Month: March 2023

In a surprising turn of events, Sufjan Stevens‘ 2005 conceptual album, Illinois, is heading to the stage. The musical adaptation, which includes Stevens’ tunes and a script from Justin Peck and Jackie Sibblies Drury, will premiere this summer at Bard College’s Fisher Center in New York, in honor of the school’s 20th-anniversary celebrations.

“Featuring new arrangements of the entire album for a live band and three voices — ranging in style from DIY folk and indie rock to marching band and ambient electronics — Illinois will lead us on a mighty journey through the American heartland, from campfire storytelling to the edges of the cosmos,” the synopsis for the musical said, according to NME.

“Tony Award-winner Justin Peck transforms the album into a full-length theatrical performance with a cast of virtuosic dancers, singers, and musicians in a narrative crafted with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury,” it adds.

Interestingly enough, Stevens posted on social media back in 2021 that he wasn’t a fan of musicals. “Please stop singing and dancing,” he wrote on Tumblr. As for other news, he’s set to appear on The National’s upcoming album, with a collaboration titled “Once Upon A Poolside.”

Performances of the Illinois-inspired musical will run from June 23 to July 2. More information is available here.

Ahead of The 1975‘s stint as the musical guest on tonight’s Saturday Night Live episode, the band dropped a video titled “A Theatrical Performance Of An Intimate Moment.” It which finds lead singer Matty Healy wandering around NYC in a semi-sarcastic, B&W film style.

The video starts with Healy waking up in bed before he wanders into the bathroom with very minimal clothes on. After getting dressed, he rehearses how he plans to talk to the fans he encounters throughout the day. “You wanna take it? Or want me to take it?” he repeats, so he knows what to say when they want pictures, as well as how he wants to hug and smile.

“Nice to meet you,” Healy adds to himself. “I know, I’m a lot taller than people say.”

As he walks through lower Manhattan and the park, seemingly without the rest of the band, Healy is frequently stopped by young female fans looking to take selfies. After heading back, Healy works out alone and takes a smoke break.

Healy also FaceTimes with an unknown person who gives Healy advice about the SNL appearance. “All your songs work,” the voice says. “Don’t be nice,” he replies. “Just tell me what to do.” The person jokingly suggests that The 1975 should play a Coldplay song.

Towards the end, the band’s collaborator, Jack Antonoff, makes an appearance, as he and Healy discuss the differences between their short film releases.

“I feel like yours is more like Bukowski,” Antonoff tells Healy. “There’s a little bit more nihilism in yours.”

Check out The 1975’s artsy new short film above.

On Friday, the unthinkable happened: Silicon Valley Bank crumbled in a mere 48 hours, prompting federal regulators to take it over. The institution, which was launched in 1983, was a go-to for tech start-ups, and numerous companies now have money being held in limbo, maybe never to return. One of those companies, who have a horrifying amount of money tied up there, is perhaps the most popular gizmo for streamers.

As per CNN, Roku had approximately $487 million of its $1.9 billion stored in the now-shuttered bank. That’s about 26% of its cash.

“The company’s deposits with SVB are largely uninsured,” Roku said in a grim statement. “At this time, the company does not know to what extent the company will be able to recover its cash on deposit at SVB.”

That doesn’t mean Roku will suddenly stop working on the nation’s TV sets. They said they have enough cash flow to “meet its working capital, capital expenditures, and material cash requirements from known contractual obligations for the next twelve months and beyond.”

Roku isn’t the only company with SVB money may no longer exist. Roblox, the video game company, had a comparatively low 3% of its $3 billion income tied up there, while the aerospace manufacturer Rocket Lab had 8% invested in SVB. Meanwhile, crypto lender BlockFi held $227 million, all of it uninsured, there as well. It’s another sign not to listen to Jim Cramer for financial advice.

(Via CNN)

Stranger Things will only have five seasons when it ends but it’s been around for ages. The Netflix smash first started filming almost nine years ago, which is a long time to stick for actors to stick with characters, even in the age of endless franchises. Sure enough, some of its actors are not only totally fine with it finally ending but almost relieved. David Harbour recently spoke about being happy that it’s almost over. Now another star is saying much the same thing.

In a recent interview with Seventeen (as caught by The Hollywood Reporter), Millie Bobby Brown — who shot to stardom as the telepathic and psychokinetic El — weighed in on the looming end of the show that made her name.

“I’m definitely ready to wrap up,” Brown said. “I feel like there’s a lot of the story that’s been told now, and we know of it, it’s been in our lives for a very long time.”

Not that she’s anything like ungrateful. Because of the show, she says, “I’m able to create stories myself that are important to me and focus on the bigger picture.” She added that she’s “really grateful” that the show came into her life.

Of course, both Harbour and Brown still have to film that final season, which begins principal photography this May. But at least the end is near.

(Via Seventeen and THR)

Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda teamed up with Kailee Morgue for their new song, “In My Head.” The rock track appears on the soundtrack for the scary good Scream 6 and radiates a perfect menacing energy.

“I can’t stop it when it starts / Trying not to fall apart / Building up until it all goes dark,” Shinoda tackles in the verses.

As for Morgue’s presence on the track, she serves as a complimentary force on the chorus. “Breathing heavy on my shoulder / And I’m trying to fake it / But there’s no way to escape it (In my head) / Buried underneath the noises (In my head) / There’s a million little voices / Saying ‘You’ll never make it / And there’s no way to escape it,’” the duo sings together.

Ahead of the song’s release, Shinoda and Morgue teased it with a video of them channeling the opening scene of the first Scream movie. Their new song also follows Demi Lovato’s other recent Scream 6 track, “Still Alive,” which closes out the film.

As for the future of Linkin Park, Shinoda recently said during a Twitch stream (via NME) that anything could happen.

“I’ll say it this way. Normally I’m really trying to manage expectations a little bit, especially in the last few years,” he said. “There’s certain things that are going to be on the table, certain things that are off the table. With this release, shockingly, I don’t think there’s very much to say is off the table. Touring is the only thing. We’re not touring right now.”

Check out Mike Shinoda and Kailee Morgue’s “In My Head” above.

Andy Serkis is the rare performer who became famous for playing a CGI character. His mo-cap turn as Gollum, the ring-obsessed creature from The Lord of the Rings, was a game-changer for the industry: an entirely-CGI character who was thoroughly believable on-screen. It’s been a while since he played him — he had a cameo in the first Hobbit movie, and last year he used his voice for a Putin impersonation — but he would do it again. That is, with one major stipulation.

“Look, [producers] Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens are sort of a second family that I have become part of and have gone on to make so many films with,” Serkis said on BroBible’s Post-Credit Podcast, as caught by Variety. “And — let me tell you — they are the best and most incredible people to work with. I think that there are so many other potential Middle-earth projects which could come about, and if they’re doing them, I would, of course, jump at the chance to have that relationship rekindled.”

He added, “Middle-earth has never left me.”

Of course, Serkis has moved on to other CGI (and non-CGI) characters. He played Caesar in three Planet of the Apes films, and right now he’s Alfred in the Robert Pattinson Batman wing of the DC-verse. Tolkien’s world, meanwhile, has been rebooted as a pricey Amazon series, done without Jackson, Walsh, and team. But their paths could always cross again.

(Via Variety)

Shakira and Bizarrap dropped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Friday, March 10, where they dished on how their popular recent collaboration, “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” came to be.

Specifically, Shakira told the late night host that she felt it was inspired by a certain band. “It reminded me of Depeche Mode,” Shakira said. “If you listen, it’s got a little bit of that cool, dark undertone. I love Depeche Mode. They’re my favorite.”

Longtime fans know that she’s been a fan of the group for quite a while. During a 2006 interview with The Guardian where she was asked about records that impacted her life, Shakira cited a certain Depeche Mode’s song.

“When I was 13, I was watching TV and the video to ‘Enjoy the Silence’ came on,” she described. “I was paralyzed. The guitar riff was captivating and I could feel a sensation in my chest. I said to my mum: ‘What is this thing that I feel every time I hear this guitar riff?’ She sounded worried and said: ‘I don’t know. That’s very strange.’

“It was something delicious and intriguing, and to this day, I still get that feeling when I hear the song,” the star added. “Music has the power to make you connect to people on a subconscious level, and it is inexplicable. And what is it with me and British accents? I find them sexy.”

Check out Shakira and Bizarrap’s interview above.

Baseball can be a very difficult sport to umpire. Strikes and balls, in particular, can be tricky, as the strike zone can change for basically no reason at all based on how the ump feels about the pitch they just saw. Having gotten that out of the way: A college baseball game between New Orleans and Mississippi Valley State on Friday night ended with quite possibly the worst called strike I have seen in my entire life.

Davon Mims of Mississippi Valley State was at the plate with two outs and no one on in the top of the ninth inning, and while the likelihood of a comeback was low, everyone knows you can’t predict baseball. The count was 1-1 when Trey Usey threw a breaking ball that was a little low but got called a strike — it’s one that we’ve all seen called before, even if Mims was justified in feeling hard done by that one.

And then, there was pitch that ended the game. I’ll just drop in the video and let you make a call:

This thing might have hit the outside of the catcher’s foot if he didn’t get his glove down there. Mims was so upset that the opposing catcher even held him back from the umpire (and in fairness, he was pretty right to be upset about this one). There are two more games in the series this weekend, so here’s hoping we don’t see anything worse than this one.

The lawsuit surrounding the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has seen a whole lot of celebrities get named as defendants. Big names like Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen, Larry David, and Steph Curry are all defendants in a class action suit that was filed on behalf of an Oklahoma resident who had an FTX account. According to the suit, the celebrities who endorsed the company engaged “in deceptive practices to sell FTX yield-bearing digital currency accounts.”

There is one celebrity defendant who has allegedly been a bit difficult to serve, and it’s the (quite literal) biggest name of the bunch. According to Sarah Emerson of Forbes, there have been multiple efforts to serve Shaquille O’Neal, who lawyers claim “has chosen to evade service, in order to draw out these proceedings, or to otherwise attempt to avoid answering for these allegations.”

As for how he’s been doing that, lawyers allege Shaq is hiding inside of his home in an effort to not get served. Per Forbes:

Over the past month, the 7-foot-1-inch tall athlete has allegedly hidden inside his home when process servers appeared at his door with court papers. The lawyers also claimed to have contacted O’Neal’s last known litigation counsel to no avail.

Both Shaq’s spokesperson and the lawyers representing the plaintiff did not respond to a request for comment from Forbes. The Basketball Hall of Fame inductee was asked about his involvement with FTX last year and said “a lot of people think I’m involved, but I was just a paid spokesperson for a commercial.”

The Academy Awards are set to go down on Sunday, so you know what that means: The Golden Raspberry Awards revealed their winners. It was another controversial year for the anti-Oscars. They even had to make amends after they were called out for nominating a 12-year-old. But the awards are out and the most shocking thing is that they gave one to, of all people, Tom Hanks.

The two-time Oscar-winner was actually nominated twice, for Disney’s Pinocchio — in which he played a rambling Geppetto — and for his turn as Colonel Tom Parker in Elvis. To some it was an enjoyable performance. Parker was Dutch but claimed to be from America, and he painstakingly cultivated Presley’s career. Hanks leaned way into the role. He even caught COVID-19 because of it, making him and his wife Rita Wilson two of the first celebrities to contract it. But Razzie voters were clearly unmoved by that, awarding him not only Worst Supporting Actor but also Worst Screen Couple (for him and his “latex-laden face”).

Elsewhere, Jared Leto won his second consecutive Razzie, this time for Morbius, which also netted a Worst Supporting Actress trophy for Adria Arjona. Worst Actress, meanwhile, went to the Razzies themselves, namely for “Their 43rd Worst Actress Nominations Blunder,” aka nominating a 12-year-old. Machine Gun Kelly won Worst Director for the comedy Good Mourning, and Blonde won Worst Picture because it “shamelessly exploits the memory of the late Marilyn Monroe.”

You can see the full list of winners/losers below.

WORST PICTURE
Blonde (WINNER)
Disney’s Pinocchio
Good Mourning
The King’s Daughter
Morbius

WORST ACTOR
Colson Baker (aka Machine Gun Kelly) / Good Mourning
Pete Davidson (Voice Only) / Marmaduke
Tom Hanks (as Gepetto) / Disney’s Pinocchio
Jared Leto / Morbius (WINNER)
Sylvester Stallone / Samaritan

WORST ACTRESS
Razzes / Their 43rd Worst Actress Nominations Blunder (WINNER)
Bryce Dallas Howard / Jurassic Park: Dominion
Diane Keaton / Mack & Rita
Kaya Scodelario / The King’s Daughter
Alicia Silverstone / The Requin

WORST REMAKE/RIP-OFF/SEQUEL
Blonde
BOTH 365 Days sequels — 365 Days: This Day and The Next 365 Days [a Razzie BOGO]
Disney’s Pinocchio (WINNER)
Firestarter
Jurassic World: Dominion

WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Adria Arjona / Morbius (WINNER)
Lorraine Bracco (voice only) Disney’s Pinocchio
Penélope Cruz / The 355
Bingbing Fan / The 355 and The King’s Daughter
Mira Sorvino / Lamborghini: The Man Behind the Legend

WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Pete Davidson (cameo role) Good Mourning
Tom Hanks / Elvis (WINNER)
Xavier Samuel / Blonde
Mod Sun / Good Mourning
Evan Williams / Blonde

WORST SCREEN COUPLE
Colson Baker (aka Machine Gun Kelly) and Mod Sun / Good Mourning
Both Real Life Characters in the Fallacious White House Bedroom Scene / Blonde
Tom Hanks and His Latex-Laden Face (and Ludicrous Accent) Elvis (WINNER)
Andrew Dominik and His Issues With Women / Blonde
The Two 365 Days Sequels (both released in 2022)

WORST DIRECTOR
Judd Apatow / The Bubble
Colson Baker (aka Machine Gun Kelly) and Mod Sun / Good Mourning (WINNER)
Andrew Dominik / Blonde
Daniel Espinosa / Morbius
Robert Zemeckis / Disney’s Pinocchio

WORST SCREENPLAY
Blonde / Written for the screen by Andrew Dominik, adapted from the Bio-Novel by Joyce Carol Oates (WINNER)
Disney’s Pinocchio / Screenplay by Robert Zemeckis and Chris Weitz (not authorized by the estate of Carlo Collodi)
Good Mourning / “Written” by Machine Gun Kelly and Mod Sun
Jurassic World: Dominion / Screenplay by Emily Carmichael and Colin Trevorrow, story by Trevorrow and Derek Connolly
Morbius / Screen story and sreenplay by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless

RAZZIE REDEEMER AWARD
Colin Farrell (From 2004 Worst Actor nominee to 2022 Best Actor Oscar Front-Runner)

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)