Month: December 2023

Even though the show is called The Last Of Us, we surely have not seen the last of Joel and Ellie, the two protagonists in the hit HBO series. The show became an instant hit earlier this year, so obviously a second season is in the works, but it won’t hit our retinas for some time. What we do know is that season two will take a large chunk of its inspiration from the video game installment The Last Of Us Part II, so we can piece together the most important points from there.

Earlier this month, showrunner Craig Mazin confirmed that the show is heading back into production on February 12th, 2024, nearly one year after the show’s first season debuted. The series was initially expected to resume production earlier, but that was delayed by this summer’s strikes. Now that the ball is rolling and those fungi monsters are prepping for another season, here’s everything we know so far.

Plot

The plot is expected to follow the events from the video game sequel, The Last Of Us Part II. In the game, Joel deals with the aftermath of what went down at the hospital during the season one finale, when he killed a bunch of Fireflies in order to save Ellie. Four years after that night, the duo are still struggling to survive in the post-outbreak world. Here is the official synopsis of the 2020 game:

After slaughtering members of the Fireflies rebel group to save Ellie, Joel is now living in Jackson with his surrogate daughter, as well as Maria and his brother Tommy. When a violent event disrupts their peace, Ellie becomes obsessed with hunting down those responsible, even as she’s forced to deal with the physical and emotional repercussions of her actions.

Cast

Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey are expected to return as the fearless duo Joel and Ellie, respectively, while Gabriel Luna has expressed interest in returning.

Release Date

There is no official release date for The Last Of Us season two yet, though it has an expected 2025 release.

Trailer

Obviously, there is no footage at the moment since filming hasn’t started yet, but fans should start seeing some clips as early as next spring. Hopefully. You can stream the entire first season of The Last Of Us on Max.

Madonna is currently continuing her The Celebration Tour, with only two shows left of 2023, including one tonight at Brooklyn’s Barclays Arena, and a second date this Saturday, December 16.

She also recently wrapped her two performances at London’s O2 Arena. However, throughout the run, fans complained that the pop star showed up significantly late, raising questions about exactly what time attendees could expect her to take the stage.

What Time Does Madonna Go On Stage For The Celebration Tour?

While the doors for all shows on The Celebration Tour open at 6:30 p.m., that doesn’t mean she’ll exactly show up as scheduled. Using the London dates as an example, she showed up for one performance at 8:50 p.m., and the other at 9:25 p.m. According to Setlist.fm, Madonna has even shown up past 10 p.m. in cities like Amsterdam, Berlin, and more, so she really doesn’t seem too bothered about breaking a concert curfew.

Other fans in cities like Milan claimed Madonna had been late because she was at a Versace party.

Her first stop at the Barclays Center reportedly ran until nearly 1 a.m. with the setlist, just so those going to a remaining date could prepare to be at the venue for a few hours.

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

Generally speaking, folks are feeling…shall we say…financially cautious this year when it comes to holiday spending. According to USA Today, a combination of inflation, dwindling savings and rising debt has caused many Americans to focus only on the essentials when it comes to their Christmas celebrations.

However, social media tells a different story. A five second scroll through TikTok will make you think that every home in the world (besides yours, of course) is prepped for the holiday issue of Architectural Digest. Spotless, all white furnishings, giant decorations that would put department stores to shame, luxury brand snacks left out for delivery drivers…you get the picture.

And sure, while watching aspirational videos online might provide a fun temporary escape, many are feeling like the novelty has worn off.

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Take Bri, for example. Bri is wondering where all the moms like her have gone on social media. The moms who, as she describes it, “ are wearing a sweater from 2016?” The moms whose nicer things they own “were gifted to them at some point in their lives, who the newest part of their Christmas decor every year is the Christmas tree.”

These moms are certainly not on Bri’s social media. Instead, she gets a barrage of “massive, massive hauls of new Christmas decor with you know mom in like this brand new outfit, babies dressed to the nines, house is immaculate and massive. Cars brand new.”

Meanwhile, while filming her own video, Bri sits in her 2015 car with over a hundred thousand miles on it. She will not be, as she wrote in her caption, showcasing “$500 Target hals” because instead, she’ll be saving to replace said 2015 car, as well as paying off student loans, and you know, buying groceries to live.

Bottom line: most of what Bri sees online she simply cannot relate to, and she suspects the same is true for many others.

@bridineen There will be no $500 Target hauls of Christmas decor happening here bc we have student loans to pay, a new car to save for and groceries to buy. But if you are looking for some middle class mom content, here I am! My home is not completely renovated, our cars are old and anything new that I buy is for my babies 😅 Ib: @evelyn | real mom life 🫶🏼 #middleclassmum #middleclassfamily #middleclassmom #middleclasslife ♬ Holly Jolly Christmas (Sped Up) – Michael Bublé & Sped Up Songs + Nightcore

“I do not relate to the over the top extravagant lifestyles with a mortgage to kids, student loans up the wazoo and the price of groceries. Like that’s just not my life and it probably never will be and that’s okay,” she says, adding “I don’t think that’s the reality for a majority of us honestly, for real. Like in this economy, absolutely not.”

Turns out, Bri is definitely not the only middle class mom feeling this way. Thousands showed up in her comments section to show solidarity.

“The only new christmas stuff I bought this year was WRAPPING PAPER,” one revealed.

Another admitted “None of my decor ‘matches’. It’s just a hodgepodge of thrift and craft sale finds. My kids won’t remember if the decor matched, so who cares.”

Others shared situations that were almost exactly like Bri’s—proving that many are in the same boat.

One person commented, “Here here here!! One income and one car family drowning in student debt in a rental townhouse 😅😅 fighting that overconsumption temptation errday”

Another echoed,“Hi! 👋🏻 we are here! Old clothes, tired, overwhelmed, dirty house, and 2015 car here with 155,000 miles lol – you are not alone!”

One person even astutely pointed out that maybe most regular moms are simply too drained making everything happen and running on fumes to post content, writing “We’re in the majority but too tired/busy to be posting all the time. You’re doing great ❤️.” To which Bri replied, “tired. So tired.”

All this to say, if you’re struggling with feeling like your holiday celebrations somehow don’t measure up, remember that what’s carefully curated online is in no way an accurate reflection of what most people experience. Most of us are simply trying to exist, using what we’ve got, and very, very tired. Don’t let any perceived shortcomings rob you of the inherent joys that come with the season—gratitude, time with loved ones, and maybe, just maybe…a nap.

Nicki Minaj’s new album Pink Friday 2 has been well-received by fans after months of build-up and a rollout that included unconventional strategies like appearing on streamer Kai Cenat’s Twitch channel and the virtual Gag City campaign. The album, which features appearances from Drake, J. Cole, and even Billie Eilish (sort of), is also doing pretty well commercially. But is it enough to get Nicki her second No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200?

According to HitsDailyDouble (which is rarely wrong about this sort of thing), it looks likely, with the new album trending toward 200,000 album-equivalent units (which would include both streams and straight sales). Interestingly, according to the @Chartsdata account on Twitter (aka “X”), this would make it her biggest debut since Pinkprint in 2014, which sold 244,000 album-equivalent units its first week, good for a No. 2 debut on the albums chart.

Nicki’s second album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, actually did debut at No. 1 after selling 253,000 copies in its first week. The first Pink Friday eventually reached No. 1 in its 11th week after a No. 2 debut with 375,000 (which kind of goes to show how stressing out over first-week numbers is a ridiculous way to do things). Minaj infamously had a minor meltdown when Queen debuted at No. 2 in 2018 with 185,000 album-equivalent units, coming in behind Travis Scott (although she made some good points), and it looks like she took some lessons from that album’s success to build up to an even bigger rebound with pink Friday 2.

As the Bucks put the finishing touches on a 140-124 win over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night in Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo put an exclamation mark on the proceedings with a dunk on the break with 26 seconds remaining.

With that dunk, Giannis set a career-high and Bucks franchise record for points with 64 and exacted a bit of revenge for last week’s In-Season Tournament semifinal loss to Indiana. The Pacers weren’t particularly happy that Giannis was still in the game late, but that was likely in part a response to a hard foul on Giannis earlier in the night by Aaron Nesmith that caused a scuffle.

That all sets the table for the postgame drama that saw confusion, anger, pettiness, and conspiracy run rampant at Fiserv Forum, as Giannis Antetokounmpo hunted down the game ball from his career night. Here, we’ll do our best to explain the timeline of the great game ball controversy of December 13, as well as what we know and don’t know about what happened to the basketball in question.

Immediately after the game, Giannis got into a heated exchange with Tyrese Haliburton and Pacers assistant coach Lloyd Pierce after being told the game ball from his career night had been swiped by the Pacers, eventually charging into the tunnel to confront the Pacers, re-emerging and again getting animated with Haliburton and Pierce demanding they get him the ball.

In his postgame press conference, Rick Carlisle said it was a misunderstanding where the Pacers grabbed the ball for rookie Oscar Tshiebwe, who scored his first official NBA point with a late free throw — he had scored one point in the In-Season Tournament final as well, but that didn’t count in the official regular season record. Carlisle also said the Pacers GM took a shot to the ribs in the fracas in the tunnel.

Damian Lillard found it all a bit amusing, but felt it was part of the “pettiness and gamesmanship” of the NBA.

However, the plot thickened even further when Carlisle said the Pacers learned they hadn’t even taken the actual game ball, but instead were given a reserve ball.

Video of the final buzzer confirmed that someone in a Bucks pullover, apparently a member of Bucks security, nabbed the actual game ball right after the game ended, which seemingly was going to end one of the dumbest controversies in the NBA this season.

Even with video evidence of the actual game ball going to someone in a Bucks pullover, Giannis was not convinced he had been given the correct game ball, noting the ball seemed “new” and didn’t feel right.

Pacers players then took to Twitter to express their confusion over how this entire situation unfolded.

To recap, it appears the correct game ball is in Giannis’ possession but he is skeptical and still a little mad about it. The Pacers claim they grabbed a ball that ended up not being the real one to give to a rookie who had already scored a point in the NBA but it was in a tournament that didn’t count officially so they wanted to celebrate when he scored another point (it makes it all so much funnier that both times he has scored one single point and not even two). Lillard, meanwhile, believes that is just cover for some gamesmanship and pettiness, which he seems to almost respect and, like most of us, finds the whole thing a little bit funny.

Thanks to his role in the new Five Nights at Freddy’s movie, Matthew Lillard has been garnering attention from a new generation of fans who are just discovering his body of work. Naturally, that involves his breakout role as Stu Macher in the first Scream movie, which famously rejuvenated the horror genre in the ’90s and sparked a wave of teenage slasher film imitators.

However, if you ask Lillard about his fan-favorite role in Scream, he’s surprisingly clear-eyed about the whole thing.

“I don’t really care about Stu Macher,” Lillard recently told Collider. “It’s a part I played. It’s like if you’re a plumber, do you care about the house you did down the street and around the corner? No, it’s your job. And I love that job, it’s been nice to have that in my resume, but the reality is that it’s a part I did 20-plus years ago.”

That being said, Lillard has nothing but love for Scream fans who were there from the jump or only just now starting to watch the ’90s staple for the first time. The actor could care less about the movie, but he has a deep respect for the fan reactions.

“What is important to me is that what it means to other people is deeply relevant when you see them all the time, and powerful,” Lillard said. “It’s not something I understood before that.”

Five Nights at Freddy’s is available for streaming on Peacock.

(Via Collider)

Thanks to his role in the new Five Nights at Freddy’s movie, Matthew Lillard has been garnering attention from a new generation of fans who are just discovering his body of work. Naturally, that involves his breakout role as Stu Macher in the first Scream movie, which famously rejuvenated the horror genre in the ’90s and sparked a wave of teenage slasher film imitators.

However, if you ask Lillard about his fan-favorite role in Scream, he’s surprisingly clear-eyed about the whole thing.

“I don’t really care about Stu Macher,” Lillard recently told Collider. “It’s a part I played. It’s like if you’re a plumber, do you care about the house you did down the street and around the corner? No, it’s your job. And I love that job, it’s been nice to have that in my resume, but the reality is that it’s a part I did 20-plus years ago.”

That being said, Lillard has nothing but love for Scream fans who were there from the jump or only just now starting to watch the ’90s staple for the first time. The actor could care less about the movie, but he has a deep respect for the fan reactions.

“What is important to me is that what it means to other people is deeply relevant when you see them all the time, and powerful,” Lillard said. “It’s not something I understood before that.”

Five Nights at Freddy’s is available for streaming on Peacock.

(Via Collider)

As the Bucks put the finishing touches on a 140-124 win over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night in Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo put an exclamation mark on the proceedings with a dunk on the break with 26 seconds remaining.

With that dunk, Giannis set a career-high and Bucks franchise record for points with 64 and exacted a bit of revenge for last week’s In-Season Tournament semifinal loss to Indiana. The Pacers weren’t particularly happy that Giannis was still in the game late, but that was likely in part a response to a hard foul on Giannis earlier in the night by Aaron Nesmith that caused a scuffle.

That all sets the table for the postgame drama that saw confusion, anger, pettiness, and conspiracy run rampant at Fiserv Forum, as Giannis Antetokounmpo hunted down the game ball from his career night. Here, we’ll do our best to explain the timeline of the great game ball controversy of December 13, as well as what we know and don’t know about what happened to the basketball in question.

Immediately after the game, Giannis got into a heated exchange with Tyrese Haliburton and Pacers assistant coach Lloyd Pierce after being told the game ball from his career night had been swiped by the Pacers, eventually charging into the tunnel to confront the Pacers, re-emerging and again getting animated with Haliburton and Pierce demanding they get him the ball.

In his postgame press conference, Rick Carlisle said it was a misunderstanding where the Pacers grabbed the ball for rookie Oscar Tshiebwe, who scored his first official NBA point with a late free throw — he had scored one point in the In-Season Tournament final as well, but that didn’t count in the official regular season record. Carlisle also said the Pacers GM took a shot to the ribs in the fracas in the tunnel.

Damian Lillard found it all a bit amusing, but felt it was part of the “pettiness and gamesmanship” of the NBA.

However, the plot thickened even further when Carlisle said the Pacers learned they hadn’t even taken the actual game ball, but instead were given a reserve ball.

Video of the final buzzer confirmed that someone in a Bucks pullover, apparently a member of Bucks security, nabbed the actual game ball right after the game ended, which seemingly was going to end one of the dumbest controversies in the NBA this season.

Even with video evidence of the actual game ball going to someone in a Bucks pullover, Giannis was not convinced he had been given the correct game ball, noting the ball seemed “new” and didn’t feel right.

Pacers players then took to Twitter to express their confusion over how this entire situation unfolded.

To recap, it appears the correct game ball is in Giannis’ possession but he is skeptical and still a little mad about it. The Pacers claim they grabbed a ball that ended up not being the real one to give to a rookie who had already scored a point in the NBA but it was in a tournament that didn’t count officially so they wanted to celebrate when he scored another point (it makes it all so much funnier that both times he has scored one single point and not even two). Lillard, meanwhile, believes that is just cover for some gamesmanship and pettiness, which he seems to almost respect and, like most of us, finds the whole thing a little bit funny.

As the Bucks put the finishing touches on a 140-124 win over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night in Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo put an exclamation mark on the proceedings with a dunk on the break with 26 seconds remaining.

With that dunk, Giannis set a career-high and Bucks franchise record for points with 64 and exacted a bit of revenge for last week’s In-Season Tournament semifinal loss to Indiana. The Pacers weren’t particularly happy that Giannis was still in the game late, but that was likely in part a response to a hard foul on Giannis earlier in the night by Aaron Nesmith that caused a scuffle.

That all sets the table for the postgame drama that saw confusion, anger, pettiness, and conspiracy run rampant at Fiserv Forum, as Giannis Antetokounmpo hunted down the game ball from his career night. Here, we’ll do our best to explain the timeline of the great game ball controversy of December 13, as well as what we know and don’t know about what happened to the basketball in question.

Immediately after the game, Giannis got into a heated exchange with Tyrese Haliburton and Pacers assistant coach Lloyd Pierce after being told the game ball from his career night had been swiped by the Pacers, eventually charging into the tunnel to confront the Pacers, re-emerging and again getting animated with Haliburton and Pierce demanding they get him the ball.

In his postgame press conference, Rick Carlisle said it was a misunderstanding where the Pacers grabbed the ball for rookie Oscar Tshiebwe, who scored his first official NBA point with a late free throw — he had scored one point in the In-Season Tournament final as well, but that didn’t count in the official regular season record. Carlisle also said the Pacers GM took a shot to the ribs in the fracas in the tunnel.

Damian Lillard found it all a bit amusing, but felt it was part of the “pettiness and gamesmanship” of the NBA.

However, the plot thickened even further when Carlisle said the Pacers learned they hadn’t even taken the actual game ball, but instead were given a reserve ball.

Video of the final buzzer confirmed that someone in a Bucks pullover, apparently a member of Bucks security, nabbed the actual game ball right after the game ended, which seemingly was going to end one of the dumbest controversies in the NBA this season.

Even with video evidence of the actual game ball going to someone in a Bucks pullover, Giannis was not convinced he had been given the correct game ball, noting the ball seemed “new” and didn’t feel right.

Pacers players then took to Twitter to express their confusion over how this entire situation unfolded.

To recap, it appears the correct game ball is in Giannis’ possession but he is skeptical and still a little mad about it. The Pacers claim they grabbed a ball that ended up not being the real one to give to a rookie who had already scored a point in the NBA but it was in a tournament that didn’t count officially so they wanted to celebrate when he scored another point (it makes it all so much funnier that both times he has scored one single point and not even two). Lillard, meanwhile, believes that is just cover for some gamesmanship and pettiness, which he seems to almost respect and, like most of us, finds the whole thing a little bit funny.