Month: September 2024

TiaCorine does her best Thanos impression on her new song, “Different Colored Stones,” calling herself “Mrs. Put-It-On” as she demonstrates her one-of-a-kind drip. If you’re thinking, “Hey, that doesn’t match up with the artwork, which is a clear reference to the Chaos Emeralds from Sonic The Hedgehog, not the Infinity Gems from Marvel Comics,” not only are you right, but you’re also a huge nerd.

That’s okay, though, because so is TiaCorine, who incorporates anime and other cartoons into her aesthetic all the time (I mean, see below, or check out her video for “Bonnett“). That said, she knows how to get gritty too, as she demonstrated on Denzel Curry’s “Hot Ones” earlier this summer. The 2023 XXL Freshman started off the year with her Almost There EP, followed by her first headlining tour, courtesy of Monster Energy.

Meanwhile, the video “Different Colored Stones” proves that just because someone’s geeky, doesn’t mean they can’t also be sexy. TC shows off both sides of herself in the clip, going from dressed down while wandering the streets of New York and barely dressed in a studio photo shoot. “DCS” is her first single released since February, so it looks like she might be working on a full-length project for release sometime in the near future.

In the meantime, you can check out the video for “Different Colored Stones” above.

Cobra Kai (say it with me) will never die. Sure, the dojo has been kicked out of the Valley, and most of the core cast on the Netflix series has stuck with Miyagi-do. Yet the specter of John Kreese (Martin Kove) still lives on in the show, even while he’s hallucinating and attempting to bring his own competitors to the Sekai Taikai world championships. Actually, the karate baddie somehow succeeded, which is where the Karate Kid spin off series ended Season 6 Part 1 before the show went on planned hiatus during a supersized final season that is split into three parts.

Next year, another Karate Kid movie will grab the baton back, and showrunners Jon Hurwitz, Josh Heald, and Hayden Schlossberg have been suggesting that there could be more TV coming. First, however, they must tie up this Netflix series with three mini-seasons, so let’s start roundhouse kicking toward what we can expect from the next five episodes.

Plot

As viewers will recall, the final moments of Season 6 Part 1 showed that Tory (Peyton List) had followed up her decision to leave Miyagi-do with an even worse decision: to join Kreese’s new dojo and face off with her fellow teammates at the Sekai Taikai tournament. Tory’s choice was tragic and was surely fueled by the death of her mother, but Kreese is the closest thing that Tory has had to a father figure, and he actually did do good by her in earlier seasons before deciding to rig her tournament win. The Tory reveal also hit the soap-operatic notes that the show has become famous for because damn, Robby (Tanner Buchanan) had no idea of the whereabouts about his supposed girlfriend? Damn, Robby.

As for what we can expect from the upcoming episodes, a series of tidbits from the cast and showrunners have rolled out.

Jacob Bertrand, who portrays Eli “Hawk” Moskowitz, admitted to relying upon music to “get in the zone” during his character’s phases throughout the show. More specific to the upcoming episodes, however, Bertrand disclosed to Games Radar that the Sekai Taikai tournament will dominate: “There’s a fight every single episode and each fight is bigger than the last. It is absolutely insane. There’s some very big falls from grace.” He further added, “You can’t make everybody happy, but I was happy with the ending.”

Additionally, expect turmoil to go down in the psyche of Daniel LaRusso. Ralph Macchio told Good Housekeeping that Daniel-san will not be able to let go of Miyagi’s hidden box of secrets, and he will feel “hurt and pain” about being kept in the dark by his sensei. This, in turn, will cause conflict with his family and Miyagi-do:

“For Daniel, when we discover and introduce this box of Miyagi’s secrets, clues of a life that may have not added up to him … that’s a big part of the arc. Daniel winds up wondering and not understanding why he wasn’t told of things, and the hurt and pain of that. But also, the deeper he tries to unearth it, the more tangents he goes off on and potentially loses his focus on his students and his family … He needs to fight some real kicks in the gut, and find a place within his heart and soul to get through it.”

Macchio did promise, “Things will eventually make sense as to why [Mr. Miyagi] motivates Daniel in this specific story, and I’m looking forward to that.” And a reminder: “The legacy of [Cobra Kai] is blurring the lines of good over evil — overcoming the obstacles and finding your inner self.”

What else? The showrunners have been attempting not to spoil too much, but they talked, too. This includes Jon Hurwitz revealing to Screenrant that “in Part 2, there will be a character from a Karate Kid movie in the past who shows up in the middle five, so there’s something coming. There’s somebody coming who fans have seen in the past, that’s all I’ll say.” Whereas Josh Heald told Collider of the Sekai Taikai, “Any idea of what you think a tournament is in the universe of The Karate Kid or Cobra Kai will be completely upended. It will be absolutely nothing like an All Valley. Buckle your seatbelts.”

Meanwhile, we didn’t see much of the tournament setting in Part 1, but what we did see suggests that Jacob Bertrand did not receive his previous wish to “actually go to Brazil or something and not like it have it be, ‘Oh we’re in Brazil! But it’s really just a basement studio in Atlanta.’” Sorry, Hawk.

Cast

While Ralph Macchio’s Daniel-san stresses the hell out, his dojo (which also belongs to William Babka’s Johnny) is looking to shine at the tournament with Mary Mouser as Samantha, Xolo Maridueña as Miguel, Jacob Bertrand as Eli/Hawk, Tanner Buchanan as Robby, Gianni DeCenzo as Demetri, and Dallas Dupree Young as Kenny. As noted previously, Peyton List/Tory has gone to the Kreese (Martin Love) side, which also includes Brandon H. Lee as Kwon.

Paul Walter Houser already cameo’d as Stingray, who sadly has no place at the tournament. We will surely see the return of Courtney Henggeler as Amanda, Vanessa Rubio as Carmen, and Griffin Santopietro as Anthony LaRusso.

Release Date

Five more episodes will arrive on November 28, which happens to be Thanksgiving Day. The third batch will arrive in 2025, followed by the upcoming The Karate Kid movie set for release on May 30, 2025.

Trailer

No trailer yet, man. This is, however, a great opportunity to relive Johnny Lawrence’s “sent it to the internet” moment:

Conference play is starting to ramp up in college football, and thanks to widespread realignment among the major conferences, that’s going to feel a bit different in 2024. The biggest game this week is a pretty good example of that, as Oklahoma will kick off life in the SEC by playing host to Tennessee. It’s a weird sentence, but it’s something we’re all going to get used to sooner rather than later.

As always, we’re here to take you through the very best of this weekend in college football. It should be fun! Let’s dive in.

The Game Of The Year (Of The Week): No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 15 Oklahoma (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC)

Both of these teams have gotten off to 3-0 starts, although they’ve gotten to that point in different ways. The Vols have looked like one of the best teams in America, and while they have not faced the stiffest competition, they’re lighting up scoreboards on offense and have allowed 13 points in three games against Chattanooga, NC State, and Kent State. The Sooners, meanwhile, started the year by blowing out Temple before finding themselves on upset alert against both Houston and Tulane.

All of this is setting up for a legitimately fascinating game between two teams with expectations of competing in the SEC. Both are breaking in new quarterbacks, too, as Nico Iamaleava and Jackson Arnold were the second and fourth ranked QBs in the class of 2023, respectively — Iamaleava has looked like a star in the making operating the high-powered Tennessee offense, but Norman is not a fun place for your first road game and Oklahoma’s defense been stout. Arnold, meanwhile, has not gotten off to a great start this season, as he’s been running for his life behind Oklahoma’s offensive line and there just haven’t been there — his 5.6 yards per attempt are second-to-last in the SEC among qualified passers. The Sooners’ offensive staff is going to have to cook something up to deal with a talented Tennessee pass rush led by potential No. 1 overall pick James Pearce Jr., or else it could be a very long night at the Palace on the Prairie.

(One final note: This game has some Message Board Meltdown Game Of The Week potential, because if Heupel — who won a national title as the starting QB for OU in 1999 and spent time on Bob Stoops’ staff earlier in his career — leads the Vols into Norman and whoops up on the Sooners, I cannot fathom that would go over well with Oklahoma fans.)

Lock Into This One: No. 24 Illinois vs. No. 22 Nebraska (Friday, 8 p.m. ET, FOX)

I’m not 100 percent certain just how good either of these undefeated, ranked teams are — Illinois is hanging its hat on a home win over a Kansas team that is just not what we thought it was going to be heading into the year, while Nebraska’s signature win was a home night game over a not very good Colorado team that matched up horribly against them. It’s possible that these are a pair of middle-of-the-road teams in the Big Ten (which is not the insult that it has been in the past), but regardless, we’re going to learn a lot about a pair of teams that really pride themselves on their physicality and toughness. Keep an eye out for how the Huskers attack Illini QB Luke Altmyer, who has taken a big step forward this year thanks in part to a pair of dynamite receivers in Pat Bryant and Zakhari Franklin. And on the other side of the ball, teams have been able to run on Illinois a bit this year, so watch for how Nebraska uses its rushing attack to open things up for Dylan Raiola down the field, or if they just lean entirely on their running game and don’t ask the true freshman to do all that much.

Under-The-Radar Banger: San Jose State vs. Washington State (Friday, 10 p.m. ET, The CW)

This is a pretty fun Friday slate! I’m throwing this one on here because the Cougs are one of the best stories in America to start the year — they’re 3-0 and just picked up a win in the Apple Cup over now-former conference rivals Washington — but they’re 128th nationally in passing yards allowed and now have to go up against a San Jose State team that loves to throw the ball, as they’re 17th nationally in passing yards per game and their top receiver, Nick Nash, leads the country in receptions (34), receiving yards (485), and receiving touchdowns (6). I expect Wazzu to win, but if this game gets really pass happy, it has the potential to be a good time. Also, keep Nash in mind for two sections from now.

Message Board Meltdown Game Of The Week: Cal vs. Florida State (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2)

You have surely seen this if you are on Twitter: Cal fans have decided to lean into the fact that California and Florida are, uh, let’s just say politically very different places. It’s led to some, quite frankly, sensational prodding by Golden Bears fans, who have really ramped up their efforts to annoy the hell out of the Noles. Things are already tense with the FSU faithful — they’re 0-3 to start the year and have the title of the most disappointing team in college football so far — and if they lose to a Cal team that will try to be more physical than them, the message boards are going to catch fire.

Who Won The Heisman Last Week?: Nick Nash, WR, San Jose State

He caught 17 passes for 225 yards and three touchdowns in a 31-10 win over Kennesaw State. I’m going to write the first part of that sentence out again: He caught 17 passes for 225 yards and three touchdowns! In a single football game! That is an absolutely ridiculous afternoon. His longest reception was 34 yards, too, so it’s not like he kept breaking big plays to get that that point. That’s one heck of a day, and he won the Heisman last week as a result.

Best Bet (2-1): Iowa vs. Minnesota UNDER 35.5 (7:30 p.m., NBC)

Iowa unders are a good principle to follow, as the Hawkeyes once again mix a not great offense (albeit one that has been better this year) and an elite defense. Minnesota is slightly better on offense and a bit worse on defense, because the Big Ten West will never actually die — it is more a concept, or a state of being, than it is a division in a college football conference. And when the Floyd of Rosedale trophy is on the line, disgusting things happen, as the last two games were a 13-10 Iowa win and a 12-10 Minnesota victory. Disgusting. Take the under.

Bad Bunny is a global music superstar, but the “Baticano” rapper’s home and heart will forever belong to Puerto Rico. Over the years, he has showcased his silly side with meme-worthy photos and viral videos. However, when it comes to his native country, it’s not a laughing matter.

On his latest song, “Una Velita,” Bad Bunny is using his award-winning voice and international platform to draw attention to the plight of his people. Bad Bunny’s discography is filled with danceable bops, but now he adds a political resistance track to round things out.

With all eyes on Puerto Rico’s gubernatorial election, as well as the anniversary of Hurricane Maria, Bad Bunny offers a public prayer for the island. “And of the Holy Spirit, may God protect my song / I don’t want a tarp, I want His mantle / Obviously, the light will go out, God knows it will never rеturn / The bridge they took so long to build, thе river has grown and will break it / A couple of songs saved on my phone for when the signal goes out,” he raps (translated to English).

Bad Bunny then turns his sharp pen toward elected officials, rapping: “The signal has already been given, and they don’t wanna see it, it’s just that the Puerto Ricans have to wake up / Don’t forget the old lady over there who lives alone, we need to help her / Remember that we’re all from here, it’s up to the people to save the people / Don’t send me anything from the government, those bastards will hide it / They’re going out on the streets just for photos, they can all go to Hell / Five thousand were left to die, and that we’ll never forget / The palm tree they want to use to hang the country, one of these days we’ll take it down.”

Listen to “Una Velita” above.

When it comes to the ice cream flavor universe of Vermont favorites Ben & Jerry’s, the late Grateful Dead leader Jerry Garcia has been on top of the musical mountain for years, thanks to the popular Cherry Garcia flavor named in his honor. Now, Vermont native Noah Kahan has his time to shine, too.

Yesterday (September 19), Ben & Jerry’s unveiled Northern Latte-tude, a new flavor named after Kahan’s 2022 song “Northern Latitude.” Kahan was over the moon about the news when he tweeted yesterday, “F*cking pinch me.”

Ben & Jerry’s head of brand innovation Emily Smith in a statement (via Billboard), “We were more than excited to partner with Noah Kahan to create this flavor. With Noah being from Vermont and establishing his non-profit The Busyhead Project to support such an important issue that he cares deeply about, we saw tons of fan gratitude for Noah’s Latte-tude, all while doing good.”

The bad news is that most people reading this will probably never have the chance to try Northern Latte-tude, as things stand now. The flavor debuted last night in Essex Junction, Vermont, exclusively at a concert Kahan played to benefit The Busyhead Project, Kahan’s nonprofit that provides mental health support for Vermont residents. The flavor will also be available today, but exclusively at Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shops in Burlington and Waterbury, Vermont, and only today. So, unless Ben & Jerry’s changes their plans, the limited engagement that is Northern Latte-tude will be over soon.

Before James Wan wrought a dancing M3GAN upon the world, he terrorized audiences with Annabelle, who opened the first The Conjuring movie, and then she was off to the demonic races (and our own reality) with her own trilogy of horror films. A decade later, The Conjuring universe includes nine released movies including a pair of The Nun flicks devoted to hellish Valek, The Curse of La Llorna, and three movies that mainly revolve around Ed and Lorraine Warren, who are also known to pop into other parts of the universe, too.

In other words, there’s no rest for those who investigate the wicked or audiences (who have shelled out over $2 billion globally for these spookfests), and although Wan has a buffet of other horror projects in process (including Longlegs director Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey and Wan’s Teacup series for Peacock), he still has time for more of The Conjuring.

Specifically, The Conjuring: Last Rites is coming, so let’s roll out what we know:

Plot

First, is this the final The Conjuring universe movie? Wan used the words “potentially wrapping up” while speaking with Collider and when pressed to clarify, he declared, “We never know. You never know. We’ll see.” Now, the movie does have a release date, but Wan added, “With the Conjuring films, we are very precious about [them]. And so we kind of want to just take our time to make sure we get it right and to make sure the emotion of the Warren stories that we want to tell, and … we just want to make sure that it’s the right thing.”

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It and The Nun II director Michael Chaves is reportedly back for more, and the screenplay has been written by Wan himself, so we are in good hands behind the camera. And naturally, nobody else can portray paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine other than Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, so we should expect to see them to dramatize a real-life Warren case. To briefly refresh, the first film co-starred “The Conjuring House,” otherwise known as the location of the Perron Family Haunting. The second film then hit the London-based mystery of the Enfield Poltergeist, and the threequel followed Arne Johnson’s (unsuccessful) murder defense strategy, which matched The Devil Made Me Do It subtitle.

This fourth Warren-focused movie will presumably revolve around a theme involving the “Last Rites” sacrament, which won’t have to stretch to be on point, given the religiously-themed hauntings, jump scares, and alleged possessions that have surfaced thus far. Hollywood Reporter did note earlier this year that the movie was “operating currently under the simple title of The Conjuring 4,” although the outlet did have some fun with referring to “one last ride. Or one last rite, as it were.” It’s no wonder that the movie began being referred to as The Conjuring: Last Rites, a title that has since become official.

If this is indeed the final movie of The Conjuring universe, then Wan surely labored over which of the Warrens’ other cases to adapt, but for now, he’s keeping his lips zipped on which one he has chosen.

Cast

Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga will obviously be onscreen as Ed and Lorraine Warren, and that would be the only confirmed casting news at this date. If we don’t receive a cameo by Bonnie Aarons as Valek/The Nun, then elbows are gonna fly.

Release Date

The Conjuring: Last Rites will spook theaters on September 5, 2025.

Trailer

Since we cannot have a trailer yet, we can attempt to manifest seeing Valek do this again in the final Warren hurrah:

Director Coralie Fargeat’s debut feature-length film was Revenge, a thriller about a woman who is sexually assaulted and gets, well, revenge upon her attackers. Her follow up, The Substance, follows the host of an aerobics TV show who gets fired on her 50th birthday and takes a drug to become a “younger, more beautiful, more perfect” version of herself. It stars Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, who were asked by Dazed Digital to provide a Cronenbergian- / Lynchesque-like term to describe Fargeat’s films.

“Coralie pushes the envelope of reality,” Moore answered. “In Revenge, when the girl falls, you’re like: she couldn’t have lived through that. Then she gets up. Coralie creates totally unique worlds that are parallel to our own world.” Qualley had a more succinct (and, if you’ll forgive the pun, titillating) answer: “Fargeatian would be that it’s bloody. And there’s tits and butts.”

Put it on the poster: “The Substance! It’s Bloody, And There’s Tits And Butts.”

Fargeat also discussed the critical reaction to The Substance, which has mostly been positive, although not entirely. “I knew the movie was going to be polarizing because when you do strong choices, you provoke a strong reaction. I also knew some people would reject the statement the film makes,” she said. “These are things people wish didn’t exist anymore – but they’re still there.”

The Substance is out in theaters now.

Rising country music star Shaboozey‘s chart-topping hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” encouraged everyone to raise a glass. But, beyond the foot-stomping smash lies a gut-wrenching tale of loss.

On his latest Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going single “Highway,” the heartbreak is hard to escape. In the official video for the song, Shaboozey shows just how winding that devastating road is.

Director Aiden Cullen turns that sorrow into a cinematic journey for all to accompany the musician on. As Shaboozey makes his way through the country’s back roads, loneliness is his only champion. As he sings, “Gave me your heart, gave you heartbreak / Sorry I’m lost in this dark place / Somehow I’ll make it to Sunday / I promise I’ll be coming back / I might die on the highway / With all my regrets / I’ve been driving for miles and miles and miles / I can’t see where it ends,” the gloomy environment paired with his risky outlaw behavior helps to cement the fantasy.

“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” gave fans something to pour one out for whereas “Highway” tells you why the bottle has become his best friend.

Watch Shaboozey’s “Highway” video above.

Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going is out now via American Dogwood/EMPIRE. Find more information here.

Earlier this year, St. Vincent released her seventh studio album, All Born Screaming. The singer’s devilishly good time will continue with a Spanish-language version of that album, entitled Todos Nacen Gritando.

“The origins of Todos Nacen Gritando can be traced back to some of the most memorable shows I’ve ever played, in Mexico, South America, and recently Primavera Barcelona in 2023,” she said in a statement. “Though separated by time and geography, and across a diverse range of settings and venues, these crowds were united in their passion — singing every word to every song in perfect English. It was truly inspiring. Eventually, I asked myself: If they can sing along in a second or third language, why can’t I meet them halfway?”

She continued, “So I enlisted my best friend and occasional collaborator Alan Del Rio Ortiz to work on translating these lyrics, tweaking here and there for melodic reasons, making every effort to stay true to the song at hand without sacrificing accuracy. After much rewriting and re-singing every vocal track on the album, the result is Todos Nacen Gritando, equal parts labor of love and tribute to the people who inspired it.”

You can listen to first single “Hombre Roto” (the new version of “Broken Man”) above.

Todos Nacen Gritando is out 11/15 via Total Pleasure Records. Find more information here.

Glen Powell cannot be stopped, so don’t even go there. The Twisters, Anyone But You, and Top Gun: Maverick dynamo isn’t resting, however. He has been gearing up for The Running Man reboot and filming the perplexing Chad Powers TV show, but before that shoot began, cameras rolled for Glen this spring on Huntington, an A24-distributed film that carries a directorial and cast-infused pedigree that sets the project up for success.

A key attraction to this movie is the inclusion of Margaret Qualley, who possesses the star power to aim for a blockbuster career but seems more content making arthouse flicks like upcoming body horror film The Substance, eclectic-ensemble picture Kinds of Kindness, and erotic thriller Sanctuary. Together, they could take the charisma of this movie off the charts, but let’s get down to business on what to expect from Huntington.

Plot

Emily the Criminal director John Patton Ford helms this picture (which he also wrote, according to Deadline) that is inspired by Kind Hearts and Coronets, the 1949 thriller and dark comedy that gets homicidal about a line of succession, and Collider spoke to Powell in May while he was hours away from hopping on a plane to shoot Huntington in South Africa. He told the outlet very little, other than this: “It’s an A24 movie that John Patton Ford is directing, and I will be there. That is the next thing I’m shooting.” Collider specifies that the movie will be darker than the earlier Alec Guinness-starring picture.

According to Studiocanal production house (which is partnering with A24 here), the movie will be a “raucously entertaining revenge thriller about Becket Redfellow (Glen Powell), the heir to a multi-billion-dollar fortune who will stop at nothing to get what he deserves. Or what he thinks he deserves.” A joint statement from Studiocanal CEO Anna Marsh and executive producers Ron Halpern and Joe Naftalin described the cast as “a dream array of on-screen talent in the extraordinary Glen Powell, Margaret Qualley and Ed Harris.”

The project is under lock and key for more specific plot details, but the truth cannot stay hidden forever with the film releasing next year.

Cast

Powell and Qualley will be joined by Ed Harris, Bill Camp, Topher Grace, Jessica Henwick, Zack Woods, and Raff Law.

Release Date

A24 has not publicized a release date yet, but presumably, filming is complete with Powell already having moved onto the Chad Powers set. Also, Studiocanal pinpointed this for a 2025 debut.

Trailer

Since no trailer exists yet, it’s time for a flashback, and everybody is aware of Powell’s recent proliferation on large and small screens, so let’s revisit a truly deserving Qualley project. Here is a throwback to Netflix’s Maid limited series, which showcases Qualley’s ability to evaporate within a role.