Month: November 2023

This article originally appeared on 03.04.20

There are few more fulfilling hobbies than having a love of books.

Reading isn’t just a great way to have a good time. Reading increases brain connectivity, makes people more empathetic, reduces depression symptoms, improves vocabulary, and may even cause you to live longer.

It’s a huge benefit for a child’s development as well. According to Parent.com, reading “stimulates the side of the brain that helps with mental imagery, understanding, and language processing, and that brain activity.”

Sure beats wasting time playing video games.

Thirteen-year-old Callum Manning wanted to share his love of reading with the world, so he created an Instagram account where he posted photos of the books he’s read. It started with a post about Stephen King’s “The Shining.”

“So I guess I’m going to start this account off with one of my favourite books, Callum wrote. “This book was the first book I read in 1 day. And I was like 10. So yeah it scared me.”

See on Instagram

He would go on to fill his pages with books such as “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen, “1984” by George Orwell, and current classics such as “A Game of Thrones” by George R.R. Martin and “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” by J.K. Rowling

Kids Callum’s age can be exceptionally cruel. A group of them created a group chat where they bullied him for his love of books and then invited him to join. After subjecting him to emotional abuse, they kicked him out of the chat.

“I don’t tend to cry that often but I think that was the first time in a while I’ve actually cried,” Callum told PA Media.

His older sister, Ellis Landreth, was understandably upset about the cruelty, so she tweeted about the group chat, hoping about “20 or 30 of my friends [would] like a few of his posts or follow him or give him some words of encouragement.”

Her tweet would go viral, receiving over 180,000 likes.

Canu2019t believe how awful kids are. My little brothers made an Instagram reviewing and talking about books and kids in his new school have seen it and have created a group chat calling him a creep slagging him off about it and added him to it so he could see pic.twitter.com/wuuj2XlO34

— Ellis (@Ellis)
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She was bombarded by responses from people who wanted to support her brother.

I think the love from all around the world has probably let him know he isn’t alone. But all the interesting people I know were once considered weird kids with books. Including me.

— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) March 2, 2020

I’ve followed him and dropped him a little message but I’d love to buy him a book or send him over an amazon gift card – I’m sure he has a lot of books on the way but please DM me if there’s any book he doesn’t have 😊

— beffy (@beffybadbelly) March 1, 2020

Just a few hours after the tweet, Callum received thousands of followers on his page. In just three days, he’s up to nearly 400,000 followers. He’s also received countless messages of support through the page.

English novelist Matt Haig sent Callum a collection of books, adding: “Hey let’s all follow Cals Book Account on Instagram and show him some support.” A book store near Manning’s home in northeast England promised him a book on the house.

Callum’s story was shared on Instagram by authors Caroline Kepnes and Malorie Blackman.

The teenager received over 15,000 messages in his DMs. “He’s absolutely overwhelmed,” Landreth told CNN. “He can’t even get through all his DMs.”

Callum’s mother is over the moon about the response. “She’s so happy people are spreading positive messages about these issues,” Landreth said. “No matter how small some things seem, they can stick with kids forever.”

The SAG-AFTRA strike may still be going (at least as of this writing), but that hasn’t stopped Hollywood from announcing future projects. Tuesday brought a biggie: After nearly four decades, Nintendo was finally, belatedly making a movie out of The Legend of Zelda. Unlike this year’s Super Mario Bros. Movie, the Zelda one won’t be animated. They’re going live-action (with lots of CGI, of course).

Another big difference: the Super Mario Bros. characters have big personalities. It’s essentially a comedy, and comedy actors is mostly what the movie got for voice talent. Link, the intrepid hero of Zelda? He’s just some dogged loner going from place to place, killing beasties. It’s unclear if the Zelda movie will have a comic tone, but given the seriousness of the games and the hiring of director Wes Ball — whose Maze Runner movies aren’t laugh riots, and presumably the same goes for his forthcoming Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes — it seems unlikely.

So who to cast for Link? When news of the movie broke, people instantly thought of two no-brainers for Link: Tom Holland and Chris Pratt. Both are cromulent picks. (Honestly, Pratt is probably too old now to play the young Link, though his non-Italian-ness didn’t stop him from nabbing the Mario role.) But surely there are others. Here’s some possible candidates:

Timothée Chalamet

If there’s a young heroic role and Tom Holland doesn’t get it, there’s always Chalamet. Each has a very different vibe: Holland is more clean-cut, Chalamet is floppy-haired. Could Holland play Willy Wonka? Probably, though his would presumably not be as wacky. Likewise, Chalamet can do po-faced heroic, too, as witness his Paul Atreides in Dune. Imagine Chalamet as a dashing young Millennial Link who has to constantly do cool coif-flips while shooting his sword at Octoroks.

Jeremy Allen White

An intense Zelda, who’s constantly suffering volcanic high blood pressure and pushing back his copious curls after kills. In between battles, there would be montages set to Sufjan Stevens.

Shameik Moore

Moviegoers mostly know the animated version of Moore in the Miles Morales Spider-Man movies (though he’s also been his live-action self on shows like The Get Down and Wu-Tang: An American Saga, in which he played Raekwon). Let more people see his face as he prowls the monster-laden realm of Hyrule.

Jacob Elordi

A sky high Link, towering over even Ganon. He can even bring some of the mumbly Elvis drawal he brought to Priscilla.

Jharrel Jerome

He was great in his breakthrough during the second segment of Moonlight. He won an Emmy for When They See Us. And he was excellent in Steven Soderbergh’s Full Circle. All of these are heavy works. Let Jerome have some fun. Let him make a movie where he wanders around a fantasy realm by himself, killing endless monsters, and collecting triangles.

Aubrey Plaza

If they did a gender-swapped Link and they got Plaza, they could go one of two ways. They could ask for Plaza in withering deadpan mode. Or, better yet, they could have Plaza do her more serious, intense side, as seen in Emily the Criminal and the second season of The White Lotus. Plus having a woman play Link would piss off tetchy conservatives, which is always fun.

Zendaya

If we’re switching genders, why not cast Tom Holland’s paramour? Give her a chance to be a hero, rather than an accomplice/love interest as she is in the Dune series.

But what of Princess Zelda? She probably wouldn’t be a mere damsel-in-distress, as she is in the original game. This Zelda would have to have more agency. Zendaya would be a good choice (if she’s not getting Link, that is). Anya Taylor-Joy already played a Nintendo princess in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, so why not here, too? Other popular young actresses who would make enjoyably strong-willed Zeldas include Jenny Ortega, Storm Reid, Auli’i Cravalho, Amandla Sternberg, and Kaitlin Dever.

But let’s consider some way outside-the-box Zeldas, ones who would bring a more comic edge:

Ayo Edebiri or Rachel Sennott

They’re such a dynamic duo in Bottoms, at once stressed-out and sharp-witted. If comic is the way Zelda goes — and it probably isn’t, but one can dream — then either of them would make a great non-boring Princess Zelda.

Maria Bakalova

The Oscars rarely realize the greatness of comic performances, but the Bulgarian actress was so mind-blowingly good in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm — even ensnaring Rudy Giuliani in what proved his fifth or sixth most embarrassing moment in 2020 — that she nabbed a nomination. Bakalova can do more than Tutar Sagdiyev — she was straight-faced in Bodies Bodies Bodies, with the aforementioned Sennott and Sternberg — but imagine her bringing that same Borat 2 energy to a Nintendo video game about a dude stabbing things.

Keke Palmer

Let Keke Palmer steal the Legend of Zelda movie. Maybe even cast Daniel Kaluuya as Link for a much-welcomed Nope reunion.

Hope this has helped, Nintendo.

Halle Bailey is already back to working hard, even after starring in The Little Mermaid earlier this year. In a new post, Missy Elliott revealed that she and Bailey were in the studio together, sharing some behind-the-scenes glimpses on social media.

Elliott and Bailey posed for a cute selfie together, as the studio glows with purple lighting in the background. Another video finds them dancing along, as Bailey points to Elliott and notes that she’s “with the legends, yes!”

“I had a blast in the stu with Halle!!!” Elliott captioned. “We cookin up sumn… New Halle??”

As it turns out, a collab of some sort is on the way, much to fans’ excitement. “Yasss we had so much fun, can’t wait for y’all to hear,” Bailey responded to Elliott’s post.

After the teaser was posted, fans on social media were also thrilled about the fact that both Halle and her sister, Chloe, will have individual songs as a collaboration with Elliott.

“Her giving both sisters a feature for their debut >>&gt,” wrote one.

“Missy working on producing R&B with Halle?!?!?” another added. “Oh sister is about to SANG.”

Check out Missy Elliott and Halle Bailey teasing their collaboration above. Below you can find some additional fan reactions.

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

According to Complex, Washington Wizards player Jordan Poole apparently responded to the rumors of him dating Ice Spice, after a kid approached him at a recent meet-and-greet. Fans had been wondering if he took the rising star rapper on an extravagant date.

“Definitely not,” Poole replied, shutting the rumors down directly. “Definitely cap!”

This conversation started after Cam’ron used his It Is What It Is show to toss off some thoughts, claiming that Poole was not only interested in Ice Spice but had a lot to say about how their date was affecting his games. Ice Spice has yet to respond.

“Jordan Poole, you spent $500,000 on an Ice Spice date,” Cam’ron said. “You’re a munch and you’re playing like a f*cking munch. This is not you from last year, bro. Go back to Milwaukee and figure it the f*ck out and get back in the playoffs ’cause you look crazy. ‘Cause I had your back last year!”

“She don’t give a f*ck, she from the Bronx, bro,” he added. “Fordham Road, have you been to Fordham Road? Jordan Poole, next time you go to New York, go around Fordham Road, Concourse, Highbridge, South Bronx. You gone see what you spent $500,000 on and be like, ‘Yo, I was wilding.’”

Check out the video of Jordan Poole denying the Ice Spice dating rumor here.

Before his shocking death at 54, Matthew Perry seemed like he was gearing up for a comeback. He’d released a hit memoir, which not only had great stories but was bracingly honest about his struggles with addiction. Now we’re learning he had more big ideas, including one he pitched Anchorman and The Big Short director Adam McKay: a semi-autobiographical superhero movie.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, Perry approached McKay while filming a small role in his climate change satire Don’t Look Up.

“It’s about this guy,” Perry said, according to McKay. “You’d recognize him. His name is Matt and he’s very famous and about 50 years old. His life is a little bit of a mess. He’s lost. Out of the blue a distant relative dies and leaves him $2 billion — and he uses to become a superhero.”

The movie was to be called Mattman, and it woud have starred Perry himself, in a role with some crossover with his real life.

McKay said he was fascinated by the pitch, though he countered with his own, less high-concept version, according to THR:

“My idea was just to do a show about being this incredibly popular, well-known TV guy who’s dealing with addiction,” McKay says. “Because the world has changed. You could actually do that show now. Ten years ago, people would have said you’re crazy. But now people can be more upfront about their mental health issues, their addiction issues, and it’s kind of wonderful.”

“Why don’t we just do a show that’s a fictional version of what you’ve struggled with,” he pressed on with his pitch to Perry. “The idea that everywhere you go, people yell your catchphrases a little bit of your past, the addiction, what it’s like, because everyone views you through this lens of this cheery, bright, multicolored show. And then, meanwhile, you’re a human being who’s dealing with real addiction, real pain. It could be an incredible show. It could be really funny. It could really affect people’s lives.”

Neither project ever materialized, but either version sounds like it would have been interesting. It seems Perry was still thinking about the idea before his death. In what became his final Instagram post, which featured a picture of him in his hot tub, the caption included the words “I’m Mattman.”

Perhaps Perry was influenced by the Oscar-winning Birdman, in which Michael Keaton played an actor who’d become famous playing a Batman-like superhero and was wrestling with that history. A handful of years later Keaton wound up playing Bruce Wayne all over again.

In the wake of Perry’s passing, many stories about him, previously not made public, emerged. For instance, he saved Friends from enraging its legion of fans after he put the kibosh on a controversial twist involving Chandler and Monica.

(Via THR)

One of the biggest risers up NFL Draft boards this season has been Shedeur Sanders, the quarterback for the Colorado Buffaloes who has done an impressive job making the jump to Power 5 football after being a standout at Jackson State. While Sanders has stuff he needs to work on — his propensity for holding onto the ball, especially behind a leaky Buffaloes offensive line, has made him the most sacked QB in the country — he’s made a real case for being picked in the top-10 next spring.

There’s just one problem: His dad expects him back in Boulder next year. Colorado coach Deion Sanders appeared on The Dan Patrick Show on Tuesday, and after explaining why he doesn’t believe he can be an NFL coach, Sanders was asked if making the jump to the league is more appealing if he does it alongside Shedeur. He was quick to make clear he has two sons on the Buffs, then told Patrick that he has another year in Boulder alongside both of them.


“Don’t forget Shilo, by the way,” Sanders said at the 13:30 mark of the video. “Don’t forget Shilo, he’s a dog. They’re gonna come out the same year, next year. They’re not trying to leave daddy this year, by the way.

“I’m not thinking down the street that far,” he continued. “I haven’t thought like that. That’s a great thought process, though.”

Sanders has expressed in the past that he wants his sons coming back for the 2024 campaign. While it is a bit more difficult to project out Shilo’s Draft future by nature of his being a safety, it might make sense for Shedeur to wait until 2025 to enter the league. Next year’s Draft has two quarterbacks, Caleb Williams and Drake Maye, who are viewed as locks to go in the top-5. That’s not necessarily the case in 2025, as there’s no clear-cut QB1. Should Shedeur come back and play well, he’d have a real chance of being the first quarterback — and, by extension, first player — selected.

Colorado has struggled mightily after a 3-0 start to the year. The team has lost five of its last six games, and after Saturday’s matchup in Boulder against Arizona, the Buffaloes will end their season with back-to-back road tilts against Washington State and Utah.

Time was that video game movies were cursed. Remember 1993’s Super Mario Bros., starring an appalled Bob Hoskins? Jump three decades to the present and Hollywood has finally (mostly) figured out how to make the genre work. The biggest grosser that’s not Barbie is, as it happens, the second stab at a Super Mario Bros. movie. Somehow it took about six months for Nintendo to greenlit a big screen take on another of their deathless franchises. That’s right, there’s finally going to be a Legend of Zelda movie. And people are already trying to cast it.

Per Variety, on Tuesday gaming legend and Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto took to social media to reveal that, after working on a live-action Zelda movie “for many years,” he’s teaming with super-producer Avi Arad (of, among others, the last three iterations of the live-action Spider-Man) to belatedly make it a reality. Miyamoto warned Zelda fans that it “will take time until its completion,” but that the wheels are officially in motion.

The Legend of Zelda movie even already has a director: Wes Ball, of the Maze Runner trilogy and the forthcoming Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

Details are thin on the ground, though based on an interview Miyamoto did with Variety earlier this year, maybe don’t expect it to be a straight-up take on the 1986 original. “Just following the plot points of the video games will never work as a movie,” he said, arguing that the games’ plots are all about the player moving through a world. “Without the involvement of the player, it won’t meet expectations.”

Also up in the air? Who will play hero Link, or baddie Ganon, or the titular absconded princess Zelda. But when the news broke, a lot of people assumed the role would go to cinema’s most popular young actor, Tom Holland.

Another no-brainer: Chris Pratt, whose Mario casting was controversial when first announced. Then again, he might be a bit too old to play so young an adventurer.

Or what about Pratt for not just Link but all the major roles?

Or why not both Tom Holland Chris Pratt?

There were so many Tom Holland and Chris Pratt posts that eventually people made jokes about that.

One person had a very outside-the-box suggestion: Give Link to Nathan Fielder.

Seriously, make Nathan Fielder play Link.

(Via Variety)

(WARNING: Spoilers for Swagger season two will be found below.)

Swagger made its debut on Apple TV+ back in 2021 and since then it’s grown to be a standout on the platform as it caters to basketball fans as well as those who like a good coming-of-age story. The show stars Oshea Jackson Jr. as Ike “Icon” Edwards and Isaiah Hill as Jace Carson. Other notable actors in the show include Shinelle Azoroh as Jenna Carson (Jace’s mother), Tessa Ferrer as Meg Bailey, and Quvenzhané Wallis as Crystal Jarrett (Jace’s best friend and love interest). Swagger was created by Reggie Rock Bythewood and it turns out that a notable NBA player serves as the inspiration for the show.

Is Swagger Based On A True Story?

Swagger is loosely based on the experiences of NBA star Kevin Durant who also serves as an executive producer on the show. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Bythewood recalled taking a 45-minute flight from Los Angeles to Oakland, California (Durant was playing for the Golden State Warriors at this time) to meet with the star athlete and discuss an idea that turned into what we now know as Swagger.

“I was blown away by the vulnerability that he relayed to me,” Bythewood said. “The game changer was I found an emotional connection to his story with mine.”

In another interview with Boardroom, Bythewood explained how Durant’s true experiences were used in the show.

“Any sort of real-life events from KD’s life that I wanted to pull from, they gave me access to, but they also gave a lot of room and space and encouragement to pull from other places,” Bythewood said. These other places included Bythewood’s children, like his younger son who recently completed his freshman year at UCLA, the same school that Jace is eyeing a scholarship from during season two.

Seasons one and two of ‘Swagger’ are available to stream now on Apple TV+.

The Houston Rockets are enjoying a 3-game winning streak after back-to-back blowout wins over the Sacramento Kings, but they’re going to get tested in a big way this week with the Lakers, Pelicans, and Nuggets all coming to town.

Dillon Brooks is enjoying a strong start to his tenure in Houston, as he’s taken advantage of a fresh start after the way things ended in Memphis. Brooks is enjoying a highly efficient first two weeks of the season, averaging 16.3 points per game on 59.3/56.6/93.8 shooting splits, and has seemingly fully bought into his role with the Rockets as an off-ball player so far. On defense, he’s doing what he always does, applying pressure on the ball and looking to frustrate opponents — and, aside from his preseason debut, has avoided the shenanigans.

However, Wednesday’s game might be the first test of the new and improved Brooks, as he faces the foe that effectively ousted him in Memphis in LeBron James and the Lakers. Brooks rather famously called James old, then hit LeBron below the belt and got ejected from Game 3, and saw James put the dagger in the Grizzlies by going right through him at the end of Game 4. Even Brooks’ teammates thought his poking of the bear helped breathe some life into James and the Lakers, but it doesn’t appear that was the takeaway from Brooks.

On Tuesday, the veteran wing said he was “ready to lock him up” when asked about matching up with James, noting the league’s all-time leading scorer is playing great this year but it’s his job to tire him out and make him work.

Nothing he says here is particularly inflammatory — and everything after “ready to lock him up” is absolutely true and what he should be trying to do. The issue comes in those first five words, which again, aren’t crossing any lines or anything like that but just seem to be asking to put a larger target on your back.

That said, he could’ve kept quiet as a church mouse prior to this game and if LeBron went off everyone would’ve gotten their jokes off, so I guess you might as well double down. As always, it’ll come down to who comes out the winner on Wednesday night.

Sometimes the best new R&B can be hard to find, but there are plenty of great rhythm-and-blues tunes to get into if you have the time to sift through the hundreds of newly released songs every week. So that R&B heads can focus on listening to what they really love in its true form, we’ll be offering a digest of the best new R&B songs that fans of the genre should hear every Friday.

Since the last update of this weekly R&B column, we’ve received plenty of music and news from the genre’s artists.

Lucky Daye made his return with his steamy “That’s You” single and SZA revealed how her “Slime You Out” collaboration with Drake came together. Ty Dolla Sign’s “multi-stadium listening event” with Kanye West for their upcoming album was reportedly delayed and The Roots teamed up with LL Cool J to make an anthem for the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament. Elsewhere, Jazmine Sullivan and HER were among the artists who honored Chaka Khan for her Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction.

Here are some more releases on the new music front that you should check out:

Majid Jordan — Good People

Majid Jordan’s third album, 2021’s Wildest Dreams, arrived four years after their second album. This time around, the Canadian duo only took two years to deliver another body of work. It’s a short one with just nine songs, but Majid Jordan makes the most of it from start to finish.

Ciara — “How We Roll (Remix)” Feat. Lil Wayne & Chris Brown

This past summer, Ciara delivered her CiCi EP and now she’s back with an update to one of the project’s standout records. “How We Roll,” which featured Chris Brown, now gets an update with an additional verse from Lil Wayne as he kicks off the remix with a string of slick bars.

Robert Glasper — In December

Legendary producer Robert Glasper gets a jump on the Christmas season with this Apple Music exclusive project In December. For this seven-song project, Glasper mixes classics like “Joy To The World” and “Little Drummer Boy” with a set of originals. “The intention for this album was less about Christmas songs and more about songs that feel good during the holidays,” Glasper said about the album.

Ne-Yo — “Link Up (Remix)” Feat. Fabolous

Days after summer came to an official close, Ne-Yo checked in with his summery single “Link Up.” A little over a month later, he’s back with a new remix alongside Fabolous. It feels like the mid-2000s with a Ne-Yo and Fabolous collaboration, but we’re here for the nostalgia.

Eric Bellinger — “All For Me”

Certified R&B workhorse Eric Bellinger pours his heart out to a special lover on his new single “All For Me.” He declares his love for the woman in question and celebrates the fact that she’s all for him to enjoy.

Ryan Trey — Streets Say You Miss Me

St. Louis, Missouri’s own Ryan Trey checks in with his third project Streets Say You Miss Me. Across 14 songs and features from Mariah The Scientist, Vory, NoCap, and Chase Shakur, Trey guides us through the ups and downs of romance with R&B- and hip-hop-inspired sounds.

Q — Hello, Everyday Changes

Months after sharing his Soul, PRESENT project, Brooklyn singer Q keeps the fire alive with a new batch of tunes. His Hello, Everyday Changes EP is his latest genre-bending presentation in a year that also saw him hit the road with Baby Rose.

Jon Vinyl — Heartbreak Hill

Toronto singer Jon Vinyl arrives with his debut album Heartbreak Hill. Through eight songs, Vinyl experiences a variety of emotions on his Heartbreak Hill, but his silky smooth vocals make for a soothing experience for listeners. Heartbreak Hill is a coming-of-age love story that runs through fear, regret, and impulsive thoughts with brute honesty.

Dee Gatti — “No Favors”

I hope that Dallas native Dee Gatti has a project on the way, and her newly released single seemingly confirms that possibility. Gatti drops “No Favors” as follow-ups to “Either Way” and “Timeless” and as a record bathed in honesty as she questions a former lover’s continued presence in her life despite them failing to prove that they can be the supportive companion she needs them to be.

Titose — “Star”

With her All Things Considered EP out later this month, Botswana singer Titose delivers another preview of the project with “Star.” The tender and optimistic single takes a moment to honor her companion’s effortless shine while also showing her commitment to their growing relationship.

FrvrFriday — “Reach U”

Four months after dropping his Cruise Control project, Rwandan-Canadian singer FrvrFriday returns with his second single since the project’s release. “Reach U” captures FrvrFriday’s attempts to strike up some romance with a woman who he feels has yet to experience love in the right way.

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