Month: October 2022

As you may recall, the transition from the Trump administration to Biden was not exactly smooth. Not only did the former deny that he lost re-election — a tall tale he’s continued to spread, nearly two years later — but he even compelled his violent supporters to storm the Capitol building. Trump eventually agreed to at least leave the White House quietly, but according to yet another scandalous tell-all, he and his team made sure to do so in the most petty way possible.

This comes from New York Times reporter (and, as per Trump, his “psychiatrist”) Maggie Haberman and her new book Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America, in an excerpt acquired by Politico. As they were reluctantly vacating 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Trump officials went out of their way to create “headaches small and large” for their successors. Among those was ensuring they were delayed in getting messages from the Pentagon, refusing to grant them access to a computer that would allow them to start on the president’s budget, even blocking them from getting their first COVID-19 vaccine shots.

But one move was more even more childish than the others. When the Biden team entered the White House, they found an air conditioning unit had been stuffed with photos of Hunter Biden, the president’s troubled son, leaving it broken.

Confidence Man is teeming with new and disturbing/embarrassing dirt on Trump. Among the other revelations are that he mainly became president to meet more rich people and that he loved to brag about how he refused to use the same toilet as his predecessor, Barack Obama.

(Via Politico)

For the first time since 2001, the Seattle Mariners will play postseason baseball. The Mariners took on the lowly Oakland Athletics on Friday night, and with a win, the team would clinch a playoff berth. Things looked good after the first inning, as the team took a 1-0 lead when Ty France drove in Dylan Moore, but in Oakland’s next time up at the plate, Shea Langeliers hit a homer to draw things level.

The two sides were deadlocked for the remainder of the game, and while this did make things unnecessarily tense for Seattle, it gave us one of the best moments we’ve had in Major League Baseball in recent memory. Cal Raleigh pinch hit for Luis Torrens in the bottom of the ninth after Mitch Haniger and Carlos Santana both struck out. The count was full, and instead of meeting the same fate as his previous two teammates, Raleigh turned on an off-speed pitch down in the zone and sent it into the right field bleachers.

The crowd at T-Mobile Park completely melted down. With this dinger, Seattle clinched a Wild Card spot in the American League, meaning the playoff field is now set. The Astros, Yankees, and Guardians all clinched their divisions, while the Blue Jays and Rays had previously secured Wild Card spots.

Right now, Donald Trump seems to be as cornered as he’s ever been, and when he thinks he’s screwed, that’s when he really lashes out. On Friday night, that’s what he did. While most people were out and about, he was on his rinky-dink Twitter clone, trashing Mitch McConnell, spewing both thinly veiled violent rhetoric and straight-up racism.

The former president’s latest meltdown came after his successor, Joe Biden, signed into law a bill that would avert a government shutdown, at least through mid-December, as well as one that sent aid to Ukraine amidst the Russian invasion.

“Is McConnell approving all of these trillions of dollars worth of Democrat-sponsored bills, without even the slightest bit of negotiation, because he hates Donald J. Trump, and he knows I am strongly opposed to them,” Trump steamed on Truth Social, “or is he doing it because he believes in the Fake and Highly Destructive Green New Deal, and is willing to take the country down with him?”

Trump then ramped things up. “He has a DEATH WISH,” he wrote. And if that weren’t enough, he threw in some racism as well: “Must immediately seek help and advise [sic] from his China loving wife, Coco Chow!”

It’s not the first time Trump has slammed Chao. In late August, he called her “crazy,” prompted an extremely brief response from her husband.

That Trump managed to cram violent rhetoric and bigotry into a mere two sentences did not go unnoticed, even from fellow conservatives.

And from others as well.

Others pointed out his typo.

Others pointed out that McConnell and Chao are responsible for Trump becoming president.

And some hated that Trump is such a menace that he can make people feel genuinely bad for them.

Trump’s “ridiculously” racist post comes mere days after various reports from New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman’s new tell-all about him, which included the claim that he liked to brag about not using the same toilet as his predecessor, Barack Obama.

Christian Bale is no stranger to franchise films. After all, he’s a superstar because of them. Once he hung up his Batsuit, he avoided them for ages, only to go and play a baddie for Marvel. He wouldn’t mind heading over to a very different series, but only if they’ll let him play an extremely specific character. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter (in a bit caught by Deadline), Bale was asked if he ever wanted to do a Star Wars film someday. He would, but with a caveat.

“All I ever wanted in Star Wars was to be in a Star Wars outfit and hit my head on a door or something as I walked through,” he said, referring to one of the most famous gaffes in the 1977 original. “The real nerds who watched Star Wars way too many times always knew about that one scene where the Stormtrooper hits his head on the door as he comes through. I wanted to be that guy. That was it.”

He made it clear he was joking, saying it would be a “delight” to do a role in a series he watched as a kid. “I’ve still got the figures from when I was little,” he admitted, then pointed out that he knows Star Wars honcho Kathleen Kennedy because she produced one of his first films, 1987’s Empire of the Sun, the harrowing Steven Spielberg film in which he played a young boy separated from his parents and forced to fend for himself during World War II.

The storm trooper muck-up is one of the more infamous bits from the original film, or indeed in the entire franchise. There was even a documentary about it, attempting — in vain — to locate the extra who screwed up so bad, but not bad enough that they didn’t make the final cut. You can watch the bit in the video below.

(Via THR and Deadline)

The spookiest month of the year gets its due on TV this month, even though House of the Dragon will likely still rule TV until its season finale. Whereas August and September were largely about epic fantasy on TV, though, October will bring us all of the vampires and zombies that one can desire on TV. As well, there are serial killers and ghosts, along with plenty of other supernatural influences, but if you’re not looking to be scared, then there are other options that will work for you.

Charlie Hunnam stars in a new odyssey-fueled series coming to Apple TV+, and Jennifer Coolidge returns as a boozy socialite in a social satire that became a surprise hit last year on HBO. And Netflix’s Big Mouth also returns for more adult-animated goodness, so you’ll have an assortment of different options to choose from before we officially head into holiday season. Here are the must-see shows for October.

The Walking Dead: Season 11B (AMC series streaming on AMC+ 10/2)

This O.G. AMC zombie-universe series is coming to a close after this batch of episodes, and after that happens, Maggie and Megan are apparently getting their own show, and Daryl Dixon will head into his spinoff, which happens to be in France or something. How will he travel across the pond to Europe, exactly? No one knows or, at least, no one is telling. He’s a bike rider out of water, and he’ll have to work on reinvention to survive, apparently. Daryl and Dog in berets, make it happen.

Interview With the Vampire: Season 1 (AMC series streaming on AMC+ 10/2)

You’ve surely seen the 1990s movie starring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Kirsten Dunst, and now, Anne Rice’s most popular gothic novel gets the small-screen adaptation. As the title suggests, Louis (Jacob Anderson of Game of Thrones) gives an interview to a journalist (Eric Bogosian), whose life will never be the same again. The same went for Louis once he encountered Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid), and then Claudia (Bailey Bass) rounded out their family. This series puts the added layer of Louis’ experience as a Black man in the 1900s, and the story’s still set in New Orleans while the trio traipses about at night, feeding urges while Louis wrestles with all of the guilt.

Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman’s Butler: Season 3 (HBO Max series streaming 10/6)

You may be surprised to learn that this show exists. Originally titled simply Pennyworth, this series moves from Epix to the DC Comics-troubled lands of HBO Max. And considering that most DC Comics sit in precarious waters these days, it’s worth watching how this transition goes and if it might spell trouble for genuinely good shows like Doom Patrol. The name change, ideally, will make people more interested than they were at this show’s old stomping grounds. It’s a spy thriller and follows Alfred before, you know, he became Batman’s butler and at a time when cultural revolution paved the way for a new age of heroes and villains.

The Midnight Club: Season 1 (Netflix series streaming 10/7)

Mike Flanagan might be the king of Halloween-streaming programming, given his success with The Haunting Of Hill House (and its followup), along with the more recent Midnight Mass. This series gears itself toward a younger crowd as it adapts Christopher Pike’s novel about a hospice for terminal teens. They form an organization devoted to telling scary stories at night, and there’s a twist: they all take a pact to send messages from the grave, if they go before the rest. Sadly, there will be no vampirish Hamish Linklater here, but hopefully, the show can do penance for this venial sin.

Conversations with a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes (Netflix documentary series streaming 10/7)

After Evan Peters starred in Netflix’s Monster, notorious cannibal/serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer gets a deep dive (from true-crime paradigm-shifter Joe Berlinger, who directed Zac Efron in Extremely Wicked; Shockingly Evil and Vile, among other grim stories, along with a Metallica documentary) that sources unearthed interviews, all tied up in a revolting bow that digs into the circumstances that allowed Dahmer to flourish as a prolific killer. You know, despite all of the tell-tale screams that emerged from his Wisconsin apartment. Close the blinds before you watch this one.

Let the Right One In: Season 1 (Showtime series debuting on 10/9 and streaming 10/7)

This series is inspired by the Tomas Alfredson-directed Swedish horror film along with the book and follows a father who must continue caring for his daughter after she gets transformed into a vamp. No macaroni and cheese will be on the dinner table, in other words, since her only form of sustenance is human blood. The show promises to turn genre expectations upon its head and take a naturalistic view of a terrifying situation.

Unsolved Mysteries: Volume 3 (Netflix series streaming 10/7)

This compelling revival returns while still leaving the narrator job unfilled (and that’s for the best) with new stories of persistently unexplained crimes and deaths. Some will be reality based, another possibly associated with the paranormal. The biggest thing to know here is that the Stranger Things producers hold onto the same vibe and spirit of the original, long-running show while also partnering with Cosgrove/Meurer Productions.

Shantaram: Season 1 (Apple TV+ series streaming 10/14)

Charlie Hunnam’s leaned into projects that run far and wide since his Sons of Anarchy days, but here, he’s a world away from Charming, California. He’s semi-similarly an outlaw, though, in this adaptation of Gregory David Roberts’ same-named book, which details the life of an Australian convict who flees from prison for a new life in India. This may or may not be a semi-autobiographical turn from Roberts himself, whose life experiences are incredibly similar. Hunnam’s character finds himself both enthralled and struggling to avoid the trouble that got him into prison in the first place. Then he meets an enigmatic woman, and life grows even more complicated. It happens!

Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities: Season 1 (Netflix series streaming 10/25)

The horror maestro unleashes an anthology series full of sinister tales, helmed by seasoned directors including Jennifer Kent (The Babadook). Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke adapts a story from H.P. Lovecraft, and other directors include Ana Lily Amirpour, Panos Cosmatos, Guillermo Navarro, David Prior, Vincenzo Natali, and Keith Thomas. It’s a fitting way to wrap up the witching season, so make it last forever.

Big Mouth: Season 6 (Netflix series streaming 10/28)

Nick Kroll and Andrew Goldberg’s popular adult-animated series continues to fill everyone in on how horrible it is for everyone to go through puberty. This season is largely about family, and hopefully, we’ll hear plenty of The Bear‘s Ayo Edebiri, who stepped into the Missy role after Jenny Slate departed due to a casting controversy. Hormone monsters and lovebugs never get old, and even though this show has plenty of gross-out potential, it’s also acclaimed. No one can be mad at that win-win situation.

The White Lotus: Season 2 (HBO series streaming on HBO Max 10/30)

This sleeper hit left limited series status and moved onto sequel production in short order. Jennifer Coolidge (as Tanya McQuoid) is the only returning cast member, so sadly, we won’t see Murray Bartlett’s Armond pooping in a suitcase for this installment. We will, however, get to see a new setting at an Italy resort, where there shall be the customary privileged vacationers and also “three generations of Italian American men traveling back to their ancestral country.” Jealousy will be a big theme, along with an examination of traditional masculinity and femininity myths. The new cast includes Theo James and Aubrey Plaza, who needs to awkwardly hold a Mai Tai.

Neil Young is teaming up with longtime collaborators Crazy Horse for a new album. Their latest effort, World Record, is set to arrive in November.

World Record follows a series of archived projects Young and Crazy Horse has released in recent months, including Toast, a shelved album from 2001 which finally saw the light of day this past May.

Their upcoming album was produced by Rick Rubin and recorded in Rubin’s Shangri-La studio in Malibu, according to a press statement.

Ahead of the album, Young and Crazy Horse have shared “Love Earth,” a breezy track examining the state of the world. In the song’s accompanying video, Young is seen walking through forests, taking in the nature around him. When he arrives to a lake, he is seen dipping his feet into the waters.

Check out the video for “Love Earth” above and the World Record tracklist and cover art below.

1. “Love Earth”
2. “Overhead”
3. “I Walk With You (Earth Ringtone)”
4. “This Old Planet (Changing Days)”
5. “The World (Is In Trouble Now)”
6. “Break The Chain”
7. “The Long Day Before”
8. “Walkin’ On The Road (to the future)”
9. “The Wonder Won’t Wait”
10. “Chevrolet”
11. “This Old Planet (Reprise)”

World Record is out 11/18 via Reprise Records. Pre-order it here.

European club soccer is back this weekend. After an international break that kept fans from waking up early on weekends and watching their teams take the pitch, the Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A, and all of the rest of the top leagues on the other side of the pond will resume play in the coming days. It marks the final break in the action before teams get a month-plus off for the World Cup in November and December.

No one is more excited about this, it appears, than Washington kicker Grady Gross. The Huskies are in Pasadena on Friday night to take on UCLA, and on their first drive of the night, they managed to get into the end zone to take an early lead. On the ensuing kickoff, this happened.

The good news for Gross is that VAR is apparently not working at the Rose Bowl on Friday night, so no one was sent to the monitor to assess this and give him a red card for a clear and obvious denial of a goal scoring opportunity by UCLA’s returner. The bad news is that this is still a penalty for tripping, and as a result, 15 yards were tacked onto the end of the return to set the Bruins up in Washington territory.

Comedian and actor Jaboukie Young-White is dabbling in the realm of music. And no, not just as producer Francois Boom from HBO Max’s hit series, Rap Sh!t. Today, he has released his debut single, “BBC.”

In this case, “BBC” may not stand for what you think it stands for. On the track, Jaboukie raps about his “bad b*tch coochie.”

“Tossin’ my salad like he toss a brewski / Got your man, ‘Oh my God, oh my God, J use me’ / D*ck game put him in a pew seat / Bad b*tch coochie,” he raps.

Jaboukie cut the groovy, dance-ready track in his apartment with the help of his brother.

“Bad b*tch coochie is a state of mind,” said Jaboukie in a statement. “I had a four on the floor kick, then my brother, Javeigh, laid a filthy, thumping bassline. I wanted the lyrics to reflect that cheeky and sleazy energy. I want this song to be a song you can’t help but dance to.”

In the song’s accompanying video, which also marks Jaboukie’s directorial debut, is seen strolling about town wearing a green suit, and also wearing a fuzzy sweater, thrusting and humping the air. The screen distorts throughout, creating a trippy, hypnotic effect.

Check out “BBC” above.

We are just weeks away from Taylor Swift‘s 10th studio album, Midnights. As of now, we don’t know much about the album, aside from the title of a few tracks, and the fact that Swift worked with Jack Antonoff on the album’s production. However, fans are anxious for the new era, and for Swift to tour with all the material she’s released during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Will Taylor Swift go on a stadium tour in 2023?

Since June 2020, Swift has released four bodies of work, including her eight and ninth studio albums, Folklore and Evermore, as well re-recordings of her albums, Fearless and Red. Each of the re-recorded albums contained re-recorded versions of the albums’ original tracks, as well as re-recordings of previously unreleased tracks recorded during those times. Midnights will mark the fifth project Swift has released over the course of two years, and since she hasn’t toured since 2017, its safe to say that the set list for the Midnights tour will be extensive. Especially because her planned series of festivals for her seventh album, Lover, was cancelled due to COVID.

According to a report by Daily Mail, the Hits Double Daily Twitter account shared, then deleted, a post saying that Swift is supposedly planning a “massive” stadium tour next year.

Though Swift has not confirmed a tour, Swifties are already certain the pop star will make an announcement soon.

“Why do some of you not believe that global superstar Taylor Swift would announce a massive stadium tour for 2023,” said one Twitter user, “months after releasing a new album, after she hasn’t toured in five years? It literally makes more sense than ever!!!”

Midnights is out 10/21 via Republic. Pre-order it here.

Poker can be a silly game. Much like that one Fort Minor song, luck and skill often come together to create names that folks remember forever, but of course, you can get the best of someone by getting really, really lucky. In fact, there are times when a player can be so brave, so daring, that you can’t help but think something is going on.

I say all of that to say this: My friends, we have a good ol fashion poker cheating scandal. Here is the video at the center of everything. It features Garrett Adelstein, who has an 8 and a 7 of clubs, going head-to-head with Robbi Jade Lew, who has a Jack-4 offsuit, during a Hustler Casino Live stream. Things start out innocently enough — Adelstein raises pre-flop, Lew calls, Lew gets a whole lot of nothing on the flop, and then, they go from 0-to-60 really, really quickly.

Adelstein has a straight flush draw and a gigantic chip advantage, so his decision to be ultra-aggressive after the turn and bet $10,000 makes some sense. Lew, meanwhile, is technically ahead with a Jack high, but she has considerably less money and decides to raise to $20,000, so Adelstein tries to drop the hammer and go all-in … only for Lew to call and eventually win the hand with nothing more than her Jack.

You can hear on the stream that the broadcaster cannot believe what he is seeing, nor can Adelstein when Lew turns her cards over — she straight up says that “you like like you wanna kill me” several times. The two discussed after the hand, with Adelstein saying he didn’t understand what was going on. Here’s what happened after, per the New York Post:

After the two had a private conversation, Lew gave Adelstein the money back from the hand. Why did she do that?

“I said that I wanted minimal destruction and asked, ‘What is going to make you happy?’” Lew told the table. “He said, ‘To give me my money back.’”

She then claimed that she misread the three — the turn card — thinking that it gave her a low pair against what she believed was a bluff. She said that she thought she had jack-three.

Lew said that she would “win the money back” that she gave Adelstein and “I’m not gonna deal with drama.”

Things eventually spilled over to Twitter, where Adelstein posted several tweets and a lengthy note to explain his side of things, while Lew claimed that Adelstein “cornered me & threatened me” and challenged him to a heads-up game so “whole world can watch me read you all day.”

In the aftermath, Hustler Casino Live put out a statement saying that while they “are extremely confident in our game security,” they will investigate the allegations of cheating, writing that “we will be looking into every aspect of this incident before putting out the results of our findings.”

While Adelstein tweeted out a video that includes a summary of the events that lead him to believe something strange happened here, Daniel Negreanu, one of the greatest players of all time, expressed his belief that Lew didn’t do anything sketchy beyond finding herself in an “I’m calling the bully situation.” Regardless, unless there is some sort of smoking gun, it is very hard to see allegations of cheating can be proven beyond any reasonable doubt.