Month: October 2023

Last week Our Flag Means Death returned to the airwaves. Season 2 of the Max pirate comedy, featuring Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi, kicked off, but not in the traditional TV or even streaming fashion. Instead of dropping one episode, as in the old days, or all of them, as Netflix tends to do, three were made available right out of the gate. That begs the question: How many episodes are there this season?

The answer to that is: eight. That’s two fewer episodes than in Season 1, which had 10. What’s more, the release strategy is fairly unusual. Here are when the next five episodes get released:

Episode 4, “Fun and Games”: October 12
Episode 5, TBA: October 12
Episode 6, TBA: October 19
Episode 7, TBA: October 19
Episode 8, TBA: October 26

Our Flag Means Death is loosely based on the life of Stede Bonnett, known as the “Gentleman Pirate,” who becomes a pirate after ditching his previous life as a moneyed member of the landed gentry of Barbados. The show has been acclaimed for its LGBTQIA+ inclusion, which includes not one, not two, but three queer relationships, one involving a nonbinary character. It also reunites frequent collaborators Darby and Waititi, the former who can also be seen in the latter’s new film Next Goal Wins.

You can stream the first three episodes — as well as the first season — of Our Flag Means Death on Max.

Taylor Swift is more than halfway done with re-recording her masters. This month, she will release 1989 (Taylor’s Version), her re-recording of her fifth studio album, 1989. This album is a particularly significant project in Swift’s discography, as it marked her first documented pop record, and spawned three Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles — “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” and “Bad Blood.”

With the new versions, for which, Swift will finally own the masters, fans are elated to buy merch and physical editions, as they relive this iconic era.

Will ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ be on vinyl?

When 1989 (Taylor’s Version) arrives this month, Swifties will be able to enjoy the album on a variety of formats, including digital albums, streaming, compact discs, and vinyl records.

On Swift’s official website, fans can pre-order a special Crystal Skies blue vinyl record. They can also order a tangerine vinyl edition of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) from Target.

Each vinyl edition comes with the album’s original tracklisting re-recorded by Swift, as well as five additional previously-unreleased vault tracks. They also come with collectible album sleeves containing lyrics and never-before-seen photos.

1989 (Taylor’s Version) is the fourth album of Swift’s Taylor’s Version series, in which she is re-recording her first six albums, which were originally released through Big Machine Records. After 1989 (Taylor’s Version), she will have her self-titled debut, and her sixth studio album, Reputation left to release.

1989 (Taylor’s Version) is out 10/27 via Taylor Swift and Republic. Find more information here.

Casino Royale did more than reboot the Bond franchise. It also gave us a dramatically different 007. Daniel Craig’s take on the character was angrier, nastier — and nakeder. It was Bond, not a Bond girl, who sensually rose from the ocean, as Ursula Andress and Halle Berry had both done. Then there was the scene where he’s tortured by main baddie Le Chiffre, played by Mads Mikkelsen. No naughty bits are shown, but Craig is there in his birthday suit, his testicles being whacked by a rope. It’s arguably the wildest scene in the Bond franchise. But it could have been even more out-there.

Per Variety (in a bit caught by Insider), Mikkelsen spoke at the Zurich Film Festival, where he reflected on the movie that broke him through in Hollywood. He admitted he’d never even seen a Bond film before getting the script, which he fell asleep reading and left on a plane. But he got the part (with a little lying), and on set he and Craig quickly bonded (even though Mikkelsen said he was bad at poker).

“I think he was glad I also came from indie films. He had a partner in crime,” Mikkelsen said. They proceeded to try and make the already darker film even crazier. “There was this scene where I tickled his balls with a rope. We had so many ideas and the director just looked at us: ‘Guys, come back. It’s a Bond movie.’”

Mikkelsen didn’t elaborate, but he has in the past. Speaking to Vulture in 2021, he explained the even more extreme direction they wanted to take the naked torture scene:

We’ve never seen Bond naked, and we’ve never seen him that fragile, and then obviously there are some undertones with the rope. We were discussing how to approach it, and we just went further out with something that was really brutal and insane. One idea was I actually cut him up somewhere, and he had to suffer with that for a while. At a certain point, director Martin Campbell was just smiling and said, “Boys, come back to the table. This is a Bond film. We can’t go there.” We were lost in our indie world, right? You have to respect that. It is a Bond film. That’s the framework you need to understand.

So you didn’t get Bond getting cut up, but you still got see him get his balls tickled.

(Via Variety and Insider)

Offset is finally dropping his much-anticipated second solo album, Set It Off. Over the course of the past few months, the former Migo has demonstrated his rap chops on new tracks, leading up to a promising project.

Over the course of the past year, Offset has grappled with a multitude of emotions, especially following the dissolution of Migos and the death of his bandmate, Takeoff. Fans are expecting Offset to touch on these topics on the album.

We’ve put together a handy guide featuring everything we know about the album so far.

Release Date

Set It Off is out 10/13 via Motown/Capitol. Find more information here.

Tracklist

1. “On The River”
2. “Say My Grace” Feat. Travis Scott
3. “Worth It” Feat. Don Toliver
4. “Broad Day” Feat. Future
5. “Fan”
6. “Freaky“ Feat. Cardi B
7. “Hop Out The Van”
8.“ Don’t You Lie“
9. “I’m On“
10. “Big Dawg“
11. “Night Vision“
12. “Skyami” Feat. Mango Foo
13. “Dissolve“
14. “Fine As Can Be” Feat. Latto
15. “Buss My Watch“
16. “Dope Boy” Feat. Yung Nudy
17. “Princess Cut” Feat. Chlöe
18. “Jealousy” Feat. Cardi B
19. “Blame It On Set“
20. “Upside Down“
21. “Healthy“

Singles

So far, Offset has only shared the single “Fan” and the Cardi B-assisted “Jealousy.”

Artwork

You can see the different artworks for Set If Off below.

Tour

As of now, a tour supporting Set If Off has not been announced.

Don Toliver and Cardi B are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Doja Cat‘s fourth album, Scarlet, has garnered much acclaim, with fans and critics lauding her musical versatility, as well as her rap skills. However, she hasn’t quite made the best choices in this particular era. While she’s apologized and backtracked on comments she made about fans, Doja has once again found herself in hot water after sharing a controversial selfie on her Instagram account.

In the selfie, Doja is wearing a shirt that contains a picture of Sam Hyde, a comedian with alleged ties to the alt-right, and has been accused of being a neo-nazi.

For context, Hyde donated $5,000 in 2017 for the legal defense of Andrew Anglin, founder of the neo-nazi and alt-right publication, Daily Stormer, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times.

Anglin was reportedly sued by the Southern Poverty Law Center after allegedly orchestrating a “troll storm” against a Jewish woman in Montana, and Hyde was said to have told the LA Times that $5,000 was “nothing” to him.

Doja has since deleted the post, and replaced it with one of her appearing to wear the same shirt, with the portion with Hyde cropped out.

At the time of writing, Doja has not issued an apology, nor has she offered any indication that she was unaware of who Hyde was before posting the original picture.

Plenty of actors get into politics. Not everyone becomes governor of a state. Arnold Schwarzenegger did, although lording over California was the highest office he could obtain. Born in Austria, the actor who doesn’t think he was the ’80s’ best action star is prohibited from running for the presidency. But if he could, he thinks he would have been a rad commander-in-chief.

Per People, Schwarzenegger spoke to Howard Stern in an interview that aired Thursday, during which he wrestled with not being able to run for president.

“It really wasn’t because I felt like everything I’ve accomplished in my life—[the] bodybuilding career, the movie career, becoming Governor, setting up my Schwarzenegger Institute, all this stuff, the millions of dollars I made and everything—it’s all because of America,” Schwarzenegger said. “So, why would I complain about the one thing I can’t do?”

That said, he told Stern, “I think that I would’ve made a great president. I think that I have the energy and the will to bring people together.”

He also said that “so many people come up to me and go, ‘Oh, I wish you could be our president.’” He added, “There are so many people out there in America who need help, so I think we should all concentrate on that … and not just think about ourselves.”

Schwarzenegger has been openly talking about getting old lately, but that doesn’t mean he’s slowing down.

“The bottom line is, I’m 76 years old,” Schwarzenegger said. “I’m full of energy, I’m full of enthusiasm. I’m as enthusiastic and excited as I was when I’m 40 years old.”

Schwarzenegger may be a Republican, but he’s more of traditionalist. He’s even come out against the rising tide of anti-Semitism in his party, warning those tempted by that ideology to not be a “loser.”

(Via People)

Jonathan Taylor’s future finally has a bit more clarity, and for the next few years, he’ll remain a member of the Indianapolis Colts. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Taylor and the Colts agreed to a new contact over the next three years that will pay him up to $42 million. In all, the deal will give Taylor $26.5 million in guaranteed money.

The NFL’s most productive running back in 2021, Taylor was limited to only 11 games last season. Ahead of the 2023 campaign, Taylor made clear he wanted a contract extension from the team, and when they were unable to work something out during the offseason, the All-Pro running back requested a trade, which prompted quite the response from Colts owner Jim Irsay.

Ultimately, Indianapolis made clear that he could seek greener pastures so long as they received a first-round pick back, but that never came. Taylor has been on the physically unable to perform list to start this season as he has worked his way back from offseason ankle surgery, and prior to the news of his extension on Saturday, the team officially activated him and listed him as questionable to play in Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans.

The Colts are 2-2 to start the season, and are coming off of an overtime home loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

Hasan Minhaj was doing pretty well for himself — that is, until a recent New Yorker profile came out. The piece revealed that some of the Daily Show alum’s bits go a bit beyond poetic license. His claim that his family was mailed anthrax? Turns out that didn’t happen. The backlash has been severe, and on Friday Bill Maher joined the chorus of Minhaj dissenters.

On his latest episode of Real Time, Maher began a segment on Minhaj by calling him “the comedian who answers the question, ‘What if Jussie Smollett did stand-up?’”

Maher didn’t ease up, saying “the stories Mr. Minhaj tells in his act to elicit sympathy for himself as a Muslim and a person of color are completely made up.” He added, “If you want to speak truth to power, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say you have to include the truth part.”

Thing is, Maher and Minhaj have a checkered history. Maher claimed that “he’s done this before with me,” saying that he once accused him of “saying Muslims should be put in internment camps—something I’ve never come close to thinking, let alone saying.”

Maher then compared him to a figure even more polarizing than Smollett: Donald Trump: “How is that different than this guy?”

You can watch Maher’s Real Time segment in the video above.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Hasan Minhaj was doing pretty well for himself — that is, until a recent New Yorker profile came out. The piece revealed that some of the Daily Show alum’s bits go a bit beyond poetic license. His claim that his family was mailed anthrax? Turns out that didn’t happen. The backlash has been severe, and on Friday Bill Maher joined the chorus of Minhaj dissenters.

On his latest episode of Real Time, Maher began a segment on Minhaj by calling him “the comedian who answers the question, ‘What if Jussie Smollett did stand-up?’”

Maher didn’t ease up, saying “the stories Mr. Minhaj tells in his act to elicit sympathy for himself as a Muslim and a person of color are completely made up.” He added, “If you want to speak truth to power, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say you have to include the truth part.”

Thing is, Maher and Minhaj have a checkered history. Maher claimed that “he’s done this before with me,” saying that he once accused him of “saying Muslims should be put in internment camps—something I’ve never come close to thinking, let alone saying.”

Maher then compared him to a figure even more polarizing than Smollett: Donald Trump: “How is that different than this guy?”

You can watch Maher’s Real Time segment in the video above.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Plenty of actors get into politics. Not everyone becomes governor of a state. Arnold Schwarzenegger did, although lording over California was the highest office he could obtain. Born in Austria, the actor who doesn’t think he was the ’80s’ best action star is prohibited from running for the presidency. But if he could, he thinks he would have been a rad commander-in-chief.

Per People, Schwarzenegger spoke to Howard Stern in an interview that aired Thursday, during which he wrestled with not being able to run for president.

“It really wasn’t because I felt like everything I’ve accomplished in my life—[the] bodybuilding career, the movie career, becoming Governor, setting up my Schwarzenegger Institute, all this stuff, the millions of dollars I made and everything—it’s all because of America,” Schwarzenegger said. “So, why would I complain about the one thing I can’t do?”

That said, he told Stern, “I think that I would’ve made a great president. I think that I have the energy and the will to bring people together.”

He also said that “so many people come up to me and go, ‘Oh, I wish you could be our president.’” He added, “There are so many people out there in America who need help, so I think we should all concentrate on that … and not just think about ourselves.”

Schwarzenegger has been openly talking about getting old lately, but that doesn’t mean he’s slowing down.

“The bottom line is, I’m 76 years old,” Schwarzenegger said. “I’m full of energy, I’m full of enthusiasm. I’m as enthusiastic and excited as I was when I’m 40 years old.”

Schwarzenegger may be a Republican, but he’s more of traditionalist. He’s even come out against the rising tide of anti-Semitism in his party, warning those tempted by that ideology to not be a “loser.”

(Via People)