Month: March 2024

This past weekend saw the beginnings of most NCAA conference basketball postseasons, which means March Madness has begun. Drake, the walking meme and ardent Kentucky Wildcats fan whose love for the team apparently knows very few bounds, commemorated one of his most memorable team-related moments ten years on.

Back in October 2014, Drake launched a thousand memes, one truly horrendous airball, and even a cease-and-desist from the University itself when he attended UK’s Midnight Madness event to kick off the team’s 2014-15 campaign. In addition to starting the lint roller meme and prompting the near-universal ridicule that inspired him to get his jump shot form together, Drake joined the team in their film room, suited up like he was just another player hoping to get some playing time in John Calipari’s system.

Ten years later, though, all the players from that photo have moved on, with Devin Booker, Karl-Anthony Towns, Trey Lyles, and Tyler Ulis all joining the NBA in the years since. Coach Cal is still around, but when Drake headed to the film room to get pic, he did so all by his lonesome. “Oh hell nah all my brothers left me,” he captioned the photo. Of course, his “brothers” were happy to roast him a bit in the comments. Booker wrote, “Mann we left when u did.”

It’s all in good fun, of course, and you can bet that should they make it to the Big Dance, Drake’s bet on the team will be sizable, as always.

In January, Pitchfork was part of a confusing (and disheartening) merger at Condé Nast that more or less made it one with GQ. Even still, the annual Pitchfork Music Festival will forge on. In July 2023, the festival was held at Chicago’s Union Park and featured Bon Iver, Killer Mike, Perfume Genius, The Smile, Weyes Blood, and so many more.

On Monday morning, March 11, fans received hints as to what will be in store in 2024.

When Does The Pitchfork Music Festival 2024 Lineup Come Out?

It’s coming straight from the source. The festival confirmed on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter), “Our 2024 lineup drops this Wednesday [March 13] at 10 a.m. CT, with GA, PLUS, and VIP tickets on sale at the same time. Let’s gooo.” The post also instructed fans, “Join the text list at the link in bio for lineup clues tomorrow.”

On February 1, Pitchfork announced that Pitchfork Music Festival Chicago would be staged from July 19 to 21, 2024 at Union Park in Chicago. The 2024 ticket pre-sale went live on February 29 at 10 a.m. CST. At the time, Pitchfork advertised, “Secure your 3-Day GA tickets for the lowest price possible at the link in our bio. Payment plans start at just $40 down.”

As mentioned above, tickets will go on sale to the general public on Wednesday, March 13, beginning at 10 a.m. CST. All ticketing information can be found here.

The Chicago Bears are going to be one of the NFL’s most fascinating teams this offseason, as they hold the No. 1 pick in April’s NFL Draft and are expected to take Caleb Williams.

If they do that, they will also likely trade Justin Fields, sending the young quarterback to a new team where he can get a fresh start. The alternative is to trade the top pick and move back in the Draft, keeping Fields and looking to load up around him, but few expect that to happen as they would have to fully invest in Fields long-term and drafting Williams resets the clock on paying a quarterback big money.

The Bears also have some serious cap space to fill out their roster, although they ate into that some to keep young star corner Jaylon Johnson around long-term. Their first move of free agency provides an indicator of what they see as important going forward, trying to create some balance offensively to take pressure off their likely new rookie QB. On Monday, the Bears made one of the first moves of NFL free agency in terms of signing a player from an outside team, as they brought running back D’Andre Swift over from the Eagles on a three-year deal (with two of the years effectively guaranteed).

Swift had a breakout year in Philly, rushing for over 1,000 yards and being the most reliable back in the Eagles rotation. The Bears want that kind of reliability alongside Williams (or Fields, if they went that route) and Swift has also proven to be a productive receiver out of the backfield over his career in Philadelphia and Detroit.

While everyone on the internet has turned into an amateur sleuth regarding a peculiarly edited photograph, the real investigators are the ones trying to figure out if Messi the dog was actually at the Oscars over the weekend.

The star of Anatomy of a Fall has been making the rounds this awards season, though not everyone has been happy about it. It was reported that Messi would not appear at the Academy Awards, which naturally caused riots in the streets, but then Messi’s handler shared a photo of the two en route to Hollywood, it seemed that he really would be there. Or so we thought.

The Hollywood Reporter’s Chris Gardner posted a video of who he claimed to be a Messi lookalike practicing his role of “audience member” in rehearsal. It shows a group of audience members seemingly pre-taping a segment of Messi “clapping.”

But Messi’s owner/handler confirmed that it was the iconic pup, despite reports that he would not attend the ceremony.

Gardner did get one thing right, though: his “paws” were definitely actors.

This is just the tip of the iceberg for Messi, who is a controversial dog actor (all the best ones are). According to The Hollywood Reporter, “multiple companies” with nominated films complained to the Academy that allowing Messi to attend pre-Oscars events “gave Anatomy of a Fall an advantage during the voting window.” It didn’t seem to work that well, considering that Anatomy Of A Fall didn’t take home the big prize, though Justine Triet did revive the award for Best Original Screenplay.

Meanwhile, Kurt Russell’s dog has been basking in his dog nepotism moment. The two should share their tricks.

Just when the Coyote vs. Acme situation had seemingly reached its unfortunate conclusion, the film’s writer, Samy Burch, has offered a surprising update for the John Cena film. Despite increasing reports that Warner Bros. Discovery had deleted Coyote vs. Acme for a tax write-off, Burch offered a glimmer of hope that the Looney Tunes comedy could still see the light of day.

While walking the Oscars red carpet on Sunday evening, Burch said conversations about the film’s fate are still happening.

“As far as I know, it’s ongoing,” Burch told IndieWire. “I think we’re all pretty heartbroken about it. We hope it will somehow find its home and not end up stuck in a vault for the rest of time. That would be a great resolution.”

According to Burch, Warner Bros. is still screening the film for prospective buyers, which contradicts earlier reports that the studio had walked away from the process after rejecting offers from streamers.

“I know that they have been screening places and I think they still are,” Burch said. “I hope that I’m allowed to say that. I’m going completely rogue here. It’s just the best group of people. Dave Green, who directed it, I just love so much. Will Forte is amazing in the movie. I’ve seen the final cut of the completed film and I’m very proud of it.”

Burch’s update is all the more surprising given a recent public statement from Forte. In an emotional open letter to the cast and crew, Forte said he had heard the movie was getting “deleted” and he “f*cking hated” the situation. More importantly, he wanted everyone involved with Coyote vs. Acme to know that they made an “incredible” film and that their “years of hard work, dedication and love that you put into this movie shows in every frame.”

(Via IndieWire)

Shōgun has proven to be a viewership hit for FX, which is surely now in deliberations over a possible second season. Thus far, the series is a spectacular epic that adapts James Clavell’s most beloved novel from 1975. Granted, yes, it does depart from canon on John Blackthorne’s ridiculously large dong, but otherwise, audiences appear to be thrilled as 1600s feudal Japan materializes with as much authenticity as possible onscreen.

When will the Shōgun arrive on live TV and streaming?

“The Eightfold Fence” will surface first on Tuesday, March 12 via Hulu at 12:01am EST. The first FX broadcast will take place at 10:00pm EST. Here is a preview clip if you can’t live without visual hints (no judgment):

From there, six more episodes of Shōgun will roll out weekly on Tuesdays. And what happens next?

Executive producer Justin Marks has been upfront with how the first season ends in the same place, essentially, as the book. Yet there’s still plenty more of Clavell’s Asian Saga to be adapted, if FX decides that it wishes to go there. And if not, there’s always the possibility of a Blackthorne Cut. (I blame Zack Snyder for that “joke” popping into my head. Not everything needs to be bigger!)

While much of the music world debates Beyoncé’s pivot to country and what it all means (or whether it counts in the first place, which, yes it does, duh, stop being … you know), one of country’s biggest stars, Dolly Parton, has already given Bey her seal of approval. In fact, there’s some speculation online that she gave her much more than that, even contributing a collaboration to Beyoncé’s upcoming album, Act II, which is set for release on March 29. In a new interview with Tennessee’s Knoxville News Sentinel, Parton set the record straight on whether she’ll be on the new album or not.

“I think she’s recorded ‘Jolene,’” Parton mused. “I think it’s probably gonna be on her country album, which I’m very excited about.” So, it sounds like Dolly might on the project in spirit, at least, but she was careful to measure her enthusiasm by saying she “hopes” it’s there, a savvy move from a longstanding recording industry veteran who knows that anything can happen.

In regard to Beyoncé herself, Dolly gushed, “I love her! She’s a beautiful girl and a great singer.” She said she always wanted Beyoncé to cover “Jolene,” and said, “We’ve kind of sent messages back and forth through the years. And she and her mother were like fans, and I was always touched that they were fans, and I always thought she was great.”

Beyoncé wouldn’t be the first contemporary artist to cover “Jolene” in recent years; Miley Cyrus famously delivered a spirited take on it back when she was first reinventing herself in 2012, and in 2021, Lil Nas X performed the song for BBC’s Live Lounge show on YouTube.

I’ll tell you what the problem is…

Ryan Gosling is quite simply too talented and handsome to also be such a charming lil goofball. That’s too many things. You should only be allowed to be two of those things at once. Like, if you want to be charming and talented, that’s fine, but you can’t look like a chiseled god. Or if you want to be beautiful and talented, that’s also fine, but you should have the personality of a dishrag. And you can be a handsome goof, too, but then you can’t be generationally good at your profession or hobby, which will be fine because you can skate by pretty well in life on those other two things anyway. But you can’t be all three. That’s not fair.

It’s a problem that’s been brewing for a long time, too, this Gosling business. You’ve seen him on SNL and as a guest on talk shows. And you (hopefully) saw him in The Nice Guys, a wonderful little action-comedy where he and Russell Crowe got to be silly detectives in the 1970s for a few hours. That was the thing that started teetering me over the edge. He was so good in that. The guy from The Notebook. It was somehow both delightful and upsetting. And petty of me. Which was also upsetting. This was becoming a real problem.

All of which brings us to the 2024 Oscars, where he showed up looking like he stepped out of a cologne commercial and was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Ken in Barbie and then proceeded to put on probably the greatest musical performance the show has seen in its almost century of existence.

Dammit.

Goddammit.

Ryan.

Look how fully he commits straight through. Look at Margot Robbie giggling and him punching pink boards and basically doing “What if ‘Material Girl’ by Madonna but self-aware dudes?” That shouldn’t work. It shouldn’t! Imagine explaining any of it to a version of yourself from like two years ago. “So, yeah, there’s gonna be a movie about Barbie that gets nominated for a bunch of Oscars and then at the ceremony Ryan Gosling will show up in a pink suit and perform a song in character as Ken and the whole thing will blow the roof off the place.” That should’ve been weird. And maybe corny. But definitely not the highlight of the entire night. You would be so confused. It might actually all somehow be more confusing to the old version of you than the thing where you time-traveled from the future just to share this information.

Look how happy it made Martin Scorsese.

I mean, honestly.

Ryan.

Let everyone else have, like, one thing.

This is getting ridiculous.

I mean, I guess he didn’t actually win the Oscar he was nominated for. Robert Downey, Jr. won that one.

Which helps.

A little.

Even though I did want him to win it.

It’s very conflicting.

But still.

He really is such a goofball, though. I’m trying to write this article and be pretend mad about it all but I just stopped to watch the performance again and I can’t stop giggling. It’s crazy. The man is a heartthrob and a star and just a silly goose. He had dinner with Sylvester Stallone a while back and straight-up would not stop talking about Rambo. We know this because Stallone talked about it on television. Here, look.

“He goes, ‘I was fascinated by Rambo and I used to go to school dressed as Rambo and people would chase me away and I still didn’t stop,’ vacation as Rambo, he just kept saying that he had a lot of affiliation with Rambo,” Stallone recalled. “And I thought, you know, this is interesting. If I ever pass the baton, I’ll pass it on to him because he loves the character.”

When pressed about Gosling taking over the role, Stallone replied, “I would say yes but I don’t know if anyone would say, ‘Hey, he’s too good-looking to be Rambo.’”

Madness.

But also…

Now I really want to see Ryan Gosling play Rambo. Think about the range here. Think about singing a musical number at the Oscars in a pink suit and then also playing Rambo. That shouldn’t work, either! I should be rolling my eyes right now! But instead I want it!

Dammit.

Goddammit.

Goddammit, Ryan Gosling.

I need to see footage of you being bad at something. I don’t care what. Duck-hook a four-iron into the woods. Go fail the bar exam. Something. Anything.

But then please make a Nice Guys sequel.

But also knock it off.

Please.

Thank you.

RYAN.

You know how sometimes, when you’re scrolling the internet and you see an absurd headline, you go “there is no way this is what I think it is,” and then you click on it, and you read whatever the piece is, and it turns out your initial hunch was correct? That a headline was written in such a way that it is specifically designed to make a person look bad, when really, the context isn’t nearly as bad as you might think?

Well guess what, folks: This is not one of those times. The fine folks over at FanSided posted a clip to TikTok in which they asked a whole bunch of folks from the world of football a very simple question: “What’s the most realistic sports movie of all time and why?” Remember the Titans popped up a few times, as did Friday Night Lights. But Jerry Jones, for some reason, decided to go with Field of Dreams, which you probably guessed from the headline, but I swear to God, I am not lying. Here is the visual proof.

Fortunately, I do not have to explain the plot to Field of Dreams because John Mulaney did that at the Oscars on Sunday night, but it is a movie that involves ghosts in a cornfield playing baseball. It is an outstanding movie, don’t get me wrong, but outside of the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, I do not think I have ever seen someone refer to it as realistic. Anyway, if we can get this across the desk of Stephen A. Smith immediately so he can react to it, I would really appreciate it.

More than six years have passed since Man Of The Woods was released. In late January, Justin Timberlake technically ended the drought with “Selfish,” the lead single from his forthcoming album, Everything I Thought It Was, and the Timberlake album drought will cease soon as well.

Below, find everything you need to know about Timberlake’s Everything I Thought It Was rollout this far.

Justin Timberlake’s Everything I Thought It Was Release Date

Everything I Thought It Was is out March 15 via RCA Records. Find more information here.

Justin Timberlake’s Everything I Thought It Was Tracklist

Spotify revealed the full EITIW tracklist on March 4, as seen below.

1. “Memphis”
2. “F**kin’ Up The Disco”
3. “No Angels”
4. “Play”
5. “Technicolor”
6. “Droown”
7. “Liar” Feat. Fireboy DML
8. “Infinity Sex”
9. “Love & War”
10. “Sanctified” Feat. Tobe Nwigwe
11. “My Favorite Drug”
12. “Flame”
13. “Imagination”
14. “What Lovers Do”
15. “Selfish”
16. “Alone”
17. “Paradise” Feat. *NSYNC
18. “Conditions”

Justin Timberlake’s Everything I Thought It Was Singles

“Selfish” was the first single to drop. Shortly thereafter, Timberlake debuted “Sanctified” featuring Tobe Nwigwe with a performance on SNL on January 27. Most recently, “Drown” was released on February 23.

Justin Timberlake’s Everything I Thought It Was Features

As you can see above, Fireboy DML, *NSYNC, and Nwigwe are the featured artists.

Justin Timberlake’s Everything I Thought It Was Album Cover Artwork

Justin Timberlake’s Upcoming Tour Dates

Timberlake announced his The Forget Tomorrow World Tour in late January and added more dates in early February. See all of Timberlake’s upcoming tour dates here.