Month: September 2022

As if Middle-earth didn’t have enough of a troll problem, Elon Musk has entered the discourse surrounding Amazon’s commitment to diversity in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Despite the new series racking up stellar reviews, Musk joined the predictable backlash to seeing diverse characters in the franchise that, until now, has overwhelmingly featured white male characters.

Here’s how The Hollywood Reporter writer Richard Newby described the online reactions he’s been witnessing since the series premiere. As Newby points out, the show has been getting “review bombed,” which has caused Amazon to tighten the review process on its platform:

I could very easily be discussing Middle-earth, but I’m not. What I’m discussing is our very real world, and social media as an extension of that world. For the past week, I’ve been bombarded with messages of hate, called the N-word, told to go back to Africa, and called on to be executed. The reason? The Lord of the Rings. It would almost be laughable if it wasn’t so profoundly sad. A wealth of stories, and a willingness to believe in wizards, Balrogs, giant spiders and magical swords. But allow people of color to exist in Middle-earth? Well, that is an affront to all that’s good and decent. At least that’s the primary argument for those ruinous trolls apparently review bombing and harassing fans of color over Amazon’s Rings of Powers series.

Keep in mind, the racist backlash to Rings of Power had been trending over the holiday weekend, and Musk is a well-known Twitter addict. (Hence his attempt to buy the whole site.) So when the Tesla CEO fired off his thoughts on Labor Day evening, he knew what he was doing.

“Tolkien is turning in his grave,” Musk tweeted. “Almost every male character so far is a coward, a jerk or both. Only Galadriel is brave, smart and nice.”

However, the situation quickly went south for Musk as he found himself being ruthlessly dragged in the replies and quote tweets for predictably siding against “woke-ness.” Twitter users did not hold back as they called out Musk’s clear lack of knowledge about The Lord of the Rings and suggested maybe he should be more concerned with the real world carnage caused by his electric cars.

You can see some of the reactions below:

The first two episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power are now available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

(Via Elon Musk on Twitter)

There were many guests at this past weekend’s massive Taylor Hawkins tribute concert, but it was Oasis’s Liam Gallagher who had the honor of opening the show, joining Foo Fighters to perform two Oasis songs. The experience apparently left a good taste in Gallagher’s mouth, as he has now taken to Twitter and offered some substantial praise for Dave Grohl.

Earlier today, Gallagher tweeted, “If I want entertaining I watch a film go to a gig football or boxing or talk to myself certainly don’t look for entertainment in politics get behind that black door and dont come out till you’ve sorted the country out you Hilarious f*ckers LG x.” A Twitter user responded, “Liam who inspires you to put yourself out there? Noel apparently said David Bowie inspired him recently.” Gallagher answered, “Dave Grohl is the most inspiring musician person on the PLANET tday.”

Gallagher has a history of showing love to Grohl. In 2019, he declared Grohl is his “favorite musician in the US.” Earlier that year, Foo Fighters used a set at the Reading festival to campaign for a Oasis reunion. Gallagher later tweeted, “Not even the mighty Dave Grohl can get me and the squirt back together bless him for trying.”

Showtime’s American Gigolo opens with a tight close-up of Julian Kayne (Jon Bernthal). He’s staring blankly at a wall, unable to process what’s about to happen to him. Detective Sunday (Rosie O’Donnell) enters the room – although the camera remains close on Bernthal’s distinct, sweaty face. Sunday asks him how he’s doing, if he’s hungry, and Bernthal answers in whispers, his face barely moving. As Sunday begins to tell Julian why he needs to plead guilty to murder, Bernthal squeezes his face and sobs. He mumbles and puts his hand over his face. He looks down and tries to defend himself, but he’s so distraught that he stutters. “I’m just really – really … scared,” he says softly. Then he screams at the top of his lungs, but still with soft body language: “I don’t remember! I don’t remember!” It’s the kind of guttural scream you can feel in your bones.

American Gigolo, a present-day retelling of the Paul Schrader 1980 film of the same name starring Richard Gere, follows male escort Julian Kayne after he’s released from prison. Julian served 15 years on a wrongful conviction. Upon his release, Julian’s past immediately comes back to haunt him, despite his resistance to stay out of it. Julian reflects on his past and a past relationship with Michelle (Gretchen Mol). Detective Sunday (O’Donnell) is hell-bent on figuring out exactly who committed the murder Julian went to prison for and, unfortunately, even more, murder follows, unleashing a mysterious conspiracy surrounding a seemingly innocent Julian. The series was developed by David Hollander (Ray Donovan) and is executive produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. The series premieres on Sunday, September 11 on Showtime, with new episodes available via streaming and on-demand every Friday.

Unfortunately, American Gigolo never quite lives up to its explosive introduction, failing to deliver on the raw intensity it so confidently introduces immediately. The series is so stylish that any substance is invisible or rushed. The series respects its source material but doesn’t try to mimic it. Rather, it incorporates 80s elements in its outlandish, glossy, color style. The opening credits, set to Blondie’s “Call Me” – a little on the nose but reflective of 80s cheese – are a montage of Julian’s work life: shots of him sleeping with women, getting in and out of shiny cars in bright, idealistic Los Angeles locations. Bernthal, as evidenced by his television performances this year alone (We Own This City, The Bear) has an uncanny ability to be two things at once: he is everyman and completely singular at the same time. On American Gigolo, he is mysterious and more transparent than air. Perhaps Bernthal is so good that the rest of the show feels like a disappointment because it just can’t live up to him. Bernthal, who thinks he is ugly, anchors the show, but it’s not enough to keep it interesting when he’s off-screen.

Beyond Bernthal, the show’s strength lies in its supporting characters. As Detective Sunday, O’Donnell isn’t given much to work with, but she acts as if her life depends on it. Her scenes with Bernthal in particular showcase her best work, despite the flatness of the character. O’Donnell gives the character, who is like so many detectives we’ve seen before, more individuality. Wayne Brady, who plays Lorenzo, a work colleague of Julian’s, is not in the series nearly as much as he should be (Showtime provided the press with the first three episodes), and his extremely Wayne Brady performance gives the show a necessary levity. The show is at its most compelling in its quieter, reflective moments, especially in the developing friendship between Julian and his landlord, Lizzie (Yolanda Ross). The actors are completely in sync with the way they perform, and the dynamic between the characters gives the story an essential authentic emotional weight, despite the relationship having almost nothing to do with the central plot.

The highs, however, don’t save the lows. American Gigolo relies on flashbacks, as Julian looks back on his childhood and teen years, having been groomed from an early age by his pimp. The series also follows Julian’s ex, Michelle, whose teenage son is embroiled in a situation that mirrors (not exactly, but almost) Julian’s. This part of the story – that is, the part that is essentially a crime show – feels like a low-tier procedural, and kills the momentum along with the flashbacks. Some context is great, especially when learning about new characters in the first season of a television series. But there is such a thing as too much context. If American Gigolo can recognize its strengths – performances and character building – it has potential, but for now, it’s incomplete.

American Gigolo premieres Friday, September 9 via Showtime’s streaming service. The first episode will then also air on Showtime on Sunday, September 11 at 9 p.m. ET.

Life in Ukraine is a horror show these days, but life in Russia ain’t no walk in the park either. Beyond frivilous matters like the non-McDonald’s situation, economic matters are dire following an unceasing stream of sanctions meant to put the screws to Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, it’s not unheard of for a prominent oil exec to mysterously fall to his death after criticizing Putin’s imperialistic attacks on Ukraine, and Putin’s own troops are reportedly shooting themselves to earn a ticket out of Hell.

The Daily Beast now reports, though, that the Kremlin’s pretending like everything is great. Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declared (to RBK TV via the Beast) that “2022 is the year of unity in our society,” and although opinions run rampant on the war, he predicts “[t]he absolute consolidation of our society around President [Vladimir] Putin.” However, the citizenship of Russia’s largely opposed to Putin’s invasion, which has led to Russian citizens being arrested while protesting the brutal, civilian-killing conflict. Meanwhile, The Daily Beast reports that Russians are leaving the country while the getting is good, and the exodus is notable:

His comments seemed to be all the more jarring in light of a new report by Russia’s Federal State Statistics Service that warned of a massive “outflow” of Russians since the beginning of the year. In the first half of 2022, a total of 419,000 Russians left the country—more than double the exodus seen a year earlier in the same period, according to Rosstat data. The population size has thus shrunk to 145.1 million.

Six months have passed since Putin first waged war on Ukraine. The Russian president’s troops have been candid about being in the dark regarding their mission, and some of them even went into mutiny mode while threatening to blow away their commander as the war kicked off. And there’s also still no sign of Putin locking down the war as a whole with President Zelensky’s country coming together in real unity against “those Russian sh*ts,” although as time has worn forth, it’s becoming clearer that even Russian troops want nothing to do with this war.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Lil Nas X has a new apple of his eye (or perhaps an existing one that he now has the opportunity to publicly yearn for): Roger, the wise-cracking alien from long-running animated series American Dad.

Yesterday, a post from the perspective of Roger shared on the American Dad Twitter and Instagram accounts read, “Save a horse, ride the guy who wrote Old Town Road or however the song goes. [cowboy emoji] Who else is planning their perfect fit for #Montero? #AmericanDad.” That captioned an image of Roger holding a Lil Nas X concert ticket and admiring a poster of the shirtless rapper.

Nas shared that and wrote, “i’ve finally peaked in life. i’m tryna bring roger backstage ngl [drooling emoji].” On the Instagram post, he wrote in three separate comments, “oh my god [crying emoji] [hearts emoji],” “pleaseeeee,” and, “roger please let me smash.”

Now is a great time for American Dad to be receiving this sort of attention, as yesterday (September 5), it just returned with its first new episode since March. The show, which debuted in 2005, is one of the longest-running scripted prime time television series in US history; The latest episode is the series’ 330th.

As for the Long Live Montero Tour, that kicks off tonight (September 6), so check out the dates here.

While many Americans spent their Labor Day enjoying the last breaths of what we incorrectly deem the final day of “summer,” Donald Trump was busy binge-posting to his own TRUTH Social and doubling down on his demands to be reinstated as president.

Why? Your guess is as good as ours — and probably as good as Trump’s, whose desperate pleas for someone (anyone?!) to somehow decree that he is once again President of the United States are all a little nebulous.

As Mediaite reports, Trump’s most recent complaints are being directed at the Department of Justice and the FBI, who he claims have been “caught in a massive and determinative Election Rigging Scam,” and now he’s just waiting for them(?) to rectify their wrong by throwing Joe Biden’s belongings out onto the front lawn of the White House.

The former (current?!) president was so taken with his own theory that he posted it twice in a row for all 4 million of his TRUTH followers to see:

Trump’s social media rampage marked at least the second time in one week that he was back on his rigged election bullsh*t. Last Monday, Trump posted a message to TRUTH explaining that, essentially, Hunter Biden’s laptop is the reason he lost the 2020 presidential election. Therefore, he should be declared the winner — or, at the very least, another election should be held. Which definitely seems like something that would or could happen.

By Tuesday, Trump seemed to have calmed down. And just wanted to know (in a totally non-ironic way) “Why are people so mean?”

As Mediaite wrote, “the only president to leave office and then return to the presidency was Grover Cleveland, who defeated Benjamin Harrison in the 1892 presidential election without the assistance of the Department of Justice.” Ouch!

(Via Mediaite)

It’s been just over 20 years since Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson made his acting debut (not including wrestling promos). The Mummy Returns isn’t a cable classic like the original movie, but it was a box office hit ($435 million) and more Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz being extremely hot is a good thing. It also inspired a Fraser- and Weisz-less prequel, The Scorpion King, that’s mostly remembered for its early 2000s-ass CGI, but it was Johnson’s first lead role, and eventually led him to becoming one of the biggest movie stars in the world. Would that have been possible with Fraser?

I mean…

Over the weekend, The Whale premiered at the Venice International Film Festival, where beloved star Fraser got emotional during a six-minute standing ovation for the Darren Aronofsky film. The clip caught the attention of The Rock, who tweeted, “Man this makes me so happy to see this beautiful ovation for Brendan. He supported me coming into his Mummy Returns franchise for my first ever role, which kicked off my Hollywood career. Rooting for all your success brother and congrats to my bud Darren Aronofsky.”

First off, it’s very funny that The Rock is “buds” with the director of Requiem for a Dream, mother!, and The Wrestler (The Rock vs. The Ram at WrestleMania 39?). Also, Johnson would later “replace” Fraser as the star of the Journey to the Center of the Earth sequel, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. Would he be in or out for The Whale 2? They say three is a trend, so The Rock better start his all-burgers and -pancakes diet plan now.

This past weekend’s massive, 50-song Taylor Hawkins tribute concert was an emotional ride (especially for Dave Grohl). Nine Inch Nails leader Trent Reznor was feeling that, too, as he told his audience at Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Saturday (September 4).

In a TikTok video shared by Nine Inch Nails, Reznor says to the crowd:

“By chance, did any of you happen to catch the tribute to Taylor Hawkins today? I thought, ‘I’ll tune in.’ I knew Taylor. He was a really sweet guy. I knew a lot of friends were playing it. I started watching it, and three hours later I’m still watching, and I’ve got tears in my f*cking eyes. It got me thinking about… if you haven’t seen it, it’s worth checking out, ’cause it’s really well done. It’s very touching and sincere and it got me thinking about… you know, in my life these days, I try to be mindful of what’s happening right now and appreciating what’s happening right now, instead of worrying about tomorrow. I sound like an old person saying this sh*t, don’t I? But, I am grateful to be sharing this moment with you guys, and it really is a privilege, and I’m going to remember this. This is one of those good memories, so thank you.”

Check out the video below.

Britney Spears, to put it lightly, has been through a lot. Between her conservatorship and her current family drama with her ex-husband and her children, her faith has been tested, so much so that she now says she doesn’t “believe in God anymore.”

In a now-deleted audio recording (as transcribed by Page Six) shared on Instagram last night (September 5), Spears concludes by saying of the four-month mental health facility stay she regularly mentions, “God would not allow that to happen to me if a God existed. I don’t believe in God anymore because of the way my children and my family have treated me. There is nothing to be believe in anymore. I’m an atheist, y’all.”

Most of the rest of the near-three-minute post is Spears talking about her sons, reacting to her son Jayden speaking on 60 Minutes Australia recently, “Jayden, as you undermine my behavior just like my whole family always has with, ‘Hope she gets better, I will pray for her.’ […] Pray for what? I keep working so I can pay off [my mother Lynne Spears’] legal fees and her house. Do you guys want me to get better so I can continue to give your dad $40,000 a month? Or is the reasoning behind you guys deciding to be hateful is because it’s actually over in two years and you don’t get anything?”

She continued, “It saddens me not one of you have valued me as a person. You’ve witnessed how my family has been to me and that’s all you know. Like I said, I feel you all secretly like to say something’s wrong with me.”

Did you ever think that Ozzy Osbourne would be following in the footsteps of Ed Sheeran? Well when Osbourne takes the torch as the NFL’s season opener halftime show performer on Thursday night (September 8th), he’ll be looking to upstage Sheeran’s NFL Kickoff 2021 performance. All comparisons aside, playing at halftime of the Rams vs. Bills game is a big deal for the Prince of Darkness. Ozzy hasn’t performed on stage since 2019 when he joined Post Malone and Travis Scott at the AMAs for their track “Take What You Want.”

The stakes will be doubly high at SoFi for Osbourne, as his 13th album, Patient Number 9, comes out the next day, September 9th. It’s a devilish choice by the NFL and the Rams to have Ozzy on the field to kick-off the season, especially considering he moved away from Los Angeles this year to head back to England. But the Super Bowl Champion Rams are embracing the unique atmosphere that Osbourne will provide in his multi-song performance.

Osbourne was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2020, but it hasn’t slowed his drive as an artist one bit. Along with the upcoming album, he launched a popular NFT series of “CryptoBatz” and says he has been able to avoid getting COVID because Satan helped him avoid it. “Being a devil worshipper does have its good points!” he said.

The NFL’s Kickoff opener between the Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills will be televised via NBC at 5:20 p.m PT on Thursday, September 8th. More info here.

Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.