Month: July 2024

In case you missed it, Lily Allen joined OnlyFans recently, and for just $10 a month, you can gain access to photos and videos of… her feet. How does husband David Harbour feel about all this? Unbothered!

On the July 4 episode of her and Miquita Oliver’s Miss Me? podcast (as Billboard notes), Allen was asked if Harbour is “alright” with the account and Allen said, “Yeah, he is, he thinks it’s great. At first, he was like, not turned on, but he was like, ‘Is this a kink for you?’ And I was like, ‘No, it’s totally not a kink,’ but maybe there’s something in the power element of it that’s slightly kinky for me.”

Oliver joked, “I think attention and power will always be a lifelong kink for you. And we’re just kind of surfing both. So, yeah, I bet you’re having a great time.”

In a previous episode, Allen described the encounter that sparked her OnlyFans interest: “I have a lady that comes and does my nails, and they informed me that I have five stars on WikiFeet, which is quite rare. My feet are rated quite highly on the internet. […] She said that I could make a lot of money from selling foot content on OnlyFans, and I’m like, ‘Not no.’”

Many of the biggest stars in the world of sports, music, and entertainment are in the Hamptons this weekend for Michael Rubin’s annual white party. Before they all don their all-white outfits to celebrate the Fourth, a bunch of them got together for a game of beach football, with Tom Brady and CJ Stroud serving as captains.

Among those playing were Travis Scott, Quavo, Micah Parsons, Odell Beckham Jr., Damar Hamlin, and Grant Williams, while others like Druski wisely opted to offer commentary from the sidelines.

Unsurprisingly, it was the non-football players that seemed to be taking the game the most seriously, as Travis Scott was running routes like his life depended on it, and he and Quavo went head-to-head on some reps, with Scott catching a TD from Brady and Quavo catching one from Stroud. We also can see Damar Hamlin got a pick-six off of Brady (who I assume then ripped into his receiver for running a terrible route and not coming back to the ball). And then at one point Grant Williams gets tackled to the ground by Rubin, who seemed content to play offensive line, and I guess when you are throwing the party, holding rules don’t apply. The most important part was it seems we avoided any of the active athletes suffering an offseason injury, and everyone got a little sweat in before hitting the open bar later.

When Klay Thompson opted to leave the Golden State Warriors in a sign-and-trade with the Dallas Mavericks, the Warriors found themselves in serious need of adding some three-point shooting on the free agent market. While Thompson may not be the All-Star he once was, he still was second on the team in scoring (17.9 points per game) and knocked down 38.7 percent of his threes on nine attempts per game.

Filling that void wasn’t going to be easy, but on Thursday the Warriors were able to land the best pure shooter on the market to help replace what was lost in that area with Thompson’s departure, agreeing to a sign-and-trade with the Sixers to bring in Buddy Hield. Hield will be brought into the trade exception created in the Thompson deal, and will send one of the second round picks they acquired for Klay to Philly.

The contract for Hield is fairly complex as it is technically a 4-year deal, but only two are guaranteed, with a partial guarantee on the third year and a player option for a non-guaranteed fourth year.

Hield never quite found his footing as part of the Sixers rotation last season, as he was not much of a factor for them by the time they reached the postseason, but he did shoot 38.6 percent from three on 6.8 attempts per game last season in Indiana and Philadelphia, and will bring some needed floor spacing to the Warriors backcourt rotation. Hield will likely fill the bench shooting role the Warriors envisioned for Thompson this season, as Brandin Podziemski figures to take the starting two-guard spot.

This trade will ultimately be part of a five-team deal, bringing in the Kyle Anderson sign-and-trade and Klay Thompson deal as well to allow both Hield and Anderson to be brought in via the money being sent out with Klay.

Wednesday smashed several streaming demographics head-on, but of course, Jenna Ortega’s Addams daughter could have foretold such success to achieve renewal almost immediately. As with other successful franchises on the service, Netflix is spreading the gloom around to a spin off, so Fred Armisen’s Uncle Fester will receive his own installment in the doom-filled franchise. The main attraction, however, remains the “little viper,” “little storm cloud,” “little death trap,” and “Tormenta,” as expressed by Gomez Addams himself.

What dark adventures shall come? Nevermore Academy’s greatest outcast will keep her deadpan ways intact with Jenna Ortega initially revealing that the second season would embrace its strengths, “and we’re definitely leaning into a little bit more horror” with a story that’s “more action-packed.” Still, Ortega’s character “never really changes and that’s what’s wonderful about her.” Let’s talk about what else to expect:

Plot

After much Hollywood strike-related delay, the second season of the Tim Burton series began filming in Ireland (switching things up from Romania, as reported by Tudum) back in May. Here’s that proof:

Variety has added that this season shall represent the “largest production to ever film in Ireland,” when dollars spent are counted. Ireland Prime Minister Taoiseach Simon Harris enjoyed a visit to the set and declared the following:

“I’m delighted to see Ireland continues to be chosen as a location to film series and movies which supports our economy, creates jobs, showcases our creative talents and promotes our country on a global stage.”

An official synopsis has not been released (to provide hints on the followup steps to Tyler being revealed as a Hyde), but co-showrunner Al Gough spoke with Hollywood Reporter and dropped plenty of hints on what else is on tap. In short, this sounds like romance is out, and both friendship and the mother-daughter relationship are in:

“For us, the show also is really about this female friendship, with Wednesday and Enid really being at the center of that. The fact that they really connected with audiences, it has been really gratifying. So, we’re excited to explore now that Wednesday’s dipped her toe into the friendship pool, what’s that gonna look like? It’s like, she hugged. That was her big arc for the season, right? So it’s like now, we do that. Then, the other thing that’s really interesting is to continue to explore the Wednesday-Morticia mother-daughter relationship as well, which now that Morticia knows about the power, it has given her sort of an idea of how that’s going to go.”

Meanwhile, Ortega assures viewers that her character will “not [be] out to please anybody,” and she hopes that the season dives deeper into motives and exploring why “her main drive with the monster was a kind of competitiveness.” Co-showrunner Miles Millar has revealed that Wednesday will still have loose ends to tie up and a new mystery (possibly again in the form of a whodunnit to crack, and “[t]hreats remain out there… to both Wednesday and the school.” Sounds ominous.

Cast

Beyond hoping for more Thing, there is actual casting news. Jenna Ortega will unblinkingly return and Morticia and Gomez will still be portrayed by Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzman. A mystery member of the Addams clan that we haven’t seen yet, will also appear, and hopefully, that will be Cousin Itt.

Some musical chairs are otherwise occurring with shakeups including Percy Hynes White, Jamie McShane, and Naomi J Ogawa, who will no longer be series regulars. However, new cast members will rise to the occasion, and those additions include Steve Buscemi, who will portray the new principal at Nevermore. Billie Piper, Evie Templeton, Owen Painter, and Noah Taylor will also arrive for regular action, and guest stars will include Joanna Lumley, Haley Joel Osment, Heather Matarazzo, Frances O’Connor, and Thandiwe Newton.

Additionally, Netflix has not confirmed whether Uncle Fester will be back on Wednesday this season in addition to Armisen’s ongoing work on the spin off.

Release Date

Netflix knows better than to reveal a release date yet, but this sequel season is expected in early 2025.

Trailer

The same goes for a trailer, but nobody can resist these dance moves again.

The History Channel Vikings lasted for six seasons before the story hopped ahead in time toward Netflix’s sequel series, Vikings: Valhalla. The results haven’t been as universally celebrated by the original show’s fans, although a substantial audience kept the show going for multiple seasons with Netflix bringing the show’s version of historical figures to a conclusion soon.

The streaming service has promised “even more bloodbaths and beards” as Leif Erikson, Harald Sigurdsson, and Freydís Eiríksdóttir finish their epic run but “won’t be sailing off into the sunset quietly.” Let’s hash out what to expect.

Plot

“Heroes will become Legends in this final chapter in the Vikings: Valhalla saga.” That’s the official word from Netflix, but it’s worth noting that this entire franchise — although Vikings aired on History Channel and did strive for some measure of accuracy — kind-of ruined the chances for Vikings: Valhalla to authentically portray a key accomplishment of one of its lead characters. Does this matter? That depends on how Netflix decides to finish the spin off, but the audience will likely be there regardless.

To briefly recap that issue with the saga, Vikings: Valhalla is a sequel series that begins in 1002, about 100 years after Vikings concluded. If that series would have adhered to history books, then it would have left space for Lief Erikson to be the first European to set foot on North America/Newfoundland multiple centuries before Christopher Columbus swooped in and grabbed credit. However, Vikings chose to show a different character, Ubbe Ragnarsso (firstborn son of Ragnar Lothbrok), landing in North America. It’s no wonder that Redditors have wondered whether this spin off was worth watching due to actually being wildly inaccurate. The general consensus there is that, for those who loved the original Vikings, it’s just fine as entertainment.

With that said, yeah, suspend that belief because lineage might also get twisted before this is over, but there’s still enough going on to keep the fires burning. Expect the extremely hairy spin off to return after a seven-year time jump. Freydis, Harald, and Leif have split up, and the two men had reached Constantinople, yet romantic tension lingered in the air after Harald’s lover, Eliana, intends to marry Emperor Romanos. (Viking soap opera alert.)

Lief will now be gearing up for more travels, including to Newfoundland, and ideally, the series would at least end with him landing there, since, as an invested Redditor pointed out, “They’ll have to right? I mean it’s literally what he’s known for lol.” We shall see.

Additionally, Netflix hasn’t revealed whether this series will end in 1066 as previously planned. A very vague synopsis has surfaced:

In pursuit of a new Viking home, our heroes must venture further than they ever have before. From Constantinople to Greenland to the edge of the known world. But before they can set sail for new horizons, they must travel back to where it all started for one last battle.

Cast

The cast includes Leo Suter as Harald Sigurdsson (Harald III of Norway) and Frida Gustavsson as Freydís Eiríksdóttir, sister to Norse explorer Leif Erikson and founding colonist of Vinland. Sam Corlett stars as Erikson.

Release Date

This final season streams on July 11, 2024.

Trailer

Here’s the final preview before go time in less than two weeks.

Cardi B did not refrain from throwing the BET Experience 2024 production team under the bus. That was an unsurprising development because Cardi never withholds her opinions, so there’s a fair likelihood that she will eventually comment on a reported copyright infringement lawsuit aimed at her single “Enough (Miami).”

On Wednesday, July 3, CBS 4 News (also known as Valley Central) first reported the news that McAllen, Texas artists Joshua Fraustro and Miguel Aguilar filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Southern District Of Texas claiming “Enough (Miami)” used portions of their 2021 song “Greasy Frybread” “without permission.” (“Greasy Frybread” was used as a promotional song for FX’s Reservation Dogs.) The copyright infringement lawsuit seeks $50 million due to “substantial damages,” like financial losses and irreparable harm, according to Valley Central.

Cardi B, OG Parker, DJ Swanqo, Celebrity Booking Agency, Atlantic Records, and Warner Music Group are listed as defendants.

TMZ and New York Daily News also obtained the court documents.

Cardi B released “Enough (Miami)” in March, and the aggressive rap song peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 — charting for 14 weeks total.

Cardi B has yet to confirm a release date for her long-awaited sophomore studio album, but on June 29, she posted on X (formerly Twitter), “I have everything planned, locked, and ready to go. Every thing I said I would do this year, I’m going to do it. Nothing is going to stop me. I proved myself before, and I’m going to do it again… now rest.”

The Boys is traipsing through its penultimate season with the usual gross-out humor mixed with social satire. Over the past few weeks, Homelander went home and essentially killed everybody who surrounded him in childhood, and Hughie’s life continued to be hell that doesn’t let up this week in the “Dirty Business” episode. Petition for a nice trip to Aruba for Hughie? Yes.

We’ll talk about poor Hughie’s ongoing troubles soon, but Firecracker has been waiting for her “glory,” and it’s Fourth of July week, so she gets to lead. Don’t worry, her victory will probably be brief because Homelander is a fickle beast, and at any given time, plenty of other Supes (other than A-Train, who is over it) and humans would turn themselves inside out for the mega villain. He has options, although surely, his time will eventually run out, too.

How Low Will Firecracker Go?

The answer to that question: she will go as low as possible and perhaps even die in the process. In Firecracker’s eyes, however, she’s made an incredible amount of progress with Homelander, which of course, is a satiric take on the cheerleading, gun-toting certain MAGA congress-types who profess their undying loyalty no matter what their leader does. Firecracker is, honest to god, now voluntarily lactating to fulfill Homelander’s milk fetish, and she only had to risk her health (by taking a regimen of drugs that “enlarges the heart just a tiny little bit”) to get there. Suddenly, the far-right nightmare is Homelander’s favorite member of the Seven, even above Sister Sage.

This gave the audience the very bizarre visual of seeing Homelander splashed in the face with breast milk, followed by his surprise and absolute pleasure. Then things got weirder with him lounging on a couch as she nursed him. Yup, The Boys does not disappoint when it comes to spectacle, but if Firecracker thinks that this will win Homie’s favor forever, she’s clearly deluded. That’s especially the case because I have a hunch that Cate will eventually be a part of The Seven, and nobody kisses Homelander’s tush with as much convincing fervor as the female Gen V recruit. Again, I feel like Sam is simply going along with the ride because it’s a less excruciating experience than Godolkin University gave him, but Cate has 110% drunk the Homelander Kool-Aid.

In other words, enjoy this moment, Firecracker. Despite the extreme show of allegiance and devotion, you’ll explode or fizzle out due to Homelander’s voluntary lack of object permanence and — let’s face it — psychopathy.

Oh, Hughie

Where to start? He’s been endlessly traumatized since the opening moments of the series, and Hughie lost his dad last week. There’s no time to mourn, however, because this week, he has to spend the majority of his onscreen time in Tek Knight’s dungeon. There, Hughie experiences Ashley’s pee-soaked form of domination before Tek Knight’s obsession with holes almost ends Hughie’s life. There was a nice little moment when Starlight and Kimiko came to the rescue and wired Tek Knight’s money to Black Lives Matter, which turned out to be the ultimate torture for him.

After the dust settled, Hughie revealed that he is very much “not fine” (dude had a family tragedy, and then he was directed by Tek Knight to take off his pants and fart into a chocolate cake, so yes, therapy could be useful), and he could really use a time out one of these days. That day is not today. Or tomorrow. Or anytime in the next few weeks.

And speaking of breaks, MM…

MM landed himself in the emergency room and learned that his panic attack is probably a precursor to a heart attack if he doesn’t cut this vigilante stress from his life. I do appreciate that the show continues to make space for the (arguably) most complex character of the series, but importantly, MM is also very much the audience POV, and we need this dude to take care of himself.

What is Sister Sage plotting?

During this episode, we learn that Homie and Sage are lining up plans for dissidents to land in internment camps. The odd thing about this duo is the Sage doesn’t seem to care about making Homelander happy, so her end goal remains nebulous for now. And dammit, her lobotomy “vacations” that turn into Taco Bell rants are sadly funny.

The first rule of Fight Club…

Audience hunches were correct: Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s character, Joe Kessler, is not physically present, and in fact, Butcher has been conversing with a figment of his imagination this entire time. The real Joe is dead, and he’s the devil on Butcher’s shoulder, as if Butcher needed that type of encouragement. Still, we learn that Butcher likely has a massive brain tumor due to taking Temp V, and we still haven’t heard more about those snaky things we saw crawling under his skin in the shower. Joe is also claiming to be inside of Butcher, so yep, this is totally a Tyler Durden thing. We will have to wait and see how that revelation hits Butcher next week.

Prime Video/Amazon’s ‘The Boys’ streams new episodes on Thursdays.

In January 2022, Bong Joon Ho began preparing his next film, Mickey 17, as the first project since his Oscar-winning Parasite helped launch him to international stardom. Since then, fans have been patiently (very patiently) waiting to see where he goes next, and it looks like the movie is one step closer to hitting theaters. Or at least we are one step closer to getting a different movie still of Robert Pattinson.

Much about the movie is still being kept quiet, but we know that Pattinson is very excited for you to see him potentially die over and over again, so it will be worth the long wait. As Pattinson so lovingly put it, Mickey 17 is “one of the funniest, bizarre sci-fi scripts I’ve ever read in my life,” so here is everything we know so far about the mysterious flick.

Plot

At CinemaCon this April, Bong said the film is about “a simple man who ultimately ends up saving the world.” That could mean many things!

Mickey 17 is based on Edward Ashton’s 2022 novel, Mickey7. Pattinson plays an “expendable,” which is a disposable employee on a human-led mission to colonize an ice planet. Pattinson refuses to let his replacement clone take his place, and thus drama ensues. According to the novel, when one Mickey dies, another is “cloned in his place with most of his memories intact, effectively rendering him immortal.” Pattinson sure loves his immortal characters.

The director also confirmed that Pattinson dies a lot throughout the movie. “The number is the number of times he dies. I killed him 10 times more. It’s a sci-fi movie, but it’s a human story,” he explained at CinemaCon.

Cast

Pattinson stars as various iterations of Mickey, mostly Mickey 17 and Mickey 18. Mickey 17, he says, is more optimistic, while 18 is more like “playing an evil brother” who is “out of control.”

The all-star cast also includes Steven Yeun, Naomi Ackie, Toni Collette, Holiday Grainger and Thomas Turgoose.

Mark Ruffalo will play a “f*cking psycopath” (his words) named Hieronymous Marshall. He told Deadline, “This guy’s like a nasty dictator, fascist, narcissist; we know the type!” Ruffalo said about his character, who’s the commander of the space colonizing mission. “He’s as bad as any of these a**holes running around today.”

Release Date

This is where things get a tricky for Warner Bros. After multiple delays, Warner Bros. set the official release date to January 31st, 2025. This is the current date they are sticking with, which caused some fan pushback.

Last month, Hollywood insider Daniel Richtman (via JoBlo) claimed that “Mickey 17 is delayed because Warner Bros. won’t let Bong Joon-ho release his director’s cut. They want to release a more ‘accessible’ version.” Meanwhile, the director said that he had already submitted the film in November 2023. So, as of right now, it should hit theaters in January. Hopefully!

Trailer

We don’t have a trailer yet, but at CineEurope last month, Pattinson and Bong Joon Ho appeared virtually to present clips from the movie, so there is footage out there, and hopefully it will be released soon.

With just a few days left before ODESZA’s monumental closeout of their The Last Goodbye tour at the Gorge, the prolific electronic duo and their collaborators are racing against time to bring the immersive installation they’ve named ECHOES to their fans.

Earlier this month, we saw the duo teaming with SETUP and Snapdragon to plan this monumental project for July 4, 5, and 6 at the Gorge. This installation will be the duo’s most technically ambitious project to date, paying homage to their groundbreaking career, the community they’ve built, and showcasing their unrelenting commitment to technology and jaw-dropping visuals.

The first video, “The Journey Begins,” shows the duo working out how their recursive design and themes with Jenny Feter, Creative Director of the project, and the team from SETUP will come to life, in collaboration with the groundbreaking speed and efficiency of a Snapdragon-powered PC.

“I think it’s going to be really cool, I haven’t seen anyone do something like this,” ODESZA’s Harrison Mills notes. “It’s going to be really special.”

Out today, the second episode (above) shows the duo working tirelessly with the Snapdragon and SETUP teams across multiple time zones in Berlin, New York, Australia, Chicago, and California to bring the once-in-a-lifetime installation to the fans to bridge ODESZA’s special moments and music together to close out with a bang.

With the support of Snapdragon, the team has taken on the impossible. Stay tuned to see the incredible end result.

When we think about gifted conversationalists, we’re more likely to think of great talkers—those who wow us with their insights, wit, and charm. However, communication experts believe that if you want to make a great impression on someone, knowing how to listen goes a long way.

Those of us who love being verbose may think the world loves us because of how well we can talk. But the person sitting in front of you has a lot to say, and nothing makes them feel better during a conversation than your undivided attention.

As the old saying goes, we never quite remember everything someone has said to us, but we’ll never forget how they made us feel. When you actively listen to your conversation partner, they feel that you value them and are receptive to their needs. It also eases any feelings of conflict or resentment.

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After a good conversation, the person you spoke with should think, “Wow, that person really gets me,” instead of, “It was like I didn’t even exist.”

A study from 2016 on sales calls did an excellent job of quantifying the amount we should speak versus listen during a conversation. A marketing director at Gong.io analyzed 25,537 sales calls using artificial intelligence and found that the interactions where the salesperson talked 43% of the time and listened 57% of the time had the highest sales yield.

This finding has come to be known as the 43:57 rule.

Even though the study was conducted on business calls, the reason that it works should apply to social conversations as well. Paying more attention helps a salesperson identify the client’s needs and makes them feel comfortable spending money because they know it’s with someone who understands their interests.

It’s the same as a social situation where the person you speak to wants to know they are valued and you respect what they say.

This is excellent advice, but sometimes it’s hard to listen when you’re in a fun conversation and have a lot to say. Kate Murphy, author of “You’re Not Listening,” says it’s all about staying calm.

“Deep breaths are always good. They’re always good. Because it…calms down that fear response. It helps you get more centered,” Murphy told WBUR. “But also to develop your curiosity. Like I said, make it more important to be curious than to be right. And to go into every conversation with that mindset of how could I be wrong? Instead of, let me prove how I’m right.”

“That’s how you develop creative ideas. It’s how you cooperate. It’s how you find middle ground, or at least a peaceable existence,” Murphy added.

The idea that to be a great conversationalist one should master the art of listening is a bit counterintuitive. But, if you feel that you have a lot to say in conversations and can be interesting to listen to, imagine how great that’ll make others feel when you show that you enjoy listening to them as well. It’s a virtuous cycle where everyone wins.

This article originally appeared on 3.7.23