Month: April 2022

A few years ago, Jay-Z and Jack White got together to collaborate on some music, which was ultimately not released (at least not by Jay-Z, as White re-worked at least one of the songs as a solo cut). Now, though, White says that music could actually come out at some point.

Speaking with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe recently, when asked about the Jay-Z collaboration, White responded (as NME notes):

“Yeah. That’s true, but it’s not me who doesn’t finish stuff. So it’s, uh… I’m not that guy. No, I’m just teasing. But I’m more the personality, like, I’ll be there tomorrow, you know. So it’s different working styles. So some of that stuff I think will see the light of day when those guys aren’t busy with other projects and stuff.”

He also noted it was fun working with Jay-Z, saying, “Yeah, it was. It’s so different, you know, because when I went into the studio with him, there was just one microphone which is, I kind of was [like] ‘Whoa, what? Where are the other microphones?’ But I was like, ‘Oh, wow, OK. Yeah, I guess why would you need another microphone?’ So yeah, it’s different worlds. And so Jay was learning about the way I did it and I was learning about the way he did it. That’s like seeing anybody use a method. And if you see anyone using any method, it’s really, really interesting.”

White and Jay-Z both have experience crossing over into each other’s music worlds: White collaborated with Beyoncé on the Lemonade cut “Don’t Hurt Yourself” while Jay-Z’s most notable foray into rock is 2004’s Collision Course, his collaborative EP with Linkin Park.

Micheal Bay’s previous movie, 6 Underground, was a Netflix movie. At the time it kind of seemed like that was a movie where we could see the seismic shift in what defined a streaming movie versus what played in theaters. If a Michael Bay movie was a streaming movie, well then anything was a streaming movie. And if a Michael Bay movie wasn’t playing in theaters, then theaters did seems destined to be a place where movies featuring only existing IP would play.

Well, now there’s Michael Bay’s Ambulance (which is wonderful), which is both playing in theaters this weekend and is not based on any existing IP. Bradley Fischer has produced movies like Zodiac and Shutter Island, so he has experience getting movies into theaters that are, on paper, maybe a tougher sell. So it was interesting to hear from a producer what the landscape is like right now. And, to be honest, Fischer seems pretty positive about where theaters are right now. He thinks with both the pandemic happening at the same exact time streamers all had money to spend, sped up the talk of the death of the theatrical experience but, from his perspective, that’s not quite the case. In fact, from his perspective as a producer, trying to sell ideas to studios, having even more companies looking for products is a great thing. Anyway, let’s let Fischer explain…

I’m going to start off with the only complaint I have about this movie.

Okay, go for it.

My experience with this movie, the human body can only produce so much adrenaline in a given amount of time, and it eventually just runs out or gives up, and then you are exhausted.

I feel like that’s the best complaint we could ever get, so thank you. And you’re welcome, I guess? There’s a lot that happens between the time that the lights go down and come back up, but yeah, that kind of feels like mission accomplished then.

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a movie with an hour and 45 minute car chase?

Yeah, well, it’s funny. Even at the script stage, when you think there’s nowhere left for the story to go, it levels up, it finds another way, to kind of just – I mean, bad pun – shift the gears. And I mean, look, Bay obviously knows how to keep everyone thrown back as far as possible in their seat, and then continue to edge forward as it all starts to unfold.

So, his last movie was on Netflix.

Yes.

Because the way movies have changed so much, especially since the pandemic started, a lot of people kind of assumed Micheal Bay would continue making movies for streamers. Everything is IP and franchises in theaters, so how did you get Universal, a company that still makes movies for theaters, to put this in theaters?

Well, look, I’ll give you my whole philosophy on it if you want.

I do.

I produced two films during the pandemic, this one, and then a film called The Last Voyage of the Demeter, which is also Universal and Amblin. Ambulance was, I think, about 7 years to get made? Demeter was 20.

Wow, okay.

Look, here’s the thing. I think that people tend to be very quick to jump to extremes, just in general, when there are changes in our industry. I think it’s a cyclical phenomenon. It has happened ages ago when television first emerged. That was one of the other times that the demise of the theatrical experience was being proclaimed from the rooftops. I think in the fog of war of the pandemic, the timing of that, combined with the timing of the rise of the streamers, I think also hastens this sense that either everything was moving away from theatrical and to the home. Or, that the theatrical experience will only be for the $150 million-plus movies.

And I don’t think either of those are correct. Look, no one has a crystal ball, and I certainly don’t profess to know more than anybody else, but my instinct in just having done it for 20 or so years – if I see something that I’m excited about, whether it’s an intellectual property that I have a particular nostalgia for, that I want to go back and see or experience, or it’s something that just feels like a great night at the movies… especially now, now that we’re kind of coming out of all of this…

Fingers crossed, because I don’t want you summoning some new variant.

Good call, I’m knocking on wood. I think people still love to go to the movies. I don’t know about you, but being cooped up at home for two years, anything I can do to leave the house and be safe, I’m in.

Well, let me ask you this, could you get Zodiac into theaters today?

Okay, well, so let me turn the question. So my company, New Republic Pictures, my partner, Brian Oliver, produced and we financed, 50 percent, with Amblin for 1917.

Okay.

So, 1917, I think, had it not come out theatrically, that easily could have been a streamer play, right? There’s no $20 million star, it’s a World War I trench warfare story.

But it’s also such a visual experience. Obviously, Zodiac is, too, but 1917 has a whole one-shot concept.

Look, you’re right, 1917, it felt like it had more spectacle, I guess, in a way. But does that matter now? I mean, in terms of this question of what goes to streaming?

I don’t know. I want to be clear, I don’t know anything that’s going to happen.

Well, no, but I mean, you do, because you work in the business, and you go to movies. Look, Netflix and Apple and Amazon and all of the streamers, the premium streamers, right? They’re all competing with theatrical studios for the same movies. They’re all in the mix together. So here’s the way I look at it: I see it as an opportunity because there are more companies that are willing to write those checks. And it’s not just like six doors that we can knock on, there’s now other places that have a different kind of model for what they need to justify spending a certain amount of money on a certain kind of movie. So, I really only see it as a positive. I’m sure there are plenty of theatrical movies that some could say maybe should have gone to streamers, or would’ve been better at streamers, and some streamer titles that maybe left a lot on the table by not going theatrical. I mean, look, it’s impossible, you can’t predict.

The reason I mentioned Zodiac was because Fincher’s last movie, Mank, was on Netflix.

Could you have ever, before streamers existed, or today, gotten Mank made? Black and white?

I’m guessing not since he’d been trying to do that for what, 25 years or something? I think Netflix was like, “We want to be in business with you, and you want your passion project made. Let’s do it.”

And that’s why I think it’s a good thing, because that movie now gets made.

Roma is a very similar situation.

Exactly, 100 percent. Look, I hope what is going to start to happen if, as we – knock on wood, things continue to get better, and we’re not pulled back by some horrible variants – is I do think that the theatrical offerings to audiences will start to open up again a little bit more. I think there were a lot of studio movies that ended up going to streamers, because everyone was in lockdown, and theaters were closed.

And they had to bring an income in somehow.

Exactly. So it was an opportunity, and it made business sense to do that for those companies that made those decisions. But I do think there was this collision in timing between these streamers having increasing budgets for content on the level of billions of dollars, just at the time that everything kind of closed down. And AMC stock went down to like two bucks. What does that mean? It means that people think AMC’s going to go out of business. Well, now it’s like, I don’t know, what is it, at 30-something? So yeah, again, I don’t think the theatrical experience is going anywhere.

It’s $23.30. I just looked it up.

Oh, okay. Well, yeah, there you go. It was like up at like, I don’t know, like 50 or 60 at one point?

Right, but that was like a whole thing on its own.

Yeah, there was that, what was it, with GameStop?

Right, because hedge funds were shorting AMC and GameStop, assuming they were going to make money off of it failing. So all these people got together and tried to stick it to them, which was interesting.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. But listen, if you pull back from the fog of war of the last two years a little bit, I think it is true that the kinds of movies that lend themselves to theatrical, the target has gotten smaller. Even, I think, before the streamers started to spend the money that they’re spending, the refrain that began to be common was: You really need to have an event, quote-unquote, to get people to leave their home and go to the theater. And I think there’s truth to that, I think that you do have to have something that is special. Now, what does that mean?

I think, in some weird way, that everyone being stuck in their homes over the last couple of years will actually help Ambulance. Because everyone was watching older movies for two years straight. I’ve been re-watching action movies from the ’90s, and I forgot how much I enjoyed them. They don’t make movies like that anymore, with actual stunts and actual car chases, but here it is.

Exactly, exactly. No, I think you’re 100 percent right. And I think it goes back to nostalgia. For me, Bay was the perfect director for this, not because of Transformers, but because of Bad Boys.

Or Armageddon.

Or The Rock. It’s like the way that he shoots characters, actors, they become larger than life along with the tapestry of explosions, and helicopters, and chaos and madness and tension all over the place.

But the other thing is those ’90s movies weren’t using a lot of CGI, and Ambulance looks so real. A person’s brain can tell when it’s actually a real stunt versus a cartoon.

No, absolutely. And yeah, I mean the helicopter stuff, Fred North, who does all of Bay’s helicopter and aerial work, he’s the best in the business. I mean, I’ve done movies where those would be CGI helicopters. But when you know, you know. I mean, if the backdrop of the movie, if the canvas that it’s painted on is real, is in-camera, then it sticks out. You’re right, if it’s not. I do think it’s a different experience, which maybe does bring that sense of nostalgia back a little bit.

And going back to what I first said about the adrenaline. When I’m watching CGI, I don’t get that adrenaline. When I’m watching this, my body’s like, “This is real!” And then it gives me that burst.

Exactly. I’m glad that your only complaint was that you ran out of adrenaline. Your body gave up.

That should be the challenge.

I’m going to float that one.

‘Ambulance’ opens in theaters this weekend. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson first met in January 2019, when she crashed a “boys’ night” birthday party for Kid Cudi with her then-husband Kanye West. Timothée Chalamet was also there, for some reason. Davidson, who got stuck paying the bill for everyone, called Kim and Kanye “the cutest couple ever” on The Tonight Show. Little did he know that two years later, he would be the one in a relationship with Kardashian. The hit it off when she hosted SNL in October 2021, appearing in a sketch where she played Princess Jasmine to Davidson’s Aladdin. It was the first time they kissed.

During Wednesday’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, host Jimmy Kimmel asked Kardashian, “What became of this rug? Do you have this now? It seems like you should.” She replied, “Actually, for Valentine’s Day he got me the rug and the whole outfits and the little genie lamp. So I do own the rug.”

Kimmel then informed her that his team “had to carry in a huge bouquet of flowers that Pete sent here” in celebration of her family’s late-night appearance on Wednesday.

“Does that make the other boyfriends look bad?” he added coyly.

If Davidson was a really good boyfriend, he would have given Kardashian a more famous SNL prop, like the cowbell or the complete Steven Seagal episode. But the rug and costumes is cute, too.

You can watch the Kimmel interview above, and the Aladdin sketch below.

(Via People)

Britney Spears is clearly an active phone user based on how active she is on Instagram. When it comes to computers, though, it looks like she’s not as experienced… or just not experienced at all.

In an Instagram post yesterday, Spears praised Drew Barrymore, Kate Hudson, and the idea of sisterhood before writing, “I’m sharing this because we all seem to alienate behind our phones and computers … I’ve never opened a computer my whole life … just a phone. […] I say all this but I will probably buy a computer today !!!”

While it’s possible Spears is exaggerating, it may be the case that she at least doesn’t have much experience with laptops, if that’s what she’s referring to when she says “opened a computer”: While it’s tough to pinpoint exactly when laptops became mainstream devices, one indicator could be when they first outsold desktop computers in the summer of 2005. That was just a few years before Spears’ restrictive conservatorship began in early 2008.

In a 2016 interview, Spears noted she had a computer but didn’t use it much, saying, “Honestly, I still don’t use my computer. My kids use the computer more than I do. I understand that a lot of people are into it, and I have days where I write and stuff, but it’s really not for me. It’s not my thing.”

Meanwhile, last summer, she celebrated getting her first iPad, writing on Instagram, “This is just a groundbreaking day. I’ve always had a little phone, but now this iPad is in my hands and I feel like my life is changing as we speak and I am so excited. Upward bound! Yes!”

(Spoilers for The Karate Kid spinoff Cobra Kai will be found below.)

The cast Cobra Kai, while they’re crane-kicking the generation gap, seems like they’re a pretty tight knit bunch. Interviews generally turn into a love fest, in which they’re chatting each other up, and they all seem like grand friends. However, there’s a pair of the younger co-stars who are definitely more than friends, as confirmed by Jacob Bertrand, who portrays Eli “Hawk” Moskowitz on the Karate Kid reboot show.

While speaking with TMZ, Bertrand confirmed the rumor that he and Peyton List, who plays bad-girl-moving-toward-redemption Tory Nichols, have been dating for awhile. That’s a notable detail, considering that both Hawk and Tory took home individual All Valley Tournament trophies at the end of Season 4, but here’s what Jacob told TMZ:

“We’ve been dating for a while…. I’ve never dated anyone I’ve worked with before.. kind-of like trial by fire, almost…. We’ve been friends for a while. I met her when I was like, 15. I was actually tight friends with her brother Spencer… that was kinda awkward to be like, ‘Hey man, I like your sister.’ But yeah, we had fun on set and then hung out off-set.”

All of this, of course, must have created some specific awkward moments when Tory had a hand in Hawk losing his trademark mohawk hairstyle. But you never know, Tory could heave the Cobra Kai dojo after what she discovered in the Season 3 finale’s moments, so they could end up in the same dojo. As for when the already-wrapped Season 5 will premiere, we’ve got some guesses, but in the meantime, Cobra Kai‘s first four seasons are currently streaming on Netflix.

(Via TMZ)

There has been a lot of discussion in recent days about the Donovan Mitchell-Rudy Gobert pairing in Utah and how we may be seeing the final season of their partnership.

The two Jazz All-Stars have long had a relationship that people have had questions about, namely how they never seemed particularly close and at times frustrations between the two were apparent. Both have insisted publicly that things are fine between them over the years, with Mitchell stating plainly that they don’t have to be best friends in order to win together. The main reason they are a topic of conversation is because they have underachieved in the postseason given their regular season success, and that naturally brings about questions of their viability as a star duo on a real championship contender.

However, in recent weeks there have been some signs that there is a growing divide between them, with some eyebrow raising statements from each in media scrums and visible on-court frustrations. Utah blowing a 20-point lead to the Warriors over the weekend brought about a viral moment in which Gobert got ignored by Mitchell and the rest of the Jazz despite having two feet in the restricted area and having Klay Thompson on a switch completely sealed off.

As Gobert clears the lane to avoid the three-second count, you can see how annoyed he is by not getting a touch, and that Mitchell had the ball and didn’t get it to the big man (who has long lamented his lack of consistent touches offensively) created a powder keg for fans inside and outside Utah.

Gobert said the team had a “great” players only meeting recently and the Jazz have picked up two wins since, but Quin Snyder still addressed all the chatter recently, expressing his frustration with how his two stars are covered and what he believes is the media trying to “drive a wedge” between them.

One of his points of contention is that some have pointed out that Mitchell is averaging just 2.3 passes per game to Gobert, which is a jaw-droppingly low total given how often they share the court. Snyder has scoffed at that being an issue, but it’s hard not to see that and wonder if it’s an indicator of deeper issues.

Using the NBA’s tracking data, I went back and looked at Donovan Mitchell’s pass rate to Gobert in the regular season and playoffs since the young star arrived in Utah as a rookie in 2017 to see just how much of an outlier this year’s low pass rate to his star big man is.

Donovan Mitchell Regular Season Passes To Rudy Gobert By Year
2017-18: 3.6 passes per game (9.7% pass frequency)
2018-19: 4.4 passes per game (12.7% pass frequency)
2019-20: 5.8 passes per game (14.2% pass frequency)
2020-21: 3.5 passes per game (7.5% pass frequency)
2021-22: 2.3 passes per game (5.6% pass frequency)

Donovan Mitchell Playoff Passes To Rudy Gobert By Year
2017-18: 4.3 passes per game (12.0% pass frequency)
2018-19: 2.0 passes per game (5.5% pass frequency)
2019-20: 6.0 passes per game (13.2% pass frequency)
2020-21: 4.2 passes per game (10.4% pass frequency)

The answer to the question of how strange is this season’s low pass total to Gobert from Mitchell is probably “a little bit,” because it’s not completely out of character for Mitchell to not be connecting a ton with his big man, but he’s more than a full pass per game below his previous low for a regular season. (The 2019-20 season numbers are particularly an outlier because Mitchell was playing point guard far more due to Mike Conley’s injury issues in both the regular season and playoffs, leading to more direct action between the two than they typically run.)

Still, while it’s not totally out of the ordinary for Mitchell and Gobert not to have a ton of on-court activity together (which, again, has long led to the speculation about whether they like playing with each other) Snyder’s assertion that there’s nothing to the rumors of discontent between the two is almost assuredly false. That’s what he has to say, as they are still going to the playoffs and will try to get themselves together for a run, so publicly backing his guys is about all he can do, but at the same time, we wouldn’t be getting this much noise from this many reputable reporters if people weren’t talking behind the scenes.

This postseason very well be the end of an era in Utah if they have another early exit, as there are rumblings that Snyder is a candidate for the Lakers and Spurs jobs on top of the rumors that Mitchell and Gobert could both end up on the trade block. Winning, as always, would solve a lot of these problems for the Jazz, but the team’s two stars will have to get on the same page to have any chance of suddenly turning around their playoff fortunes.

Kevin Durant is hoping to lead a third team to an NBA Finals appearance this year, but will have to do so from the play-in as the Brooklyn Nets try to put the pieces together late in the season to fulfill the promise of their talented roster.

It’s a testament to his immense talent that every team Durant is on is considered among the favorites for a championship each year, and his accomplishments already over his 14-year career has him as a lock to be a first ballot Hall of Famer. However, despite that there are some that aren’t sure how exactly he’ll be remembered and honored by his past stops in the NBA, as his departure from the Oklahoma City Thunder created resentment from the fan base that some still hold onto. With the Warriors, he won two championships and two NBA Finals MVP awards, making the Finals in all three years he was in Oakland, but given his short stint, some have questioned if his No. 35 will end up in the rafters of the Chase Center.

In an interview with The Ringer’s Logan Murdock, Durant says he has no doubt that will happen in both OKC and Golden State despite the arguments, noting that no matter how acrimonious his departure from OKC or how short a tenure he had in Golden State, what he did in both places commands that placement among the franchise greats.

“OKC has to retire my jersey,” Durant said. “It wouldn’t even be good for the game of basketball if they didn’t. The same with Golden State. I’m still doing what I’m doing here in Brooklyn, but if I continue on what I’m doing four or five years, then I’ll feel the same way about this program.”

You’d find few outside of OKC who would disagree about the Thunder, as he and Russell Westbrook effectively built that franchise in Oklahoma City. Time figures to heal those wounds, but the Warriors question is more divisive given he was only there three years. His impact is unquestioned, but he came to a team that had already won a championship and made another Finals the year prior (having won 73 games in the regular season). Draymond Green was asked for his thoughts on an appearance on the Maggie & Perloff radio show, and was offended it was a question at all, saying that even if KD had been there for just the two championship years, he did more than enough to earn that place in franchise lore.

Green, Stephen Curry, and Klay Thompson are all locks for jersey retirements eventually in San Francisco, and you feel like it really does matter how they feel about Durant joining them in the rafters because he was the last addition to that team and was there for the shortest amount of time. That Green is so adamant that it isn’t even a question should leave no doubt as to whether the 35 will be joining 30, 23, and 11 in the future.

Someone made a semi-edgy joke and someone got mad. It happened at the Oscars, now it’s happening in the hall of Congress. The other day, Jimmy Kimmel made a joke on his late-night show about Marjorie Taylor Greene. Not only did Greene not enjoy it, she decided to report him to the authorities. But Kimmel doesn’t appear to be quaking in his boots.

The joke combined two hot topics: the increasingly deranged, troubling attack on the LGBTQIA+ community by the far right and the Will Smith-Chris Rock Oscars slap. Greene, like many in the GOP, is angry at Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman ever nominated to the Supreme Court. Some tried, bizarrely, to make her look soft on pedophiles. She’s not, and even The National Review debunked that one. But after Republicans Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, and Mitt Romney all vowed to give Jackson their vote, Greene made the disturbing decision to call them “pro-pedophile.”

So on his show, Kimmel made a joke: “Wow, where is Will Smith when you need him?”

It’s about as edgy as the Chris Rock joke that prompted Smith to strike him on live television, which is to say not that much. But Greene — who as an elected lawmaker doesn’t make laws but does heckle colleagues and degrade her own gender — decided to go nuclear on him anyway, saying she was reporting Kimmel to Capitol Police.

But Kimmel doesn’t seem worried.

“Officer? I would like to report a joke,” he joked. Evidently Kimmel will not lose sleep wondering if the Capitol Police, who endured injuries and psychological trauma as the result of a riot Greene remorselessly helped inspire, will pay him a visit.

(Via Raw Story)

Earthgang has been smooth sailing since they released their long-awaited sophomore album Ghetto Gods. In their continued effort to promote the project, the Atlanta rap duo returns with a new video for “Billi.” The track, which features a verse from fellow ATLien Future, is a standout from the project and the trio uses it to express their desire to be as rich as possible. In the song’s video, which dropped without Future’s presence in it, Earthgang robs an art museum with help from a few ladies. While the duo could just run off with their stolen goods, they decide to kick it in the museum and flaunt their acquisitions which include a shiny diamond and expensive artifacts.

The video for “Billi” arrives after Earthgang supplied visuals for other Ghetto Gods tracks like “Strong Friends,” “American Horror Story,” “Amen,” and “All Eyez On Me.” As for the album itself, Ghetto Gods features 17 songs and additional guest appearances from J. Cole, Ari Lennox, JID, Musiq Soulchild, Baby Tate, Nick Cannon, and more.

Earthgang’s new video was also released after they contributed three tracks — “Ghetto Gods Freestyle,” “Jozi Flows,” and “Everybody Ain’t Sh*t” — to Dreamville’s newly-released project, D-Day: A Gangsta Grillz Mixtape.

You can watch the video for “Billi” above.

Ghetto Gods is out now via Dreamville and Interscope. You can stream it here.

Baby Tate is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Next weekend, Coachella will hold its first festival since 2019 after the coronavirus pandemic canceled their 2020 and 2021 iterations. Kanye West, Billie Eilish, and Harry Styles were initially announced as headliners for the upcoming festival which will take over Indio, California during the weekends of April 15-17 and April 22-24. In normal times, Coachella would be conducting last-minute preparations to kick off the first of their two festival weekends, but a wrench was thrown into their plans when Kanye West dropped out earlier this week. This sent officials into a scramble to find a replacement, and luckily they were able to lock in The Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia as the new headliners.

According to TMZ, Kanye West reportedly walked away from an $8 million payout by dropping out of Coachella. He also lost a $500,000 production fee by walking away from his headlining performances. For what it’s worth, Kanye is a billionaire so missing out on the 7-figure payment is most likely not that big of a concern for him. Thankfully for Coachella and all attendees, the situation has been fixed but it didn’t come without some tension during negations. Page Six, which sites a “music source,” says that The Weeknd threatened to also drop out as a headliner if he did not receive the same payment as Kanye.

“The Weeknd came in at short notice to take Kanye’s top spot. But Phil Anschutz [who owns the Coachella Festival through AEG Live] wanted to hold on to Kanye’s money and pay The Weeknd far less, just a few million,” the source told the publication. “The festival would pocket the rest […] Even after Coachella announced the new lineup on Wednesday, a deal wasn’t in place for The Weeknd, who threatened to pull out at an hour’s notice if he didn’t get the same deal as Kanye. Finally, on Wednesday — faced with the prospect of a second headline act pulling out of Coachella at the last minute — Anschutz’s company caved and agreed to pay the Weeknd the same money.”

Page Six notes that another source told them that Anschutz was not directly involved in negotiations to secure The Weeknd as a headliner.