Month: September 2023

The DC Extended Universe’s eventual metamorphosis into the James Gunn-led DCU could very well surprise everyone, although the “placeholder” films have not exactly set the box office on fire. Even The Rock’s flexing charisma didn’t help Black Adam (which was originally a passion project of his, many years ago) become a runaway hit.

Can Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom overcome the inertia? Only time will tell. The first film grossed over $1.1 billion at the global box office, and although domestically, it didn’t fare as well as several other DC movies, Aquaman became the top global DC release of all time. In August 2019, the Internet also kind-of lost it when Momoa faux-threatened not to shoot the sequel due to protesting construction on Hawaiian’s sacred Mauna Kea mountain.

Four years later, DC films are sitting in a different place. An Aquadaddy joke at the beginning of the sequel’s first trailer tackles the imposing task with humor.

From there, Arthur Curry finds that Black Manta’s (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) hatred towards him has grown, and Aquaman must save Atlantis from doom. This means an unlikely team up with Orm (Patrick Wilson and his abs) and diving into the deep. Nicole Kidman returns as Atlanna, and we shall see Dolph Lundgren back as as King Nereus and Randall Park as Dr. Stephen Shin. One tiny peek at Amber Heard’s Queen Mera later, here’s the synopsis:

Having failed to defeat Aquaman the first time, Black Manta, still driven by the need to avenge his father’s death, will stop at nothing to take Aquaman down once and for all. This time Black Manta is more formidable than ever before, wielding the power of the mythic Black Trident, which unleashes an ancient and malevolent force. To defeat him, Aquaman will turn to his imprisoned brother Orm, the former King of Atlantis, to forge an unlikely alliance. Together, they must set aside their differences in order to protect their kingdom and save Aquaman’s family, and the world, from irreversible destruction.

Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom washes into theaters on December 20.

Earlier this month, The Rolling Stones returned with the announcement of their 26th studio album Hackney Diamonds. They unveiled the invigorating lead single “Angry” with a music video featuring the beloved Euphoria princess Sydney Sweeney.

Hackney Diamonds is the rock and roll band’s first album of new songs since 2005’s A Bigger Bang. “Angry” is the opening track, the first of 12 songs.

In an interview with The New York Times, Mick Jagger discussed the recording process for the LP. “We do like four or five takes. ‘OK,’ and we move on,” he said. “So no one had time to really think, ‘Well, was this a good song? Should we be doing this song?’ Because I get introspective, you know. Is this song as good as the other one? Is this song like another one I’ve done? You can figure that out later. Let’s keep moving.”

Check out the full tracklist for Hackney Diamonds below.

1. “Angry”
2. “Get Close”
3. “Depending On You”
4. “Bite My Head Off”
5. “Whole Wide World”
6. “Dreamy Skies”
7. “Mess It Up”
8. “Live By The Sword”
9. “Driving Me Too Hard”
10. “Tell Me Straight”
11. “Sweet Sounds Of Heaven”
12. “Rolling Stone Blues”

Hackney Diamonds is out 10/20 via Geffen. Find more information here.

Ian Sweet, the music project of indie rocker Jilian Medford, was ready to make out with someone in her August single, “Your Spit.” But she has her guard up in “Emergency Contact,” her soft, wistful single released on Thursday, September 14, ahead of her Sucker album on November 3.

In the accompanying Brittany Reeber-directed video, Medford is alone and slowly slumping from a toppled chair to the floor as she sings, “I stopped writing you down / As my emergency contact / I bet you’re glad that you don’t have / To come runnin’ / Every time I fall back.”

Medford admits “it gets so dark sometimes,” but she still avoids reaching out to whom she’s lost because she’s “not ready to see what I’m missin’.” Roughly 90 seconds into the five-minute video, the director yells cut and asks Medford to “do it again but just, like, much better” — illustrating her feelings of inadequacy. Medford tries again, but the director still isn’t satisfied, and now, she’s crying as her makeup is reapplied.

Everyone on set is giving Medford the side-eye. But by the end, she stares directly into the camera with confidence, strumming her guitar and singing, “I don’t mind / I don’t wanna get it right / This time.” And that earns her overwhelming approval.

“‘Emergency Contact’ is biting and sarcastic at its core,” Medford said in a statement. “It’s a protection song to myself mostly. Trying to convince myself that I didn’t really want what I had lost in the first place as a way of coping with the outcome. The video we made for it is one of my favorite Ian Sweet videos ever (especially since it ties in with the ‘Your Spit’ video as well).”

She continued, “I wanted to represent the humor that often goes hand-in-hand with deep sadness. In the video, Martin [Herlihy] (who plays the director) keeps quickly snapping me out of those deep dark moments and pushing my buttons to try to get a rise out of me so in turn I’ll put on the best performance possible.”

Watch the “Emergency Contact” video above, and check out the Sucker cover art and tracklist below.

1. “Bloody Knees”
2. “Smoking Again”
3. “Emergency Contact”
4. “Sucker”
5. “Comeback”
6. “Your Spit”
7. “Clean”
8. “Fight”
9. “Slowdance”
10. “Hard”

Sucker is out 11/3 via Polyvinyl. Find more information here.

Netflix’s raunchy animated comedy Big Mouth has seen its fair share of guest stars and rap references. The latest addition to its cast might be one of its most perfect, though, as Megan Thee Stallion has been announced to guest star as a bootylicious Hormone Monster. As one-half of the X-rated hit single “WAP,” Meg will have plenty to contribute to the show’s unique blend of educational info and gross-out humor. You can check out the season 7 announcement above.

Megan first began building her onscreen resume with a guest appearance on Marvel’s She-Hulk series last year, a process she called “a blast.” Meanwhile, during her hosting gig on SNL in October, she showed off some impressive comedy chops, joking around in the “Hot Girl Hospital” sketch ahead of performing “NDA” and “Plan B.”

She’ll be pairing her musical and acting skills again in the upcoming A24 comedy Dicks: The Musical, where she’ll be girlbossing the titular twins. She’s also rumored to be negotiating a role in a new Safdie brothers film starring Adam Sandler, which could either be hilarious, or considering Megan’s love of horror, every bit as nerve-racking as Uncut Gems. Her first-look deal with Netflix could also bear fruit soon, as well. It’s looking like Stallion season is nearly upon us… we can’t wait.

Wes Anderson‘s second film of 2023 will be his second Roald Dahl movie.

Based on the short story collection The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar stars Benedict Cumberbatch (a natural for the director’s aesthetic) as the titular character, alongside Ralph Fiennes, Dev Patel, Ben Kingsley, Rupert Friend, and Richard Ayoade.

Unlike Anderson’s previous titles, including Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, and Asteroid City, Wonderful Story isn’t a feature-length film; it’s his first short, coming in at 37 minutes. It’s also his first movie where someone says the word “flabbergasted,” as Patel does in the trailer above. I’m surprised, too.

Anderson explained to Vogue why The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is his second Dahl adaptation, after 2009’s Fantastic Mr. Fox. “I think it probably just sort of happened. I wanted to do Fantastic Mr. Fox because I wanted to do a stop motion animated film, and it’s one I loved as a child and I just kind of mixed those two ideas together. Then I got to know the family. I had some conversations with them and I think Liccy [Felicity Dahl, Roald’s wife] probably said, ‘Is there another one you like?’ So Henry Sugar was set aside for me,” he said. “It’s not necessarily that I think Dahl is the most adaptable writer, although he might be one of the most adapted writers ever, maybe the most.”

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar premieres on Netflix on September 27th.

After getting smacked down in a massive lawsuit, Alex Jones owes the Sandy Hook families roughly $1.5 billion in damages for his well-documented spreading of conspiracy theories that the horrific school shooting was a “false flag” and the family members mourning the loss of their children were “crisis actors.”

To the surprise of no one, Jones — who appears to be trying to beg Putin to grant him Russian citizenship — has yet to pay the Sandy Hook families a dime. The InfoWars host has, however, dropped an increasingly large amount of money on himself including lavish meals and expenses surrounding his primary home and lake house. Needless to say, the Sandy Hook families are not thrilled.

“It is disturbing that Alex Jones continues to spend money on excessive household expenditures and his extravagant lifestyle when that money rightfully belongs to the families he spent years tormenting,” a lawyer for the families said in a statement. “The families are increasingly concerned and will continue to contest these matters in court.”

Via Associated Press:

In July, Jones spent $7,900 on housekeeping. He dished out more than $6,300 for meals and entertainment, not including groceries, which totaled nearly $3,400 — or roughly $850 per week. A second home, his Texas lake house, cost him nearly $6,700 that month, including maintenance and property taxes, while his vehicles and boats sapped another $5,600, including insurance, maintenance and fuel.

His total personal expenses for July topped $93,000, up from nearly $75,000 in April, not including legal fees and other costs for his court cases, according to bankruptcy filings.

The Sandy Hook families are reportedly considering a request for the judge to appoint a trustee to oversee Jones’ spending and prevent “further waste of estate assets.” In response, the shock jock said he deserves a fancy meal and nice vacations after everything he’s been through. You cannot make this up.

“If anything, I like to go to nice restaurants. That is my deal,” Jones said on Tuesday’s episode of InfoWars. “I like to go on a couple of nice vacations a year, but I think I pretty much have earned that in this fight.”

(Via Associated Press)

The 2023 NFL season is off and running. Week 1 started and ended with highly entertaining national TV games on Thursday and Monday and, while the early Sunday afternoon window wasn’t exactly an all-timer, the 16-game schedule brought the goods on the whole. In this space, Week 1 wasn’t quite as kind with a sub-standard record but, hey, it’s early.

Week 2 brings more opportunity and, before we unveil the selections, here is the early progress.

• Week 1: 2-3
• 2023 Season: 2-3

Come get these winners.

Teaser: Philadelphia Eagles (PK) over Minnesota Vikings and Buffalo Bills (-2) over Las Vegas Raiders — PointsBet

You’ll need to see the column early to get this one in, but I like it. Admittedly, it’s a little bit square, but I think this is a bargain on both sides. Philadelphia should hold serve at home over Minnesota and, courtesy of a hideous performance from Buffalo on Monday night, the line has dipped enough to get the Bills under a field goal. Home favorites. Better teams. Let’s ride.

Houston Texans (-1) over Indianapolis Colts — Widely Available

This might be a disgusting AFC South battle, as God intended. I do think that DeMeco Ryans will have a potentially scrappy Houston defense ready to flummox Anthony Richardson in his first NFL road start. On the other side, Houston’s offense is a little scary, but this is in a friendly environment and I think this line should be closer to 2.5 or 3.

Seattle Seahawks (+5.5) over Detroit Lions — DraftKings

Buy low. Sell high. That’s the short explanation for this selection on an overreaction basis. Seattle was fairly horrible last week, while Detroit won on the biggest possible stage. Maybe those results are indicative, but I’ll happily grab the 5.5 on Seattle to find out.

Teaser: Green Bay Packers (+7.5) over Atlanta Falcons and Pittsburgh Steelers (+8.5) over Cleveland Browns — FanDuel

The first teaser is favorites. The second one is underdogs. I think Green Bay probably wins outright in Atlanta but, if they fall short, it’s likely to be in a close-fought game against the ground-bound Atlanta offense. The Pittsburgh play is another buy-low, sell-high spot after the Steelers laid an egg and the Browns throttled the Bengals. There is panic about Pittsburgh that I understand but don’t buy into, and I’ll take this across two key numbers at home.

Carolina Panthers (+3) over New Orleans Saints — Widely Available

There are clear similarities with this play and the decision to back Houston. The Panthers weren’t as bad as the final score indicated last week in Atlanta, and Bryce Young should be more comfortable in Charlotte. The Saints defense is the best unit in the game, but this shouldn’t be sitting at a full three in a division game on the road. Take the value on the home underdog.

No team has generated more buzz through the first few weeks of the college football season than the Colorado Buffaloes. Led by recently-hired head coach Deion Sanders, the Buffs went through a gigantic roster overhaul this offseason and have seen that pay off right away, as the team knocked off TCU on the road in their opener before beating Nebraska by 22 points in their first game in Boulder.

Now, the team is about to take on Colorado State before the two most high-profile games on the schedule: a road trip to Oregon and a home tilt against USC. But before that happens, Rams coach Jay Norvell decided to go after Coach Prime for something a little strange: wearing a hat and sunglasses while talking to people.

A lot of things about Sanders rub opposing coaches the wrong way — he carries himself with the confidence that made him one of the greatest and most captivating athletes of all-time, the way he put this roster together came under tons of scrutiny — but getting this riled up about how he wears a hat and glasses is a new one. It’s worth mentioning that this led to Norvell getting applauded in the room he was in, so it accomplished whatever he set out to do.

Anyway, Colorado enters Saturday’s game (which kicks off as 10 p.m. ET on ESPN) as 23.5-point favorites, and if they do end up winning, I fully expect Coach Prime to show up in the largest hat and the largest pair of sunglasses he is able to find between now and then.

We do not need to overthink what happened at Tuesday’s (September 12) 2023 MTV Video Music Awards: Saweetie is great, and teleprompters are not.

Saweetie hosted the VMAs pre-show and was a presenter during MTV’s broadcast. Saweetie stuttered while tossing the pre-show to a commercial break, as posted by a fan account on X (formerly known as Twitter). In the time between that understandable mishap and Saweetie’s reappearance during the 2023 MTV VMAs to introduce a performance from Stray Kids, some people roasted her online.

“Hey, what’s up, y’all? It’s me again,” Saweetie said (as shown in a clip posted to X by BET). “And y’all better stop making my little stutter video go viral. I see what you’re doin’. Anyways, let’s try it again!”

Saweetie has been teasing her debut album, Pretty B*tch Music, for at least two years. In March, she explained the album’s ongoing delay to E! News.

“I feel like a debut album is not something you just put out,” Saweetie said. “It’s not something you play with. I’m a Cancer, so I like to overthink sometimes, but I think you have to be really careful with that, and I take my art really serious.”

Selena Gomez can relate. Gomez, sitting next to her “Calm Down” collaborator Rema, did not appear pleased when Chris Brown was announced as a nominee for Best R&B. Video of her reaction circulated (and is still circulating) online, and she later wrote on her since-expired Instagram Story, “I will never be a meme again. I’d rather sit still than be dragged for being myself. Much love.”

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

Last year, Wilco celebrated 20 years of their classic indie-rock gem Yankee Hotel Foxtrot with an extensive box set to honor the songs. They returned last month with the announcement of their new album Cousin and the release of the lead single “Evicted.”

The Chicago band is back with the title track. It explores intense family dynamics, depicting a fight between cousins. “When your red lines / Get crossed with mine / I object to you / Our deal’s un-struck,” Jeff Tweedy sings.

Welsh singer Cate Le Bon produced the record. “The amazing thing about Wilco is they can be anything,” she said in a statement. “They’re so mercurial, and there’s this thread of authenticity that flows through everything they do, whatever the genre, whatever the feel of the record. There aren’t many bands who are able to, this deep into a successful career, successfully change things up.”

“I’m cousin to the world,” Tweedy said about the LP in a statement. “I don’t feel like I’m a blood relation, but maybe I’m a cousin by marriage. It’s this feeling of being in it and out of it at the same time.”

Listen to “Evicted” above.

Cousin is out 9/29 via dBpm Records. Find more information here.