Month: April 2024

While filming the new Guy Ritchie movie, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, a problem arose when it came time for Reacher star Alan Ritchson to throw down in a fight scene: No one on set looked big enough to overpower him. It’s an understandable problem because, c’mon, have you seen the guy?

In a new interview on his stunt work for the film, Ritchson revealed that he threw everything into his character and real-life war hero Anders Lassen. That was especially true for the action sequences as the Reacher star wanted to make sure it was very clear that Lassen hated Nazis for destroying his family and that he would relish the opportunity to take down as many as he possibly could. However, when it came time for Ritchson to have a worthy opponent, that was easier said than done.

Via Entertainment Weekly:

“There was a moment where we were trying to have a guy come out of a doorway and take me down, and nobody was big enough or experienced enough to do it well,” he admits with a laugh. So he convinced his own body double [Ryan] Tarran to “put on a sailor costume and beat the crap out of me” instead. “By the end of that fight, he and I were high-fiving because we got all the things we wanted. We got all the kills that we wanted, it was super stylish and cool, and we even got to ax a couple Nazis. That was a proud day where we just dreamed that up on the fly and it worked.”

According to Ritchson, he got so gung-ho about pitching action sequences that Ritchie got “almost angry” with him, until he pulled off a stunt sequence that was so good it ended up in the movie and the trailer.

“When you think of the action of this movie, that’s what you think of, that scene,” Ritchson said. “It’s hyper-aggressive, but it’s action-filled with a different kind of purpose than a lot of the action movies we get. I don’t think there’s a greater motivation than what Anders Lassen was fighting for.”

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare storms into theaters on April 19.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

Kid Cudi is on one hell of a hot streak. In addition to joining the Coachella week two lineup, he just announced his engagement to menswear designer Lola Abecassis Sartore. The couple attended the Paramount+ premiere party for Knuckles together; Cudi later shared photos from the event on Instagram with a heartfelt caption. It was a splashy reveal, but it left fans wondering just how long the two had been dating before Cudi let the cat out of the bag.

However, the answer remains unclear as they kept their relationship under wraps so well. The relationship is likely fairly recent, as Cudi told Esquire in 2022 he was looking for someone special. “I want a girlfriend,” he said at the time. “I need to be with somebody. Most people would think I enjoy being single, because I’m single a lot. But I’m a relationship man… My goal is to find someone. Soon, hopefully. And get married and have more kids.”

It certainly appears he’s one step closer to that goal. In his caption debuting his new fiancee, the groundbreaking hip-hop star wrote, “This amazing woman makes me so happy, she is everything to me and im so excited to share this news w u all. Life is wild, and right when I felt my future was uncertain, it became crystal clear with Lola. Happy Cud in full effect.”

Switzerland’s annual Montreux Jazz Festival unveiled the lineup for 2024, with Raye, Janelle Monáe, The National, Jessie Ware, and Jon Batiste among those headlining the festival.

Other key acts on the lineup include Tyla, PJ Harvey, Kraftwerk, Trombone Shorty, James Arthur, Lenny Kravitz, D4vd, Laufey, André 3000, and more. Given that the event will run from July 5 through July 20, there is sure to be a lot of performances throughout the two weeks from the stacked lineup.

Those who are subscribed to Montreux Jazz Festival’s insider program will be able to purchase tickets today, as part of an Early Bird pre-sale. Tomorrow, April 19, passes for the festival will open to the general public at 6 a.m. ET, according to NME.

“Steeped in musical history, this intimate setting has also proved the ideal stage for established artists to present special, unique projects,” the festival’s description reads, pointing out that the lineup intends to blur “the lines between jazz, afrobeats, pop, and rap” — providing something for every type of listener.

“The lake and the mountains will be the natural backdrop to this breathtaking stage,” Montreux added about the main stage. “Like all stages of the Festival, sound will be provided by Meyer Sound, a historic partner that has helped make Montreux a benchmark in this regard.”

For more information about Montreux Jazz Festival 2024, visit their website.

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

Last December, Kodak Black was arrested in South Florida. At the time, The Associated Press reported that the Florida-born rapper was facing charges of cocaine possession and jailed in Broward County. The substance was later identified by a lab test as oxycodone rather than cocaine. In late February, Kodak Black was freed “after a federal judge sentenced him to time served for a probation violation,” according to The Associated Press. Prior to his release, as reported by the Sun Sentinel, Broward County Circuit Judge Barbara Duffy had dismissed Kodak’s oxycodone charge because prosecutors’ arguments “do not refute or negate” that Kodak had an oxycodone prescription.

On Wednesday, April 17, Kodak Black’s attorney, Bradford Cohen, posted on Instagram that Kodak has had another count dismissed.

“Count 2 is now dismissed of Kodak’s ‘possession of cocaine’ that wasn’t cocaine case that should have never been filed or brought by the Broward State Atty Office,” Cohen captioned his post, which shows the documentation of “Order Granting Defendant’s Motion To Dismiss Count II.” “We showed them his script prior to filing, and they decided to file anyway… even knowing the officer was wrong about the substance and his story changing and making no sense. That case is now completely dismissed.”

See the post below.

TikTok has brought the world some top-tier content, but it also has the power to make you think that a $40 ice cube tray is worth it, and that’s why it can be a little dangerous. The app has been subject to a number of controversies over the years, and it seems like it’s getting closer to possibly being banned altogether.

Last month, the House of Representatives passed a bill that requires ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, to sell the app or face a ban in the U.S. The bill, which is called “Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” prevents any app store in the U.S. from hosting ByteDance’s apps, including TikTok, unless the app severs ties to ByteDance within six months. Now, that timeline is being extended by 90 days, which House Speaker Mike Johnson hopes will give more time for a decision.

The Hollywood Reporter states that the newly revised TikTok ban proposal is part of a bigger bill that aims to provide emergency aid for Ukraine and Israel. The House is expected to vote on Saturday. If that passes, it will have to move to the senate. President Biden has previously said he intends to pass the law.

TikTok responded, “It is unfortunate that the House of Representatives is using the cover of important foreign and humanitarian assistance to once again jam through a ban bill that would trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate 7 million businesses, and shutter a platform that contributes $24 billion to the U.S. economy, annually.”

So what does that mean for your favorite BookTok? The future is uncertain…but there will probably be another app to take over soon. RIP Vine.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

(WARNING: Spoilers for The Chi season six will be found below.)

There will be plenty of changes to get used to in the upcoming second half of The Chi season six. Next week will mark seven months since the first half of season six came to an end after a dramatic run of episodes that shook the South Side of Chicago and its characters. There was the death of Pastor Jackson, who was killed by Douda, and there was Kevin’s departure as he took his talents to Los Angeles to pursue a gaming career. Furthermore, Victor and Fatima are taking their relationship to the next level, while Emmett and Douda’s will take a turn for the worse after Emmett and Rob’s unsuccessful attempt to kill Douda. Like I said, there will be a lot to get used to in the second half of season six.

The good news with all of this is that The Chi season six, part two will debut in less than a month. The series will return to Paramount+ with SHOWTIME on May 10, and today, the platform shared the official trailer for season six, part two. The new preview details a brewing war in the aftermath of Emmett’s attempted assassination of Douda. We see Douda demand death on anyone who tries to kill him, we see Emmett seemingly prepare to team up with Alicia to fight back against Douda as she also hates him, and we saw how this situation effects around them. Keisha is worried about the safety of her family, Emmett is doing his best to keep the family safe, and Rob still recovers from his injuries.

Elsewhere, we see new storylines come to life. Papa seems to take interest in a new church and its pastor, something that concerns Kenya. Jake heads down a path that Victor strongly advises against, and speaking of Victor, he lands in some trouble with the law.

You can watch the trailer for The Chi season six, part two in the video above.

‘The Chi’ season 6 part 2 debuts on Paramount+ with SHOWTIME on May 10, 2024. Seasons 1-5 as well as season 6 part 1 are available now to stream on Paramount+ with SHOWTIME

Will anyone be normal about Sydney Sweeney or women in general? Probably not. Earlier this week, producer Carol Baum spoke with New York Times film critic Jane Maslin during a film screening when she said some choice words about Sweeney, mainly that the actress is “isn’t pretty” and “can’t act.” The worst part?? The screening was for David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers.

“I don’t get Sydney Sweeney,” Baum told Maslin. “I was watching on the plane Sydney Sweeney’s movie because I wanted to watch it. I wanted to know who she is and why everybody’s talking about her. I watched this unwatchable movie — sorry to people who love this movie — [this] romantic comedy where they hate each other.” Baum also recalled asking her film students at USC: “I said to my class, ‘Explain this girl to me. She’s not pretty, she can’t act. Why is she so hot?’ Nobody had an answer.” Her acting teacher has one!

Scott Sedita, Sweeney’s former acting coach, says that her beauty is what makes her acting!(?) He told TMZ that while she doesn’t have “supermodel” good looks (???) she “is beautiful because she has inner depth, intellect, compassion, style and facial features — eyes, smile, cheekbones — that the camera angles pick up on,” he told TMZ. “The camera loves her ‘look’ as well as the audience. Audiences love her because she’s relatable and approachable,” he said.

But Sedita does know that Sweeney has a good head on her shoulders and can handle criticism. “She’s been through the ups and downs of this business. So you have to be pretty much a serious actress if you’re gonna go through all that. When taking feedback or critique, she processes it, uses her acting technique and makes the adjustment.”

Sweeney isn’t too bothered by the hate. She responded to Baum’s claims with a statement that read:

How sad that a woman in the position to share her expertise and experience chooses instead to attack another woman. If that’s what she’s learned in her decades in the industry and feels is appropriate to teach to her students, that’s shameful. To unjustly disparage a fellow female producer speaks volumes about Ms. Baum’s character.

She’s also too busy paying off her mom’s mortgage to really care what anyone has to say.

(Via TMZ)

Basketball coaching legend John Wooden once famously said, “The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching,” and he has a great point. It’s one thing to do what’s right when you are afraid you’ll be punished for doing the wrong thing by an authority figure. It’s another to do the right thing because your peers will applaud you.

But the highest moral good is doing what’s right when no one is watching because that’s doing good for its own sake.

A story out of Gothenburg, Sweden, shows that in that community, the patrons of its library know a little something about doing good just because it’s the right thing to do.

On November 4, the Gothenburg City Library was closed for All Saints Day. The day is a holiday dedicated to remembering loved ones who passed by lighting a candle on their graves, or spending time with family and having a festive meal.

The City Library was scheduled to be closed for the holiday, but one of the employees forgot to lock the building door. So, being that it was a Saturday, hundreds of people flocked to the library to check out books, read magazines, surf the internet, or play video games.

Library employee Anna Carin Elf was in the neighborhood and was shocked to see people walking in and out of the library when it was supposed to be closed. Even though it wasn’t supposed to be open, the people in the library just went about their business as if it was a typical day.

“They were surprised. They thought it was a bit empty,” Elf said, according to ZME Science. “The people in the library behaved as usual. Many were sitting reading newspapers, some families were in the children’s section and others were searching for books on the computer.”

Elf contacted her boss and another colleague and told everyone in the library that the building was closed. The patrons closed up their books and went home. But some left with books for some weekend reading.

The librarians later did a tally and found that 446 people visited the library on All Saints Day and 246 books were borrowed. Surprisingly, all of the books were returned within 5 days. “Nothing was destroyed. It’s amazing that Gothenburgers enter an empty library and treat it so lovingly,” Elf told The Local.

Such a heartwarming story u2764ufe0fnThis Saturday, the city library in Gothenburg was closed. But someone forgot to lock the doors. nNo worries! Hundreds of visitors just did what you do at the library: they borrowed books, read the papers, treated their beloved library with respect.

— (@)

Through that act, the people of Gothenburg showed us what community spirit is all about. Their collective honesty is a beautiful indicator of their love for their library, its resources and their fellow citizens. Because when you rob a library, you’re stealing from your community.

The story is a powerful reminder to people all over the world of how we should view our public libraries. They aren’t just buildings but a crucial part of our community, a hub of learning and a symbol of our trust in each other.

It also proves the old Iraqi proverb: “The reader does not steal, and the thief does not read.”

This article originally appeared on 11.9.23

One of the best parts of having kids is having a full-time, front row seat to the way they interpret and use language as they grow. There’s the classic mispronunciations of “spaghetti,” of course, but there are also one-of-a-kind terms they coin based on their limited vocabulary and the unique way they look at the world.

Kids say the darnedest things, and as Dillon White shared on Instagram, one of those darned things could be a young child requesting “people chicken” for dinner. Not just requesting, but demanding: “I WANT PEOPLE CHICKEN!!”

People chicken. There are only so many ways to interpret that, all of which could land you on the FBI’s radar.

Of course, it was a small child saying this, so there had to be an explanation.

White explained that he and his wife tried everything to get their kiddo to clarify what he meant by “people chicken,” including having him draw a picture of what he was wanting. Unfortunately, the stick figure person he drew did not help relieve any concerns that their child might be a cannibal.

Finally, White’s 7-year-old daughter came up with a solution that revealed what her younger brother wanted. It was not, in fact, chicken made out of people. Phew.

Watch:

See on Instagram

It’s true. Once you see Colonel Sanders’ bow tie as a stick figure, you can’t unsee it.

Even KFC’s official account responded to the video, writing, “You see it once, and you can’t unsee it.” HA.

White was not alone in his kid seeing the stick figure Col. Sanders.

“The SAME thing (conversation) happened to us 22 years ago!! My toddler was practically throwing himself trying to make us understand that he wanted ‘Old Man Chicken’!!!!!! And yup, it was KFC he was asking for. We have referred to it as ‘Old Man Chicken’ all these years now 😂!!” shared on commenter.

“About halfway through we figured out what he was talking about but that’s only because my kids have been saying for years that the KFC man is a stick figure with a really big head. Tell Mason he’s not the only kid who thought that.Lol 😂😂😂” shared another.

“I think I’ve been working with children too long because the instant you said people chicken my brain said ‘that’s kfc,’ 😂 wrote another.

Other people chimed in to share their kids’ hilarious naming conventions for chicken places:

“My son was in tears for ‘Pinky Toe.’ Turns out he thought the Chick-fil-A emblem was a foot 😂,” wrote one parent.

“Lol. My daughter refers to Chick-fil-A as ‘foot’ because their logo actually reserved a footprint. So interesting thinking of the different ways that children see things that we adults don’t. It’s amazing!” shared another.

“My kids call Buffalo Wild Wings ‘stinky skunks’ because from a distance, the logo looks like a skunk to them. We went through a similar very confusing moment to figure that one out as you can imagine, 🤦♀️🤣” shared another.

White is right. We should let kids name everything. They’re so much better at it than adults are.

You can follow Dillon White on Instagram here and TikTok here.

This article originally appeared on 2.7.24

Mother’s Day is upon us again. And for many, that means trying to pick the perfect gift that makes mom feel special. But what exactly is that gift? For many well-intentioned partners, the answer to this question feels elusive.

However, according to mom Madison Barbosa, all moms only really want one thing. And it’s not something you’ll find in a gift guide.

In a video posted to her TikTok, Barbosa jokingly points a figure at the camera while saying, Mother’s Day is coming. I’m looking at you. Yeah I’m looking at you…what are you gonna do for her? I’m gonna tell you what to do.”

According to Barbosa, moms aren’t looking for a break away from their family. What she wants is a day where she can “turn her brain off. Where she doesn’t have to have the mental load for one day. Take off the mental load for one day.”

What exactly does this look like? Barbosa breaks it down, step by step.

“Here’s what you’re gonna do. She’s gonna wake up. You’re not gonna say, ‘What do you want to do today? We can do anything you want.’ Nope, nope, no. You’re gonna plan something. Whether that’s going to the zoo, going to the park, going for a walk, you’re gonna plan something that she does not have to think twice about. Not gonna ask her what she wants to eat. You’re gonna plan that shit too. Don’t ask her any questions.”

And in case there’s any confusion, packaging is most definitely part of this planning process. Including the diaper bag.

“When she goes to pack up the diaper bag, she gets ready, she gets packed the diaper bag. It’s already packed. Do you understand? It’s already packed. Exactly as she would do it. Exactly. You better, you better pack that diaper bag the night before. You wake up an hour before her, and you pack that diaper bag. Make sure all the shit’s in there. All you need to do is let her shut her brain off,” she said.

Lastly, Barbosa says that in addition to the glorious day of brainlessness, moms do enjoy physical gifts like flowers and thoughtful cards, contrast to what some might say. Just make sure the message on the cards is “thoughtful.” And, as one viewer pointed out, make sure the flowers are arranged in a vase. Again, mental load.

Watch below. Warning: there are a few f-bombs thrown in for dramatic flair.

@madison_barbosa yall need me to send this to your husbands? no joke ill do it 🤟🏻 #mothersday #relatablemomcontent #momhumor #momminmads #unfilteredmom ♬ original sound – Madison Barbosa

Barbosa’s video, which quickly racked up over 115,000 views, left many moms nodding in agreement.

“I just want a cinnamon roll and not to be asked questions,” one chimed.

Another added, Sending this to my husband NOW!!! Bc this is EXACTLY what I want!”

Still, there wasn’t unanimous agreement on the “being with family” portion of Barbosa’s suggestions.

“Speak for yourself,” one mom wrote. “I would love a day by myself.”

This could have to do with what chapter of motherhood each woman is in. Upworthy previously learned that moms of younger children are the ones who typically want a solo day, while moms of adult children tend to crave the bonding time. And teen/tween moms just want to be appreciated.

Honestly, now matter what stage these mothers are in, is any of that too much to ask? We think not.