Month: June 2023

Quentin Tarantino‘s characters have cut off ears, plucked out eyeballs, and smashed skulls with baseball bats. But you’ll never find them inflict pain on an animal. “I have a big thing about killing animals in movies. That’s a bridge I can’t cross,” the director told Variety at the Cannes Film Festival. “Insects, too. Unless I’m paying to see some bizzarro documentary, I’m not paying to see real death. Part of the way that this all works is that it’s all just make believe. That’s why I can stand the violent scenes, cause we’re all just f*cking around.”

So, QT won’t be remaking Cannibal Holocaust for his final film? Got it.

He continued, “Some animal, some dog, some llama, some fly, some rat, doesn’t give a f*ck about your movie. I’d kill a million rats, but I don’t necessarily want to kill one in a movie or see one killed in a movie, because I’m not paying to see real death. Almost always, it’s not just the violence that I have a problem with. There’s usually an incompetence factor in there.”

Tarantino will burn all the flies he wants with a flamethrower in his free time, but you won’t see it in his movies.

(Via Variety)

Quentin Tarantino‘s characters have cut off ears, plucked out eyeballs, and smashed skulls with baseball bats. But you’ll never find them inflict pain on an animal. “I have a big thing about killing animals in movies. That’s a bridge I can’t cross,” the director told Variety at the Cannes Film Festival. “Insects, too. Unless I’m paying to see some bizzarro documentary, I’m not paying to see real death. Part of the way that this all works is that it’s all just make believe. That’s why I can stand the violent scenes, cause we’re all just f*cking around.”

So, QT won’t be remaking Cannibal Holocaust for his final film? Got it.

He continued, “Some animal, some dog, some llama, some fly, some rat, doesn’t give a f*ck about your movie. I’d kill a million rats, but I don’t necessarily want to kill one in a movie or see one killed in a movie, because I’m not paying to see real death. Almost always, it’s not just the violence that I have a problem with. There’s usually an incompetence factor in there.”

Tarantino will burn all the flies he wants with a flamethrower in his free time, but you won’t see it in his movies.

(Via Variety)

As the COVID pandemic wreaked havoc on the theater industry, Warner Bros. and its then-parent company, AT&T, made a December 2020 decision that would burn several bridges in Hollywood: The studio’s entire 2021 film slate would be released on HBO Max the same day as theaters. On the surface, the decision made sense given the public health concerns at the time. However, behind the scenes, Warner Bros. executives reportedly never gave filmmakers a heads up, and that cost the studio a very powerful asset: Christopher Nolan.

While the decision didn’t affect the release of Nolan’s Tenet, which still bowed in theaters despite the pandemic, the director gave a blistering statement to The Hollywood Reporter to slam the decision.

“Some of our industry’s biggest filmmakers and most important movie stars went to bed the night before thinking they were working for the greatest movie studio and woke up to find out they were working for the worst streaming service,” Nolan said.

Soured by the HBO Max strategy, Nolan took his new movie, Oppenheimer, to Universal thus ending a nearly two decade-long relationship. However, thanks to the merger with Discovery, Warner Bros. is under new leadership, and the studios new co-CEOs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy would really like to bring Nolan back into the fold. The two even admitted as much in a lengthy new interview with Variety that emphasizes the studio’s re-commitment to theatrical releases:

“We’re hoping to get Nolan back,” De Luca says. “I think there’s a world.” Both executives concede that Universal Filmed Entertainment Group chairman Donna Langley is a force to be reckoned with, as she secured “Oppenheimer” after his public breakup with Warners. De Luca and Abdy remain hopeful. Two sources familiar with Nolan say that the director received a seven-figure royalty check from Warner Bros. within the past eight months. The payment was tied to his 2020 film “Tenet,” which the studio released. A source says De Luca, Abdy and Zaslav all agreed he was owed the bonus in good faith. No strings were attached, according to insiders, but the studio was partly motivated to repair that fractured relationship.

The interview also quotes Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who hammered home that the days of making movies for HBO Max, which is now just Max, are over.

“Not only do we want to open more motion pictures, but our theory is that we’ve got to leave them in theaters as long as possible,” Zaslav said.

Will that be enough to woo Nolan back? His reps didn’t respond to comment. However, Variety reports that he has been doing post-production work on Oppenheimer on the Warner Bros. lot, so there are potential signs of reconciliation.

(Via Variety)

As the COVID pandemic wreaked havoc on the theater industry, Warner Bros. and its then-parent company, AT&T, made a December 2020 decision that would burn several bridges in Hollywood: The studio’s entire 2021 film slate would be released on HBO Max the same day as theaters. On the surface, the decision made sense given the public health concerns at the time. However, behind the scenes, Warner Bros. executives reportedly never gave filmmakers a heads up, and that cost the studio a very powerful asset: Christopher Nolan.

While the decision didn’t affect the release of Nolan’s Tenet, which still bowed in theaters despite the pandemic, the director gave a blistering statement to The Hollywood Reporter to slam the decision.

“Some of our industry’s biggest filmmakers and most important movie stars went to bed the night before thinking they were working for the greatest movie studio and woke up to find out they were working for the worst streaming service,” Nolan said.

Soured by the HBO Max strategy, Nolan took his new movie, Oppenheimer, to Universal thus ending a nearly two decade-long relationship. However, thanks to the merger with Discovery, Warner Bros. is under new leadership, and the studios new co-CEOs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy would really like to bring Nolan back into the fold. The two even admitted as much in a lengthy new interview with Variety that emphasizes the studio’s re-commitment to theatrical releases:

“We’re hoping to get Nolan back,” De Luca says. “I think there’s a world.” Both executives concede that Universal Filmed Entertainment Group chairman Donna Langley is a force to be reckoned with, as she secured “Oppenheimer” after his public breakup with Warners. De Luca and Abdy remain hopeful. Two sources familiar with Nolan say that the director received a seven-figure royalty check from Warner Bros. within the past eight months. The payment was tied to his 2020 film “Tenet,” which the studio released. A source says De Luca, Abdy and Zaslav all agreed he was owed the bonus in good faith. No strings were attached, according to insiders, but the studio was partly motivated to repair that fractured relationship.

The interview also quotes Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who hammered home that the days of making movies for HBO Max, which is now just Max, are over.

“Not only do we want to open more motion pictures, but our theory is that we’ve got to leave them in theaters as long as possible,” Zaslav said.

Will that be enough to woo Nolan back? His reps didn’t respond to comment. However, Variety reports that he has been doing post-production work on Oppenheimer on the Warner Bros. lot, so there are potential signs of reconciliation.

(Via Variety)

YK Osiris and Sukihana are trending on Twitter today (June 14) over a video that has led to a lot of backlash for Osiris.

In the clip (as HipHopDX notes), Sukihana was commentating a Crew League basketball game in Atlanta this past weekend, alongside co-commentators Lil Duval, Funny Marco, and Buster Scher. Osiris stands behind Sukihana and rubs her shoulders before leaning forward, grabbing her jaw, and kissing her as she screamed and he smiled and laughed. He then continued rubbing her shoulders and went in for another forceful kiss before laughing and walking away.

Twitter users didn’t look to kindly on Osiris. One commented, “This is disgusting.. & Just because Suki is openly sexual that doesn’t give anyone the fucking right to violate her… This is unacceptable! Way too many people laughed instead of intervening & holding him accountable! This is rape culture!”

Others took issue with how the co-commentators handled the situation. One person wrote, “Suki was clearly uncomfortable but yet not only did you step in and stop the conversation, you laughed at it. Move the left and continue getting whacked.”

There was some victim blaming going on, but one user pushed back, “The amount of n****s saying Suki brings this energy on herself explains why there are so many rape cases. Consent needs to be integrated into sex education and start earlier in schools. Like no way mfs this grown watched sexual assault and then justified it. publicly.”

YK Osiris and Sukihana are trending on Twitter today (June 14) over a video that has led to a lot of backlash for Osiris.

In the clip (as HipHopDX notes), Sukihana was commentating a Crew League basketball game in Atlanta this past weekend, alongside co-commentators Lil Duval, Funny Marco, and Buster Scher. Osiris stands behind Sukihana and rubs her shoulders before leaning forward, grabbing her jaw, and kissing her as she screamed and he smiled and laughed. He then continued rubbing her shoulders and went in for another forceful kiss before laughing and walking away.

Twitter users didn’t look to kindly on Osiris. One commented, “This is disgusting.. & Just because Suki is openly sexual that doesn’t give anyone the fucking right to violate her… This is unacceptable! Way too many people laughed instead of intervening & holding him accountable! This is rape culture!”

Others took issue with how the co-commentators handled the situation. One person wrote, “Suki was clearly uncomfortable but yet not only did you step in and stop the conversation, you laughed at it. Move the left and continue getting whacked.”

There was some victim blaming going on, but one user pushed back, “The amount of n****s saying Suki brings this energy on herself explains why there are so many rape cases. Consent needs to be integrated into sex education and start earlier in schools. Like no way mfs this grown watched sexual assault and then justified it. publicly.”

Outkast won’t be reuniting anytime soon… at least that’s what collaborator Sleepy Brown told TMZ recently. The group’s album, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, is turning 20 years old this year — but there are no plans for any serious surprises.

“Nah, they not,” he said. “[André 3000] is on a whole nother journey and he’s, you know, doing something. But me and Big [Boi] are still doing tours and stuff like that.”

“Don’t hold your breath for no Outkast reunion,” he added. “Don’t do it to yourself. It’s not gon’ happen, folks. If you wanna see us, we gon’ be Dungeon Family. That’s about it.”

Later in the interview, Sleepy Brown was also asked about what his personal favorite Outkast album was.

“The thing about it [is], each album was a different journey. Outkast has taken people through country music with ‘Rosa Parks,’ they did rock with Stankonia, they did every genre you could ever think of in music, so it’s kinda hard to say which one is what.”

He continued, “But I’mma say Aquemini. For me, that album was the moment when Outkast really flourished as producers, too. So for me, that album is me watching them grow. That’s why it’s my favorite.”

Check out Sleepy Brown’s interview about Outkast here.

Made In America Festival is returning in 2023 with a sprawling lineup headlined by Lizzo and SZA and featuring a who’s-who of music’s hottest names. Included on the bill are Miguel, Tems, Metro Boomin, Ice Spice, Coi Leray, Latto, Lil Yachty, Doechii, Lola Brooke, Coco Jones, and more. Of special interest is the sheer number of women performing, as well as a joint set by Harlem stars turned podcast heroes Cam’Ron and Mase.

The festival is billed for September 2-3 at Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway, with tickets already on sale. You can get more info here.

Made In America 2023 will also feature what is apparently the first festival performance for LSU basketball star Flau’Jae Johnson, who has garnered plenty of attention as a rapper in the wake of her team’s national championship. Meanwhile, breakout stars like Doechii, Lola Brooke, and TiaCorine are also getting a huge opportunity after racking up viral hits in the past year.

Made In America Festival 2022 was headlined by Bad Bunny and Tyler The Creator. They were joined by a rap-heavy lineup featuring Don Toliver, Key Glock, Kodak Black, Lil Uzi Vert, and Pusha T, although Afrobeats star Burna Boy and pop singer Tate McRae offered some variety along with R&B singers Jazmine Sullivan, Snoh Aalegra, and Victoria Monét.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Walking Dead‘s Season 6 finale went to great lengths to pull off that cliffhanger ending, right when the audience and characters were about to learn who Negan killed with his baseball bat. This led to months of theorizing before the show went ahead and followed the comics by putting a final end to Glenn as he told (pregnant) Maggie that he’d come find her after death. Maggie, of course, was irreparably devastated, and Negan had already told her, “Jesus, you look sh*tty. I should just put you out of your misery right now.”

As it turns out, Negan did kind-of kill Maggie. They filmed such an outcome as part of several alternate versions of the scene, which had left the entire cast and crew understandably exhausted. Maggie Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who are prepping for this weekend’s The Walking Dead: Dead City premiere, spoke with Emmy magazine to detail how the production worked overtime to shoot so many endings that no one could spoil the real deal before the Season 7 premiere reveal. “There was a point where you had to kill me,” Cohan reminded Morgan, who agreed that this was a grueling ordeal for all:

“I was kind of sick of hitting people,” Morgan says. “And I felt bad for the other actors because it takes an emotional toll. Everyone was all cried and snotted out. And you’d think, ‘But no one will ever see this.’ It’s just in case someone was flying a drone overhead.”

Those pesky drones, man. Really, though, the production had little choice but to pull out some extra stops in the name of secrecy. What made Glenn’s death hit even harder, though, is that Negan killed Abraham first, and everyone thought that would be it, but then he decided, what the hell, let’s do another. That whammy caused plenty of viewers to complain and claim they were done with the show, which lasted another four full seasons and will soon spawn a wealth of spinoffs, including the Negan and Maggie not-buddy-comedy show.

The Walking Dead: Dead City premieres on June 18.

(Via The Emmys)

Coi Leray has a solution to a notable music issue in 2023. Since the beginning of the year, a hip-hop song has not reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, nor has a hip-hop album topped the Billboard 200. But yesterday (June 13), Leray took to Twitter to share a potentially groundbreaking idea.

With women rappers dominating the hip-hop scene, Leray suggested that all of them unite for the ultimate hit single.

“Ain’t been a [No. 1] rap song at all this year,” Leray said. “Calling all the female rappers to front. [Hear] me out. ladies night. Hip hop. Unity.”

Of course, with so many talented women in rap, it would be hard to fit them all on one song. However, Leray offered some brilliant solutions which would allow all of the rappers an equal chance to shine.

“Someone of us can share verses,” she said. “Split it up. Back and forth. Adlibs.”

While this idea was met with support from many of Leray’s fans, some suggested that a rap beef would be more interesting. Leray immediately shut this down, saying this type of vibe is “distasteful and just weird.”

Leray is currently gearing up for the release of her sophomore album, Coi.

Coi is out 6/23 via Republic. Find more information here.