Month: March 2024

The 2024 Men’s NCAA Tournament gets underway across the country this week. There is a four-game appetizer in Dayton on Tuesday and Wednesday before the main event, complete with madness, begins in earnest on Thursday afternoon. Casual observers and die-hard fans will dive in at the same time, following their brackets and the general excitement in the event.

Still, there is another defined angle for evaluation over the next few weeks, and it comes through the lens of the 2024 NBA Draft. The consensus is that the 2024 class is not terribly inspiring in comparison to previous groups, especially when it comes to college prospects, but some players always leap up the board in March and there are plenty of prospects to monitor. We’re going to let you know which players you need to watch as the Tournament begins, and here, we look at the top prospects in the West Region.

1. Ja’Kobe Walter, forward, Baylor
2. Yves Missi, center, Baylor
3. DaRon Holmes, center, Dayton
4. Pelle Larsson, forward, Arizona
5. PJ Hall, center, Clemson

Only two consensus first round picks will suit up in the West, and they are on the same team. Walter is widely projected as a potential lottery pick, and the 6’5 wing could make a leap if Baylor makes a run as he plays well. Missi is a hyper-athletic seven-footer that checks a ton of NBA boxes. He probably won’t be an incredibly high-usage offensive player at the next level, but Missi can finish at the rim and he has tremendous defensive tools.

Holmes is a personal favorite, and he has been one of the best college players in the country this year. Of course, that does guarantee anything at the next level, and Holmes might be a second round pick. Still, he is incredibly productive, and Holmes is a versatile offensive player who has come a long way as a shooter.

Larsson and Hall are closer to potential Two-Way players as rookies in my view, but as noted above, not every region has five clear standouts. Hall has an impressive skill set that keys a strong Clemson team. Arizona also has a couple of additional prospects in KJ Lewis and Keshad Johnson that are very much in the mix at a similar level.

Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder dug coal together. The actors who play them take vacation photos together.

Walton Goggins shared a picture with his Justified co-star Timothy Olyphant on Instagram on Wednesday. “Look at this beautiful Thailand surprise… got to meet up with Raylan Givens for lunch today. Talk about comforts from home…Just what I needed. What a good man. The road we’ve walked,” he wrote. Goggins is throwing up the peace sign, while Olyphant, in a Daniel Johnston “Hi, How Are You” shirt, is pointing at his buddy as if to say, “I’m with stupid.”

We should probably talk about Olyphant’s bleach blonde hair.

No, he’s not playing Ken in Barbie 2, although he has the musical chops to pull it off. Presumably, it’s for his role in Fargo creator Noah Hawley’s much-anticipated FX series Alien, which is filming in Thailand. The Southeast Asian country is also the shooting location for the third season of HBO’s The White Lotus starring — yup — Walton Goggins.

Can we expect another Raylan and Boyd reunion in the future? Maybe in a potential season two of Justified: City Primeval? “Everybody would like to, but it’s up to the network,” co-showrunner Michael Dinner told Entertainment Weekly. “Because it’s not about City Primeval, we would only want to do it if it advanced where we were in the original show. I think we could do that, but it’s up to the network. Walton’s interested, and Tim’s interested, and we think there’s another chapter in Raylan’s life, but what are the needs of FX?”

For now, the Thailand photo will have to do.

When Cardi B and Offset tied the knot in 2017, as part of a secret wedding, it shocked fans. Although the two had made public appearances together, including at the Met Gala afterparty in May of 2017, they both had denied any relationship rumors. And only eight days before Offset proposed during a Philly show in October 2017, Cardi B had posted that she was single on social media, according to Billboard. (Wildly enough, the pair would reveal they were already married when that proposal took place.)

After getting married, the two musicians have maintained an on-and-off relationship filled with cheating accusations, separations, and no shortage of lavish gifts to smooth things over. In 2018, Offset even used his Instagram to try to win Cardi B back during one of their many splits, which managed to work.

Cardi B and Offset even briefly announced a divorce in 2020, then didn’t go through with it and got back together. Because of this tumultuous nature, there have been questions about whether the couple is still connected — or if they’ve permanently called it quits.

Here’s what to know about where they stand now.

Is Cardi B Still Married To Offset?

In the most recent update about their relationship, Cardi B revealed she was single as of December 2023, but it’s unclear if the divorce was officially finalized. She celebrated New Year’s Eve with Offset, which once again sparked reconciliation rumors, but nothing has been confirmed yet.

As of right now, Cardi B seems to be legally married to Offset, although they are no longer in a relationship. It’s unclear if she is actually going through the divorce process again.

Cardi had first announced they would divorce in September 2020. “The reason for my divorce is not because of none of that sh*t that ever happened before,” she said at the time during an Instagram Live. “It’s not because of cheating… I’m seeing people be like, ‘Oh, he has a baby on the way.’ That’s a whole f*cking complete lie.” However, by October of that year, the pair had reconnected, and Cardi B put a hold on the divorce filing, so the two remained legally married. They welcomed a second child in 2021.

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

Abbott Elementary has been knocking it out of the park with its star-studded season three and it seems like we are only going up from here.

The gang will return for more shenanigans this week before a brief hiatus. Not only will we get to see the familiar Abbott faces, but Keegan-Michael Key will also appear during this week’s episode, titled “Panel.” Here is the official synopsis: “Ava and Gregory are invited to speak on a panel about public schools, while the other teachers must complete CPR training; Janine faces challenges securing district approval for her librarian extension program.”

Episode seven will air on ABC on Wednesday, March 20th. Like past episodes, it will arrive on Hulu around 3 a.m. on Thursday, March 21st.

This isn’t the first, nor will it be the last, crop of guest stars for the show. Creator Quinta Brunson spilled how she was able to get Bradley Cooper on board to appear in the post-Oscars episode. “Once we realized we had the Oscar episode and we had the opportunity to do something flashy, I wanted to do a flashy cold open. So I just kind of went to the roots of Abbott, which are, ‘Who’s from Philly? Who’s associated with the city?’ And Bradley’s a Philly boy, everyone knows him as being a great member of the city,” she explained.

Now all we need is a brief cameo from Kevin Bacon and the Philly experience will really be complete.

Welcome to another installment of Ask A Music Critic! And thanks to everyone who has sent me questions. Please keep them coming at [email protected].

As I’m sure you noticed, viral photos of Timothée Chalamet dressed up as Bob Dylan on the set of the upcoming movie A Complete Unknown were everywhere online this weekend. Lots of people fired off jokes, but I’m honestly curious to see this movie. I know you’re a major Dylan head so I figure you must have an opinion on this. Do you think Timothée Chalamet will be good at playing Bob Dylan? — Carrie from Charlotte

You’re right, I do have an opinion about this. I have thought a lot about the Timothée Chalamet Bob Dylan movie. I have thought way too much about the Timothée Chalamet Bob Dylan movie, probably. I have also thought a lot about Bob Dylan biopics that exist only in my imagination. (More on that in a minute.)

Do I think Timothée Chalamet will be good at playing Bob Dylan? My answer for now is, of course, I don’t know. I’m going to wait and see. What I do know is that I have made two decisions regarding A Complete Unknown. One, I will make fun of it relentlessly in the run-up to the film. (The funniest part of the Chalamet photos is the scarf. It’s practically a Lenny Kravitz-sized scarf! The movie should be called Tangled Up In Scarf.) Two, I will see it opening weekend with the hopes of enjoying myself. Because I like to enjoy myself, and I want this film to be an enjoyable time. As my friend Harry recently said, this movie might be great, which would be fun. But it might also be terrible, which would also be fun. (Possibly more fun!)

There’s also a third option, which I actually think is the most likely outcome: This movie will be well-made and competently acted, though ultimately nondescript and forgettable. I’m basing this speculative opinion on the pedigree of writer-director James Mangold, who has made one movie I love (Cop Land), some movies I like (3:10 To Yuma, Logan) and at least one movie that put me to sleep (Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny). But the most pertinent part of his filmography for this conversation is obviously Walk The Line, the Johnny and June Cash movie starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon that he put out in 2005.

I saw Walk The Line twice that year, and not once since. I remember liking it, but whenever I try to picture the film in my mind I only see scenes from Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. That movie did to Walk The Line and similar biopics what Airplane did to the Airport franchise and other disaster movies. Walk Hard retroactively made Walk The Line seem ridiculous. It didn’t put the biopic genre out of business, exactly, but it did forever affect how these movies are viewed and discussed. And Walk Hard definitely colors my early feelings about Mangold’s Dylan film. Is this going to be the sort of corny biopic that awkwardly shoehorns famous lyrics into the dialogue? (“I know that kid looks like he’s freewheelin’, but a hard rain’s gonna fall when the world hears his songs!” “Don’t think twice … he’ll be alright.”) I hope not. But if it is, I hope it does that a lot, to maintain the aforementioned great/terrible “fun” binary.

The best thing about Walk The Line is the acting by the leads. Phoenix was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar and Witherspoon won for Best Actress, and they both deserved the honors. A Complete Unknown similarly rests on Chalamet, who I’m sure sees this movie as his big Oscar play. Like Phoenix as Cash, Chalamet reportedly will forego lip-syncing and sing as Dylan. If he nails it, the movie will work. If he turns in a hacky impersonation, the movie will sink. It’s as simple as that.

So: Will Timothée Chalamet be good at playing Bob Dylan? As I see it, he faces two major challenges. The first challenge is Bob Dylan’s contradictory nature. He is one of the most charismatic and inviting performers in rock history, and also one of the most awkward and surly. He has a formidable presence, and also a comically slight body. He is the most eloquent lyricist ever, and also an extremely confusing conversationalist. If you film him from a certain direction, he is one gawky looking dude. If you film him from a different direction, he is one striking rock star. The point of fiction is to take the messiness of reality and give it an orderly three-act structure. But Bob Dylan has more successfully resisted order than any great American artist of the last 100 years. Can Timothée Chalamet capture all that? I’m keeping an open mind but I have my doubts.

The second challenge is that A Complete Unknown will focus on Dylan’s early and mid-1960s period, aka the most iconic era of his or any other rocker’s career. As with any icon, it’s very difficult to present this kind of character as a real human being. Simply by putting on the ’60s Dylan costume, you are immediately butting up against a well-worn caricature. From there, the path to Walk Hard-esque silliness is short and wide. You can already see it in the paparazzi photos from the set. Self-parody is a near-impossible path to avoid.

I get why Mangold would pick the Dylan guise that is most likely to resonate with a mass audience. But it’s also the very decision that might cripple his film. I believe there are superior Dylan biopics to be made about other parts of his life and career. Not only are these movies more interesting and entertaining, they don’t have the “iconic caricature” problem that A Complete Unknown has.

Here are the five imaginary Bob Dylan biopics that exist (for now) only in my head.

1. A Basement Tapes Hangout Movie/Buddy Comedy (dir. Richard Linklater)

The best Bob Dylan movie — not counting Larry Charles’ Masked & Anonymous, which reiterates my earlier point about how only Dylan himself can embody Bob Dylan’s singular Dylan-ness — is Inside Llewyn Davis, in which he does not appear until the final minutes (and the audience only gets a glancing look). This movie would be sort of like that. Dylan is in it, but he’s a supporting character in an overall ensemble that includes the members of The Band and various other citizens of the Woodstock community cira 1967. The vibe is similar to Dazed And Confused and Everybody Wants Some!!, with lots of awesome guys in cool clothes hanging out, getting wasted, and having an incredible time, all while recording “Apple Suckling Tree” in the basement of Big Pink.

2. Marriage Drama That Takes Place Between Nashville Skyline and Before The Flood (dir. Noah Baumbach)

Think Marriage Story, only it’s about Bob Dylan stepping away from stardom for several years to be a family man, only to get sucked back into the rock ‘n’ roll show-business machine in the mid-’70s and wrecking his home life in the process. The film opens with Dylan pulling Stephen Stills and Tim Drummond into a hotel room and playing them songs from the not-yet-released Blood On The Tracks. We then do a flashback to happier days for Bob and Sara Dylan as they have kids and raise a family, and trace Bob’s journey from seclusion to his return to the road. The film ends back in the hotel room where a severely coked-out Stills says, “These songs aren’t very good.”

3. Intense Paul Schrader-Scripted Spiritual Drama About Bob Dylan’s Conversion To Christianity (dir. Martin Scorsese)

This movie also centers on a scene in a hotel room. Only this time it’s a room in Tucson in 1978, Bob is sitting alone. He feels miserable. He says to the room’s empty blackness, “I need something tonight.” He reaches into his pocket and removes a crucifix that a fan threw on stage at his concert the night before. Suddenly, he senses the hand of God come over him. It’s a physical act. He feels it. He suddenly feels charged to spread the good word through his music. Many people think he’s crazy, but Bob does not care. Think The Last Temptation Of Christ, only this time the man who hears voices isn’t literally the holy savior. (He is merely rock’s savior.)

4. The Fall And Rise Of 1980s Bob Dylan (dir. The Safdie Brothers)

This film takes place entirely on one day. It is the day that Bob Dylan records “‘We Are The World.” At the start of the film, he looks sweaty and puffy and lost. He is drinking way too much. He has not toured in nearly four years. He suspects his next album, Empire Burlesque, is not very good. He gets to the studio and is surrounded by celebrities. You feel his stress and anxiety as he tries to sing but can’t. The audience spirals as he spirals. It looks as though he might die, figuratively and perhaps even literally, while standing in the vicinity of Huey Lewis and Kim Carnes. Will he survive? The film will hold you in suspense until the final frame. (Bob, naturally, is played by Adam Sandler.)

5. Comedy-Drama About Almost Dying In The Mid-’90s, And Then Making Time Out Of Mind (dir. The Coen Brothers)

The spiritual sequel to Inside Llewyn Davis, only the tone is closer to A Serious Man, i.e. deadpan comedy about the meaning (and meaninglessness) of life and the absence of God with stark, apocalyptic overtones. It is essentially a comeback story, about a guy who nearly perishes in a hospital bed and then makes one of the most acclaimed albums of his life. But the vibe isn’t exactly triumphant. It it melancholy, even tragic. The longest scene takes place in a diner where Bob flirts with a waitress. It is, like the rest of the movie, very funny and very sad.

The 2024 Men’s NCAA Tournament gets underway across the country this week. There is a four-game appetizer in Dayton on Tuesday and Wednesday before the main event, complete with madness, begins in earnest on Thursday afternoon. Casual observers and die-hard fans will dive in at the same time, following their brackets and the general excitement in the event.

Still, there is another defined angle for evaluation over the next few weeks, and it comes through the lens of the 2024 NBA Draft. The consensus is that the 2024 class is not terribly inspiring in comparison to previous groups, especially when it comes to college prospects, but some players always leap up the board in March and there are plenty of prospects to monitor. We’re going to let you know which players you need to watch as the Tournament begins, and here, we look at the top prospects in the South Region.

1. Cody Williams, forward, Colorado
2. Kyle Filipowski, center, Duke
3. Rob Dillingham, guard, Kentucky
4. Reed Sheppard, guard, Kentucky
5. Jared McCain, guard, Duke

Welcome to the main event when it comes to draft prospects. Because of the arbitrary cut-off of five prospects in each region, we had to make some decisions here, but there is a plethora of pro-level talent. At present, four players in the region are widely projected as lottery picks, and the fifth, McCain, could easily get there by June. Williams is the brother of Oklahoma City Thunder standout Jalen Williams, and he is a tools-y wing with sky-high upside on an interesting Colorado team. Of note, Colorado is playing in Dayton, so there is a chance he won’t be in the tournament for all that long.

Sheppard won the USBWA Freshman of the Year award this week, and the Kentucky guard has been the model of absurd shooting efficiency this year. Scouts are split on his ultimate ceiling as a 6’2 combo guard, but Sheppard can definitely shoot and pass at a high level, and he has great hands defensively. Dillingham is arguably the most explosive pure scoring prospect in the entire class, and he has drawn comparisons to All-Star guards or players like Lou Williams as a potentially elite sixth man prospect. Either way, he would be a lottery pick this year, and Dillingham could skyrocket if he shows anything at all on defense.

Filipowski and McCain are operating with a talented Duke team and, along with UConn’s Donovan Clingan, Filipowski is a top returner as a sophomore. He has played at an elite level from a college production standpoint and, just as importantly for draft purposes, his defense has popped this year. McCain is a real shooting prospect, and he could do wonders for his stock with a big tournament to mitigate some of the concerns about his length.

Apple TV+’s new series The New Look tells the story of the fashion world during World War II. Equally as captivating as the lore of Coco Chanel and Christian Dior is the show’s soundtrack. Produced entirely by Jack Antonoff, The New Look‘s soundtrack features captivating covers with modern twists. The latest is a cover of “You Always Hurt The Ones You Love” by The Mills Brothers, sung beautifully by Bartees Strange.

On Bartees’ cover, he delivers soulful vocals, with soft, jazzy touches, taking the show’s soundtrack to a new level.

“You always hurt the one you love / The one you shouldn’t hurt at all / You always take the sweetest rose / And crush it till the petals fall,” he sings on the song’s chorus. The song is equally intriguing as it is heartbreaking, with Bartees telling a story of painful regret. Antonoff’s smooth, silky production also adds to the cover’s poignancy and storytelling elements.

You can listen to “You Always Hurt The Ones You Love” above.

The New Look streams on Apple TV+ with new episodes every Wednesday, with the season finale streaming on 4/3.

The New Look soundtrack is out 4/3 via Shadow Of The City/Dirty Hit. Find more information here.

It’s an honor to be the subject of a Jeopardy! clue, and it’s something that Taylor Swift has a lot of experience with. It’s no surprise that the pop star has been inspiring categories and clues for years, but it is a little surprising when these so-called smart people fail to answer correctly.

Swift was the subject of a clue during an episode of Jeopardy! last week, though the contestants were stumped. The clue, from the “Songs of Youth” category read, “Inspired by her bestie, Tay Tay sang when ‘Somebody tells you they love you’ at this title age, ‘You’re gonna believe them.”

The lyrics are obviously to Swift’s 2008 soft country track “Fifteen” about moving on from dating football players (timely!) but the contestants failed to answer correctly. “What’s ‘Seventeen?’” contestant Troy Meyer replied, while Yogeth Raut guessed “What’s Twenty-Two’” which is the title of a different Taylor Swift song, so at least that part was right.

Ken Jennings had to eventually read the correct answer, “What is ‘Fifteen.” Meyer responded, “We’re gonna get killed for that.” And he was right! Cue the several thousand fans who now insist they are smarter than the Jeopardy! contestants.

We now know that Jeopardy fans are not as informed as swifties, but are they smarter than a fifth grader? We’ll have to wait and see about that.

(Via Decider)

For years, there have been whispers about the dark underbelly of hit Nickelodeon series like The Amanda Show, Drake & Josh, iCarly, and Zoey 101. At the center of those series is prolific producer Dan Schneider, whose behind-the-scenes behavior has now been laid bare in the explosive docuseries, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV. The four-part series also investigates the sexual assault of Nickelodeon star Drake Bell by Brian Peck, who was a dialect coach and frequent fixture on several kids programs across the whole industry.

After originally airing on ID, Quiet on Set has already prompted a public reaction from Schneider. In a 19 minute video, he confirmed some claims and apologized for his “obnoxious” behavior. He also revealed that he came to Bell’s aid after learning of the assault by Peck, who Schneider denies hiring. According to Schneider, he helped Bell’s mother write a statement before the trial, and Peck was ultimately convicted.

However, that’s just the tip of the iceberg of what happened behind the scenes on Schneider’s Nickelodeon series. If you missed Quiet on Set while it aired, here’s where you can stream the docuseries:

How To Watch The Nickelodeon Documentary ‘Quiet On Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV’

All four episodes of Quiet on Set are now available for streaming on Max. If you don’t have a Max subscription, individual episodes or the whole series is available for purchase on Amazon and Apple TV.

Here’s the official synopsis:

QUIET ON SET pulls back the curtain on an empire, built by creator Dan Schneider, that had an undeniable grip on popular culture. Series such as All That and The Amanda Show, among others, were obsessively consumed by children across the country and defined comedy for a generation. But behind the upbeat onscreen presence on these shows with questionable jokes and over-the-top sketches, QUIET ON SET reveals an insidious environment rife with allegations of abuse, sexism, racism, and inappropriate dynamics with its underage stars and crew.

Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV is now streaming on Max.

Back when Big Little Lies first arrived in 2017, the show was intended as a limited series to adapt Liane Moriarty’s book while uniting five actresses of prominent stature on one set. Of course, the HBO show from David E. Kelley was a hit, and from there, pressure for a second season began, and somehow, the lies increased in size while adding Meryl Streep as a nightmare mother-in-law. The second season was arguably even better than the first, at least until the (again presumed) series finale when the Monterey Five turned themselves into police as being involved in the death of Celeste’s abusive spouse, Perry.

Well, there might be more. Yes, yes, there has been chatter about this for a few months, and that includes talk of Kidman and Reese Witherspoon testing the waters of their audience and Laura Dern suggesting that behind-the-scenes maneuvering was a foot. HBO/Max head honcho Casey Bloys also relayed how he knows “a little bit about the idea. I think it could be great,” but he then admitted the scheduling everyone in the same place was a potential issue.

However, Kidman is now insisting that this third track needs to be thrown down because her daughter made a fine point about Celeste’s unresolved story, via The Hollywood Reporter:

“My daughter is the one who watched both of the [seasons] and went, ‘OK, there’s just no question, there has to be a third,’” Kidman explained. “She’s like, ‘Celeste, she’s not coping in the second one, what is she doing? I could kind of see the point of view of Mary Louise.’”

Alright, now we need Zoe Kravitz and Shailene Woodley to weigh in as well, and then we can move onto looking forward to another righteous meltdown and hopefully someone to pull Adam Scott’s character out of his nightmare of a marriage. We can hope, at least. Fingers crossed for more updates soon.

(Via Hollywood Reporter)