Month: February 2024

SomeBODY once told me that Universal Studios Florida is opening a new theme park in 2025. It’s true! But that’s not all they’re up to. This morning, Universal Orlando Resort revealed the first details about DreamWorks Land, which is going up near my beloved E.T. Adventure ride.

The kid-friendly DreamWorks Land is, as you might imagine from the name, based on characters from DreamWorks movies, including Shrek, Puss in Boots, and Kung Fu Panda. Sorry, Flushed Away fans, but you’re out of luck.

Highlights include a meet-and-great with Shrek characters, a Trolls-themed “Trollercoaster,” and “Po’s Kung Fu Training Camp,” featuring “enormous water cannons, dump buckets, giant fans, and more.” It wouldn’t be a Universal attraction without guests getting soak (as someone who always makes time for Jurassic Park River Adventure, I say this with complete affection). I’m particularly intrigued by Shrek’s Swamp for Little Ogres, the first (?) attraction where you can visit a character’s toilet.

This ogre-sized play area features four fun slides, wet play areas, and a playground where guests can climb, bounce, and splash around as well as venture into Shrek’s outhouse.

If DreamWorks Land is a success, and it will be with the Shrek toilet, what movies should be represented in the expansion? I’m hoping for Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. The Halloween Horror Nights crossover would be a blast. Here’s the full list of attractions:

SHREK

Shrek’s Swamp Meet: Guests can visit Shrek’s Swamp Meet to interact with beloved characters Shrek, Princess Fiona and Donkey, the noble steed eager to joke around and converse with guests, just outside of Shrek’s cottage.

Shrek’s Swamp for Little Ogres: This ogre-sized play area features four fun slides, wet play areas and a playground where guests can climb, bounce and splash around as well as venture into Shrek’s outhouse.

Mama Luna Feline Fiesta: The blockbuster film, Puss in Boots 2: The Last Wish, comes to life with this new interactive experience that takes place in Mama Luna’s retirement home for cats. Here, guests get to play with Mama Luna’s many cats on vivid interactive screens activated by buttons, bells, maracas and levers. They might even spot the one and only Puss in Boots himself.

King Harold’s Swamp Symphony: Guests can create their own melodious masterpiece as they trigger a choir of ever-changing frog ribbits by continually stomping on an array of interactive lily pads.

Swamp Snacks: Families can feast like an ogre at this new kiosk, which will serve scrumptious snacks inspired by Shrek, including Shrekzel, Far Far A Waffle, Frozen Ogre and more.

TROLLS

Trolls Trollercoaster: After strolling through a dazzling marquee starring cherished Trolls characters Poppy, Viva, Tiny Diamond, Satin and Chenille, guests of all ages can take a ride on the iconic Caterbus escaping evil spiders as they speed along a bright orange and yellow track aboard this family-friendly rollercoaster.

Poppy’s Playground: Nestled under a giant, 20-foot mushroom is Poppy’s Playground – a shaded play area featuring colorful flowers and bugs with a bountiful array of fun bouncing and climbing structures for the youngest of trolls.

Trolls Treats: Poppy’s boombox from Trolls Band Together has been transformed into a playful kiosk that offers up brightly colored Trolls ice cream treats inspired by Poppy and Branch like the pink lemonade-flavored Poppy-licious Pink and huckleberry-flavored BroZone Berry.

High Five Hideaway: Cloud Guy hosts this all-new retail location featuring the latest merchandise including apparel, plush and accessories from Shrek, Trolls, Kung Fu Panda, Gabby’s Dollhouse and more.

KUNG FU PANDA

Po’s Kung Fu Training Camp: Inspired by the hit Kung Fu Panda films, this all-new play area brings the Panda Village to life like never before. Within both wet and dry play areas, guests have the opportunity to help the pandas wash and dry their laundry with enormous water cannons, dump buckets, giant fans and more. Guests will also encounter fun elements throughout the experience, including an interactive gong, mischievous, giggling baby pandas, and oversized merry-go-round noodle bowls from Mr. Ping’s Noodle Shop.

Po Live!: This digital, interactive meet and greet experience gives guests the opportunity to interact with the famous Dragon Warrior himself as he teaches them cool Kung Fu moves, cooks some delicious stir fry and babysits his little cousin, Ling Ling…all at the same time.

Universal Studios’ DreamWorks Land is expected to open at the Orlando-based park in summer 2024. Have a look at the concept art:

Seth Meyers is used to taking a “closer look” at the news. But on Monday, he was the news.

The Late Night host made an impromptu and “strange” visit to an ice cream shop with President Joe Biden, who answered a reporter’s question about a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas while holding an ice cream cone. “Never before in my life has the Curb Your Enthusiasm music been louder in my head than during this moment,” Meyers said about standing next to the president.

He later added, “I already felt like I was in an episode of Curb and Veep. I didn’t want to do a Jim Halpert look into the camera, too.”

The weirdness of the scenario aside, Meyers deeply hopes that Biden was telling the truth while enjoying his slowly melting sweet treat. “I will say, as I was listening in the moment, I was thinking to myself, ‘I really hope he’s right about an imminent cease-fire.’ In fact, I hope it comes as soon as possible, because as far as I can tell, the only way out of this nightmare is an immediate, lasting cease-fire and the safe return of all the hostages,” he said.

You can watch the Late Night clip above.

We’re a few years removed from St. Vincent’s last album, 2021’s Daddy’s Home. Now, Annie Clark is back: Today (February 29), she announced All Born Screaming, her seventh album. The project is set to drop on April 26, but before that, she has shared a new single, “Broken Man.” While Daddy’s Home wore its ’70s influences on its sleeve, “Broken Man” boasts more of an experimental and aggressive rock sound.

A press release notes Clark worked on the album with Foo Fighters members Dave Grohl and Josh Freese, Stella Mogzawa of Warpaint, Cate Le Bon (who appears on the album-closing title track as the project’s sole credited feature), Rachel Eckroth, Mark Guiliana, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, and David Ralicke.

Clark says of the project, “There are some places, emotionally, that you can only get to by taking the long walk into the woods alone — to find out what your heart is really saying. It sounds real because it is real.”

Listen to “Broken Man” above and find the All Born Screaming cover art and tracklist below.

St. Vincent’s All Born Screaming Album Cover Artwork

St. Vincent’s All Born Screaming Tracklist

1. “Hell Is Near”
2. “Reckless”
3. “Broken Man”
4. “Flea”
5. “Big Time Nothing”
6. “Violent Times”
7. “The Power’s Out”
8. “Sweetest Fruit”
9. “So Many Planets ”
10. “All Born Screaming” Feat. Cate Le Bon

All Born Screaming is out 4/26 via Virgin Music Group. Find more information here.

Yesterday (February 28) was an unusual day for Meek Mill. The rapper found himself at the center of online conversations after he appeared to be referenced in a lawsuit filed against Diddy. The suit claims that Diddy said he had sex with a rapper whose name was redacted from the document. A footnote clarified of the redaction, though, “He is a Philadelphia Rapper who dated Nicki Minaj,” which many saw as proof it was Mill the document was addressing.

Mill then got into it with DJ Akademiks, and not long after that, he dropped Heathenism, a new five-track EP that includes features from Future and Fivio Foreign.

Before and after the release of the project, Meek took to X (formerly Twitter) to continue sharing his thoughts on the Diddy situation. He wrote in one tweet, “The 2 things they say … we snitching or we gay ….we generating 100’s of millions from music it’s not a coincidence we all gay and snitches …. They are powering this stuff even if it’s fake! The goal is to disrupt the hip hop community…. I own this music that drop tomar play it!!!!!”

Meek added in another, “Every black blog site enhanced that post to make me seem gay…. I change laws for our people I donate millions … they are designed to destroy the image of black leaders! It can’t work with me tho you gotta really kill me and I still will get bigger after death! This god not me lol.” He also wrote, “When I got a girl around me I’m f#%king her twice a day lol ask some of ya favorites … p*ssy don’t control me but it’s like a high… one love to the gay people but that juicy p#%sy do it for meeeeee [smiling emoji] I done ran red lights to get that feeling yall weird on here like devils lol.”

In response to one user who wrote, “Meek you have the right to remain silent,” the rapper replied, “I have the right to say I ain’t gay and I’ll trash anybody that play with my manhood lol.”

Former Brockhampton member Matt Champion packed a one-two punch in February. His first solo offering of the year, “Aphid” featuring Dijon, is hardly two weeks old, but Champion dropped another solo single, “Slug,” on Wednesday, February 28.

The trippy single was co-produced by Matt and Henry Kwapis, and Champion’s boundless musicality is depicted in an Anna Pollack-directed video.

In it, we find Champion within a mysterious orb in the middle of a damp forest. “I want someone,” he sings. “And that someone just happens to be you.” An unidentifiable yet undeniably gross substance drips from his fingers — which, very slug-like — while he’s slowly joined by people who seem unaware of his existence. Champion slips and slides while others execute choreography around him. Champion observes, then trips when he tries to walk away. “Won’t you be my slug?” he sings.

Finally, Champion seamlessly joins in on the dancing for a bit before returning to his initial drooped state. The music cuts off, and we’re left with the same view from the outside of the bubble. Wildlife chirps outside while Champion’s habitat totally decompresses, and he’s left lying inanimately when the screen goes black.

It would appear that Champion intends to keep fans fed, as a press release advises, “Stay tuned for more from Matt Champion soon.”

Watch the “Slug” video above.

On July 26, 2023, Niger’s democratically elected president Mohamed Bazoum was overthrown in a coup, which prevented Mdou Moctar from safely returning home to Niger. The military coup happened shortly after they had completed Funeral For Justice, their newly announced album due out May 3, as explained in a press release. It was also revealed that the album was “recorded at the close of two years spent touring the globe following the release of 2021 breakout Afrique Victime [and] captures the Nigerien quartet in ferocious form.”

Mdou Moctar released the rocking title track on Wednesday, February 28. It delivered an explicitly clear message: “Dear African leaders, hear my burning question / Why does your ear only heed France and America? / They misled you into giving up your lands.”

“This album is really different for me,” Moctar, lead singer and guitarist, said in a statement. “Now the problems of terrorist violence are more serious in Africa. When the US and Europe came here, they said they’re going to help us, but what we see is really different. They never help us to find a solution.”

Bassist and producer Mikey Coltun added, “Mdou Moctar has been a strong anti-colonial band ever since I’ve been a part of it. France came in, f*cked up the country, then said, ‘You’re free.’ And they’re not.”

Moctar added, “I don’t support the coup, but I never in my life liked France in my country. I don’t hate France or French people. I don’t hate American people either, but I don’t support their manipulative policies — what they do in Africa. In 2023, we want to be free, we need to smile, you understand?”

These nuanced sentiments will be thoroughly unpacked across Funeral For Justice.

Watch the “Funeral For Justice” video above. Below, check out the album’s cover art and tracklist, as well as Mdou Moctar’s upcoming tour dates.

1. “Funeral for Justice”
2. “Imouhar”
3. “Takoba”
4. “Sousoume”
5. “Imagerhan”
6. “Tchinta”
7. “Djallo #1”
8. “Oh France”
9. “Modern Slaves”

041/4 — Indio, CA @ Coachella Music and Arts Festival
04/21 — Indio, CA @ Coachella Music and Arts Festival
06/05 — Atlantic City, NJ @ Anchor Rock Club
06/06 — Harrisburg, PA @ The Abbey Bar at ABC
06/07 — Richmond, VA @ Cheers Brown’s Island
06/08 — Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom
06/09 — Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
06/11 — Charleston, SC @ Pour House
06/12 — Birmingham, AL @ Saturn
06/13 — Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
06/14 — Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo
06/15 — Indianapolis, IN @ The Hi-Fi
06/18 — Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
06/19 — Detroit, MI @ Magic Bag
06/20 — Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
06/21 — Buffalo, NY @ Asbury Hall
06/22 — Greenfield, MA @ Green River Music Festival
06/23 — Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
06/26 — Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
06/27 — Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
06/28 — Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
07/03 — London, UK @ Electric Brixton
07/07 — Beuningen, NL @ Down the Rabbit Hole
08/19 — Berlin, DE @ Festaal Kreuzberg
08/20 — Leipzig, DE @ UT Kreuzberg
08/21 — Munich, DE @ Ampere
08/22 — Milan, IT @ Magnolia Summer Stage
08/25 — Paris, FR @ Petit Bain
08/26 — Antwerp, BE @ OLT Revierenhof
08/27 — Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
08/30 — Dorset, UK @ End Of The Road Festival
08/31 — Manchester, UK @ Manchester Psych Fest
09/01 — Birmingham, UK @ Moseley Folk Festival
09/02 — Glasgow, UK @ Saint Luke’s
09/03 — Newcastle, UK @ Boiler Shop
09/04 — Leeds, UK @ The Brudenell Social Club

Funeral For Justice is out 5/3 via Matador Records. Find more information here.

For 2 ½ years now, AMC Theatres has been showing the same ad before every movie. It stars Nicole Kidman and it features her waxing upon the beauty of the moviegoing experience (preferably at an AMC Theatres chain, of course). It was meant to coax audiences, who rightly stayed away from movie theaters at the pandemic’s height, back to seeing movies in public. It was so popular (to the shock of Kidman’s husband) that they kept showing it, like an aperitif. Back in 2022 the chain promised they were making a sequel, though how could one improve upon perfection?

Looks like we’ll find out sooner or later if that’s possible. Per Deadline, CEO Adam Aron revealed during a quarterly earnings call two things: 1) They made not one but three new Nicole Kidman ads; 2) They’re going to start slipping into rotation on March 1, i.e., the day Dune: Part Two officially opens.

Aron described it as “phase two of the Nicole Kidman campaign,” and seemed to imply that audiences (or at least projectionists) had grown weary of showing the 60-second commercial, “the same one, that’s appeared over and over, before every movie starts.”

And so, starting Friday, audiences will see one of three new ones that will “kind of randomly appear in our theaters prior to the show.” (He stressed that audiences will get different ones, not three in a row. That would be weird.)

This begs some questions: Will the new ones — any of them — top the original, the one where Oscar-winning thespian, who once spent a year-plus shooting the same Stanley Kubrick film with her future ex-husband, says, “We come to this place for magic”? The one where she says, quite movingly, that “heartbreak feels good in a place like this”? Will audiences recite the lines of the new ones out loud, as they do now, treating it like The Rocky Horror Picture Show? Will they even welcome something new? Or will they revolt in anger that their beloved original Nicole Kidman AMC ad is gone?

Or maybe they’ll all be very good and we’ll be okay with moving on. Perhaps the original will be seen as a relic of a time when we were most of us terrifying of going to the movies, fearing some stranger(s) will infect us. Or maybe they’ll stink on hot ice and they’ll go away, and we’ll go back to sitting through a half hour of trailers followed by that longtime cheesy welcome-to-AMC intro that used to feature a guy being so startled by a movie that he gets his popcorn everywhere, then right into the main feature.

Or maybe — and this is a good idea — they should go back to what the movies did from the ‘30s into the early ‘60s and show cartoons before the movie. AMC could pay cartoon villain David Zaslav for those hundreds of classic Looney Tunes he erased from (HBO) Max and play them before Kristen Stewart’s forthcoming lesbian thriller. Cartoons are a great cleanser before watching a movie. Then again, seeing a movie at AMC Theatres without a trace of Nicole Kidman would be kind of sad.

(Via Deadline)

LeBron James, a one-time Monday Night Raw attender (that we know of) who plays professional basketball in his spare time, is apparently pretty excited to see that The Rock is back in WWE and part of The Bloodline. James and the Los Angeles Lakers took on the Clippers at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday night, and late in the first quarter, he decided to do his best impression of some of Dwayne Johnson’s famous oversells of a stunner from Stone Cold Steve Austin.

With just under 10 seconds left in the frame, James got to his spot and pulled up for a baseline jumper. PJ Tucker contested the effort and slightly bumped him, which led to one of the funniest moments of James’ career, as he felt the need to sell the call by falling onto his back and then doing a somersault.

Seriously, this is just straight up with The Rock would do sometimes when he wanted to really sell a stunner.

I have zero clue why LeBron decided that this was the best course of action here, but I cannot stop laughing, largely because this is all extremely funny. If you are on the Lakers beat and are reading this blog, I must implore you to ask why he did this, and also, please ask if he is upset over WWE deciding that Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns will main event WrestleMania XL in Philadelphia this year instead of the highly-anticipated matchup between Reigns and The Rock. In the meantime, I will be watching the famed “My Way” video package from before Rock and Austin went toe-to-toe at WrestleMania 17.

Hinds are back. The Madrid-bred duo confirmed a return to their original form — co-guitarists and co-vocalists Ana Perrote and Carlotta Cosials — by releasing “Coffee,” their first single in four-plus years. Their last album, The Prettiest Curse, arrived in 2020.

Cosials and Perrote co-directed the accompanying video, shot in Madrid in January, which depicts the inhibition expressed through lyrics like “I like black coffee and cigarettes / And flowers from boys that I’m not sleeping with” and “I said, maybe, maybe it’s all in my head / Told you, to stop calling / Don’t look at me with those eyes.”

“Coffee is a sincericide, screaming the nasty truth as loud as you can with no shame,” Hinds said in a statement, as per a press release. “It’s about admitting to all the things you’re not supposed to like or doing all the things you’re not meant to do. It’s a lot of fun when you can be fully honest and shut that little voice in your head that tells you what you should or shouldn’t do.”

Hinds shared an additional message about “Coffee” on Instagram, writing, “Let’s have a toast for standing up after falling. A toast for imagination and dreams. A toast for a year soaked in joy. A whole new world is ahead of us all, guys. Our most sincere thank you for your patience, for your unconditional support, for sticking with us during the wildest storm. We’ve missed you. We’ve missed this. We ain’t disappearing ever again.”

To that point, Hinds will be very visible this spring. They’re due to perform at SXSW from March 13-16 before staging back-to-back sold-out shows at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn, New York on March 18-19.

Watch the “Coffee” video above, and see Hinds’ upcoming European and UK tour dates below.

05/17 — Paris, France @ Supersonic Records
05/19 — Munich, Germany @ THEATRON Pfingstfestival
05/21 — Berlin, Germany @ Monarch
05/26 — Brighton, UK @ Prince Albert (Matinee)
05/26 — Brighton, UK @ Prince Albert (Evening)
05/27 — London, UK @ The Lower Third
05/28 — London, UK @ The Lower Third

Guards turning down good shots from two to get a teammate a great look from three isn’t a new thing. Having said that, Jevon Carter of the Chicago Bulls took that a little too far during Wednesday night’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, as the veteran guard flat out decided to not take about as automatic of a two points as you’ll ever see.

Carter thought about pulling up from the corner, but realized in mid-air that Georges Niang was gonna block his shot into the third row. Instead, he made a very smart play, as he kicked it to Nikola Vucevic, cut right to the rim, and got the pass back from his big man. He was, quite literally, the only player for either team in the restricted area and had as cut-and-dry of a layup as there is, but instead of taking that, he kicked it out to Coby White behind the three-point line, who missed.

You can hear the crowd’s confusion, while Chicago’s broadcasters wondered what exactly he was doing here. Maybe he didn’t like that his momentum was taking him away from the rim or something? I have no idea, it’s certainly a unique one.

The funny thing is Carter kicking it out to an open White is a pretty good decision most of the time. White has been a revelation for the Bulls this year — he’s averaging 19.4 points per game and has hit 39 percent of his attempts from behind the arc, making him arguably the brightest spot on a Chicago team that has just not been up to par this year. Getting him a wide open look is normally about as good of an outcome as the team can have, but that’s a pretty easy two points if Carter just took it.