Month: December 2022

After dominating the Sundance Film Festival with Reservoir Dogs, Quentin Tarantino quickly got to work onto his next project, and arguably, the film that truly put him on the map: Pulp Fiction. While the film would end up having a jam-packed cast full of A-list talent, Tarantino recently revealed that he was very particular about the casting and was willing to go to war with the studio despite being a relatively unknown filmmaker at the time.

During a recent appearance on the 2 Bears, 1 Cave podcast, Tarantino recalled a battle with one executive who was adamant about casting Johnny Depp in Pulp Fiction. According to Tarantino, the exec wanted Depp in the role of Pumpkin, the diner bandit who would share a memorable scene with Samuel L. Jackson to cap off the film.

As Tarantino tells it, Tim Roth was always his first choice followed by Christian Slater as a backup. However, the studio exec wanted to go straight to Depp, and Tarantino wasn’t having it. Via NME:

The director went on to reveal that when he put forward his names, the studio questioned why he wanted Roth over Depp for the role, and would not offer Roth the role until others had turned it down.

In response, Tarantino asked them: “‘Do you think Johnny Depp playing the role of Pumpkin in this movie, which is the opening scene and the closing scene that’s it, do you think that will add that much to the box office?’”

Obviously, Tarantino got his way. The role of Pumpkin went to Roth, and Pulp Fiction went on to rack up a laundry list of Oscar noms including Best Picture and Best Director, so it sure seems like this Quentin guy knows what he’s doing.

(Via NME)

This past weekend, several Bad Bunny fans were denied entry into his Mexico City shows on December 9 and 10. Several customers claimed they purchased tickets through Ticketmaster, but were turned away at entry. Following the fiasco, Ticketmaster issued a statement via social media, denying an oversell of tickets and claiming that the fans had actually purchased counterfeits.

“As has been reported, on Friday an unprecedented number of fake tickets were presented at the entrance of [Estadio Azteca], purchased outside our official channels,” said Ticketmaster. “In addition to causing confusion among entrance officials, this situation generated a malfunction in our system, which for moments at a time, couldn’t properly identify legitimate tickets. It’s important to underscore that there was no oversale of tickets. Ticketmaster took the technological and logistical measures needed to ensure what happened on Friday would not happen on Saturday.”

Over 1,600 fans were turned away on the December 9 show, and 100 fans were turned away the following night. According to a report from Billboard, Mexico’s Federal Attorney’s Office for Consumers (PROFECO) conducted an investigation, which concluded that several of the counterfeit tickets were purchased through legitimate channels.

The events occurred just weeks after Taylor Swift fans filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster after a disastrous presale for her Eras tour.

If only Jack Dawson had Kate Winslet’s breath-holding ability. Then maybe the whole door drama never would have happened.

The Avatar: The Way of Water actress is “very proud” that she broke Tom Cruise’s record for “longest [underwater] breath hold” at 7 minutes and 14 seconds. “I have the video of me surfacing saying, ‘Am I dead, have I died?’ And then going, ‘What was [my time]?’ Straight away I wanted to know my time,” she told Total Film. “I couldn’t believe it. The next thing I say is, ‘We need to radio set. I wanted Jim to know right away.”

“Jim” is, of course, James Cameron, who she previously worked with on Titanic. “He’s just a really different person,” Winslet replied when asked about Cameron then vs. now. “Hopefully, we both are. A huge chunk of time has gone by… You know, people say it was 25 years since Titanic. It’s not! It’s 27 years for us, you know, I turned 21 on that film, I’m 47. It’s a long time ago.” She also revealed the “biggest challenge” while filming Avatar: The Way of Water, y’know, outside of holding her breath for seven minutes.

“The biggest challenge was something people really wouldn’t imagine – it was fitting into this world and yet appearing to have always been there. That was the hardest part. Because these actors, they created these characters in this universe 13 years ago.”

Avatar: The Way of Water opens on December 16.

(Via Total Film)

The NBA has been steadily updating its awards lineup, finding ways to pay tribute to some of the game’s legends in the process. Recently the league renamed the Finals MVP award for Bill Russell, the NBA All-Star MVP award for Kobe Bryant, the Eastern Conference title for Bob Cousy, the Western Conference title for Oscar Robertson, East MVP award for Larry Bird, and West MVP award for Magic Johnson.

That was just the beginning, though, as on Tuesday the league announced the new names for its regular season awards, along with new trophy designs, headlined by the Michael Jordan Trophy for the NBA MVP.

The rest of the awards are in the style of crystal vases, with the Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy for the Defensive Player of the Year, the Wilt Chamberlain Trophy for Rookie of the Year, the John Havlicek Trophy for Sixth Man of the Year, George Mikan Trophy for Most Improved Player, and a new Jerry West Trophy for Most Clutch Player. The West award will be voted on by the media like the others, but nominees will be compiled by NBA head coaches.

While the new trophy designs will surely be met with some pushback, it’s good of the league to try and make sure they honor the legends of the game in this manner. Highlighting the best players the NBA has seen through individual and team honors is a great way to keep their legacies alive and introduce other generations to their accomplishments.

Hmm, the man who portrays Joe Goldberg on You is dancing on TikTok. That sounds like the perfect cover for murder.

This was my first thought after spotting a newly viral TikTok video, in which former Gossip Girl ensemble dude Penn Badgley pulls the unlikely move of shimmying alongside pop star Meghan Trainor. What gives?

This isn’t a promotional bit for Badgley’s upcoming Netflix return, although that would be great. Rather, Trainor appeared on an episode of Badgley’s hormone-involved Podcrushed podcast. Her appearance will formally surface on December 21, and I’ll be interested to learn more about how this episode came together. And why the pair decided to dance to one of Trainor’s own songs rather than something a little more neutral. I mean, she has a clear advantage over Penn, but he still works it to a degree.

From there, Badgheads (I’m sorry, really) can look forward to Season 4 of You, which has already released a motion poster that made the leading man feel “icky.” Joe Goldberg is in London now, baby, and he’s attempting to keep a low profile as a university professor. I think you can guess how well that goal goes.

Season 4 will be split into two halves with the first landing on Feb. 10 and the second on March 10.

When it rains, it pours, but for DaBaby, it seems like he’s stuck in a never-ending hurricane. Since his infamous comments at Rolling Loud back in 2021, the “Bop” rapper hasn’t caught a break. Not only did his latest album, Baby On Baby 2, perform poorly on Billboard‘s Hot 100 charts, but the Charlotte native also became the butt of several online jokes due to his show’s lack of ticket sales.

Now, according to TMZ, one of his most popular songs, “Rockstar,” featuring Roddy Ricch, is the subject of a new lawsuit. Producer JuJu Beatz allegedly opened the copyright enrichment case in which JuJu claims DaBaby stole the song’s beat from him under the cloak of sampling.

The documents reveal JuJu initially sent the beat in a digital file to the rapper’s team in 2019. Someone on his team with access to the file opened the instrumental more than 40 times between when it was initially sent and when the song was released in April 2020.

Lastly, JuJu claims while the rapper racked up millions of dollars in profit from the song, he was not compensated for his unauthorized contribution. JuJu told the courts he has attempted to settle this dispute with the rapper privately, but DaBaby refuses to “cooperate or accept responsibility for blatant and willful copyright infringement.”

Due to DaBaby’s dismissal of the JuJu’s outreach attempts, Roddy Ricch, who is featured on the track, and several others involved in the song’s production have now been named as co-defendants.

Mariah Carey’s classic holiday hit “All I Want For Christmas Is You” has hit No. 1 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart for the fourth holiday season in a row — replacing the several-week record held by Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero.” Carey celebrated with an extravagant breakfast and nothing but great energy ahead of her concert at NYC’s Madison Square Garden tonight. Nothing can keep the supposed Queen Of Christmas down.

“YAYYYYYYY!!!!,” Carey shared on Twitter, complete with a number of party-themed emojis. “Such an amazing surprise and an early Christmas gift!!! Thank you so much!!! Can’t wait to see you tomorrow [December 13] at MSG and celebrate together!!!!”

In addition to expanding her chart record, Carey started the festivities early this year, including by performing the song with Santa Claus during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

“Christmas is for all and I just happen to actually really love Christmas, because I grew up and I had kind of a tough childhood, and I always wanted Christmas to be perfect, and it never was. And so then when I was able to provide myself and my friends, and then later, now my kids who are 11 — hi, ‘Roc and ‘Roe — we have the most festive Christmas ever,” she shared during a recent appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

“It’s actually authentic and it came from a place of longing to have some normalcy and some, you know, peace and… just a lovely holiday, and somehow, someone would be throwing mustard at somebody else, or ketchup or whatever. So I went through that, and now, it’s just… I wait for it all year long. So it is actually a real thing,” Carey added.

Mississippi State football coach Mike Leach died late Monday night at University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson after suffering a heart attack at his home on Sunday.

The school released an official announcement of his passing on Tuesday morning, including a statement from the Leach family thanking the football world for their support over the past two days.

In a statement, the Leach family said: “Mike was a giving and attentive husband, father and grandfather. He was able to participate in organ donation at UMMC as a final act of charity. We are supported and uplifted by the outpouring of love and prayers from family, friends, Mississippi State University, the hospital staff, and football fans around the world. Thank you for sharing in the joy of our beloved husband and father’s life.”

It is a major loss for the college football world, as Leach was one of the biggest offensive influences in football having developed the Air Raid offense with Hal Mumme in 1989, eventually bringing that offense to the forefront in the late 90s as the offensive coordinator at Kentucky and then Oklahoma. Leach spent 10 seasons at Texas Tech, eight at Washington State, and the last three at Mississippi State, compiling a 158-107 career record as a head coach, including 19 bowl appearances.

Many of Leach’s former assistants are now head coaches, including Lincoln Riley, Kliff Kingsbury, Dana Holgorsen, Sonny Dykes, and Dave Aranda, and after news of his death was made official, many coaches and players around college football offered remembrances of the coach that was such an influence on the sport.

Young Thug has been incarcerated since May, awaiting trial in January for alleged violations of Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) Act. That didn’t stop the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office from adding new charges to the list of accusations against him. Now, according to local news, he’s been charged with street racing, of all things, after allegedly driving at 120 mph on Interstate 85 in May. The charge is grouped with additional counts of speeding and reckless driving, all misdemeanors.

Thug’s attorney, Brian Steel, called the accusations unjust, pointing out, “As of two weeks ago, that case was being resolved with a seatbelt violation. Today, it’s indicted in the Fulton County Superior Court. He is being wronged by our system.”

Young Thug, along with Gunna and 27 others, was indicted in May on 56 counts, including drug and gun charges, with additional counts added after the search of Thug’s Atlanta home. Observers have called the entire case an unjust publicity stunt, considering the only thing allegedly tying the rappers to any gang activity were mentions of “YSL” in their lyrics — both the acronym for Thug’s label, to which Gunna is signed, and the alleged criminal conspiracy.

The DA’s case has been criticized for relying on lyrics, with some calling it outright racist, while both Thug and Gunna have been denied bond no fewer than four times. The case is scheduled to begin on January 5, 2023.

Young Thug is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

While the much-talked about “Red Wave” that the GOP was talking about for months ahead of the 2022 midterms never came to be, enough unhinged Republicans managed to keep their seats that it almost doesn’t matter. And by “enough,” we mean Marjorie Taylor Greene who, even by Marjorie Taylor Greene’s standards, really managed to outdo herself over the weekend when she spoke to the New York Virgins Young Republicans Club.

In addition to ranting about how easy it was to find butt plugs and dildos at the nearest CVS or Target — which likely had more than one member of the crowd Googling where the nearest CVS was located — Greene also took the opportunity to deny that she had any involvement in the events of January 6th by bragging about how good she’d be at overthrowing democracy. Seth Meyers gave a recap of her inane babbling on Monday night’s show.

The way Meyers see it, even though the results of the midterms clearly showed that “Trump’s routine” is no longer working with many voters, “some of the GOP’s most prominent politicians are still leaning further in the direction of MAGA extremism after it was rejected by voters.” Case in point: Queen Space Lasers herself. In addition to mentioning her obsession with the wide availability of sex toys (because, how couldn’t he?), Meyers was more concerned with the fact that “this person” is actually going to have power in our government. “GOP leader Kevin McCarthy has essentially made a pact with Greene and other extremists to keep them happy and let them run wild in exchange for their votes,” Meyers explained. This will include allowing Greene to serve on committees again, a privilege which she was previously barred from after what Meyers described as “a series of bigoted and inflammatory remarks.”

But if you think MTG 2.0 is a kinder, gentler sort of Republican, think again. Because, as Meyers explained, the butt plug banter was just small talk:

She also joked that if she and Trump ally Steve Bannon, who was also present at the event, had been in charge of the attempt to overturn the election results on January 6th, they would’ve won — because they would have had weapons…

You see, the joke is that conservatives are such blood-thirsty psychopaths, if they had actually planned the insurrection on the Capitol, it would have been way more violent. That’s like if Holiday Inn ran an ad that said, ‘If White Lotus took place here, more people would have died.’

You can watch the full clip beginning around the 6:50 mark.