Month: August 2022

According to Deadline, Dan Lin is the favorite for an impossible job. The producer of massive blockbuster IP hits like Sherlock Holmes, The LEGO Movie, and the live-action Aladdin may become the new shepherd for DC Films, overseeing the attempted connected universe of expensive superhero movies.

This move comes during a great reset for the superhero universe, set into motion by the new CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, David Zaslav, who has been transparent about his desire to copy the Marvel/Kevin Feige model. That requires a Feige of their own.

Is there really anyone who can pull off the once-in-a-lifetime miracle feat that Feige did with Marvel? A calculated gamble that owes an equal amount of its success to luck as it does to shrewd motion picture business savvy? Deadline notes that Lin is potentially favored by Zaslav because he’s a Harvard MBA grad, but could that possibly matter when trying to build a conveyor belt of connected blockbusters? Feige got his start thanks to a TV producer grandfather and a job as a production assistant on You’ve Got Mail! One of the main reasons he was so successful with turning Marvel into a movie juggernaut (sorry) was because he cut his teeth as a producer for Marvel and knew the company’s characters inside and out. Lin’s pedigree as a blockbuster producer is undeniable and laudable. Maybe that’s exactly the right blend of talents to make the DCU truly rival the MCU.

But whoever takes the job is effectively volunteering to be the second person to climb Everest. Meanwhile, they’re holding “funeral” screenings for the shelved Batgirl, and the Joker sequel is the only thing that’s safe under Zaslav’s reign.

Speaking of which, that same Deadline piece mentions that Todd Phillips also made the shortlist, is beloved by Zaslav, and won’t be taking the job because he’s spending all his energy on the new Joker. Thankfully, this rumor gives us the opportunity to close our eyes and imagine 10 DC movies in a connected universe brought into existence under Phillips’ creative umbrella.

(via Deadline)

I don’t come from money. In fact, I come from the stark opposite. My mother was one of nine children who grew up in an abusive household that was well below the poverty line and her mother grew up poorer than she did. This cycle of poverty goes back as far as I can trace, so it’s no surprise that I also grew up poor. There were days when the only thing we had to eat was peanut butter on a spoon during the day to keep us satiated until dinner because it was the only meal that day.

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That’s not for lack of trying on my parent’s part. My stepdad worked a full-time job and lived the hustle life before it became coined by millennials and slapped on a mug. The one thing that was consistently impressed upon me by my parents was the importance of going to college so I could do better than the generation before me. But there wasn’t a roadmap for me to follow. Neither of my parents had gone to college at the time and really didn’t know the requirements to get in nor the process of applying for financial aid. Since this was before Google, there was no information readily available at my fingertips. There was no financial literacy to pass down to their children when their only goal was survival.

The Biden Administration has done something unprecedented in the history of the United States by forgiving $10,000 of student loan debt for Americans making under $125,000 a year (under $250,000 if married or head of household). If you received Pell Grant assistance while in college, you qualify for up to $20,000 in student loan forgiveness. In order to qualify for the Pell Grant you have to be in great financial need, which means I also received this money to assist with college expenses. But contrary to what some believe, the Pell Grant isn’t a large sum of money so loans are still necessary, even for people like me that worked while in school. Escaping poverty is expensive and exhausting and a program like this will help others break the cycle.

While most are focused on the loans being forgiven, there’s a piece of information being overlooked that could make a big impact on people’s lives. Under the new plan, people who are on an income based repayment plan can now cap their monthly payments at 5% of their income. Previously the repayment amount was capped at 10% of a persons income.

Obviously such a big move has set off a firestorm of conversation around who should and shouldn’t get it, or if it should be done at all. But the conversations around student loan forgiveness seems to be missing this integral piece of information; everyone doesn’t start from the same place at the starting line. It’s easy to say people should know what they’re getting into when signing up for student loans if you grew up with a different set of circumstances.

But for people like me, student loans were the only way out of poverty and I’d do it again. Because I took out debt to pay for a college education, my children won’t have to do the same. They will now have a financially literate parent to walk them through the process, explain complicated forms and help them find more cost effective alternatives. My own children have never experienced coming home to no lights or running water. They will never have to escape from poverty because they don’t come from it and I don’t know that I’d be able to say the same if I didn’t make the choice to accept student loans.

While forgiving $10,000 to $20,000 worth of student debt for a select group of people isn’t ideal, this could open up the door for future borrowers. The awareness around predatory lending to students, the continuously growing cost of college attendance and the stagnation of wages could lead to real policy change that could impact everyone. No student should be saddled with insurmountable debt just for getting an education and this could be the first step to ending this practice.

We’ve all been there. Standing in line to be seated at a fairly busy restaurant while your stomach growls in protest. But when two women left a concert August 22 in search of food, they had no idea they’d find themselves taking orders and cooking food. Sylvia Arrendondo and her mother Idalia Merkel went to a local Denny’s in Texas and were seated by another customer before realizing the restaurant was extremely short-staffed. Instead of taking their business elsewhere, they decided to roll up their sleeves and get to work.

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Arrendondo wrote about the unique experience on her Facebook page where she explained that only two people were working. One was serving tables and the other was the cook. As for the man that was acting as host, seating new guests, he had no idea what he was doing because he didn’t work there. He told Arrendondo and Merkel that his wife used to work at Denny’s so she started helping to serve tables and he decided to help get people seated.

The service industry has been hit hard by the pandemic and the subsequent “great resignation.” Complaints about low wages, poor management and rude customers that abuse staff members are just a few of the reasons cited by people who have left the industry. It may be surprising for some to learn that the federal minimum wage for tipped employees like servers and bussers is just $2.13 an hour. The rest of the wage is supposed to be made up of tips, which, depending on where you work, may be split at the end of the night between other workers. This act of splitting tips is called “tip pooling” and is calculated by number of hours worked.

Splitting tips after a long day of work dealing with customers who may not have been so kind would understandably make some people upset. But it didn’t take a deep dive on the treatment of restaurant employees for Arrendondo and the other customers who helped out. They saw two seemingly college-aged kids doing their best to keep the place running and they didn’t hesitate to jump in to help, completely unpaid.

When asked why she didn’t just leave, Arrendondo said, “We just looked at each other and it wasn’t even a question. We both knew what we had to do.”

“This was probably the most beautiful act of American unity that I have personally encountered,” Arrendondo told Upworthy. She added that the sole paid server would occasionally start to cry before being comforted by the cook, only to return the favor when he would get overwhelmed.

Talk about community.

These two kids had exhausted all of their resources, including calling their manager multiple times. And instead of customers getting angry, demanding better service or walking away, Arredondo and Merkel stepped up. The kindness of this group of strangers will surely stick with these employees and the people who were involved.

“The strength, courage and integrity by these two workers was beyond admirable. My mom and I have never been so proud and happy to help,” Arrendondo told Upworthy. “After all, we have all been there.”

Eventually after some convincing, the two employees shut the restaurant down and Arrendondo and Merkel went home much more tired than anticipated. Still hungry, but full of gratitude and pride.

At a time when news about the environment generally stirs up feelings of anxiety and fear, there is one bright spot that can change your stripes: Tigers are making a major comeback away from extinction.

Over the past seven years, tiger numbers have increased more than 40% across Asia, according to the latest International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species Assessment. Another report released on July 29 revealed that in Nepal, tiger populations have doubled.

Yes, both figuratively and literally, 2022 is the Year of the Tiger.

Rawr

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Counting tigers might sound like a dream job (at least for big cat lovers like myself), but it can be a daunting and costly task. Rather than traverse rugged terrains in search of the notoriously elusive beasts, scientists used to instead count in smaller areas and extrapolate the results to larger areas of similar environments.

Technological advancements in data tracking have made counting much easier, but it’s hard to be absolutely certain that tiger populations have increased as much as these reports indicate.

Still, even with that caveat, there’s much to be optimistic about.

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Upworthy spoke with Abishek Harihar, Ph.D., a deputy director for the tiger program at global wildcat conservation organization Panthera. For humans to live peacefully alongside tigers, Dr. Harihar explained that systemic changes need to be “developed with community participation” and “inclusive decision-making.”

That’s why Panthera specifically partners with national governments and local communities to deter potential poachers. It also works with judiciary members to increase penalties for poaching. This includes an anti-poaching ranger training program, which is made up in part by former poachers.

Of all the threats tigers face, hunting and poaching are the most critical, he noted. Tigers are normally killed in retaliation to preying on livestock, to be sold for assumed medicinal purposes, or for their skin to display status.

Because habitat loss is the second biggest obstacle, Panthera also helps communities build sustainable livelihoods that require less hunting and wood harvesting, leaving tigers with a more resource-rich habitat.

By addressing the problems that both tigers and humans in the area face, conservationists have been able to make steady progress. And although future assessments will need to be certain of accuracy, even Dr. Harihar is hopeful that the likelihood of tigers eventually being reclassified from “Endangered” to “Vulnerable” is quite high. That means one step closer to being off the IUCN Red List entirely.

That being said, the work is obviously far from over. Not every tiger is faring well—Malayan and Sumatran subspecies are currently listed as “Critically Endangered” after losing 93% of their habitat. In the last century, numbers have plummeted from 100,000 to potentially 4,500 today.

That’s why it’s more important than ever to help implement change.

Panthera’s Tigers Forever program aims to increase tiger numbers by at least 50% over the next 10 years by working with governments and local NGOs to:

• Identify, protect and connect key tiger habitats and corridors
• Train and outfit law enforcement patrols to secure protected areas
• Use cutting-edge technology to prevent poaching, including the use of Panthera’s PoacherCams
• Train government and NGO staff to use the best scientific methods to monitor tiger and prey populations
• Work with local communities to reduce human-tiger conflict and improve livelihoods while reducing dependency on tiger habitats
• Monitor tiger populations every year to measure success

Throughout history, tigers have been a living symbol of strength, power and luck. Perhaps it’s time that humans help repay those attributes. The majestic creatures bring so much magic to the world, and it would truly be a tragedy to lose them.

Here’s hoping tigers keep landing on their feet in the global effort to keep them among us.

Afrobeats superstar Rema is turning up the heat with a remix of his single, “Calm Down.” Joining him on the updated track is Selena Gomez, adding a bit of seductive flavor.

Driven by a bouncy drum and a dreamy guitar, the song features Rema finding a woman who stands out in the crowd, as he sings, “I see this fine girl, for my party, she wear yellow / Every other girl they dey do too much, but this girl mellow.”

Gomez comes in, giving into his affections, singing, “Don’t you ask, you know you’re allowed / When it’s you, I can’t say no.”

In an interview with Complex UK, Rema talked about becoming an Afrobeats sensation and helping popularize the genre in the US at just 22 years old.

“…I want to thank God for getting me this far,” he said. “Being able to travel from territory to territory and share my music with people, that’s a big thing for me, my generation and Afrobeats. I’m just playing my part in this whole movement; I’m making my impact the best way I can. Most of all, I’m just grateful to see people appreciate my hard work and ambition.”

Check out the lyric video for “Calm Down” above.

This Wednesday (August 24), TMZ reported that Offset filed a lawsuit against his label Quality Control over his solo career. Tensions boiled over to the Twitter timeline when he and QC CEO Pierre “P” Thomas went back and forth. With all of this, it remained unclear whether ‘Set was still signed to the label, especially after a summer full of rumors regarding Migos breaking up.

In an update to their original report, TMZ spoke with a representative from Quality Control who said “Not only are the accusations in this lawsuit false, they are totally detached from reality. Offset remains a part of QC. Back to business.” Offset has not said anything else on the matter as he gears up to release his next single “Code” featuring Moneybagg Yo.

About a month before the summer solstice, a conflict heated up in the long-running successful trio Migos when Quavo and Takeoff formed their own duo called Unc & Phew, and Offset subsequently unfollowed the two on social media. In the months following, Unc & Phew released two singles, Offset released his own music, but none of the three addressed the group’s status directly besides Quavo telling GQ that they are working on growing stronger because it only helps the group.

The situation is murky, and while none of the group members have addressed one another, things seem far from peaceful.

Check out the back and forth between Offset and P above.

If you and your pals spend an evening singing Tiffany cover songs into your hairbrushes and exploring dilapidated buildings, there’s a solid chance one of you is gonna get full-on possessed by a demon. That denim jacket offers no protection against the dark supernatural hordes of Satan.

Hopefully, you’ll have the power of best friendship if the worst happens, just like in My Best Friend’s Exorcism. The film, based on the excellent Grady Hendrix novel, features Abby (Eighth Grade‘s Elsie Fisher) and Gretchen (Amiah Miller), two high school buds with BFF necklaces and a demon battle in their future. Cue the creepy, slowed-down Tiffany song!

This trailer looks super fun, especially because it looks like they’ve let Chris Lowell off the leash to be as weird as he wants to be in the wardrobe he stole from the GLOW set. Hendrix has a knack for smushing different genre concepts into horror, and the production — led by director Damon Thomas (Killing Eve, Penny Dreadful) and writer Jenna Lamia — seems to have captured that spirit. Even without name-dropping “The Director of Freaky and Happy Death Day” as a producer, it’s got some clear Christopher Landon vibes. Bright colors and snarky jabs. Classic Captain Howdy horror behavior followed by self-aware gags. In other words, it looks great.

My Best Friend’s Exorcism hits Amazon Prime September 30th, so you’ll have plenty of time to wash the vomit out of your Lacoste shirt by Halloween.

There was a loud uproar this week after it was announced that Capitol Records had signed the first ever AI rapper, FN Meka, to a deal. Matters got worse when it was revealed that Meka, in an attempt to come off as realistic, would use racial slurs, be depicted with face tattoos and colorful hair, and was shown in scenes of police brutality. Twitter did its thing by expressing outrage in droves and the AI rapper was quickly dropped. But who, or what, really is FN Meka?

Entertainment Weekly reported on Tuesday (August 23) that FN Meka was created by Factory New, a “media company focused solely on virtual and digital talent,” according to co-founder Anthony Martini. His business partner Brandon Le designed the AI rapper by “using thousands of data points compiled from video games and social media.”

Meka’s artistic process consisted of “a proprietary AI technology that analyzes certain popular songs of a specified genre and generates recommendations for the various elements of song construction: lyrical content, chords, melody, tempo, sounds, etc.,” which his team then combined to make songs to be voiced by rapper Kyle the Hooligan, who did not take too kindly to his lack of compensation after the situation blew up.

The issue, as pointed out by activists, is that said creative team did not have any Black members according to Variety. So, it was an AI rapper voiced by a Black rapper but created to be Black through the use of algorithms instead of actual Black creators. This does not mean something like this won’t happen again, but rather Capitol has become the sacrificial lamb to show future creators what not to do.

It has been a summer of surprise albums and surprise group drama, though it’s likely no one ever predicted Migos would be the source of conflict. Soon after Quavo and Takeoff announced their new duo Unc & Phew back in May, Offset surprisingly unfollowed their social media accounts. Unc & Phew went on to release two singles in “Hotel Lobby” and “Us Vs. Them” featuring Gucci Mane all while Offset teased his own music, ultimately releasing “54321” last week. Now, as ‘Set is immersed in a public verbal joust with Quality Control CEO Pierre “P” Thomas over his contract, it seems certain that Migos has reached its end.

TMZ reported Wednesday (August 24) that Offset filed a lawsuit against QC after allegedly renegotiating his solo contract and securing his artist rights only for his label to not honor the deal. Soon after, P posted a now-deleted Tweet saying “The last lawsuit was filed publicly and dismissed quietly. Let’s see how this one go. Been to real for all this lame sh*t. Everyone know the real problem.”

Offset quoted him and fired back with “N****s act like im the problem I paid millions to get my rights back N**** you black balled me I ain’t said sh*t one time homie I ain’t spoke to you in 2 years now I drop and you want ya name on my credit?”

TMZ later updated their post with a report from a Quality Control rep stating Offset is still part of QC and the accusations in the lawsuit are “false” and “totally detached from reality.”

No member of Migos addressed their status as a group until Quavo was interviewed by GQ, saying the group has operated as a group for a long time and each “member has to establish themselves.” It appears that is happening now, or again rather after their solo album barrage in 2018 and 2019. However, things appear far from peaceful.

Check out the back and forth between Offset and P above.

It’s a little strange that there hasn’t been a televised pizza competition yet. Maybe that’s because most cooking competition shows don’t focus on a single type of food. They want to explore the vast culinary expanses and explore bold new flavors. Hulu‘s newest competition Best In Dough might try a little bit of that (they ask at least one panel of chefs to make pizza without dough), but mostly…it’s just pizza.

Anchored by luscious shots of gorgeous pies and the smiley humor of host Wells Adams, the show from the makers of Is It Cake? promises to be another installment of bingeable, low stakes fun. Beyond Adams, the show features head judge Chef Daniele Uditi of Pizzana, as well as Chef Millie Peartree, comedian and food influencer Eunji Kim, and baker Bryan Ford serving as judges. The 10-episode series promises the winners who sling the best slice $10,000 and whatever glory comes with knowing you beat someone else’s nonna. Make no mistake. The one thing we know about the show from the trailer is that the nonna episode is going to be a legendary battle of strong wills, snarky comments, and world-class pizza.

Get ready to ogle those three pizza ovens as Best In Dough hits Hulu September 19th. Just be sure to have your local joint on speed dial.