgefield Amphitheater
08/27 — Paso Robles, CA @ Vina Robles Amphitheatre
08/28 — Los Angeles, CA @ This Ain’t No Picnic

DaBaby’s career may never fully recover from his controversial statements on the Rolling Loud stage in Miami last year, but apparently, that won’t stop him from continuing to defend himself from accusations of homophobia. During a recent appearance on New York’s The Breakfast Club, he once again addressed the backlash sparked by his awkwardly-worded call to action, pointing out how social media can warp perceptions, and refusing to make apologies for himself.

“I didn’t mean what you think I meant,” he said. “What you want me to do? Go look myself in the mirror and say, ‘You don’t like gay people?’ Nah. I’m not trippin’ on gay people at all. If I said what I said to get people to raise they cell phones and it was misinterpreted by people who watch a five-second clip at home. You not supposed to understand what’s going on. You could raise your cell phone if you wanted to. You ain’t supposed to be able to digest a clip that’s been altered and shortened with a narrative to go along with it, with enough people driving it, it gonna do what it do.”

However, he’s still failed to address how and why his comment was taken so poorly, or successfully explain what he really meant. During his set, as he hyped up the Rolling Loud crowd, he said, “If you didn’t show up today with HIV, AIDS, or any of them deadly sexually transmitted diseases, that’ll make you die in two to three weeks, then put your cellphone lighter up… Fellas, if you ain’t sucking dick in the parking lot, put your cellphone lighter up.”

Since it’s easy to see how such a statement could be interpreted as homophobic — to say nothing of the misinformation about people living with HIV and/or AIDS — the least he could do is acknowledge as much while providing an alternative translation. And while he did issue two separate quasi-apologies on Instagram, he later deleted both and has since argued that the people who took offense were being too sensitive and twisting his words.

Watch the clip above.

Richard Linklater is going where none of his films have gone before: a Netflix release. Also, space! Linklater’s latest film Apollo 10 1/2 tells the story of a young boy who is recruited to go on a top-secret space mission in 1960s Texas, since he is the only one small enough to do it.

The movie stars Glen Powell, Zachary Levi and Jack Black and was inspired by Linklater’s own childhood. The film will be released on Netflix on April 1st after premiering at SXSW this week. When asked about the film’s inspiration, Linklater said:

“Eighteen years ago, I was pulling out memories of 2nd grade to help me construct the narrative of Boyhood’s second year. Even though that movie is a celebration of the non-extraordinary, it became clear to me I had lived through and close to something truly extraordinary – the grandest and most enduring engineering feat in human history I think it took decades for us to fully process that the Apollo program and walking on the moon was the apex because we’d all believed it was just a great beginning.”

The director has combined two key elements of two of his greatest movies: childhood wonder from Boyhood and rotoscope animation from the very underrated A Scanner Darkly in order to create the dream-like look of Apollo 10 1/2. Also another key Linklater element: Jack Black. Check out the trailer above.

There is no shortage of drama coming out of the Los Angeles Lakers this season, as their well chronicled struggles that see them fighting for play-in position in the West has led to all manner of leaks and rumors about who’s in power and who’s on their way out throughout the season.

At the center of everything, fairly or unfairly, is Russell Westbrook. The former MVP has had a rough first season in L.A., one that very well may be his last as there is reported “mutual interest” in finding him a new team this summer. For now, they have to make it work despite the effort to trade him at the deadline, and it is leading to some fascinating dynamics within the locker room, coaching staff, and front office. Westbrook has been defiant about any time his role is diminished by the coaching staff, particularly when he’s left on the bench in the fourth quarter, and the tensions between Westbrook and Frank Vogel have risen to the surface a few times this season.

Vogel’s future is likewise in doubt, as the team has simply not responded to him as any franchise would like. The talent issue, which is an indictment of the front office, is undisputed, but the effort level being as low as it has so often this season certainly tells the story of a team that’s tuned out the coach. Rob Pelinka is also under fire for his work putting this roster together, namely the Westbrook trade (which came under the urging of LeBron James and Anthony Davis) which put the team in the position of being extremely thin and much older. All of it has been so bad that Phil Jackson has grown intrigued by it all, with Sam Amick and Bill Oram of The Athletic reporting on Monday that he’s been offering advice to Jeanie Buss all season because he’s fascinated by the Westbrook drama.

Sources say Jackson, the Lakers legend and ex-fiancé of Buss, whose presence at Saturday’s win against Golden State was highlighted by the team’s Twitter account, has been in frequent contact with Buss about team matters all season long. The complicated and often uncomfortable dynamics surrounding the Westbrook situation, in particular, are known to have drawn his interest. As unofficial consultants go, they don’t get much more experienced or credible than Jackson.

It isn’t a surprise that Jackson still has the ear of Buss given everything we know about how Jeanie runs the Lakers and is fiercely (or stubbornly, depending on who you ask) loyal to those she trusts. Still, it’s pretty funny that the thing that is getting Phil Jackson back into the mix is that he can’t help but see a dysfunctional star relationship and help himself but to get involved. Basically, this is Phil.

The good news for Jackson is that the Lakers have no shortage of mess to clean up, and as such there’s plenty to keep him interested for the moment.

The Batman smashed into theaters over the weekend, and now that fans have had a taste of director Matt Reeves‘ vision of Gotham City and the Robert Pattinson Batman that dwells within, the big question is how soon can we return to the gothic noir world. In the lead-up to The Batman‘s pandemic-delayed release, Warner Bros. announced two HBO Max spinoff series that would take a deeper dive into Gotham and presumably arrive before Reeves (presumably) gets another crack at a sequel. However, the state of those projects appear to be in flux, so here’s the latest update on where each of them stand on the heels of The Batman‘s release:

Penguin

In December 2021, Colin Farrell officially signed on to reprise his The Batman role in a Penguin spinoff series focused on his character. In a recent interview, The Batman producer Dylan Clark said the series will have a “Scarface” feel to it, which echoed what Farrell told Entertainment Tonight in late February:

“We have to get into what made him the man he is. And also, it will pick up where this film finished off I think. I think it’ll pick up a little short time after the last frame of this film,” Farrell teases of the series about Penguin, aka Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot. “We’ll get to go on a little kind of left turn off to the world of Oz and how he’s beginning to kind of dream of filling a potential power vacuum that may exist.”

However, in the same interview, Farrell cautioned that the series is still in its “early days,” and judging by what’s happening with the previously announced Gotham PD series, things could quickly change.

Gotham PD/Arkham Asylum Series

Announced all the way back in July 2020, the untitled Gotham PD series was originally set to be a prequel that would explore how the department handled the first year of Batman kicking off his one-man war on crime. However, problems emerged quickly when showrunner Terrence Winter (The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire) exited the project just a few months later. There hasn’t been much in the way of updates on the series until very recently, and it appears to have drastically shifted focus — if it’s even happening at all.

In two recent interviews, Reeves signaled that the Gotham PD series is dead in the water. While talking to the Happy Sad Confused podcast (via The Wrap), Reeves basically said the show was not happening (especially anytime soon).

“One thing that we’re not doing that I was gonna do — so there’s the Gotham police show, which, that one actually is put on hold,” Reeves said. “We’re not really doing that.”

However, while talking to The Cyber Nerds podcast (via IGN), Reeves said the show has “evolved” and will now focus on Arkham Asylum:

“I really want Arkham to exist as a character, so that you go into this environment and encounter these characters in a way that feels really fresh. And so in our work on Gotham, that story started to evolve, and it started feeling like, ‘Wait, we should really lean into this.’ And that’s kind of where that’s gone.”

So for those keeping score at home, the two The Batman spinoffs in play are now the Penguin and an Arkham Asylum series in lieu of Gotham PD. Obviously, the situation is fluid, and with The Batman doing well at the box office, that could lead to Warner Bros. wanting more from the hit franchise. We’ll keep you posted.

The Batman is currently playing in theaters.

Vince Staples runs into some trouble during a house party in his new video for “Magic.” The video opens with Vince buying a bag of frozen vegetables at the liquor store, only revealing that he’s in a bad state as he reaches the counter. When the clerk asks if everything is okay, Vince stoically (but vaguely) replies, “Party down the street. You should have seen me.”

That’s when the video cuts back to watching Vince entering the party in a clever callback to his entrance to the liquor store. Things go left for Vince when he bumps into the wrong guy while trying to have a good time, resulting in him leaving the party with a different set of souvenirs than the ones he came for. The song’s producer, Mustard, also makes a cameo, shaking his head at the overt displays of machismo that ultimately result in Vince’s injuries.

“Magic” is the first single from Vince’s upcoming album, Ramona Park Broke My Heart, which he first began teasing even before releasing its predecessor, the self-titled Vince Staples, last year. The single was first teased in a Beats By Dre commercial featuring Naomi Osaka. This year, he suggested that the album might finally be ready to go once he secured a beat from DJ Quik, which seemingly manifested the outcome he wanted; days later, he’d posted a photo from the studio with the iconic Compton producer. That would suggest (along with the tweet below) that Ramona Broke My Heart is complete and ready for release sometime this year.

Until then, enjoy the “Magic” video above.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s catastrophic war on Ukraine has produced footage that leaves TV viewers reeling, all while sitting U.S. senators potentially endanger Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky by tweeting screencaps of Zoom meetings. Meanwhile, the Anonymous collective group of hackers quickly came together (while also apart, which is a key feature of their existence) to wage cyber war on Russia while taking down Russian state TV stations and government websites, where they breached and leaked database information from the Russian Ministry of Defence.

Over the weekend, Anonymous (they who customarily insert the “We are Anonymous. We are Legion. Expect us” mantra) claimed to have infiltrated Russian live TV channels (including Russia 24, Channel One, Moscow 24) and streaming services while inserting war footage. They then apparently posted a message against Putin’s war on Ukraine.

The Kyiv Independent news outlet claims to have verified that this happened.

It’s important to note that Anonymous, given their (obviously) anonymous nature, doesn’t operate through verified Twitter accounts, so fact-checking can be difficult. However (and via Mediaite), a purported Anonymous account tweeted a link to an article that translates the following message:

“We are ordinary citizens of Russia. We oppose the war on the territory of Ukraine. Russia and the Russians against the war! This war was waged by Putin’s criminal, authoritarian regime on behalf of ordinary Russian citizens. Russians, oppose the genocide in Ukraine, “the text reads.

And while all of this is happening, Russian police detained another 4600+ civilians (most of whom are Russian citizens) during ongoing anti-war protests.

(Via Mediaite)

Post Malone wants a lawsuit against him over a songwriting credit on his hit song “Circles” dismissed, according to Rolling Stone. Post is being sued by Canadian musician Tyler Armes, who demands a share of the authorship on the song, saying he played a guitar tune that was eventually worked into the final composition. Armes says that Post’s management offered a five percent share of the publishing royalties but withdrew the offer when he tried to negotiate for a larger cut.

However, Post has countered with a new filing saying that Armes did not contribute anything significant or original to the recording or the composition of the song in the one recording session he was present for in August 2018. According to Post’s lawyers, Armes only played an “admittedly extremely commonplace guitar chord progression,” while also possibly singing a “fragment of guitar melody” that went unrecorded.

The documents filed in federal court split absolutely no hairs about it, reading, “Armes does not have a shred of affirmative evidence with which to meet his burden of proof that his alleged contribution to the guitar melody is original. Armes admitted that his contributions did not even rise to the level of originality, which is also required in addition to the fixation requirement. He either conceded that his ideas were commonplace musical devices or failed to meet his burden to demonstrate any originality otherwise. Armes thus cannot even establish the threshold requirement that he made a copyrightable contribution.”

Post and his co-producer/co-defendant Frank Dukes have requested that the case be summarily dismissed in an April 4 hearing. Meanwhile, Post’s manager has suggested that the singer’s follow-up album is being held back by his label.