Month: March 2023

Avatar: The Way Of Water, or the biggest movie of 2022 (depending on who you ask) has been out for nearly 100 days, meaning it’s about time to let the rest of the world stream the three-hour aquatic adventure movie from the comfort of their own home. This way, they can go to the bathroom without missing any of the very important swimming sequences. Or you can just fast-forward through them! The world is your oyster.

James Cameron’s Avatar sequel became available to purchase on various digital platforms like Prime Video, Apple TV, and Vudu this week. This includes nearly three more hours of bonus content and behind-the-scenes features. But if you want to stream Way Of Water on your favorite service, you might have to wait a little longer.

The long-awaited sequel won’t arrive on Disney+ for quite some time, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The movie is also unavailable for renting at the moment, meaning if you want to watch it, you have to commit to the purchase. It’s unclear as to when Disney+ will snag the film, though the company recently announced a new Avatar “experience” opening at Disneyland in the near future, so they have to acknowledge it at some point soon, in theory.

For now, you’ll have to settle for buying the digital version or making a weekly trip to the movie theater. James Cameron will appreciate either.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

Rap music isn’t all dance-centered or drill tracks as some may believe, and Fayetteville, North Carolina rapper Morray is leading the way with soul-infused songs. With singles like “Momma’s Love,” “Still Here,” and “Never Fail,” to name a few, the musician is slowly becoming a go-to emcee for gut-wrenching storytelling thanks in part to the vulnerability he injects into each release.

Stopping by the UPROXX Studios for a new Bar Stories episode, Morray gave our very own Cherise Johnson a breakdown behind his standout 2022 SephGotTheWaves- and Andyr-produced track, “Letter To Myself,” off his forthcoming album Long Story Short.

Turning his attention to the stanza, “Food spoiled, don’t got no more EBT / What the f*ck am I to eat? / Eat last, raisin’ babies ain’t cheap / Thеy clothes fly ’cause my clothes stayеd cheap / An eighth last a whole week,” the rapper opened up about what inspired the line.

Plainly put, the songwriter admits that although he’s rocked big stages alongside friend and mentor J. Cole, when he initially wrote the track, “Those bars was [my] reality.” He added, “There were times when I didn’t have food to eat.”

The stanza mentions EBT (or Electronic Benefits Transfer), a monthly subsidy program managed at the state level to ensure residents that are in need of financial assistance for groceries and other items at designated stores like supermarkets. Explaining the first line, Morray said, “You [only] get a certain amount of EBT — [and] once you run out, you run out. Sometimes when you’re working so much [that] the leftovers you had for three days — because you were working so hard — spoil.”

Outside of Morray’s Bar Stories episode, be sure to watch his UPROXX Sessions performance of the song here. Or check out his appearance on React Like You Know as he gives his thoughts on Panic! At The Disco’s video for their classic song, “I Write Sins Not Tragedies,” here.

Check out Morray’s full bar breakdown of “Letter To Myself” above.

Host Pat Sajak breathed a sigh of relief in a Wheel of Fortune episode that aired last year when a contestant resisted the temptation to give a “dirty” answer on the family-friendly game show. He wasn’t so lucky this time.

It’s WWE Week on Wheel of Fortune, in which wrestlers are teamed with contestants ahead of WrestleMania 39. During a recent episode, Drew McIntyre was paired up with Tracina, who attempted to solve a puzzle in the “Fun and Games” category. Here’s what the board looked like:

The correct answer is “playing with dolls,” which does not sound like fun and/or games to me. Have you seen Annabelle? Come on. You’re asking for it. But that’s not what Tracina went with, anyway. She guessed “playing with balls,” which caused wrestler Xavier Woods to crack up.

Following Jones’ incorrect answer, the camera panned to Creed and his playing partner, Mike Bozzuffi, who snickered as they struggled to contain their laughter… “You’re trouble,” smiling Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak quietly told Creed, prompting the WrestleMania veteran to playfully protest: “What did I do?”

Woods continued to play innocent after the episode aired. “How was I supposed to react?!?!?” he tweeted, and jokingly claimed that he “definitely displaced a rib holding it in.” You can watch the rib-displacing moment below.

(Via Newsweek)

Only a few months have passed since Marvel Studios/Disney+ star Jeremy Renner suffered a horrific snowplow accident on January 2. Since that time, Renner has posted videos of his rehabbing progress while we’ve heard bits and pieces about an array of broken bones and his crushed lung. As well, reports indicated that the accident was “much worse” than anyone truly knew, and now, Renner has surfaced for his first interview, for which he sat down with Diane Sawyer and ABC News.

Renner was also on tap to promote his new Disney+ show, Rennervations, a four-part series that reimagines how vehicles can be custom-built to serve individual communities. It’s all about giving back, and these days, the world can’t have enough of that. First, though, Renner is getting real about his too-close brush with death. This is grim stuff, given that Renner’s nephew is seen remembering, “I see him in a pool of blood coming from his head.” From there, his nephew’s previously unrevealed 911 call plays in the background. Renner is heard moaning through the pain, and he told Sawyer, “I was awake through every moment.” As well, Sawyer listed Renner’s extensive injuries:

“Eight ribs broken in fourteen places, right knee, right ankle broken, left leg tibia broken, left ankle broken, right clavicle broken, right shoulder broken, face, eye socket, jaw, mandible broken. Lung collapsed, pierced from the rib bone, your liver, which sounds terrifying.”

Renner admitted that he was stunned when he learned about the extent of his ongoing ordeal. “Am I just going to be a spine and a brain, like a science experiment?” Yet as one can see from his on-camera appearance, he is making a truly miraculous recovery. There’s lots of work to do ahead, of course, but Renner is incredibly grateful to be where he’s at now. “I chose to survive. That’s not gonna kill me, no way,” he declared, which is an immense turn from early January, when he couldn’t speak due to all the medical apparatus, and he told his family in sign language, “I’m sorry.”

Disney+’s Rennervations premieres on April 12. Watch the trailer below.

(Via Variety)

Here’s something I’m starting to notice, albeit maybe anecdotally. Everyone I know who has seen Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, the great majority, all seem to like this movie a lot and had a great time. And these are not all the kind of people who have Lord of the Ring marathon watch parties every year. Honestly, most of them are people who would never think of doing such a thing. (Though at least one person I know who loves this movie does have a Lord of the Rings marathon watch party every year.)

Also, maybe anecdotally, people I know who I know would like Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves don’t seem to have a lot of interest. Because, you know, fantasy movies just aren’t for them. Fair enough. But this is why I’m here to tell you that Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is less a fantasy movie and more of a straight up comedy. It’s directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, the directors who brought you Game Night. You know, that movie you love with the lines, “How can that be profitable for Frito Lay?,” and, “Oh no he died.”

In a way, I get it. I was once like them. And I really can’t figure out if the title Dungeons & Dragons is a positive or a negative. I mean, look, everyone has heard of it, so that’s good. But a lot of people still don’t know exactly what it even is, now almost 50 years after its creation. It’s not a game that can really be defined as “accessible.” It’s not like busting out the Sorry board game and, passively, a couple of people can waste some time while it’s raining. (I realize this is a very unrealistic scenario in 2023, but in the 1980s this was fairly accurate.) You need a group of people who are really into the idea of playing.

My real only experience with the game was seeing it advertised in comic books, but I thought it was a video game. The ads certainly made it look cool. A friend of mine from school liked playing and invited me over. Still thinking this was a video game, I just assumed, after, we’d pop in Pitfall or Yars’ Revenge. Anyway, no, it was a group of people with the most confusing-looking game sitting out in front of them and scenes were being acted out in great detail. Now here’s where I think there’s a disconnect. This is where it’s easy to go, “these guys are dorks,” and then leave. That’s the easy excuse out. But, being honest, that’s not how I felt. I felt intimidated by how complex this game looked, all the things I’d need to remember, and then having to act it all out. I didn’t play. I did leave, but not because I thought these kids were dorks, but because I felt intimidated and not smart enough to play. I went back to my house and played Zaxxon.

I do wonder if people who are aware of Dungeons & Dragons but have never played (like me) just assume this movie will be too complicated and too mixed up in the lore of whatever that game is? I can’t help but think there’s at least some of that working here. But, again, I’m here to tell you that is not the case. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a full-on comedy. Though I want to be clear it’s not a parody. It is fully set in its world, it’s just an adventure comedy set in that world, with a focus on the comedy.

I actually think the ’80s Saturday morning Dungeons & Dragons cartoon did a pretty good job of trying to make the game a little more mainstream. At least now there were some actual characters to identify with the title. The plot was basically a group of kids are on an amusement park ride and they get sucked into the world of Dungeons & Dragons and now all have weapons and must fight dragons and things like that, but they just want to go home. It was a good premise for a Saturday morning cartoon. And, in fact, these characters have a cameo in the new film, which is fitting because the film is much more like the spirit of the cartoon – lighthearted and fun – then it is the game.

There is a plot to Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, and it’s a good plot, low on the convolutedness that plagues so many movies today. But the plot is there to set situations in which our heroes find themselves in funny adventures and situations. In a nutshell, Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez play thieves Edgin and Holga, who are betrayed by their former partner, Forge (played by Hugh Grant, having a great time), who is now also raising Edwin’s daughter since Edgin and Holga were sent to prison. They are now out and Edgin wants his daughter back. Forge, who now works with a sorcerer named Sophina (Daisy Head, who is so sinister in this movie), refuses to give Edwin his daughter back. So Edwin and Holga form a team in an effort to both get Edgin’s daughter back, but also, since they are thieves, why not take all Forge’s treasure while they are at it.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a great movie. One of my favorites of 2023. There’s literally a scene of Chris Pine playing a lute, singing a song in a funny voice, while doing a little dance. But I get why you might not think it’s for you. Do you like laughing? Well, then, I promise it’s for you.

‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ opens in theaters on March 31st. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Music titans Questlove, Black Thought, Live Nation, and Universal Music Group have been named in an explosive fraud lawsuit. According to Rolling Stone, Questlove (real name Ahmir Thompson) and Black Thought (real name Tariq Trotter), co-founders of hip-hop group The Roots, the group’s manager Shawn Gee, and band employee Munir Nuriddin are being accused of working together to “scheme to defraud” the estate of the band’s late bassist Leonard Hubbard’s widow and estate out of money owed to them.

After forming Grand Negaz, Inc. to manage the band’s business dealings in 1993, a financial agreement was made to clearly state ownership percentages to ensure everyone knew their respective compensation splits. Thompson and Trotter took 37 percent of stakeholders’ interest, while member rapper Malik Smart (who died in 2020) and Hubbard retained 17 percent each. However, in addition to that, the lawsuit claims Hubbard was to be granted 25 percent of the group’s recording and publishing earnings, as well as a 33 percent stake in the band’s touring performance company.

The lawsuit presented by Hubbard’s widow and estate is seeking “restitution for property, money, and benefits” that were not provided to him as outlined in the paperwork. While the matter is being litigated, they are requesting that the courts “freeze” The Roots’ trademark “until a value can be determined for the brand.”

Hubbard departed from the group in 2007 to seek medical care after being diagnosed with blood cancer, and later died in 2021. The suit alleges that beginning in 2014 up to the current day, Thompson, Trotter, and others, “through a pattern of racketeered behavior, fraudulently converted, divested and absconded with monies lawfully belonging to the Plaintiff Decedent.”

The lawsuit also accuses the musicians of forming a new business, Legendelphia, in 2013, to allegedly transfer funds from their business Grand Negaz, all without the approval of Hubbard. As for where Live Nationa and Universal Music Publishing Group is named, the suit accuses Gee of “deactivating Hubbard’s personal royalty account.” It also accuses that Gee, Thompson, and Trotter of “sending a letter be written from Legendelphia to Universal Music Publishing Group to divert Hubbard’s royalties to Legendelphia” instead of Grand Negaz, Inc.

No public statement has been released by The Roots, Thompson, or Trotter. All parties declined Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.

When Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker formed Boygenius, they introduced a new concept: the meta supergroup.

Back when supergroups first emerged in the late 1960s, they were synonymous with young men whose egos were fueled as much by hubris and cocaine as they were by genuine artistic inspiration. That era came and went before the members of Boygenius were even born, but Bridgers, Dacus, and Baker are nevertheless committed students of rock history and well-versed in the conventions of the form. Hence the band name, a witty potshot at the “dude auteur” archetype at the heart of supergroup culture. And then there’s the cover of their 2018 self-titled EP, which slyly mimicked Crosby, Stills & Nash’s iconic 1969 debut. (Bridgers took it one step further by entering a social-media feud with the actual David Crosby, which was extra meta considering that she feels like the Crosby of Boygenius.)

At the start of the promotional cycle for their first full-length album, The Record — one can assume the bravado of that title is also self-aware — Boygenius emulated another lauded “dude auteur” band of yesteryear, Nirvana, on the cover of Rolling Stone. But it was the article inside the magazine that really showed how Bridgers, Dacus, and Baker have redefined the supergroup idea. You know how the supergroups of the classic-rock era inevitably fell apart because the people in those bands could not stand one another? Well, that’s not true of Boygenius. They are the most well-adjusted and emotionally stable supergroup in rock history. They are supportive, democratic, non-competitive, and non-hierarchal. They even attend group therapy sessions together, purely as preventative care to avoid potential future conflicts. “We’re obsessed with each other,” Bridgers gushed. “I like myself better around them.”

Friendship, we can all agree, is good. Though there’s something about how the frictionless interpersonal dynamic of Boygenius is aggressively asserted in everything written about them that seems like a statement about 1) how this superstar collective is different than the rest and 2) how Boygenius is a corrective to the sorry history of media narratives that pit women against each other. It’s another layer of self-consciousness placed on an already acutely mindful operation. Given that the singer-songwriters in Boygenius made their bones writing authentically about dysfunctional relationships, the idealized sisterhood being sold here feels meme-ified for internet consumption. Their magazine quotes demand to be quote-tweeted, rather than merely liked. It’s not that supergroups normally don’t talk like this, no band ever talks like this.

As a fan of Bridgers, Dacus, and Baker individually, I feel like it’s worth taking a moment to ponder why the dude-auteurs inside of all those ill-fated mega ensembles ended up falling out with one another. Because it’s not just the drugs or the pettiness or the toxic male energy. In a band, you have to cede part of yourself for the better of the whole. You must negotiate, accommodate, and compromise. In the process, you will dilute your voice for the sake of the group identity.

And that’s the unresolvable problem of every supergroup, even the smart and thoughtful ones. The complaint about supergroups historically is that they never seem to be as good as the members are on their own. And that’s due almost entirely to the sacrifices that being in a band requires. You can’t be the you that you are on your solo records; you lose you in order to have us.

For all the care they have taken to avoid the pitfalls that felled their predecessors, this is the one issue that the members of Boygenius are unable to avert. The math works against them. On The Record, the sum does not equal the parts.

Each member of Boygenius has an instantly recognizable style. Bridgers is the Elliott Smith acolyte whose whispery delivery belies lyrics loaded with scathing and occasionally violent imagery. Dacus is the keen observer with an eye for wry literary detail. Baker is the emotional brutalist with a Christian impulse to self-flagellate.

The best parts of The Record spotlight those idiosyncrasies. On the hushed folk number “Cool With It,” they each take a verse that plainly signifies their singular voices — Baker is self-deprecating, Dacus tells a short story, and Bridgers quietly seethes. “The Satanist” follows a similar structure, and again Dacus’ sardonic verse wins out. (“Will you be a nihilist with me? / If nothing matters, man, that’s a relief / Solomon had a point when he wrote Ecclesiastes / If nothing can be known, then stupidity is holy.”)

The chunky alt-pop of “The Satanist” also highlights the most appealing musical gear on The Record, which extends from the rock-oriented arrangements on Dacus and Baker’s most recent solo efforts. The winning early single “Not Strong Enough” suggests that moving in a Sheryl Crow direction would also significantly leaven Bridgers’ mellow sonic tableau, while the delightfully sludgy “Anti-Curse” reveals that Baker might be well-advised to make a full-on grunge record.

Where The Record falters is when the proximity of these writers’ work inadvertently makes the songs sound one-note and samey. What Bridgers, Dacus, and Baker share is a generational fixation on mediated emotions — it’s not just about how you feel, but also how the other person might be feeling and what those feelings are supposed to mean and then resenting the implications of those projected interpretations. Their songs unfold like the sort of self-interrogations that insecure people instinctively fall into whenever they have an awkward social encounter that they subsequently spend the rest of the night running over endlessly in their minds in the mistaken hope that they can finally “solve” it.

That perspective is obviously relatable to people who experience the world via multiple screens. But on The Record — particularly on the album’s weaker second half — it can feel repetitive and oppressive. There are no less than three songs in which a moment of significant emotional catharsis occurs during a road trip. (If he were a woman in his 20s, Bruce Springsteen could be a member of Boygenius.) While delivering big emotions is the bread and butter of these writers, The Record occasionally veers from empathetic truth into corny manipulation. The worst offender is the would-be showstopper “We’re In Love,” a relentlessly maudlin ballad in which Dacus literally says “Damn, that makes me sad” while reflecting on still more heartache in a karaoke bar.

Moments like that made me wonder if Boygenius would benefit from a little more hubris and blow. Then again, the fame-powered grandiosity inherent to the supergroup experience works against the strengths of these artists. What sounds fresh and perceptive on their solo records can come across as overblown and cliched here. As it is, I’ll take the intimate insights of Punisher, Home Video, and Little Oblivions over the indulgences of The Record any day.

Anticipation is high for Chlöe’s solo debut album, In Pieces. Just days before its arrival, Chlöe stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! to debut a new song from the project.

On her latest song, “Cheatback,” Chlöe has no desire to exact revenge on an unfaithful man. In this case, she’d prefer to give him a taste of his own medicine.

Over a simple acoustic guitar, Chlöe reminds the cheater that she has plenty of people knocking on her door, and she isn’t afraid to play the games he has been playing with her.

“Find another boo from the hood with some tats / Give him what’s yours, show him I can throw it back / Maybe then, baby, you’ll know how to act / if I cheat back / Send him new pics in that outfit you like / Say I’m with my girls while he spendin’ the night / Maybe then, baby, you’ll know how to act / if I cheat back,” she sings on the song’s chorus.

Fans can hear the official version, which will feature Future, upon the release of In Pieces this week. In the meantime, check out the performance above.

In Pieces is out 3/31 via Parkwood/Columbia Records. Find more information here.

Last year, Rage Against The Machine’s lead singer, Zack De La Rocha suffered a foot injury that led to the cancellation of their European tour after he pushed through to finish their North American run. Now, in a new interview with Rolling Stone, the band’s guitarist, Tom Morello, reveals he doesn’t exactly know when they’ll retake the stage — if ever.

“We’ll see. If there is to be any more shows, we will announce it as a band. I don’t know. I know as much as you do, honestly. Right now, we’re in a time of healing,” Morello said.

“There is no term,” he added. “Rage Against The Machine is like the ring in Lord Of The Rings: It drives men mad. It drives journalists mad. It drives record industry people mad. They want it. They want the thing, and they’re driven mad. If there are Rage shows, if there are not Rage shows, you’ll hear from the band. I do not know. When there is news, it will come from a collective statement from the band. There is no news.”

However, he did make a point during the interview to note that if it was an indefinite hiatus as a band, they would say that. Morello also said that it was de la Rocha’s orders from his doctor that prompted the European tour not happening — as flying brought risks of blood clots.

“I hate cancelling shows,” De La Rocha previously wrote. “I hate disappointing our fans. You have all waited so patiently to see us and that is never lost on me…I hope to see you very soon.”

Given the band has only played a handful of shows during their many years as a group, only time will tell.

It seems like Hugh Grant is frustrated with the state of movie sets these days. On the one hand, he must have had fun starring in Dungeons & Dragons alongside his costars, which consisted of what he called “very attractive” men — the movie stars Chris Pine and Regé-Jean Page, so you see where he’s coming from. On the other hand, it seems like he’s mad that nobody on set is as close as they used to be anymore. Maybe he just wishes he was really best friends with Kate Winslet or Paddington?

Grant stopped by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert where (after the 3:00 min mark) he brought up how film sets are “weird” now because nobody bonds the way they used to, thanks to cellphones and social media. “You know, in the old days, by the end of the second week, you were all getting drunk in the evening and having dinner and falling in love with each other and all that,” Grant told Colbert. “And all that stopped ’cause of telephones. Really everyone goes home and looks at Twitter. It’s so sad.” His solution? To ban all phones from set so that the cast is forced to hang out with each other…for better or worse.

Colbert responded, “So, if there weren’t telephones on set, there’d be more affairs going on?” Grant seemingly agreed. “Yeah, I think so. You know, [Quentin] Tarantino bans telephones from sets and quite right too, and the people there, they do all shag each other — or so I’m told.” Once Upon A Time In Hollywood star Timothy Olyphant confirmed that Tarantino doesn’t like for anyone on set to use phones. Why Grant thinks this would lead to an affair is a little questionable, but hey, he had starred in about 400 romcoms, so he’s seen it all.

While Grant and Tarantino have yet to work together, the director has praised Grant’s ability to turn a rom-com into a classic piece of cinema, calling him the “perfect leading man” back in 2015. He even said that he could “see him in my stuff,” meaning that perhaps Grant will get a new role in a Tarantino movie and get to ditch his phone for a while! It seems like that’s what he wants, anyway.

You can check out the interview above, where Grant also mentions his “incredible ass” near the end. It’s important.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)