Year: 2024

Iconic video game creator Hideo Kojima has unleashed a glowing review of Dune: Part Two. Not only did Kojima enjoy the latest installment from director Denis Villeneuve, but he believes the film just delivered a crucial blow against the encroaching prominence of streaming platforms.

Kojima, who famously created the Metal Gear Solid series and the burgeoning Death Stranding franchise featuring Norman Reedus, was convinced that he was doomed to a future of watching movies on a streaming app. Dune: Part Two quickly changed his mind.

“My rigid ways of thinking crumbled like sand,” Kojima said before echoing others who’ve called the Dune sequel a “masterpiece.”

Via Hideo Kojima on Twitter:

It meticulously depicts the non-existent world of Arrakis, bringing it to life with unprecedented detail and realism. While portraying revolution and love, fear and awe on the same axis, it magnificently captivates destruction and aestheticism in beautiful layers. This fim shouts, “This is cinema!” and provides the “spice” that we need to live. This masterpiece of Denis will likely become a “resistance” that will significantly delay the spread of subscription services.

The eclectic video game creator has been on a movie-reviewing tear recently. Earlier in the month, he defied the critical consensus by going to bat for Aryglle.

“The film is full of twists, turns, overdone shocks, and surprises!” Kojima tweeted. “The foreshadowing is also recovered in such a way that it fits together like an argyle. A first-rate filmmaker deceives the world. Very satisfying. Recent espionage films have become too realistic. I want a spy movie that is pop, stylish, silly, romantic, and cute like 007 in the golden age.”

However, Kojima was less than enthusiastic about Madame Web. Sticking to the old maxim of “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all,” Kojima simply wrote, “Saw ‘Madame Web’ at the theater.” That was it. That was literally the whole tweet.

Dune: Part Two is now playing in theaters.

(Via Hideo Kojima on Twitter)

Although Kehlani dropped her last album Blue Water Road in 2022, it seems she might have some new music on the way. A recent video finds her potentially teasing a new track that samples Nina Sky’s “Move Ya Body.” After a groovy instrumental, Kehlani can be heard singing “You gotta take it slow” at the end of the clip.

Is Kehlani’s New Album Coming Out In 2024?

In a separate Instagram Story post, Kehlani also shared that her next album will be more upbeat and full of club anthems. “We couldn’t dance to the last album,” she captioned. “We outside this go around.”

Last year, Kehlani was thinking back about her 2017 debut album Sweet Sexy Savage, and shared with fans that this next record would be a similar energy. “sweet.Sexy.Savage. 2.0. back in my bag. tour over, it’s album time,” she captioned a now-deleted Instagram post of some throwback photos, as she revealed she was getting back to work.

Considering she’s now cleared her profile to just five photos, with the preview of a new song being among them, it seems likely that something is coming very soon. Only time will tell what Kehlani has in store. As of right now though, there is not an official release date.

Until then, check out Kehlani’s snippet of her new music above.

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

It’s not uncommon for Netflix to renew a show for multiple seasons, which they’ve done before with Emily In Paris and Stranger Things, but it does seem a little unexpected to quickly renew a show with iffy reviews. But Avatar: The Last Airbender is not going down without a perfectly choreographed fight!

Netflix announced today that the live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender will be getting not one but two more seasons to close out the full series. The show has been sitting atop the Netflix Top Ten since its release on Feb 22nd and has pulled in nearly 41.1 million views.

Despite its popularity, critics have been less excited about the series, which is the second adaptation since M. Night Shyamalan’s universally panned feature film. Still, the numbers and the nostalgia appeal are both there, so it makes sense that Netflix wants to double down on it. Here is the official synopsis for the first season:

AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER, follows a young Air Nomad named Aang, as he reawakens to a world ravaged by war. Together with his newfound friends Sokka and Katara, he embarks on an action-packed quest to take his rightful place as the next AVATAR.

You can stream the first season of Avatar now on Netflix, or you can tune into the animated series, which is also on Netflix. Or, take a stab at the live-action film which is streaming for free on SlingTV!

Victor Wembanyama has been nothing short of sensational as a rookie, and even with Chet Holmgren being one of the three best players on the current 2-seed in the West, the Spurs budding star looks like he’ll run away with Rookie of the Year honors.

That’s a testament to the production he’s been putting up over the past couple months, since the Spurs started taking the training wheels off, and while the offensive output is impressive, it’s his defensive stats that are truly outrageous. Wembanyama is averaging 3.4 blocks per game, comfortably leading the league in that category (2.7 is the next best), while also getting 1.3 steals per game (T-12 in the NBA). He has 17 games with 5 or more blocks, including a 5×5 game and a triple-double with blocks.

For that reason, he’s coming up in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation. It seems like a foregone conclusion that, at some point, he’ll start piling up DPOY wins, but former DPOY Draymond Green explained on his podcast why he doesn’t think this year should be when he gets his first.

Green is right that it would be an outlier for a guy to win the award on a bottom-dwelling defense, and I think he will ultimately be correct and Wemby will have to wait until the Spurs are a bit better before he gets in the mix for DPOY. The real shocker here is Green praising Rudy Gobert, who he has a long history with (most recently choking him out earlier this season). That says an awful lot about the year Gobert is having anchoring Minnesota’s defense, which has been the best in the NBA wire-to-wire, as Green is not one to go out of his way to hand out compliments to the big Frenchman.

Early this year, Kid Cudi released his long-awaited ninth studio album Insano, earning favorable reviews and a top-20 debut on the Billboard 200. While he says he’s already 80% of the way through its follow-up, he’s refocusing on the album for his Insano World Tour, along with openers Earthgang, Jaden, and Pusha T.

You can register for presale tickets now; the presale begins Tuesday, March 12th at 10am local time and Wednesday, March 13th 10am local time in the United Kingdom and Europe. The general sale starts on Friday, March 15th at 10am local time. You can find more info on the tour at www.insanotour.com and see the full tour schedule below.

Kid Cudi’s Insano World Tour Dates

06/28/2024 — Austin, TX @ Moody Center +^
06/30/2024 — Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center +^
07/03/2024 — Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena +*
07/05/2024 — Sunrise, FL @ Amerant Bank Arena +*
07/06/2024 — Tampa, FL @ Amalie Arena +*
07/09/2024 — Duluth, GA @ Gas South Arena +*
07/11/2024 — Raleigh, NC @ PNC Arena +*
07/13/2024 — Washington, DC @ Capital One Arena +*
07/14/2024 — Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center +*
07/17/2024 — Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center +^
07/19/2024 — Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena +^
07/20/2024 — Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre +^
07/23/2024 — New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden +^
07/24/2024 — Boston, MA @ TD Garden +^
07/27/2024 — Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena +*
07/28/2024 — Rosemont, IL @ Allstate Arena +*
07/31/2024 — Cleveland, OH @ Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse +*#!
08/02/2024 — Cincinnati, OH @ Heritage Bank Center +*#!
08/04/2024 — Kansas City, MO @ T-Mobile Center +*
08/07/2024 — Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center +*
08/09/2024 — St. Louis, MO @ Enterprise Center +*
08/11/2024 — Denver, CO @ Ball Arena +*
08/14/2024 — Phoenix, AZ @ Footprint Center +*
08/16/2024 — San Diego, CA @ Pechanga Arena +*
08/17/2024 — Las Vegas, NV @ MGM Grand Garden Arena +*
08/20/2024 — San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center +*
08/22/2024 — Portland, OR @ Moda Center +*
08/24/2024 — Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena +*
08/25/2024 — Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena +*
08/28/2024 — Sacramento, CA @ Golden 1 Center +^
08/30/2024 — Los Angeles, CA @ Crypto.com Arena +^

Europe And UK:

02/25/2025 — Oslo, Norway @ Spektrum +
02/27/2025 — Hamburg, Germany @ Barclays Arena +
02/28/2025 — Berlin, Germany @ Uber Arena +
03/02/2025 — Oberhausen, Germany @ Rudolf Weber-ARENA +
03/03/2025 — Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Ziggo Dome +
03/05/2025 — Milan, Italy @ Forum Milano +
03/08/2025 — Paris, France @ Accor Arena +
03/09/2025 — Brussels, Belgium @ ING Arena +
03/12/2025 — Dublin, Ireland @ 3Arena +
03/14/2025 — Birmingham, UK @ Resorts World Arena +
03/15/2025 — Manchester, UK @ Co-op Live +
03/18/2025 — London, UK @ The O2 +

+ PUSHA T
* EARTHGANG
^ Jaden
# Chelsea Pastel
! Siena Bella

Cardi B’s seven-year tenure at the top of the rap world has been marked by her propensity for making hits, but also by a LOT of rap beef. In addition to the most well-known feud — her currently simmering discord with “Mrs. Petty” Nicki MInaj — Cardi has been embroiled in numerous other beefs with rappers like City Girls, Cuban Doll, Joe Budden (who barely counts as a rapper these days), and more.

With the release of Cardi’s new single “Like What (Freestyle),” fans are sure she has another name to add to her ever-expanding list: Boston rapper BIA, who’s best known for her standout 2021 single “Whole Lotta Money” and collaborations with J. Cole and Nicki Minaj. So… do BIA and Cardi B have beef and why do some fans insist this is the case?

It all started — as these things so often do these days — on Twitter, where a fan noted the similarities between “Like What” and BIA’s 2023 track “Fallback.” Both songs sample Missy Elliott’s 1999 single “She’s A Bitch,” and since so many fans on social media live in bubbles of their own making (not to mention The Algorithm), it makes sense they wouldn’t realize how many hip-hop songs share the same samples.

In any case, BIA replied to the tweet with a string of woozy face emojis, following up on her public feed with a laughing “Yall are sick.”

A few hours later, Cardi wrote, “Bitches make a fool of themselves every single time .. ima show ya something when I release this song tho.”

Now, not one iota of this looks like beef to me, but Stan Twitter owns a block on the corner of “Wishful Thinking” and Delulu Blvd. For what it’s worth, pretty much every Nicki Minaj collaborator seems to have to sign a NATO-style mutual offense treaty to earn their way into Mrs. Petty’s good graces. If BIA really does have it out for Cardi, it’d make three of the five guest rappers on the Queen Mix of “Super Freaky Girls” to come after the “Bodak Yellow” rapper since the song’s release. I guess Nicki was really hurt when Megan Thee Stallion seemingly switched sides, but that’s a whole other post.

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

Beabadoobee treated fans to a beautiful new cover of “It’s Only A Paper Moon,” as part of Jack Antonoff’s soundtrack for Apple TV+’s The New Look television series. Backed by a light acoustic guitar, her voice takes center stage. As the song progresses, some orchestral instrumentals and layered vocals are introduced, adding to the mesmerizing effect of it.

“Yes, it’s only a canvas sky / Hanging over a muslin tree / But it wouldn’t be make-believe / If you believed in me,” she sings. “Without your love / It’s a honky tonk parade / Without your love / It’s a melody played in a penny arcade.”

The show itself centers around fashion designers and is set during World War II. Over the past few months, other songs from the album have been released, including The 1975’s cover of Bing Crosby’s “Now Is The Hour” and Lana Del Rey performing Irving Berlin’s “Blue Skies.” There have also been singles from Florence + The Machine and Nick Cave.

Check out Beabadoobee’s “It’s Only A Paper Moon” cover above. View the full The New Look tracklist below.

1. Florence + The Machine — “White Cliffs Of Dover”
2. The 1975 — “Now Is The Hour”
3. Lana Del Rey — “Blue Skies”
4. Perfume Genius — “What A Difference A Day Makes”
5. Nick Cave — “La Vie En Rose”
6. Beabadoobee — “It’s Only A Paper Moon”
7. Joy Oladokun — “I Wished Upon The Moon”
8. Bartees Strange — “You Always Hurt The One You Love”
9. Sam Dew — “I Cover The Waterfront”
10. Bleachers — “Almost Like Being In Love”

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

As hard as it is to believe, Drew Carey has been the host of The Price is Right since 2007. It seems like it was just yesterday that Bob Barker was begging everyone to get your pets spayed and neutered. But Carey initially turned down the hosting gig. Or in his own words, “I said, f*ck no.”

Carey told People that he “just wanted to be able to do things that were fun and interesting instead of having a ‘job-job’ or something I had to do every day, because I just had, after being on The Drew Carey Show and everything, I was done with the idea of just being on a show forever.” The Drew Carey Show — which needs to be added to a streaming service — ran for nine seasons and wrapped up in 2004, so it’s understandable why Carey wanted to take a break.

But the dump truck full of money was too good to turn down.

“I knew how much money it was going to take for that to happen,” he said about buying a Major League Soccer team. “Then one of the show’s producers asked me what my favorite thing to do was. I go, ‘I love leaving big tips when I go to restaurants.’ ‘Well, if you work on The Price Is Right, you’ll be able to do that all the time for a living,’ they said. ‘Just give out things.’ That was the light bulb that went off in my head.” He continued:

“I could just make a living giving prizes to people and being around happy people all day. I met [my agent] at a steakhouse… And I go, ‘I think I want to be the host of The Price is Right.’ He shook my hand and goes, ‘Well, there’s your soccer money.’”

Carey is a man of his giving-things-away words: the working class hero picked up the tabs at Bob’s Big Boy writers during the strike.

(Via People)

Drake is soaring to the top — literally. While private jets and planes have been the subject of controversy for some of his peers, the “First Person Shooter” hitmaker shared a video from his “Air Drake” aircraft.

While Drake has conquered charts and streaming records, the prolific rapper is also conquering low visibility. Flying in low visibility conditions may sound a bit daunting, but Drake says it provides a thrill for him. In a recent Instagram post, he shared himself (with the help of a professional air crew) making a smooth landing, despite low visibility.

“There’s a couple landings I love on Air Drake but tbh the low visibility is the most exciting,” he said in the post’s caption, “it makes your heart drop a bit…lucky I got the best putting this sh*t wheels down.”

Drake is currently with J. Cole and Lil Durk on the It’s All A Blur — Big As The What? Tour. Earlier this week, Lil Wayne — who discovered Drake and signed him to Young Money — announced he would be joining the It’s All A Blur — Big As The What? Tour for two nights (March 23 & 24) at the Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida.

In the meantime, you can see the “Air Drake” clip above.

When you think about it, the original Bambi novella is actually a very scary story about a tiny deer who witnesses his mother get murdered, so it’s not really far-fetched to turn this into a horror movie. Everyone else is doing it! Since Bambi, A Life In The Woods has made it to the coveted public domain, that story is finally being told with an even more horrific twist: vampires.

Bampire is the upcoming campy horror-comedy that is currently underway by director Taylor Morden, known for his upcoming Lost documentary. The movie follows a group of college students who plan a weekend in the woods to find a rare deer, though they quickly learn that this is not a Disney movie, especially since Greg Sestero shows up at some point. Here is the official synopsis:

Five community college students and their professor set out to document unprecedented evidence of a rare fanged deer species never-before-seen in the foothills of the Cascades… the musk deer – Or is it something more sinister? In the name of science, they depart on a weekend-long field trip and quickly discover that they are not alone: someone (or someTHING) is in the woods with them. Our would-be adventurers come face-to-fang with evolution’s newest predator, the ultimate shape-shifter, and find they are nowhere near the top of this particular food chain…

The movie will integrate hand-drawn animation with live-action shots, which has been described as Evil Dead 2 meets Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Bampire should not be confused with Bambi: The Reckoning which will come from the fine folks who brought you Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey. There are no vampire deers in that one (presumably).

The crew behind Bampire is currently crowd-funding and aiming for a Halloween 2024 release. Feel free to throw some money at it here for your chance to receive a BAMPIRE hat! You will be the talk of the forest.

(Via ComicBook)