Month: September 2023

Keanu Reeves, being the kindest celebrity out there, is always inspiring his peers in unique ways. Whether it’s through his comics, or with his ability to stop a disastrous wardrobe malfunction, or just how his face looks when he’s holding puppies, Reeves is a man of the people. So when he met up with his old bandmates nearly two decades after their last album, it made sense that they would pick up where they left off, even though his career has skyrocketed since their initial musical endeavor.

Reeves told Entertainment Weekly how the band got together after all this time, and it turns out, it would not have happened without The Matrix Resurrections. It seems like the movie resurrected more than just Neo and Trinity.

“There was a premiere for Matrix 4 in San Francisco, and the next morning [the former band] had breakfast,” Reeves told EW. “That was the initial spark.” This is why they say breakfast is the most important meal of the day! You might just have a band reunion and write a new album.

Drummer Robert Mailhouse explained how it all came together organically after that. “We got excited, one thing leads to another, and then we all took it extremely seriously,” Mailhouse says. “It wasn’t going to be another one of those casual get-togethers. You could just tell. It was like we were on a mission.” That mission? To rock. They succeeded.

Now, Dogstar is heading out on a national tour ahead of their latest album release, and it would have literally never happened if Reeves hadn’t put a rubber duck on his head in the bath. Think about that!

(Via EW)

Say what you want about Sean Combs, aka Diddy — and a lot has been said about the man formerly known as Puff Daddy, both good and bad — but as a producer and an artistic force in the music industry, he is undeniable. He has been for a very long time.

He brings all that irresistible force to bear on his new project, The Love Album: Off The Grid. Incredibly enough, it’s only his fifth studio album to date despite his 30-plus years as a recognizable name in the music business.

It’s also his first solo album as Diddy since 2006’s Press Play and his first album as Diddy overall since the 2010 collaborative album Last Train To Paris (a 2015 mixtape, MMM (Money Making Mitch), was credited to his former moniker, Puff Daddy).

Like Diddy’s previous projects dating all the way back to his first, the 1997 debut album No Way Out (released as Puff Daddy & The Family), calling this a solo album feels like a stretch. Even then, Puff’s albums were littered with features and showcased his prowess as a producer as much as a vocalist (a thing I’ve always found cool about Diddy is his proficiency as a rapper despite not writing the verses — it’s a lot harder than it sounds).

The Love Album: Off The Grid is no anomaly in that respect. With 23(!) tracks, the album features nearly 30 credited guest artists, from Puff Daddy contemporaries like Busta Rhymes, Mary J. Blige, Babyface, and John Legend to contemporary stars such as 21 Savage, H.E.R., Justin Bieber, and Summer Walker.

It’s also a showcase for rising talents, both those under the umbrella of Diddy’s own Love Records and otherwise. Songwriters Jozzy and Nova Wav receive some spotlight, as does Compton rap-singer Kalan.FrFr. The album is, to paraphrase Diddy’s own words, something of a love letter to R&B as much as it is a hip-hop album from the self-described “greatest rapper that ever lived” (a quote from “Stay Awhile” with Nija — one of greatest rap lies in hip-hop’s 50-year history, to be sure. You sort of have to respect the audacity).

In fact, somewhere around the midpoint of the album, Diddy basically disappears almost entirely. This feels odd to write, but you kinda wish Diddy’s much-touted comeback album featured more… well, Diddy.

Think about all the hits the rapper-producer has been responsible for over the years: the “Benjamins”; the “I Need A Girl” parts one and two; the “Pass The Courvoisiers.” For all the accusations of shady business practices and not actually writing raps or making beats, he’s always been the best part of those collaborations, often through the sheer magnitude of his personality. It’d be nice to get more of that here.

Fortunately, the other hallmark of Diddy’s storied career has been his ear for talent. And, my God, what a collection of talents is arrayed here. It’s nearly impossible to choose a standout. The Dirty Money reunion “Deliver Me” is candy for the ears. Not even a poorly advised Fabolous cameo can drag down an all-time performance from Jacquees on “Pick Up.” (For the life of me, I cannot understand why men in rap close ranks around proven abusers; there’s more nuance in this discussion than can be shared here, but still… it’s so easy to just… not.)

Ty Dolla Sign and Coco Jones form a heavenly combo on “Reachin’.” H.E.R. remains magnificent on “Space.” And the touching “Kim Porter” wisely employs two of R&B’s greatest emotional songwriters ever for Diddy’s tribute to The One Who Got Away.

However, the back half of the album, which you can imagine Diddy meant as an ode to Quiet Storm and slow jams, becomes a slog as the tempo winds its way lower and lower ’til it gets stuck in the mud. It wastes all those great performances because the first half of the album is vintage Diddy.

The funk bop of the album opener “Brought My Love” with The-Dream and Herb freaking Alpert is a welcome dodge away from the conventions of modern rap. It’s upbeat, fun, reminiscent of Diddy’s best without being derivative, and taps into the contemporary wave of dancefloor-ready rap without being gimmicky.

“Homecoming” with Jozzy updates Diddy’s favorite approach to sampling (Ecstasy, Passion & Pain’s “Born To Lose You”), and “It Belongs To You” is slinky bedroom funk at its best. But then the first intermission hits and the production switches to that murky, Drake-esque slush — which has its place, to be fair. But the thing about Quiet Storm is there still needs to be some… let’s say “motion in the ocean.”

A lot of the back half is great from a songwriting and performing standpoint but placid and downright inert if you’re thinking of “music you make love to.” Diddy made a lot of fuss about bringing R&B “back” with this album but had he been paying attention, he’d have seen it never left — and he could have incorporated more of what modern singers like Lucky Daye, Arin Ray, Ari Lennox, SZA, Cleo Sol, Khalid, Tems, Victoria Monét, and more have been doing all along.

But what’s here is still a great sampling of what’s out there — in fact, it’s more of a smorgasbord, for better or worse. It’s overstuffed, indulgent, and overlong, but it’s also sumptuous, charismatic, and satisfying, if not sonically audacious. Basically, it’s all the things you want from a Diddy album.

The Love Album: Off The Grid is out now via Love Records and Motown.

If there’s one thing that separates the pros from the home cooks, it’s how clean your work area is when you’re getting ready to cook, cooking, and finishing up. Be assured that if you can’t keep a spotlessly clean station in a professional kitchen as you work, you will not be on the schedule the next day. This simple truth of cleanliness in the kitchen is the cornerstone of our new series, Clean Cookin’.

In this episode, Nashville country artist Mickey Guyton is welcomed into the kitchen of celebrity Chef Jamika Pessoa to make some delicious lasagna rolls. But before they dive into the cooking, Chef Pessoa breaks down the steps of cleanliness necessary to operate a pro kitchen. Step 1: “Everything Starts Clean,” which means that you need to clean your kitchen — and your hands — before you pull a single thing out of the fridge or fire up the stove. Step 2 is where a lot of home cooks can get into the proverbial “weeds,” but it’s a crucial step — “Clean As You Go.” While this seems obvious, it’s really what separates the pros from the novices. Make a mess? Clean it up right away. You’ll have more space and less room for contamination.

Naturally, having the cleanest possible kitchen is of paramount importance because you don’t want to get people sick — and a messy/dirty kitchen is the fastest way to that terrible outcome. No one wants to make themselves, their partner, or family and friends sick with their cooking from a disastrously messy and unkempt kitchen.

Chef Pessoa has more advice for keeping the kitchen clean while also offering an outstanding lasagna roll recipe that you can try at home (in your super clean kitchen). So watch the whole episode above to see it all.

In 2017, when Matthew A. Cherry, whose talents include but are not limited to directing, writing, filmmaking, and producing, set out to launch his Oscar-winning Hair Love short film, he did it with one goal in mind. “We just really wanted to represent for that modern-day father who is more involved, and really will do whatever for their kid,” he said in a 2020 interview with Deadline. Two years later, thanks to a Kickstarter that raised $300,000 for the film, far more than the over $75,000 goal, Cherry and his team were able to accomplish that goal and then some with release of Hair Love.

With Hair Love, we’re introduced to the characters Stephen (played by Cherry himself) and his daughter Zuri. We follow the pair’s relationship and how it evolves when Stephen must learn how to do Zuri’s hair for the first after her mother ends up in the hospital to do a round of chemotherapy following a cancer diagnosis. Four years after Hair Love was released, Cherry and his team sought to continue the story with a new spin through the spin-off TV series Young Love.

Young Love continues from the events that Hair Love concluded on. We meet Angela, Zuri’s mother (played by Issa Rae), who struggles to find her rhythm after her recovery. There’s Stephen (now played by Kid Cudi) who is in full pursuit of a career as a music producer, which has its highs and lows. And then there’s Zuri herself (played by Brooke Monroe Conaway), an ambitious young girl who thinks she can do any and everything.

The first four episodes in the 12-episode season of Young Love are out now on Max, and ahead of its release, we spoke with Matthew A. Cherry who spoke about the connection between Hair Love and Young Love, what he hopes millennial parents will take away from the series, and what we can expect next.

At what point after Hair Love or even during it did you decide that a story like Young Love was needed?

When we first got Vashti Harrison’s artwork. It was just like, “Wow, this looks like a TV show. This looks like a picture book.” Her art style is so warm and loving. When we first saw it, her artwork actually inspired us to be like, “Yo, we just need to offer a picture book.” Ultimately, we got a deal to make one. The initial idea was formed there, but it was really once the short film and the book got out into the world and just seeing everybody’s affinity for it. It was just like, wow, this is all happening off a short film. We gotta figure out a way to tell this in a little bit more of a long-form way. So, as it got out into the world, we really locked in, let’s figure it out. A lot of the backstory was already created. We knew Stephen was a producer, the mom was working natural hair, [and] we knew they were living in Chicago. It was all already there.

What was the main thing you wanted to achieve in continuing the story that first began in Hair Love and now continues with Young Love?

I think just wanting it to be relatable man. There were a lot of shows that were coming out that really focused on the 1%. I was a part of one with The Kings Of Napa, and it was just not the reality for a lot of Americans. Most people relate to the nine-to-five hustle, you know what I mean? You gotta work a regular job and come home and you gotta do it all over again in the morning. You really have to value those weekends. It really was just wanting to do something that was relatable. Something that really showcased a Black family and three different generations of it [and] kind of the love and struggle that it takes to really be present, but also people that also want to achieve their dreams too.

What made Kid Cudi and Issa Rae perfect roles for the parents? They seem so naturally in these roles and the characters they’re based on seem so natural to them.

Believe it or not man, neither Scott nor Issa were in the same room together. They all recorded their lives separately. We got very lucky and great with our voice directing in that they were able to make it seem like that chemistry was there. Honestly, I don’t think they’d ever met before. With Cudi, I knew him from working as a creative executive at Jordan Peele’s production company, Monkeypaw, and we tried to get a show set up, it didn’t work out, but we were just always cool. He’s from the Midwest, from Cleveland, just a real dude, not really Hollywood about them. I just always thought he would be great for this just because he’s a young father, he has a 10- or 11-year-old daughter. Also, he obviously works in the music industry, so I knew he would be able to relate to the struggles that Stephen is going through from when he was early in his career. And he just loves the animation too, so just a really great choice.

Issa, [with] her show Awkward Black Girl, to me just really represented the voice of young Black, millennial women. People who were in their 20s and struggling and trying to figure it out, both on the work and the love life side of things. Her voice just has such a unique quality to it. We’ve been friends for a minute, and I’m so thankful that she decided to be in both the short and the series. I think people are really gonna love her man. Her character is going through the aftermath of recovering from this illness, getting back to work for the first time, and just kind of really questioning everything in life. Every episode kind of showcases her journey of really trying to get back to what life was like before.

There’s a tug and pull through these episodes between accepting reality and chasing dreams, something that gets complicated when a family is involved. What do you hope a parent or a millennial in general takes away from these moments?

Man, it’s hard. When I was in my 20s, I didn’t have any kids. I was able to basically move with reckless abandon. I would spend my own little bit of PA money and invest it in the music videos that I was trying to direct. Sometimes you end up living out of your car for a second, you know, I mean? Just things that you normally wouldn’t be able to do when you have a kid you’re able to do and you don’t have kids. So I think the whole lesson in this is just man, it’s hard to try to achieve these dreams and also be present as a parent, but it’s very much worth it. I don’t think any of us want to be those parents where 20-30 years from now, your kid becomes famous and they’re interviewing them and they’re like, “My dad was never there. He was always at work, trying to figure out the dream. I really needed him to be there.” So I think it’s all about just being present as much as you can.

How would you say that the individual struggles of Stephan and Angela have affected Zuri whether it be positive or negative?

I think we definitely explore that a little bit. There’s Zuri acting out a bit because they never really dealt with the reality of Angela almost not being here anymore. We definitely tried to be subtle with it, we weren’t trying to beat people over the head with it. But also, Zuri is a young, confident Gen-Zer who loves to just change the world. She sees a problem, she’s not waiting on somebody to figure it out. She’s gonna come up with big ideas, that may not be the right thing every time, but she tries to figure it out. We just tried to be real in all things and not shy away from the fact that Angela was coming off this illness and how would that affect Zuri? In a later episode in the season, we really get into that.

I love how there’s a balance between Zuri’s story and Stephen and Angela’s stories, what went into the decision to balance it all rather than let Zuri or Stephen and Angela lead the way?

Finding that balance for the three characters was hard because, you know, people came into this story and the various parts of the show and had their favorites. Obviously, most of our writers are millennials or a little older and they all could relate more to Stephen and Angela’s journey way more than Zuri. My big thing was we got this picture book, we got the short film, people love Zuri man, we can’t cast her to the side and not have her be a major character. There was definitely some figuring out the balance and the mix, but I think ultimately what we ended up coming up with was something that has a really unique kind of tone. It’s a family show that when we’re in the adult world, we’re not trying to dumb it down. When we’re in the kid world, we were able to kind of elevate the issue that Zuri and her friends were dealing with to make them feel more relatable to adult situations, like the episode where she’s selling the Girl Scout cookies. We’ve all been in a situation where we got into a work situation and they didn’t pay us fairly and we wanted to strike out on our own and figure it out. We really tried to find this really interesting balance where the adult stuff, the kids could still be interested in, and also the kid stuff, the adults could be interested in. That was always the goal.

What component impressed you the most as ‘Young Love’ came together to be the final product that it is now?

Everything man. Taking an idea and making it into something that exists in real life will never not be amazing. People seeing the vision and then actually working hard to try to make it become a reality is just so mind-blowing. The character designs, the way it really feels and looks like Chicago, all the different hairstyles, all the variety of skin tones that the different Black people in the city have — even within the family. You know, Gigi being a little bit more on the redder side and Angela being dark-skinned. Just all of the different things that we were able to kind of do, I really appreciate everybody that we’re doing the show because it really came out way better than I ever could have thought it would.

What can we expect next in the story of Zuri, Stephen, and Angela?

We’re gonna do more seasons. There’s so much more I would love to explore. The character Amir, who was introduced in the show, would love to see him be with the family more. Star and Stephen, I’d love to see them strike out on their own and try to put out an EP or do an album together, what would that look like? Gigi, who is played by Loretta Devine, lived in a time where she had to fall into those more traditional roles, but I know she had dreams of her own too. I’d loved to see her strike out on her own, take a risk, put herself out there, and try to find a new thing that she’s into. There’s so much I think we can play with. Does the family end up going to therapy? There are so many different things that I think we could touch on. So I really hope people dig it and we get the viewership and the social media impressions required to get a second season. I would love to continue to tell the story with these characters.

‘Young Love’ is now streaming on Max. You can watch it here.

The John Wick Cinematic Universe is locked and loaded to expand this week with the premiere of the prequel series The Continental. Set during the ’70s, the three part event will focus on the titular hotel that served as refuge for assassins in the high-octane films. While Keanu Reeves won’t be a part of the action, The Continental will feature characters from the movies at a pivotal stage in their killer careers.

Front and center is Colin Woodell as a young Winston Scott, the slick owner and operator of The Continental hotel played by Ian McShane in the John Wick films. In The Continental, Winston has yet to take ownership of the hotel and doesn’t even want to be in New York. But after a run-in with Mel Gibson’s Cormac, Winston charts a bloody course to claim his prize.

Joining Woodell is Ayomide Adegun as Charon, the unflappable concierge of The Continental played by Lance Reddick in the films. Like Winston, Charon has yet to take his position at the hotel, and the prequel series might shed some light on how he became the assassin refuge’s trusted facilitator.

Also along for the ride is Peter Greene as Charlie. The character made a brief appearance in the first John Wick film as the go-to cleanup guy for disposing bodies, so you know he’s got a busy future ahead of him.

Here’s the official synopsis:

The three-part event will explore the origin behind the iconic hotel-for-assassins centerpiece of the John Wick universe through the eyes and actions of a young Winston Scott, as he’s dragged into the Hell-scape of 1970’s New York City to face a past he thought he’d left behind. Winston charts a deadly course through the hotel’s mysterious underworld in a harrowing attempt to seize the hotel where he will eventually take his future throne.

The Continental: From the World of John Wick premieres September 22 on Peacock.

The Golden State Warriors took a big swing this offseason by turning Jordan Poole into Chris Paul. While there are plenty of questions about how Paul will fit into the team’s ecosystem, Poole’s departure marks the end of an up-and-down tenure with the Warriors. Some of his highs as a dynamic offensive option made him look like a natural fit in the team’s backcourt, but when things went off the rails for Poole, he struggled mightily. And off the court, there was his highly-publicized practice incident before last season with Draymond Green which ended with Green punching him.

Considering that the Warriors viewed Poole as a core member of their roster going forward and gave him a monster extension last offseason, it was pretty stunning to see him jettisoned to the Wizards for Paul. And on the most recent episode of The Old Man and the Three podcast, J.J. Redick and Poole’s former teammate with Golden State, Andre Iguodala, discussed what made his situation so unique.

Redick laid out how part of what makes the Warriors so unique is that the three players they have built things around in recent years — Steph Curry, Green, and Klay Thompson — are given the freedom to do what they believe to be best. He then moved on to Poole, and mentioned that while he wasn’t trying to knock the young guard, he believed that Poole had to be told he couldn’t necessarily have that same level of freedom.

“Bingo,” Iguodala said.

Redick discussed how the specific Warriors ecosystem made Poole’s role with the team tricky before Iguodala dove into some specifics.

“It was a hindrance to Jordan Poole,” Iguodala said. “Because Jordan’s like, why can’t I go out there and be free like them? Yeah, he doesn’t have four rings, he has one, and he won us a game in the Finals, he did do that. Game 5.

“And so, he’s coming back like, no, I’ve shown y’all that, give me some freedom,” Iguodala continued. “And I’m second on the team in scoring. He was second on the team in scoring. So, why should I be the guy…”

“…that has to dial it back,” Redick interjected.

“Like, all those emotions,” Iguodala said. “He’s a real human being, so he’s like, nah, I’m doing what I do, I’ve been sacrificing.”

Iguodala then got into how he was close with Poole, and how he would joke around with Poole about how he’d “fall on purpose” to “not play defense.” He’d go as far as to say that there would be times where “it looks like you’re trying not to try” and how that takes more energy than just exerting the normal amount of effort.

Poole began his NBA career with the Warriors, which selected him with the 28th overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.

It’s been 13 years since Gareth Edwards has released an original film not based on existing IP. That movie, Monsters (you should check it out if you haven’t seen it) impressed the powers that be enough he was given the keys to make 2014’s Godzilla. Edwards’ experience on his next film, Rogue One, isn’t exactly a secret. Tony Gilroy has openly spoken about coming in late on the movie to rewrite and reshoot some scenes. But what’s changed over the past seven years since Rogue One‘s release is, that whatever experience Edwards may have had, Lucasfilm has announced and canceled too many Star Wars projects from acclaimed filmmakers to even list here. In retrospect, it very much now feels like a Lucasfilm problem. I did ask Edwards if, now, with the upcoming release of his new film, The Creator, he feels at all absolved. With The Creator being a Disney movie, Edwards is a smart guy and isn’t about to get too honest here. (And his pivot of an answer is really a thing of beauty.) But when I mention The Creator feels like an “eff you” movie after past experiences, well that he didn’t dispute.

The Creator is just the kind of movie you don’t see in theaters anymore. First, it’s beautiful to look at as it was shot on location around the globe instead of on a stage filled in by effects. In other words, even though shot on a fairly modest budget, it looks like a real movie instead of a CGI cartoon.

Set in the near future, AI had become a part of daily life, until a revolt that leads to the nuclear destruction of Los Angeles. Artificial intelligence is banned in the West, but in Asia it is not, creating a global war and conflict. John David Washington plays Joshua, an undercover agent assigned to Maya (Gemma Chan), a woman who could lead him to the creator of the AI, ending the war. After a disastrous raid, Joshua’s allegiances are tested when he finds a child AI, which isn’t supposed to exist, and has special abilities. Eventually, Joshua grows a bond with this child as the two set out on a quest of self-preservation.

Ahead, Edwards gives us his “go big or go home” theory, in which Edwards explains, sometimes you do just have to go home. But, yes, with The Creator he did go big and he explains how and why.

I couldn’t help but keep thinking of Monsters while I watched this. You doing something new and unique.

It was certainly on my mind a little bit. It was the first movie I did, which everyone, whenever they make their first film, they usually have no money. And it’s such a liberating experience, we had about five crew members and just ran around Central America making that film and it was one of the most creative experiences I’ve ever had.

I thought it was in Mexico for some reason.

Yeah, yeah. It was Mexico and Guatemala and all that. And then I got teleported into the Super Bowl final and got to do Godzilla and Star Wars.

Yes, you did.

And so I love the scope and scale and the fan base. Playing in that sandbox is just phenomenal. But I also missed the amount of creative freedom you get from an independent film. This was really an experiment and an approach of how to combine the best of both worlds. And it was trying to find a studio that was up for this crazy way we were going to do it, we kind of did it back to front. Instead of designing a world and filming it all against green screen, we went round the actual world.

Well, you can tell. It doesn’t look like a cartoon, which a lot of movies today do. This movie looks beautiful.

Thank you. And a lot of that is because the places we went to are stunning. It’s like you just hold a camera and hit record.

You made this on a modest budget. I wouldn’t call it small, but what $80 million? $85 million? Something like that? And it looks beautiful. Why can’t all movies do this? I don’t understand why more movies can’t look like this.

I mean, you’re preaching to the choir.

Is there an answer though?

Why don’t they?

You seem to be able to pull it off. Why can’t all movies that spend more money look this good?

I mean, they do…

These are compliments by the way, your movie looks amazing.

No, I know. Thank you. But, obviously, I think it’s basically very hard work. We went to eight different countries, 80 different locations. During the pandemic as well. It was tough. And the other thing that you’re doing is you’re not promising anything. We weren’t saying, “We guarantee we will get this scene in this location and it’ll look like this.” We were like, “Just trust us, we’re going to find somewhere really good.”

And there was a lot of faith that the studio had to have, so we were very flexible and we would find things that were beautiful and then incorporate them into the movie. And then when it was finished and edited, that’s when we did all the design work. We did all the concept art in post-production versus at the beginning.

My simple metaphor for it would be, normally when you make a big blockbuster, you draw a target on the wall and then you step back. You try and get a bullseye and it’s really hard to get. Whereas we just fired the arrow into the wall anywhere – and wherever it landed we then painted around it to make it look like we’d got really lucky and hit a bullseye. And so all the design is based on all the happy accidents that we just got when we were filming and that takes a lot of faith and a lot of guts from the studio.

Well, you’ve mentioned faith from the studio a few times. But honestly, though, how do you get someone to make this? Because this is the kind of movie that doesn’t really get financed anymore for theaters: original sci-fi, not IP, just something new and original and cool. It can’t just be “faith,” how did you convince them to make this?

Yeah, we did a little trick. Which is… so when we pitched the movie and they were like, “Okay, we like this, this could be great. We’re really on board, but there’s no way you can do it for this money. How are you going to do it?” And so we said, “Can we have a little bit of money, just a tiny bit to go location scouting?” And they’re like, “Okay, of course, that’s normal.”

And they gave us some money to go to these countries, our favorite countries in the world, to look at locations. And we didn’t tell anybody, but I took a camera with me and it had a 1970s anamorphic cinema lens and everything. And we didn’t want any pressure on ourselves, but basically I shot everywhere we went and cut a little 10 minutes short together. And then went to Industrial Light and Magic, who do the visual effects for Marvel and Star Wars and said, “Look, I want to do this approach.” I didn’t have any of those tracking markers, those silver balls or any of the stuff you’re supposed to have when you make a film. And I said, “Can we just figure out how to put the science fiction on top of these shots?”

They took a deep breath and they pulled it off. And things that normally would take a month, they did in just a few days. And so we then showed that to the studio and they’re like, “Wait a minute, you did that for the money we gave you?’ And we were like, “Kind of.” They’re like, “Oh, well, if you can do this as a feature film we’re in.” We got green lit after we showed them that.

Did you really say, “Kind of”?

[Laughs] A little bit, yeah.

I’ve tried to get in your head a little bit. This feels like an eff you movie a little bit. Because your experience on Rogue One is not a secret and this feels like a, “Hey, look what I can do here,” type movie.

I think every movie you start you’re trying to make a statement about what you can do. You know what I mean? If you don’t think you’re going to do something better than what you’ve done before, I don’t do anything. That phrase, go big or go home? Sometimes it means you have to go home. And so there’s a reason it took seven years for me to do another movie. I was just trying to get the right situation so I could make a film the way I felt a film should be made.

While we were researching the movie, I went to one of those virtual studios where they do everything with motion capture and they had this poster on the wall and it basically described the process of making films and every department and what they do. And I was looking at it like, why do they have this on the wall? This is really obvious stuff. And the guy goes, “Oh, you spot the poster?” And he goes, “That’s over a hundred years old.”

And then it made me realize, holy cow, that’s the problem. We haven’t changed anything in a hundred years. There are all these amazing new technologies and so many different ways you can make a movie. And I think we pushed really far in this film and did things very differently, but I think there’s even more that can be done. And with all this other stuff, AI and everything, it’s going to change it all again. And so the future is, I think, quite exciting. I think if you’re a young filmmaker, it might turn out that you’re living in one of the best times you could.

I don’t want to re-litigate anything that happened on Rogue One. But at the same time, I remember the way the press kind of handled that at the time was like, “What’s going on here?” But now, all these years later, Lucasfilm has time after time, filmmakers and movies are falling through. And it just seems like their problem, not a you problem. And I’m wondering if you feel absolved at all.

I have to respectfully disagree. I do think there’s a lot of conversation about Rogue One and me and everything. And I honestly feel when I watch Rogue One, the person who doesn’t get enough credit is … George Lucas. Everything that’s great about that movie, you can pretty much trace back to George. And even the Darth Vader scene that lots of people talk about? I can’t take credit for it. Because it’s all George. You know what I mean? And if you see, it’s not a character from my film, it’s Star Wars. And we got to play in that sandbox for a bit and so I wouldn’t complain about any of it. I’d do it again if I had a time machine.

‘The Creator’ opens Friday, Sept. 29th. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

In late July, Euphoria star Angus Cloud’s death at age 25 stunned his family, friends, the HBO audience, and the pop-culture world at large. Tributes immediately began to pour in, and his co-stars weighed in with emotional outpourings about Cloud’s “open soul” and the profound effect he had on those around him. Nearly two months later, an official cause of death has been pronounced.

Via TMZ, Cloud succumbed to a lethal cocktail, albeit accidentally so, of drugs:

Angus Cloud died from a lethal combination of fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine and more in what’s being ruled an accidental overdose … TMZ has learned.

According to the Alameda County Coroner, the “Euphoria” star suffered acute intoxication from the combination of drugs which also included benzodiazepine.

Following Cloud’s passing, his mother shut down rumors that his death may have been “intentional,” although it’s understood that Cloud had been distraught following the recent funeral of his father, and the young actor had also never hidden his struggles with his mental health.

Cloud portrayed drug-dealing Fezco “Fez” O’Neill on Euphoria, which was actually his first leap into acting after being discovered in Manhattan. His star quickly rose, and he had wrapped two films (including an Untitled Monster Movie for Universal Pictures) prior to his passing. Cloud had also been filming Freaky Tales with Pedro Pascal and Ben Mendelsohn.

(Via TMZ)

Margaret Qualley has worked with some of the best directors out there, including Quentin Tarantino, Claire Denis, and Yorgos Lanthimos. Not bad for someone who hasn’t even turned 30 years old yet.

In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, the Sanctuary actress revealed the helpful advice she learned from Tarantino while shooting a scene with Brad Pitt for Once Upon a Time in America. The filmmaker “sensed she was hesitating or holding back somehow,” the article reads. “Afterward, he asked her if there was something she’d wanted to do but didn’t. Yes, she admitted, there was. Next time, he said, do the thing. Always do the thing.”

Qualley also remembers something her The Nice Guys co-star Russell Crowe told her.

She was doing a scene where she had to deliver a monologue. Midway through, she hit her head on a backboard, but she kept going and finished. Later, her co-star Russell Crowe told her, “You know, the best part was when you hit your head” — meaning the mistakes, the flaws, the things you don’t anticipate are what make a performance.

Crowe is in his “dad on a scooter” era, but don’t forget, he’s one of the most decorated actors of his era. He was nominated for Best Actor three years in a row in the early 2000s, winning once for Gladiator. If Crowe talks about acting, you listen, and he rightly saw something special in Qualley.

(Via Harper’s Bazaar)

Earlier this month. Taylor Swift broke the record for the biggest single-day ticket sales with her The Eras Tour concert film. Now, Britney Spears is about to shake up the world of cinema as her 2002 movie Crossroads returns to the screens.

The “Toxic” pop star’s film will show on only two nights, October 23 and October 25, in 875 locations across 24 countries. Tickets go on sale on September 28. There will be a bonus sing-along of two Britney Spears’ hits from Crossroads that weren’t on the big screen before. There will also be a soundtrack album called Crossroads: Special Edition, full of remixes.

“I recently rewatched Crossroads and was so enthralled with the time capsule of nostalgia that this incredible ensemble cast brings to the screen,” Director Tamra Davis said, according to Variety. “Britney is absolutely breathtaking to watch, and Shonda [Rhimes] is showing us her early expertise in writing complicated female characters. We had the best time in the world making this picture and the connection the actresses bring to their performances shows in every frame. I’m so grateful that Crossroads will be available so people can see Britney shine again.”

Meanwhile, Spears’ highly anticipated memoir The Woman In Me is slated for publication on October 24.