Month: July 2023

Even though there’s been a lot of upheaval at HBO Max/Max and even moreso for films and TV shows starring DC characters, at least one supervillainess is safe. That would be Harley Quinn (Kaley Cuoco), who was almost pointedly renewed as a clattering of show cancellations and removals swirled. The sweetly anarchic beloved character has been living it up after finally getting rid of The Joker for good, and now, she even officially has a new partner, Poison Ivy (Lake Bell), with whom she starred in the only Valentine’s Day special worth making it a point to watch.

You can still catch up on that special, obviously, which was also meant to tide us over until Season 4, but finally, there’s an official premiere date: July 27. TV Line broke that news, and finally, we’ll receive more of the couple that co-showrunners Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker promised would go the distance, so expect a lot more of that delightfulness, along with Bane making love to a skyscraper and maybe still being enamored with a pasta maker.

Additionally, we’ll eventually see a Creature Commandos series from James Gunn and Peter Safran and a Kate Man: Hell Yeah! spinoff from the Harley Quinn gang. No complaints there, and DC adaptations could clearly use more Harley juice.

Harley Quinn‘s fourth season debuts on July 27.

It’s weird and lovely that we’re getting a Twisted Metal series. It’s even weirder that it’s on Peacock, and that they don’t seem to have worried too much about the swearing and the blood splatter. By all accounts, it looks hilarious and brutal, with Anthony Mackie playing a John Doe who is sarcastic in the face of the biggest threats of the post-apocalyptic world.

Here’s the official synopsis:

“With the help of a badass axe-wielding car thief, he’ll face savage marauders driving vehicles of destruction and other dangers of the open road, including a deranged clown named Sweet Tooth who drives an all too familiar ice cream truck.”

The series also stars Stephanie Beatriz as car thief Quiet, and a Cronenbergian combo of Samoa Joe and Will Arnett as Sweet Tooth, with Neve Campbell and Thomas Haden Church thrown into the mix.

As with the modern hopscotch of streaming launches, this Peacock show won’t be on Peacock in Canada. According to The Hollywood Reporter, they’ve sold some of the international rights to Paramount+, so if you’re in The Great White North, you’ll need to tune into Paramount+ to get your mayhem starting August 10th. That should give fans plenty of time to dust off their old Playstation and marvel at the shockingly short load times before diving into some flaming vehicular combat.

(via The Hollywood Reporter)

Vagabon recently announced her new album Sorry I Haven’t Called, the highly anticipated follow-up to her 2019 self-titled debut. She shared the single, “Can I Talk My Sh*t,” which came after the January release of the track “Carpenter.” Now, she’s back with “Do Your Worst.”

“I was nestled in the German countryside when Teo Halm, who co-produced this with me, and I were experimenting in my home studio late into the night, I was listening to a lot of club music and I set out to make an instrumental that drew from the music you’d hear at an underground club in Germany or the UK yet still lived in the Vagabon musical lexicon,” Vagabon — née Lætitia Tamko — said in a statement. “A year later, when I returned to the US, I got Rostam involved and he had a great idea of adding a layer of live drums on top of the breakbeat from my Germany session.”

The club influence is palpable in the skittish, dreamlike track, which contrasts the patient song “Can I Talk My Sh*t” interestingly, proving the eclectic nature of Sorry I Haven’t Called.

Listen to “Do Your Worst” above.

Sorry I Haven’t Called is out 9/15 via Nonesuch. Find more information here.

As the samples utilized in hip-hop spinoffs like drill and Jersey club have gotten wilder and wilder, it was only a matter of time until someone reached way back and started plugging in classical music. Kaliii beats everybody to the punch with her new single “KToven,” which as you might expect, mashes up a Beethoven standard (“Für Elise”) with a hammering (get it?) Jersey club beat. In the video, which Kaliii dropped today along with the song, Black ballerinas surround a grand piano doing pliés while the Atlanta rapper sticks to twerking.

“KToven” is one hell of a follow-up to Kaliii’s prior single, “Area Codes,” which was billed by many as one of the songs of the summer. “Area Codes” had a string of follow-up remixes, including the “850 Remix” with Luh Tyler and the “773 Remix” with Mello Buckzz. She eventually put them together into the Area Codes Edition of her debut EP, Toxic Chocolate.

Kaliii also teamed up with burgeoning K-pop girl group FIFTY FIFTY on the Barbie soundtrack single, “Barbie Dreams.” The former XXL Freshman is on a roll and doesn’t look to slow down anytime soon.

Watch the “KToven” video above.

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

After a year-long absence, Only Murders in the Building is finally set to return on Hulu, and the Season 3 release date is just around the corner. According to the official Twitter account for the comedy mystery series featuring the stellar combination of Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez, Only Murders will fire up its latest whodunnit on August 8.

The show also dropped a new poster for Season 3, which you can see below:

In a surprise casting coup, Meryl Streep is set to appear in Only Murders Season 3, and she immediately fit right in with the show’s trio. In fact, Gomez couldn’t resist sharing a photo with the legendary actress after the cast and crew knocked out filming for the upcoming season.

“Well we wrapped season 3 of @onlymurdershulu -I’m not sure I have enough words to explain just how beautiful this season has been.” Gomez wrote in an Instagram post where she’s seen absolutely loving life next to a smiling Streep. “It has been deliriously hilarious, challenging and for me, an absolute dream. I’ll post more soon. But I’ll I leave it with the woman I adore, look up to and love.”

Only Murders in the Building Season 3 premieres August 8 on Hulu.

(Via Only Murders in the Building on Twitter)

Ariana Grande is past the halfway mark of filming Jon M. Chu’s forthcoming two-part Wicked film adaptation, and she’s unfortunately experiencing the horror film that is being a woman in pop: Seeing speculation about her love life play out publicly.

It was first reported by TMZ on Monday, July 17, that Grande and her husband of two years, Dalton Gomez, “have been separated since January” and are “headed toward divorce.”

People separately confirmed the news, citing an unnamed source who relayed Grande and Gomez “have been quietly and lovingly working on their friendship.”

According to TMZ on Thursday morning, Grande “recently started dating” her Wicked co-star Ethan Slater. The outlet noted that Gomez has “been dating as well,” and Grande didn’t strike up anything romantic with Slater “until after he separated” from Lilly Jay, his wife since 2018.

People exclusively reported perceived reasons for Grande’s split from Gomez, a 27-year-old real estate agent. The root is said to be Grande’s Wicked commitment in the UK, where she’s fulfilling her lifelong dream of portraying Glinda.

“He is super focused on his career and needs to live in Los Angeles,” an unnamed source described as an “insider” told the publication. “It’s definitely been an issue for them. Dalton’s career is demanding, and he can’t leave Los Angeles often. So when [Grande] started filming Wicked in England, they were in for a long-distance marriage.”

TMZ’s sources conveyed similar fractures in the relationship:

“When Covid restrictions lifted, we’re told their differences became alarmingly apparent. Dalton, an LA realtor, was taken aback by Ariana’s celebrity. He had not dealt with her schedule, the paparazzi and the various opportunities that took her out of LA.

We’re told Dalton would sometimes question why they needed to go around town with security, something that was a must for Ariana. Their differences started to make the marriage unravel, and it was greatly exacerbated when she went to England last December to begin filming Wicked.”

None of the involved parties have publicly commented on the (alleged) matter, but Grande did post to Instagram after attending Wimbledon last week. See it below.

Travis Scott has been the subject of plenty of attention lately. While much of that attention stems from fans wondering when he’s dropping his upcoming album Utopia, the majority of this week’s headlines about him have focused on a much-hyped performance at the Pyramids at Giza, Egypt. Shortly after announcing the show, it was the Egyptian Musicians’ Syndicate raised cultural concerns and claimed the concert was canceled. However, Live Nation, the show’s promoter, said in a statement, “There have been no changes to Travis Scott’s show in Egypt; any reports to the contrary are false. We can’t wait to celebrate Utopia with you in Egypt!”

Now, Travis himself has entered the fray, sharing a statement of his own with Egypt’s ONTV via onscreen anchor Lamis Elhadidy, who posted the statement to her Twitter account.

The statement reads:

I am writing to you to address the blatant inaccurate reports that have apparently lead to permits being paused for my concert scheduled for July 28, 2023 at the Giza Pyramids.

My understanding is that the Egyptians Musicians Syndicate took this action in response to bot generated fake information regarding my concerts and character. (All anyone with a grasp for modern technology and social media has to do is click on the user profile of these accounts to see that these are not real people.) Specifically, they referred to “strange rituals” that “contradict the cultural identity of the Egyptian people”.

Nothing could be further from the truth. My only intent with live performances is to unite people around the world over a shared bond in music. As a matter of fact, I just successfully played in an incredibly conservative Saudi Arabia in April for a crowd of 70,000 fans and there was no issue, hiccup or complication whatsoever. (Ask their Minister of Culture Prince Bader bin Farhan Al-Saud or see the positive press reviews here — https://www.arabnews.com/node/2271956/lifestyle). My music brings together all cultures and spreads positive messages of empowerment and creative freedom. There is not a single lyric I have written or recording I have made that advocates or endorses anything derogatory to any people, much less the Egyptian people. Nothing in my music lends itself to any kind of “strange ritual”. My performances are celebrations. I only want to lift people up. My new album is entitled Utopia, which is emblematic of my desire to accomplish that goal. I am a great admirer of Egyptian culture and history. That is why I selected the iconic Pyramids of Giza to perform and preview my first album release in five years. It means that much to me.

If you would really like to know my character and heart please do me the courtesy and favor of speaking with me before taking this drastic step that would unravel months of planning and for which I was previously granted permission. I am from Houston, Texas. I grew up in a family that respects people, loves God, respects Allah and attends church regularly. We have all seen the spread of false information online over the last few years. It is a divisive problem in the United States and certainly all over the world, Egypt included.

Finally, I have also seen mention of security concems related to my concerts and the extremely unfortunate tragedy of “AstroWorld” in 2021. Please know that I have performed hundreds of concerts before that event, and many concerts since, without a single incident. Live Nation and myself are hyper-vigilant when it comes to concert security. As you may have seen recently a grand jury declined to pursue any criminal charges related to the festival. I assure you that the concert at Giza has been planned meticulously and will have state of the art fan security in place.

Unfortunately, I am hearing that unless Live Nation is permitted to access the site by 5 PM Cairo time on July 20, we will not be able to make the targeted July 28 show date. Please don’t let the online spread of false information and hatred derail this event which will bring positive and international attention to Egypt, its economy and its amazing treasures. I implore you to do everything in your power to allow the show to proceed as planned. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Look. It’s all fun and games to point out the clear similarities between Oppenheimer and Barbie, but only one of these socially-conscious summer blockbusters has dredged up the sunken memory that Christopher Nolan‘s older brother was arrested for murder after apparently using the alias “Matthew McCall-Oppenheimer.”

It’s Barbie.

Just kidding. Obviously the release of Nolan’s latest work, a biopic of the man who gave the world the nuclear bomb, has mashed “Nolan” and “Oppenheimer” together in a way that brought this infamous family trivia back to the surface.

Twitter user Mr. Chau went deep on the information, using it to recontextualize everything Nolan’s made, homing in on the repeated motif of crime-flavored broken families. “Why does he keep making movies about crime and losing your family? Because his brother is a fugitive,” Mr. Chau opined.

Big if true, right? Turns out it is. According to Newsweek, Nolan’s older brother Matthew was charged with murder in Costa Rica in 2009, allegedly hired for the job and meant to pose as an heir to the Oppenheimer diamond fortune to get close to American financier Robert Cohen. A United States judge denied the request for extradition, but Matthew tried to escape while he was in custody and was sentenced to 14 months in prison. He was eventually released, and his current whereabouts are unknown.

In other words, his top is still spinning.

Naturally, the reminder of this painful family history has created a handful of conspiracies not only about Nolan’s personal motivations behind his films, but of why he might have made Oppenheimer in the first place. One is a reboot of the old “Disney made Frozen to bury search results about Walt’s head.”

I think it’s safe to rule this out. Christopher Nolan has absolutely heard of The Streisand Effect. On the other hand, hauling IMAX cameras around the steppe lands just to trick the algorithm is a hell of a motivation, especially if you’re picking up a few Oscars on the way.

Ted Cruz and pop culture references don’t mix too well. He once tweeted about Fight Club and received an immediate earful. He also weighed in on Watchmen in an inaccurate way, and lately, he’s had it in for the Barbie movie, of all things. This film has riled up Fox News as well because the conservative news network is seemingly irate about how the film (and specifically the Kenergy) is allegedly “emasculating men.”

For his part, though, Ted is steamed because of a quirkily drawn map that happens to show dashes in the South China Sea. Ted has been raging for days over what he believes is the movie’s communist propaganda, and he has trashed the movie’s “woke messaging.” He wasn’t content to let that be the final say, so Ted Cruz hopped over to Fox News for another dig at the Margot Robbie-starring fun flick.

Jesse Watters intro-ed Ted while declaring (to any Fox News viewers who haven’t been as obsessed as Ted with this story) that “[n]ine dashes signify Chinese ownership of the oceans, islands, and reefs. The Chinese believe they own the South China Sea, but they don’t.” The chyron shouted, “Ted Cruz Declares War On Barbie,” and Watters did ask, “Did you see the movie, or did you just see the stupid map?” Surprise, surprise: Ted has “not seen the movie, I have only seen the stupid map.”

“As you just showed, the map is drawn in like crayons,” Ted continued. “It’s roughly a map of the world… right to the east of where China is are nine dashes. To anyone who’s not really focused on geopolitics, the lines don’t mean anything. What those lines indicate is the Communist Party of China puts out official maps with those nine dashes, and they are asserting sovereignty over the entire South China Sea.”

In response to Watters asking whether Ted thought Warner Bros. did this as a message to China, Ted agreed: “This is really designed for the eyes of the Chinese censors and they’re trying to kiss up to the Chinese Communist Party because they wanna make movie selling the movie in China.” And this is actually the same sort-of argument that Ted had made about Fight Club, so he’s definitely on brand here.

Yet Ted’s “War On Barbie” has resulted in much laughter on social media.

In October 2022, Adidas officially ended its partnership with Kanye West, leaving the company with $1 billion worth of unsold Yeezy products and a decision to make about the future of the Yeezy designs. Ultimately, Adidas made the decision to sell off the rest of the stock after a class-action lawsuit filed by Adidas shareholders accused the company of knowing about West’s problematic behavior and not doing enough to mitigate the potential damage.

Now, according to Bloomberg, Adidas and Kanye are locked in another legal dispute over the brand’s marketing fund for Yeezy, which is reportedly worth $100 million a year. According to court filings, Adidas says West “mishandled virtually all of the marketing funds” — using them for different purposes than they were intended. $50 million went to an account in Wyoming, while another $25 million went to Kanye’s JPMorgan Chase account in New York (which has since been closed by the bank in response to Kanye’s antisemitic comments). However, the money was transferred to a separate account for general Yeezy funds, which Adidas says violated the parties’ agreement.

Meanwhile, Kanye’s lawyers reiterate his accusation that Adidas stole Yeezy designs to make lower-priced shoes. According to the terms of the agreement, though, Adidas owns all the designs while Kanye licensed his name and likeness to Adidas. Adidas has requested for Ye’s accounts to be frozen to prevent him from moving the allegedly misappropriated $75 million, which Kanye said he used on Sunday Services. He says the traveling gospel choir performances cost around $50 million.

Unfortunately for Adidas, the account freeze was denied and the dispute is in private arbitration.