Year: 2024

Like many other social media users, Drake wrapped up 2023 with a post sharing some highlights from his year. Unlike many other social media users, Drake is Drake, so the things he saw and did were largely on a different level than most other people. Example: One of his year-end photos showed off a pretty neat gift from Snoop Dogg.

The post is captioned, “First thought for 2024: I’m not your emotional support dog.” (The first photo is of Drake wearing a dog mask.) A few photos in is a photo of a blunt on a piece of paper that reads, “July 27, 2023, Blunt rolled by Snoop Dogg, Death Row Records,” alongside a blue bandana.

Drake certainly had a lot to look back on for 2023. He released his latest No. 1 album, For All The Dogs, in October. The project yielded two No. 1 singles: “Slime You Out” with SZA and “First Person Shooter” with J. Cole. He and 21 Savage also kicked off their It’s All A Blur Tour, in support of their joint 2022 album Her Loss. Drake was one of YouTube’s most-viewed artists of the year, one of Spotify’s most-streamed, and in case his bank account was feeling a little light, somebody tipped him 20 cents.

Invincible viewers were surely disappointed when the Amazon series took a hiatus after the second season only aired four episodes. never fear, however. The show is destined to return soon for the back half of the season, so that fans of Robert Kirkman’s other most-beloved comic book series (beyond The Walking Dead) can receive their next fix.

Additionally, superhero movies cannot seem to compel audiences these days, and that makes viewers even more ready for the remaining successful superhero/villain titles in rotation. The other one happens to be The Boys, and man, who would have imagined that Amazon would be in such an advantageous position in 2024? It’s not worth questioning how this happened, but let’s discuss what Invincible left dangling for the rest of Season 2. Additionally, compelling speculation has surfaced regarding a return date:

Plot

As viewers will recall, this series took a bizarre turn to show evil versions of Invincible/Mark apparently teaming up with his father, Omni-Man/Nolan Grayson, following their climactic battle in the sky. That finale had ended with Mark seemingly resisting going to the dark side, but the show threw some viewers into a tailspin while suggesting that Mark would rule Earth alongside his dad while the pair served the Viltrum Empire. Not great! Again, however, this was not the show’s main reality, where Debbie was only beginning to come to grips with realizing that her husband had only considered her a pet and a means to fulfilling Viltrumite goals.

Unfortunately as well, the Viltrumites aren’t the only threat on the horizon. The Mauler Twins and more are still in the mix with their own goals, some more damaging than the rest. Mark’s educational plans fell by the wayside, too, and he ended Episode 4 severely injured with Nolan being carted off by the Viltrumites. Did Dad leave any wisdom behind? He dropped a hint on the way out, and boy, this show knows how a cliffhanger works.

One thing is certain: Mark (whose identity is no longer secret to his intergalactic enemies) will need all the help he can get to overcome his father’s ways and also the imperialistic Viltrumite empire at large. Good luck.

Release Date

No official word on Episode 5’s release exists, but it’s almost certain that this show will be part of Amazon’s plan to push their ad-free plan (for $2.99 per month) when Prime Video ads begin on January 29. Does this mean that the four remaining Season 2 episodes will begin shortly there after? That’s the joke going around, so stay tuned to find out if that ends up being true.

Cast

Don’t expect this show to mess around with a successful formula. As part of the ensemble cast, Steven Yeun will continue to voice Mark Grayson/Invincible with J.K. Simmons as Omni Man, Sandra Oh as Debbie Grayson, Seth Rogen as the one-eyed Allen the Alien, Walton Goggins as Cecil Stedman.

Trailer

Amazon hasn’t released a full trailer yet. However, a few potential Invincible hints surfaced in this 2024 sizzle reel.

Invincible Season 2 Part 1 is available to stream on Amazon Prime.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was everywhere this long weekend. He appeared on Fox NFL Sunday (and made Hall of Fame coach Jimmy Johnson cry), ESPN College Gameday, and probably an In-N-Out for “the first time.” He also made his return to wrestling during WWE Raw on Monday.

“You can’t ever come out here in the people’s ring, in front of the people, with the people’s champ in the building [and] run our country down free of consequence from The Rock,” Johnson said after interrupting Jinder Mahal to make his grand entrance. He called Mahal a “Day 1 Douchebag” and later compared him to one of the worst movies in the actor’s filmography.

“If The Rock had to guess why you’re so angry, it’s probably because nobody likes you and you’re not funny,” Johnson said on the mic. “As matter of fact, if you were one of The Rock’s movies, you’d probably be Baywatch.” When Mahal replied, “Thankfully I’ve never seen Baywatch,” The Rock quickly fired back, “Well, nobody else did either. Shut your mouth when The Rock is talking to you.” The Rock then set him up for a “it doesn’t matter.”

You can watch the clip below — but don’t watch Baywatch (17 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, tied with Tooth Fairy at the bottom). There are other, better Zac Efron movies.

Looking at Nicki Minaj’s early career, a couple songs stand out as being most important or noteworthy: In 2011, “Super Bass” was her first top-5 single, and the next year, “Starships” was her second. “Starships” is also one of Minaj’s most-streamed songs with over a billion plays on Spotify. Minaj, though, doesn’t seem to be the single’s biggest fan these days.

During a New Year’s Eve concert at E11EVEN in Miami, she got a few lines into “Starships” before stopping, saying, “Hold on. Psych, psych, psych, psych. I don’t perform that song no more, y’all.” After some audible discontent from the audience, she continued, “I don’t like it, what y’all want me to do? Stupid song.”

According to setlist.fm, Minaj hasn’t performed the song live since 2019. Of course, that was the last time she went on tour (for the The Nicki Wrld Tour with Juice WRLD), but she has played some festivals since then and the song didn’t make any of those setlists.

This isn’t Minaj’s first time distancing herself from “Starships.” In a 2020 interview, she said, “I wish I had never recorded ‘Anaconda.’ I like the video, but ick. My first-ever solo song on Billboard was ‘Your Love.’ To this day, I like the video but I hate the song. I could go on and on. I hate ‘Starships.’ I mean, ew… ‘Starships are meant to fly?’ Why did I do that?”

In the age of artificial intelligence and virtual reality it’s easy to assume that original art is in jeopardy of being replaced by technology. But Cristina Martinez, an Afro-Latina contemporary artist known for her fine art content on Instagram, sharing the often-untold stories of Black and Brown people, is an example of how technological innovations can enhance the artistic process and help bring voices to often underserved communities.

Herdandez recently took part in the Meta Sonic Listening Party in Miami, an event that brought together artists from various disciplines to collaborate in unique ways as part of Meta’s “It’s Your World” campaign, designed to bring. together emerging artists, musicians and Creators to reimagine the next generation of creative expression.

Martinez spoke with Upworthy about her experience taking part in the Meta Sonic Listening Party and how new technology is shaping her as an artist and storyteller.

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Upworthy: What inspired you to become an artist?

Cristina Martinez: I honestly feel like I don’t know how to be any other way. Ever since I was little, I’ve always felt drawn to express myself creatively, I didn’t always know what it meant.

I think just being an artist is who I am, I feel like I’m fulfilling my purpose here on Earth. One thing that keeps me going is the thought of all these amazing Black and Brown young artists that will come after me and you know, be able to look and see people that look like them doing the things that they dream of doing, which I think has changed a lot from when I was little. So I’m so blessed to be a part of that.

Upworthy: You mentioned how your art often focuses on highlighting those often untold stories of black and brown people. Do you think some of these different formats you’ve experimented with, like the Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses can be both a powerful tool for your own expression, but also helping to find new ways to reach those audiences in different communities?

Cristina Martinez: I think that it can broaden your audience. Just being able to share these stories and impact people and let people you know, come across my artwork, or the artwork of another talented artists and being able to like see a little bit of themselves and the artwork, it just builds connection. The Meta Ray-Bans help document my process in general because I think that one of the things that often gets missed about Black and Brown stories is just like regular life stuff. Like we focus so much on trauma, but you know, Black and Brown joy and love and just happiness, all of these things. It’s like all of that can be captured and without even really trying. We just get to be who we are.

Upworthy: What was it like getting to take part in Meta’s “It’s Your World” campaign?

Cristina Martinez: It was very authentic. You know, partnering up with these companies, sometimes you can lose sight of lyour true self, because it’s this great opportunity. But with this, I feel like I’ve been able to make art that is authentic to who I am, like when I made a painting with my glasses with my daughter. I got to just lbe myself through the whole thing.

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Upworthy: Could talk a little more about what it was like using the Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses while you were painting during the party?

Cristina Martinez: I think for people that create in a very small bubble, I think art is such a sacred thing. And creative people. You know, there’s all types of different creatives for me, I spent so many years like just creating for my sanity, and because I had to and so being able to still have that moment with my work. I think what’s really special about it is that you do you get to just still be yourself and have those intimate moments with whatever you’re doing, whether it’s interacting with friends, or, you know, being a mom or cooking or whatever. And then you can document it. And then I’ll let people into that space and inspire and connect with people later on. I think that that is a really special tool for a lot of people.

Upworthy: What it was like collaborating with Victoria Monet and learning to use the piano and Piano Vision with them?

Cristina Martinez: If I told anyone that actually knows me, like, ‘Hey, I’m about to go to this event and perform the piano,’ you know, everybody’s initial thing is to laugh. But when I was there, and I did it, it really was very cool. It was just like, it was a new first time experience for me, but it felt really, really good.

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Upworthy: For Upworthy readers that will be seeing you and your work for the first time, what do you hope they take away from experiencing your artwork?

Cristina Martinez: I think more than anything, I hope that my art inspires people to have compassion for each other. We all go through these things together. I like to acknowledge the realness of life and challenges and hardships and things that are unfair. But also to remind my viewers that on the other side of that is better days, bigger blooms, whatever you want to call it. I try to find the little things that are lights in hard parts of life. And I want people to see that.

New Year’s Day brought a pair of highly anticipated 2024 College Football Playoff semifinals, with the first game featuring a thrilling Michigan victory over Alabama in overtime. In the nightcap, the Washington Huskies and Texas Longhorns squared off in a Sugar Bowl tilt in New Orleans, and the game was riveting from start to finish. Though the Huskies never trailed, the game was close-fought throughout, including a 21-21 score at halftime and a one-possession margin for large swaths of the second half. In the end, however, standout quarterback Michael Penix and Washington’s offense did enough to secure a 37-31 victory and a meeting with Michigan for the national title.

In the first half, Penix connected on 11-of-14 passes for 255 yards and a touchdown, illustrating his efficient brilliance for all to see. Still, Texas managed to stay stride-for-stride with Washington, with the two teams effectively trading touchdowns all the way to the end of the second quarter.

Coming out of halftime, Washington asserted control with a touchdown drive. Penix found Jalen McMillan with a pinpoint strike from 19 yards out to put the Huskies in front by a 28-21 margin.

Texas then fumbled on the first play of the ensuing possession, setting up Washington for a field goal to give the Huskies a two-score advantage at 31-21. By the first minute of the fourth quarter, the Huskies were tacking on another field goal to take a 34-21 lead that they would never relinquish, though more fireworks did transpire.

After the two teams exchanged empty offensive possessions, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers found Adonai Mitchell for a touchdown with 7:23 remaining. That brought the Longhorns within six and put the pressure back on Washington.

Up to the task as usual, Penix engineered a methodical drive that proved to be pivotal. The Huskies covered 65 yards on 10 plays and, while Washington did ultimately settle for a field goal, that put Washington up by nine points with fewer than three minutes remaining.

Texas zoomed into the red zone in a hurry, though, picking up a field goal to set up an onside kick attempt that was the team’s final gasp. When Washington secured it, the game was all but over. The Huskies could not simply kneel the game out, with Texas still possessing two timeouts, and Washington faced potential disaster after an injury when running back Dillon Johnson went down after a third down carry.

Not only was that an unfortunate injury for Johnson and the Huskies, but it also gave the Longhorns more time for a last-second comeback bid. Washington did not execute its clock management in flawless fashion before the ensuing punt, and the Huskies also committed kick catch interference to gift 15 free yards to the Longhorns. That allowed Texas to take over at the 31-yard line with 45 seconds remaining, and the Longhorns threatened in a real way.

First, Ewers connected with Jordan Whittington on third down for a 41-yard gain to move Texas into striking distance.

Texas running back Jaydon Blue also made an impressive sideline catch to accrue 16 more yards and set up another first down at the 12-yard line with 15 seconds remaining. However, the Longhorns stalled from there, failing to score on the next four downs, including a throw into the end zone that got batted away as time expired.

Throughout the season, Washington’s passing game has been heavily responsible for its success and what is now a 14-0 record. That continued on this night, with Penix racking up 430 yards on 38 attempts (11.3 per attempt) without committing a turnover. That was nothing new for the quarterback who was the runner-up in 2023 Heisman Trophy voting, but Washington also has top-flight pass-catchers. Five players had at least 48 receiving yards for Washington in the game, headlined by projected first round pick Rome Odunze, who had six receptions for 125 yards in the game. Though the ending was a bit of a mess for Washington, in part due to mismanagement from head coach Kalen DeBoer, the Huskies played a fantastic offensive game and, as they have all season, made a few defensive plays to form the winning recipe.

Washington and Michigan will now meet at NRG Stadium in Houston on Monday, Jan. 8 with a national title in the balance. Both teams will enter with perfect 14-0 records and each program will be seeking its first national championship in more than 25 years. That matchup will be appetizing, especially with Michigan’s vaunted defense attempting to slow Washington’s potent offense, but both teams can celebrate impressive semifinal victories as they face a relatively quick week of preparation for the sport’s biggest night.

WWE promised the return of a former WWE champion and fans were treated to two.

As the announcement was made for a former WWE champion to return, Jinder Mahal made his way to the ring and tore down the audience, as well as America. As things continued, Rock’s music hit and he cut down Mahal.

Rock said Mahal was free to say what he wanted, but said he wasn’t free of consequence from the Rock. He continued to rip apart Mahal saying he might be the Modern Day Maharaja, but today he’s the “Day 1 Douchebag.” After getting the crowd to chant that, Rock then serenaded Mahal before Jinder cut him off and attacked The People’s Champ in the corner. Rock made his comeback and hit a spine buster before landing the People’s Elbow. Rock then pulled a belt off and hit Mahal with it before he rolled out of the ring.

After he beat up Mahal, Rock got on the mic and asked the crowd if he should sit at the head of the table, referencing the current WWE Universal Heavyweight Champion, Roman Reigns. Rock recently shared that a match with Reigns was previously locked in for WrestleMania 39, and continues to tease that eventually coming together.

Rock was in Pasadena earlier in the day ahead of the Rose Bowl and made the short trek over to San Diego, similar to what he did in September in Colorado before beating up Austin Theory.

The Boston Celtics have enjoyed quite a bit of success in recent years. Boston looks like the best team in the NBA so far in 2023-24, posting a 26-6 record and a league-best +10.4 net rating as the calendar flips to January. Prior to that, the Celtics reached the Eastern Conference Finals in three out of four seasons, including a run to the 2022 NBA Finals that nearly netted the franchise another championship. However, the 2018-19 season was much-maligned and much has been made of the lost promise of a team that was utterly loaded with talent and ended up falling short with a second round exit to the postseason.

Recently, Gordon Hayward, who was a key cog on the 2018-19 roster, joined Paul George on the Podcast P Show and shed some light on what transpired in Boston’s 49-win season that ended with a second round loss. In short, Hayward thinks the downfall was tied to having “too many agendas.”

Hayward’s explanation makes rational sense, and he doesn’t try to even absolve himself of the blame. The Celtics were incredibly deep with talent, pairing established standouts like Hayward, Kyrie Irving, and Al Horford with young players like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Terry Rozier. That team also had Marcus Smart, Marcus Morris, and others, and it really did seem like a team that fell short of expectations based on almost having too many pieces.

Hayward does lay out that many conversations were had behind the scenes, including what he joked to include about five “players-only meetings” that never had the intended effect because no one was willing to be the one to sacrifice. In the end, nothing worked and, by the time the 2019-20 season arrived, Irving wasn’t there anymore and Hayward slid down the pecking order behind Tatum, Brown, and even Kemba Walker. In some ways, this is a familiar tale, but it’s interesting to hear a current player talk about it in this way, and it’s a peek behind the scenes that is always informative.

It’s particularly interesting for Hayward to have this conversation with Paul George, who is currently on a team trying to navigate a similar situation with a lot of stars figuring out how to coexist. George is keenly aware of how things can go wrong and knows the conversations that have to happen to make it work — as evidenced by his question about whether Boston was able to have those difficult discussions in the locker room. He seems to want to learn from the mistakes of teams like those 18-19 Celtics, and might’ve gleaned some helpful info from his conversation with Hayward.

The first of the two 2024 College Football Playoff semifinals was an absolute slugfest between No. 1 Michigan and No. 4 Alabama in the Rose Bowl, with a lot of defense, a few big plays from the offenses, and some wild swings via special teams that ultimately led us to overtime.

We knew from the start that it would be a wild game, as the first play of the game was a seemingly disastrous interception from Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who was given a reprieve after replay showed the Alabama defensive back had his heel out of bounds before jumping up to make the pick. From there, defense continued to dictate most of the action with a lot of three-and-outs on both sides, with Alabama striking first on a muffed punt by Michigan (a theme of the game) and a touchdown run by Jase McClellan later in the drive.

Michigan would tie the game and then move into a 13-7 lead on a huge run after the catch from Tyler Morris late in the second quarter (followed by a botched snap on the extra point).

Bama would pull to within 3 with a 50 yard field goal from Will Reichard to end the first half, and retook the lead to start the fourth quarter on an inside run after a grizzly third quarter featuring a lot of punting back and forth.

Another 50-plus yard field goal gave Alabama a 7-point lead, Michigan finally found some second half offense as McCarthy led the Wolverines on a long drive, culminating in a Roman Wilson game-tying TD (after a big play by Wilson to set it up).

Alabama’s final drive of regulation stalled out at midfield, but they almost got a gift on another muffed punt by Michigan, this time on their own 6 that got recovered at the one, creating for a lot of heart palpitations for those wearing maize and blue in the Pasadena crowd.

In overtime, Michigan put the ball in the hands of their star running back Blake Corum, who had a pair of big runs, including the go-ahead touchdown as he ran through would-be tacklers to put Michigan on top.

While Michigan had special teams troubles all night, it was bad snaps that plagued Alabama all game, and rather fittingly, a low snap on 4th and goal from the 3 resulted in Jalen Milroe having to take a false step on a QB draw, where he was stuffed to give Michigan a thrilling overtime win.

It was a really wild game that saw both teams make big plays and big mistakes. There were turnovers, bad snaps, missed kicks, and muffed punts, but both teams kept grinding and kept fighting to force overtime, where Michigan was able to create more push up front on both sides of the ball to get the victory and punch their ticket to the National Championship game.

TV production has come roaring back into action after Hollywood devolved into chaos for much of 2023, but the good news is that a few handfuls of anticipated shows will be back in action for January 2024. Not only that, but Reacher will keep punching bad dudes all the way into the new year while that Amazon Prime crowd-favorite show has already begun filming a third season.

Additionally, there’s plenty to anticipate with a chilly new season of HBO’s True Detective (it’s time for a lengthy ladies’ night) and an AMC show, Monsieur Spade, that offers a new take on an old hardboiled detective. The latest Band Of Brothers followup will also debut on Apple TV+, and Kevin Smith’s Masters Of The Universe will take a final lap on Netflix, which is where Sofía Vergara will team up with the Narcos guys in a ladies’ night for drug-lording, too. Clearly, a few common themes are running through this winter on television, so get warmed up in your living room and prepare to enjoy.

Here are the must see shows for January.

The Brothers Sun: Season 1 (Netflix series streaming 1/1)

Everything Everywhere All At Once star Michelle Yeoh is seemingly, you know, everywhere… all at once, and there are no complaints there, except possibly from this piano player from the awards circuit. Creators Brad Falchuk (Glee, American Horror Story) and Byron Wu (The Getaway) bring us the story of Bruce (Sam Song Li), who begins to realize that his mom, Eileen (Yeoh), hasn’t exactly been forthcoming about her past. Soon enough, it becomes obvious that a family business exists and has already been joined by older brother Charles (Justin Chien), a powerful assassin. Expect both comedy and action as roundhouse kicks collide.

Echo: Season 1 (Disney+ series streaming 1/10)

The MCU’s having a rough time lately other than the Jonathan Majors-free aspects of Loki, but nonetheless, Disney+ shows are coming, albeit at a less breakneck pace than a few years ago. Following a Hawkeye reveal, Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) receives her Echo origin story after her ruthless NYC adventures follow her to her hometown. The series co-stars Vincent D’Onofrio as Kingpin/Wilson Fisk and will reportedly even include Charlie Cox as Daredevil/Matt Murdock (although the Daredevil standalone show is currently undergoing significant retools before its own airtime).

Ted: Season 1 (Peacock series streaming 1/11)

Everything is being revived or rebooted, so Seth MacFarlane is taking another swing with this profane teddy bear. This series will act as a prequel film to the films starring Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, and Amanda Seyfried, but don’t worry, MacFarlane’s voice will return to drop all of those F-bombs because the franchise demands it.

Monsieur Spade: Season 1 (AMC/Acorn series streaming 1/14)

Dashiell Hammett’s Sam Spade returns, but this ain’t no Maltese Falcon. Instead, the not-afraid-to-be-bad Clive Owen follows up his A Murder At The End Of The World performance as a new incarnation of the hardboiled P.I. This story follows his quest to uncover an apparent serial killer of nuns, but things grow potentially supernatural as Spade vanquishes secrets and follows leads to solve the series of brutal murders. Despite the macabre subject matter at hand, expect Owen to embody Spade with a flourish.

True Detective: Night Country (HBO series streaming on Max 1/14)

Can Season 4 recapture the magic of Season 1? At the very least, this new story seems to be hitting some of the same atmospheric and tonal notes as the original story starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, who shall not be seen but are executive producing. There will be plenty of literal and figurative chills while Jodie Foster’s detective teams up with an old colleague portrayed by Evangeline Navarro. Together, they will attempt to unearth frozen truths involving horrors that took place during a Polar Night when an entire research died under mysterious circumstances. Are your teeth chattering already? Same.

Griselda (Netflix series streaming 1/25)

Here comes “the Godmother” of cocaine. Original Narcos co-creator Doug Miro and Narcos: Mexico executive producer Eric Newman team up to tell the story of Colombian drug cartel leader Griselda Blanco, a prolific cocaine trafficker as portrayed by Sofia Vergara. We haven’t seen the Modern Family star get dramatic on TV yet, so this series should attract eyeballs for more reasons than one. Griselda reigned in Miami in the 1970-’80s, and her tour of terror included operating under 20 aliases, moving hundreds of kilos per month, and ordering dozens of murders.

Masters of the Universe: Revolution (Netflix series streaming 1/25)

Kevin Smith (along with his worst tweet) is wrapping up his oddly controversial 1980s revival series on Netflix, and hey look, there’s still plenty of He-Man to be found here. Skeletor has become newly mechanized, and he’s still going for the soul of Eternia, but Tesla is now Sorceress Tesla, so hopefully, she will save everyone’s ass once and for all. The ragers will love that, for sure.

Masters Of The Air: Season 1 (Apple TV+ series streaming 1/26)

Here’s a stellar Band Of Brothers followup from Steven Spielberg (Amblin Television) in conjunction with Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman (Playtone). This new series is based upon Donald L. Miller’s book of the same name about the “Bloody Hundredth,” i.e. the 100th Bomb Group, who risked everything they had to conduct bombing raids upon Nazi Germany. Austin Butler dropped his Elvis voice to portray a U.S. major alongside Callum Turner. There’s a “Buck” and a “Bucky” in the character list, and there’s also the ever-present Barry Keoghan joining in the camaraderie while the U.S. carries out perilous missions to take down Hitler’s Third Reich. It’s an adventure-filled yet harrowing viewing experience but fully worth the ride.

Expats: Season 1 (Amazon Prime series streaming 1/26)

Nicole Kidman (who appears to have firmly shifted to TV after HBO’s The Undoing and Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers) headlines this adaptation of the Janice Y. K. Lee’s 2016 novel, The Expatriates. According to Amazon’s synopsis, this series chronicles “the vibrant lives of a close-knit expatriate community: where affluence is celebrated, friendships are intense but knowingly temporary, and personal lives, deaths and marriages are played out publicly–then retold with glee.”