Year: 2022

Let’s get this out of the way: It looks Dune might be Dune it for a third time. (That was completely unavoidable. We’re so sorry.) While a sequel, Dune: Part Two, was confirmed in October and is reportedly looking to add Florence Pugh to the cast, screenwriter Jon Spaihts has revealed that he and director Denis Villeneuve have been “talking seriously” about a third film. In a new interview, Spaihts shared that the two are looking to adapt the second book in the Dune series, Dune: Messiah, as a potential conclusion to the film trilogy.

Via The Playlist:

Dune Messiah is a very interesting book, which in some ways, deconstructs Dune and plays as a cautionary tale, even more than Dune does, about the dangers of blending religion and politics, the hazards of following charismatic leaders, and the dangerous struggle that’s always alive between the individual and institutions.

Of course, that still leaves five more books left to adapt, and according to Spaihts, the franchise is definitely looking to expand beyond more than just the planned HBO Max spinoff, Dune: The Sisterhood, and the potential Villeneuve trilogy. In fact, that expansion is the reason Spaihts is no longer working on Sisterhood.

“I ended up getting moved off of it to work, not just on Dune: Part Two, but to investigate other cinematic prospects in the Dune universe, which we are still talking about and which, again, I’m not allowed to say very much about,” Spaihts said. “But it is a very rich world in which to play.”

If you’re thinking we’re about to say, “Wow, let’s hope they’re not Dune too much here,” well, yeah. You can’t just expect us to ignore an obvious concern. That’s crazy talk.

(Via The Playlist)

Donald Trump‘s claims to understanding “The Art of the Deal” may be shaky, but he definitely has perfected “The Art of the Dodge.” In just the past 48 hours alone, he has abruptly sidestepped a conversation about the future of Ukraine to rant and rave about his well-known disdain for windmills. And when Sean Hannity gave the former president the chance to walk back all the glowing things he has had to say about Vladimir Putin over the years, Trump just changed the subject. Sort of.

As Raw Story reports, Trump called into Hannity’s show on Thursday night, where the Fox News host seemed desperate to help his pal re-gain some semblance of patriotism and admit that, yes, Russia’s unhinged president is indeed “evil.” In fact, Hannity put the question to him in such a way that all Trump needed to do was say “yes” or “no.” Instead, we got a whole lot of bullshit.

“You came under some fire when you said Vladimir Putin’s very smart,” Hannity said, winding up to give Trump a quick out. “I think I know you a little bit better than most people in the media, and I think you also recognize he’s evil, do you not?”

Trump’s response, however, sounded like it was the answer to an entirely different question:

“Well I was referring to the fact that he said this is an independent nation. This was before there was any attack! He’s calling it an independent nation! Now, a lot of things are changing, now look, this doesn’t seem to be the same Putin I was dealing with! But I will tell you, he wouldn’t have changed if I were dealing with him, he wouldn’t have changed!”

None of which is an answer to a very simple question. You can watch for yourself below:

(Via Raw Story)

Less than ten minutes into the first episode of The Dropout, an 18-year old Elizabeth Holmes dances to “I’m in a Hurry (And Don’t Know Why)” by Alabama in her bedroom. The dance begins innocently with the running man move, and a poster of Steve Jobs in between two Macbook desktop computers is in the frame. As Elizabeth starts dancing toward the Steve Jobs poster, her face tenses up, her eyes bulge, and her movements get slightly more seductive, creepy, almost sinister. Her eyes get even brighter and her mouth tenses up as she manically reaches toward Jobs with her hands. Every teenager has had a comparable experience, albeit in front of a sexier poster and to a sexier song. For me, it was a Josh Hartnett poster, and the song was probably by Britney Spears (and I was not thinking about an invention that would make me famous and simultaneously change the world). This scene establishes everything we need to know about Elizabeth Holmes at that moment and about who she will become: the Theranos CEO who would go on to defraud investors and lie to patients about their health for years. This moment represents actress Amanda Seyfried’s ability to capture Elizabeth Holmes’s peculiarity and her eerie, dangerous ambition to, in the words of Alabama, “get things done.” Seyfried’s performance in this scene is so much more than just a silly glimpse at the life of a nerdy teen in the early 2000s: it’s a portrait of a person who will do anything to emulate their hero.

Amanda Seyfried is one of the most underrated actors of her generation. Seyfried’s breakout role as Karen Smith, the simpleminded “Plastic” from 2004’s Mean Girls is still, after all this time, the role she is most associated with generally today. The role is synonymous with Seyfried for good reason. It is the best performance in the movie both for her physical comedy (“my breasts can tell when it’s already raining”) and for the way she says Taco Bell. Since Mean Girls, Seyfried has expanded her profile with a wide range of roles in a variety of projects with prominent filmmakers and writers including HBO’s family drama Big Love, a lead in Diablo Cody’s Jennifer’s Body, Cosette in Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables (one of the film’s only good performances) and a major role in 2008’s Mamma Mia and the 2018 sequel Mamma Mia Here We Go Again, in which she starred opposite Meryl Streep.

Seyfried’s filmography is stacked and consistent, but she’s never celebrated as much as some of her peers, including Mean Girls co-star Rachel McAdams (also an underrated actress in her own right who got on the awards track sooner than Seyfried). In late 2020 when David Fincher’s Mank came out on Netflix, Seyfried gained some loyal fans dedicated to campaigning for her performance as actress Marion Davies. While Seyfried received an Oscar nomination, she was never one of the frontrunners and her performance never dominated the conversation. Mank was more about the story behind it: both the story of the making of Citizen Kane and the story of the film itself, which was written by Fincher’s late father. As a result, Seyfried’s performance took a backseat since it wasn’t the splashiest Mank narrative. After a long, interesting, wide-ranging career, The Dropout is finally giving Amanda Seyfried her due.

Initially, the role of Elizabeth Homes wasn’t even Seyfried’s. Kate McKinnon of Saturday Night Live was originally supposed to play the character on The Dropout but dropped out (yes I see the irony here) in early 2021. No reason was cited for McKinnon’s departure, but she can be seen as Carole Baskin in Peacock’s Joe vs Carole, which premiered the same day as The Dropout.

Seyfried’s performance as Elizabeth Holmes indicates that she was meant to do this and that no one else should do it (ahem, Adam McKay, whose feature film Bad Blood starring Jennifer Lawrence as Elizabeth Holmes has been in development since 2016). The Dropout opens with Holmes giving a deposition in 2017. While recognizable, her performative image is completely stripped away, disheveled. In lieu of her signature Steve Jobs-inspired black turtleneck, black eyeliner, and red lipstick, Holmes wears a light blue button-down blouse and no makeup. Her confident, condescending demeanor is still lurking underneath, but it’s only a fraction of what it once was. Then the episode flashes back to Holmes’ childhood. Through facial expressions, body language, that signature fake deep voice and the Steve Jobs dance (and in just the first few minutes of the series’ first episode) Amanda Seyfried conveys the emotional journey of a woman who went from corrupt innocence to completely corrupt.

Seyfried’s sharp emotional intelligence in her approach to the role becomes more obvious as Elizabeth Holmes gets deeper into her CEO persona as The Dropout goes on (new episodes drop on Hulu every Thursday). As the series goes on, as Theranos grows, and as Holmes gets more tangled in her lies, Holmes becomes more selfish and disturbing but as Seyfried portrays it, more like herself. In every aspect of the performance, Seyfried went for interpretation instead of impression, which is why her version of that baritone voice we all know so well works so well. But most vitally, Seyfried is playing Elizabeth Holmes the way Elizabeth Holmes was meant to be played: without judgment, but without too much empathy, either.

Sure, spring signals warmer temperatures, an influx of rooftop parties, and tropical travel plans. But it also trumpets the start of festival season. And in Southern California, it’s never too early to get your body moving.

To help kick off the next few months of festivals across the U.S. and beyond, CRSSD Fest hosted its annual event at the Waterfront Park in San Diego this past weekend. While the lineup alone got us pumped — performers included Sofi Tucker, SG Lewis, Blu DeTiger, Glass Animals, Gorgon City, Cautious Clay, Parcels, and tons more — its the way the crowd truly showed up that has us excited for all of the live music and dance parties to come. Fans brought the good vibes and head-turning outfits tenfold.

It’s safe to say there was no shortage of glitter, fur, and neon ensembles last weekend. If you’re anxiously awaiting your next festival and still don’t know what to wear, let the slew of out-there and on-trend outfits below inspire you.

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Alec Baldwin’s been speaking out of court lately, more specifically, at a Colorado film festival where he suggested that Rust plaintiffs are suing the most deep-pocketed defendants possible. This, unfortunately, sounded like Baldwin was shading the husband of Halyna Hutchens, who was killed by a firearm held by Baldwin, even though he insists that he didn’t fire the gun. It wasn’t the wisest move for Alec to be so public with his arguments about plaintiff interests while also named as a defendant (given that he’s a Rust producer in addition to acting in the film), but Alec’s moving in on the court, too.

New court documents posted by Deadline reveal how Baldwin’s attorneys submitted 37 pages in an effort to clear him of financial responsibility. Sections 35-36 of the document assert that Baldwin’s Rust contract granted him “a tie-break on all creative decisions” and matters of budget, but he had “no independent authority to make hiring decisions” on the film. In turn, the attorneys argue, he shouldn’t be responsible for crew members’ negligence. It’s getting uglier, but the gist is that Alec is wants to make sure that someone pays for Halyna’s death, but it shouldn’t be him:

Halyna Hutchens’ death is an unthinkable tragedy. Perhaps billions of rounds have been fired from guns on film and television sets over the past 75 years, without incident. Only a few — in the single digits — have resulted in fatal injury. That’s because crew members generally do their job to ensure that live rounds don’t end up in guns being fired by actors on movie sets. This is a rare instance when the system broke down, and someone should be held culpable for the tragic consequences. That person is not Alec Baldwin.

Then there’s some contentious language (a lot, actually), in which Alec’s accusing Matt Hutchins of digging too hard for money and rejecting a settlement offer. At first, the court documents claim, Hutchins described the “proposed settlement” as “interesting,” but later on, “Hutchins sounded less open-minded.”

This change of heart, Baldwin claims, caused Alec to lose hope for “plans to complete Rust and to channel its proceeds into a fund for Hutchins’s and his son’s benefit,” which Baldwin asserts “have unfortunately broken down as a result of the lawsuit and these public statements.” It sounds like Alec wasn’t thrilled that Matt Hutchins accused him of trying to offload blame to other parties during an ABC News interview, which was a very public declaration in and of itself. Following that interview, Matt Hutchins admitted that he was “just so angry to see him talk about her death so publicly in such a detailed way and then to not accept any responsibility after having just described killing her.”

(Via Deadline)

If Denzel Washington wasn’t one of the greatest living actors (a big “if,” I realize), he would still be able to make a solid living as a storyteller. I could listen to that guy read the proverbial phonebook. Or the actual phonebook if my name is in it. Only Denzel Washington could make the last name “Kurp” sound cool.

The two-time Oscar-winning actor was the special guest on the Desus & Mero season four premiere, and it’s an absolute delight. If you can set aside 23 minutes and 8 seconds during your lunch break today, I recommend clicking play on the video above. Topics covered include: the 2 train, pizza, The Tragedy of Macbeth (for which he’s up for Best Actor), how he prepares for his roles, if Best Buy still sells VCRs, Training Day, and what he’s learned after decades in the industry.

“One of the most important lessons in life that you should know is to remember to have an attitude of gratitude, of humility, understand where the gift comes from. “It’s not mine, it’s been given to me by the grace of God. Use what I have, use what you have, to help others,” he said.

It’s the kind of interview where you can fast forward to any point in the video, and be charmed with whatever Desus, Mero, and Denzel are talking about. Blessed.

It’s hard to tell when Robert Pattinson is lying is during interviews. OK, sometimes it’s easy, like when the chaotic quarantine king was promoting Water for Elephants (a movie we all remember and still quote to this day) on the Today show and said that “one of the clowns died” the first time he went to the circus. But other times, it’s a 50/50 tossup.

Take, for instance, a recent interview with Brut México where Pattinson was asked to name his favorite Batman villain. He didn’t go with Joker, or Riddler, or Mr. Freeze. Instead, The Batman star picked Condiment King, who made his DC debut in Batman: The Animated Series. I could explain what Condiment King’s “deal” is (it’s not hard to guess), but I’ll let Pattinson do it.

“There’s a bad guy in the animated series called Condiment King. I just think it’s the greatest idea. It’s a guy who sprays mustard and ketchup at people, and I just think it’s such a great idea for a bad guy,” he said. Is he lying, or 100 percent serious? I can’t tell.

You be the judge:

The one thing I know for sure: you should watch the Condiment King episodes of Harley Quinn. And every episode of Harley Quinn. It’s a good show. And unlike Pattinson, you don’t have to worry about whether I’m telling the truth. I would never lie about my love of Bane.

(Via CBR)

Billie Eilish and Finneas are one of music’s best songwriting duos and now they’ve applied their talents to the world of animation: They penned tunes for 4*Town, a fictional ’00s boyband from the Disney-Pixar movie Turning Red. They shared one of the tracks, “Nobody Like U,” last month, and now another one has dropped, “1 True Love.” While the previous song was an era-appropriate pop banger, the new one goes in more of an emotional ballad direction.

In a “featurette” video Pixar shared recently, Finneas said, “When we got approached about this project, we leapt at the opportunity.” Eilish added, “It’s literally been the most fun we’ve had writing.” Finneas also described his and Eilish’s work on the movie as “songs in the style of [an] early ’00s boyband.” He continued, “It’s the really catchy melody and harmonies and claps and choreography. […] The main ingredient in these boybands is these young, hearthrob-y teens that kids fall in love with.”

Eilish added, “Mei and her friends’ passion for 4*Town, it really resonated with me just because I was the same. So accurate of how it feels when you’re that kind of fan. […] There’s this bond that you have people that feel the same. I just… I love the film.”

Listen to “1 True Love” above.

Although it may not always seem that way, Cardi B has always been a pretty strong proponent of education. The self-professed history and politics buff often weighs in matters of education and current events, whether that’s congratulating her “WAP” collaborator Megan Thee Stallion for graduating from college or offering her empathetic thoughts on the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Cardi’s often got a take and it’s usually the right one, siding with the rights of the people and reflecting widespread opinions on social justice.

She’s rarely at a loss for words but came close when she encountered a video on Twitter purporting to explain why the US is facing a shortage of qualified teachers. In the video, which the original poster claims was shot at a middle school in a Dallas suburb, a teacher can be seen ducking a flying chair that was apparently propelled by one of his students. Cardi was “disgusted” by the video, responding, “This generation is really lost… I went to school wit a lot of gangstas and no matter what they never put their hands on a teacher. Kids this is not respected, not cool, not funny, not tough, not gangsta.” You can see the video below.

Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Is there anything she can’t do? The Wordle God herself, Lucy Dacus, has once again guessed the right word on the first try. Surely, our first response is to call shenanigans on this accomplishment. After all, it’s very easy to cheat in our holy word game of the moment. All you have to do is ask someone who has already played that day’s word. But not Dacus. She would never cheat! Dacus addressed any potential naysayers and gave some insight to her Wordle methodology, while raising the possibility that perhaps there’s something seriously spooky going on here.

“Haters will say it’s fake,” she tweeted “But I feel crazy this happened a second time, I just pick random first words (other than tenor half the time), it’s starting to have an ominous feeling to me, like what message is some internet demon trying to send.”

Is Lucy Dacus some type of Wordle medium? Is a higher power trying to channel incredibly complex messages about the meaning of life via one word puzzles to Dacus? The first time this happened, was on February 22nd’s Wordle 248, when Dacus correctly guessed the word “thorn” on the first try and tweeted, “sorry to be this guy I truly am sorry but !!!”

Spoiler alert: Today’s Wordle word is below, so stop reading if you don’t want to know what it is.

This is your last chance to turn back.

Today’s Wordle 264 word was ‘watch.’ Maybe this internet demon is building a zodiac killer cryptogram. “Watch the thorns” really does sound like the name of the next Jay-Z and Kanye West album. But is there more?? In the meantime, we’ll be starting all future Wordle’s with the word “tenor.” Oh, and if you’re getting 5/6 or 6/6, maybe don’t share those scores with Vince Staples.