Year: 2024

The Welcome to Wrexhamn hosts can’t seem to do anything without each other these days. They recently showed interest in expanding their team roster, used each other to help promote other projects, and even had couples’ colonoscopies. It only makes sense that they appear alongside one another on the big screen.

On a recent episode of their sports docuseries Welcome To Wrexham, Ryan Reynolds was in the middle of filming the upcoming Deadpool installment when he and Rob McElhenney needed to work on some Wrexham stuff together. The camera crew followed the two on the very top-secret set.

Reynolds explained, “Because of my busy schedule, I had to invite my co-chair, Rob McElhenney, to the set of Deadpool in London to discuss all things that are Wrexham,” Reynolds explained in the episode, which you can preview here. “And, yes, I did have to promise him a role in the upcoming Deadpool film.”

A short scene follows the meeting with the duo, and revealed that McElhenney was able to film a quick cameo on set. “For confidentiality reasons, nobody can see or hear any of this stuff,” Reynolds said, followed by a clip of Deadpool Censored Material. “Now, I can’t necessarily tell you which character Rob plays in Deadpool for fear of being shot down by the Marvel drone that follows me and my kids around.”

Reynolds is then shown explaining the scene to McElhenney, though it’s all bleeped out. Maybe Taylor Swift was on set in the background?! We may never know….at least until Deadpool & Wolverine opens in theaters on July 26.

Avril Lavigne has quite the library of hits, featuring “Complicated,” “Sk8er Boi,” “I’m With You,” “Happy Ending,” and “Girlfriend.” Well, we’re now about a week into Lavigne’s The Greatest Hits Tour and those songs and others have made it into the setlist so far. If you’re heading to an upcoming concert, here’s a look at what you can expect.

Looking at her latest concert — on May 26 at RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheaterin Ridgefield, Washington, via setlist.fm — Lavigne played all the aforementioned hits, opening with “Girlfriend,” closing the main set with “Sk8er Boi,” and going with “Head Above Water” and “I’m With You” for the encore.

All Time Low also joined Lavigne for their Lavigne collaboration “Fake As Hell.” Guests like this are often a one-off thing when both artists happened to be in the same city at the same time, but All Time Low is one of Lavigne’s openers on this tour, and they’ve joined her to play the song on ever Greatest Hits Tour date so far.

Check out the Ridgefield setlist below.

Avril Lavigne’s The Greatest Hits Tour Setlist

1. “Girlfriend”
2. “What The Hell”
3. “Complicated”
4. “Smile”
5. “Here’s To Never Growing Up”
6. “Hot”
7. “My Happy Ending”
8. “He Wasn’t”
9. “Don’t Tell Me”
10. “Losing Grip”
11. “When You’re Gone”
12. “Fake As Hell” (with All Time Low)
13. “Bite Me”
14. “Love It When You Hate Me”
15. “Sk8er Boi”
16. “Head Above Water” (encore)
17. “I’m With You” (encore)

Claiming that a rapper didn’t write their own song, especially when it’s personal in nature or regularly cited as among their best work, is a serious accusation in the hip-hop world. Drake is facing such an allegation right now, about his 2018 Scorpion highlight “Mob Ties.”

Did Drake Write “Mob Ties” From Scorpion?

According to Complex, Akademiks said he had heard that it was actually Vory who wrote the song. Vory, by the way, is actually credited as a co-writer on the released song.

Now, what is supposedly a leaked “Mob Ties” reference track by Vory has leaked, adding credence to Akademiks’ claim. The reference track is largely the same as the version that appears on Scorpion, but it does contain some differences.

Since the apparent reference track surfaced, folks on social media have been debating the impact of the situation. One X (formerly Twitter) user wrote, “This doesn’t prove anything other than they worked on the song together. The lyrics in Drake’s version are completely different and way better if we’re being honest. Thank God this was Drake’s song and not Vory’s.”

Somebody else wrote, “That’s my point … If Drake didn’t write those timestamp raps we having a whole different discussion…. Them songs Yatchy and Vory making ain’t putting Drake in no top nothing convos ….”

Of course, given how convincing AI technology has become, it’s also possible that this reference track is fabricated and not legitimate. Whatever the case, people are talking.

Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers might be a titillating tennis adventure, but while everyone was focused on Zendaya taking such good care of her “little white boys,” others wondered: how the heck did they get some of these first-person tennis shots?

After the short clip made the rounds on the internet that features a shot from the POV of the tennis ball, VFX supervisor Brian Drewes posted a detailed breakdown of the scene. Surprisingly, it did not involve the Bee Movie method.

Drewes posted a video showing the creation of the final scene, which took over five hours to shoot. Drewes told IndieWire that he and Guadaginao had to map out the tricky scene with the help of Zero VF, a Massachusetts-bsed special effects company. “Before shooting, we broke the previs down into 23 discrete segments, all which needed to line up with each other. It definitely hurt my brain,” he explained. “To keep track, the vfx team at Zero had an editor on set to keep an up to date edit of what we were shooting, combined with the previs. This allowed me to know with confidence we were good to move on. The camera team did an especially awesome job on this film.”

For inspiration, the director told Drewes to channel the energy from the film into the action. shots. “In our very first meeting Luca described it super clearly: The audience needs to ‘BE THE BALL!!” he said, adding, “From that conversation I learned how kinetic he needed it to feel as an experience — it really was all in his mind’s eye quite early. This is absolutely what makes my job fun.”

Here is a visual break down of the moment:

And here are more details posted by Drewes:

•Started with a previs pass, animated to the timing of an actual tennis volley, which was approved by Luca prior to filming.
•Filming was overseen by the VFX team including VFX editorial support on set to confirm cut points were working as filming occurred.
•Filmed during a 5 hour window with an Arri Alexa LF on a 30′ technocrane.
•23 !!! individual shots were stitched together to create the final 24 second shot seen in the film.
•Highly detailed LiDar and photogrammetry scans of the tennis court environment were captured to help create the final models. 100+ actors and background extras were also photoscanned to populate the stands of our CG environment.
Full CG takeovers were done to smooth camera motion and correct time of day changes.

Stunt double faces were replaced with a combination of full CG heads and additional photography.

This advanced technology will come in hand when Bee Movie 2 is eventually green lit.

Challengers is currently in theaters and available for rent on demand.

Since The Boys launched in 2019, Supernatural fans have been not-so-patiently waiting to see showrunner Eric Kripke re-team with Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Unfortunately for these viewers, JDM has been busy Negan-ing on The Walking Dead and spin off Dead City, but as Kripke tells Entertainment Weekly in a new interview, it was only a matter of time before schedules permitted the duo to get back together again. Additionally, Kripke shut down speculation that Morgan was ever meant to embody Tek Knight, an old-school Payback member who parodies both DC’s Batman and Marvel’s Iron Man.

As Gen V viewers recently discovered, Tek Knight is portrayed in this universe by Derek Wilson as a sexually-obsessed true-crime host who really enjoys… bagels (for gross reasons). Sure, JDM could have pulled this character off without a doubt, and he did previously agree with the assertion that he makes the Prime Video (Amazon) show even filthier than it already was. However, JDM plays an entirely different character, and although Kripke wouldn’t divulge the full picture with EW, a few hints did drop:

“He is an old colleague of Butcher’s,” Kripke teases, referring to Karl Urban’s Billy Butcher. “I can tell you that he shares a lot of Butcher’s concern and hatred of superheroes. It really came from the notion of everyone else in The Boys is always trying to pull Butcher back. So what would happen if he started working with someone who wants to push him forward?”

Morgan feels the role he’s playing now is “a little bit more perfect” for him than the previous ones Kripke toyed with, though he doesn’t elaborate further.

So secretive. Previously, The Boys only offered a wonky photoshop to mess with everybody, so at least we’re seeing some progress. The world will find out more, however, when The Boys returns for a fourth season on June 13.

At their best, player hosted podcasts provide fans with a glimpse behind the scenes of what it’s like playing in the NBA. Too often, they become a place for revisionist history, with players using a platform with little-to-no pushback to shift narratives and make outlandish claims.

Jeff Teague’s Club 520 Podcast is among the absolute best when it comes to telling incredible stories without them being a self-serving attempt at laundering his reputation. If anything, Teague tends to be overly self-deprecating, usually telling stories about embarrassing moments he had on the court, laughing at his own misfortunes to the delight of his co-hosts. Other times, he gives refreshingly honest remembrances of things that happened he was a part of, as was the case in a recent episode when he discussed the Pacers getting swept by the Cavs in 2017 — with all four losses coming by single-digits.

In two of those games, the Pacers had a shot to win it, but missed both times. The first was CJ Miles missing a pullup from the midrange, which led to Paul George famously saying he’s “got to get the last shot” in those situations. Fast forward to Game 4 and PG got his wish, but bricked a three after Miles made sure to get him the ball. Teague recalled Miles having an incredible reaction after that Game 4 miss in the locker room.

I vividly remember that era of NBA Twitter when folks were quick to hit photoshop or a video editor after losses, and that Paul George Gatorade commercial where he proclaimed “ball game” was constantly popping up after Indiana losses. It’s hysterical Miles was scrolling Twitter to look at the reaction to PG’s brick and showing Teague that video in the locker room is a hysterical anecdote. That’s just the right level of petty in that moment as a teammate of George’s. You can’t go out and retweet that, but finding a confidant to share that with and having a laugh about it is the most human of responses after getting publicly called out by your star only for him to fail in the exact same moment.

It’s been suggested that George R.R. Martin wasn’t blown away in the most positive way by the Game of Thrones series finale. He isn’t alone, but (of course) Martin has a reason to take what materialized a bit more personally than the casual dragon viewer. And Martin, who is still heavily involved in adapting his many Westeros-based stories at HBO, isn’t afraid to air his general feelings on adaptations, although to be fair to HBO also, they didn’t exactly adapt an ending to the A Song Of Fire And Ice books because an ending doesn’t yet exist.

Yet Martin regularly renews his feelings on the subject, and a few years ago, he and Neil Gaiman indulged in a delightful onstage discussion in which Gaiman coaxed Martin into discussing Tywin Lannister’s bodily functions. In that conversation, the pair also discussed the potential horrors involved with seeing your literary babies be adapted for better or worse, and the subject still clearly weighs heavily on GRRM’s mind. In a recent Not-a-Blog blog post, Martin reflects on that conversation and doubles down, but don’t worry, he’s got a point coming as well:

“Everywhere you look, there are more screenwriters and producers eager to take great stories and ‘make them their own.’ It does not seem to matter whether the source material was written by Stan Lee, Charles Dickens, Ian Fleming, Roald Dahl, Ursula K. Le Guin, J.R.R. Tolkien, Mark Twain, Raymond Chandler, Jane Austen, or… well, anyone. No matter how major a writer it is, no matter how great the book, there always seems to be someone on hand who thinks he can do better, eager to take the story and ‘improve’ on it. ‘The book is the book, the film is the film,’ they will tell you, as if they were saying something profound. Then they make the story their own.

“They never make it better, though. Nine hundred ninety-nine times out of a thousand, they make it worse.”

Martin goes on to point out which new series makes him feel differently about adaptations. That would be FX’s Shōgun, which GRRM binged and fully adored as an example of “[o]nce in a while, though, we do get a really good adaptation of a really good book, and when that happens, it deserves applause.”

Well, it’s a good thing — for widespread TV viewers along with GRRM — that there will be much more Shōgun coming. In the meantime, Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is currently filming, and House of the Dragon will return to HBO on June 16. Hopefully, GRRM will be much happier with the way those series end than he perhaps felt with Game of Thrones.

(Via GRRM’s ‘Not A Blog’ Blog)

DIIV is just days removed from the release of their latest album, Frog In Boiling Water. If you’ve listened and it sounded like something you’d want to hear live, you’re in luck: Today (May 28), the group announced an expansive world tour.

The trek runs from early June to mid-December. It starts with North American shows until early August, and after a few weeks off, it picks back up for a South American run, then another break, and then European/UK shows. Tickets are available now and more information can be found on the band’s website.

Find the full list of tour dates below.

DIIV 2024 Tour Dates

06/06 — Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst
06/07 — San Francisco, CA- Regency Ballroom
06/08 — Roseville, CA @ Goldfield Trading Post
06/10 — Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre
06/12 — Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall
06/13 — Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Hall
06/14 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall
06/16 — Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
06/18 — Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
06/19 — Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
06/20 — San Antonio, TX @ Aztec Theater
06/21 — Austin, TX @ Emo’s
06/23 — El Paso, TX @ The Lowbrow Palace
06/24 — Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
06/25 — Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
06/27 — San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park
06/29 — Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern Theatre
07/15 — Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
07/16 — Washington, DC @ Howard Theatre
07/17 — Richmond, VA @ The National
07/19 — Charleston, SC @ The Music Farm
07/20 — Orlando, FL @ House of Blues
07/21 — Miami, FL @ The Ground
07/23 — Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum
07/25 — Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theatre
07/27 — Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall Ballroom
07/28 — Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
07/30 — Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
07/31 — Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre
08/02 — Toronto, ON @ The Concert Hall
08/04 — Montreal, QC @ Osheaga Music and Arts Festival
08/05 — Boston, MA @ Royale
08/07 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount
09/06 — Lima, Peru @ Teatro Leguía
09/08 — Santiago, Chile @ Club Chocolate
09/10 — Mar Del Plata, Argentina @ Club TRI
09/12 — Buenos Aires, Argentina @ C Complejo Art Media
09/15 — São Paulo, Brazil @ Cine Joia
09/20 — Mexico City, MEX @ Foro Indie Rocks!
09/21 — Guadalajara, MEX @ C3 Stage
11/16 — Stockholm @ Slatkyrkan
11/17 — Copenhagen @ Vega
11/18 — Berlin @ Astra
11/19 — Munich @ Technikum
11/20 — Milan @ Circolo Magnolia
11/22 — London, UK @ Alexandra Palace with Fontaines DC
11/23 — London, UK @ Alexandra Palace with Fontaines DC
11/25 — Madrid @ Sala But
11/26 — Barcelona @ Sala Apollo
11/27 — Zurich @ Dynamo Saal
11/28 — Paris @ Bataclan
11/29 — Gent @ Vooruit
11/30 — Liège @ OM
12/02 — Brighton @ Chalk
12/05 — Bristol @ SWX
12/06 — Birmingham @ XOYO
12/07 — Glasgow @ SWG3 TV Studio
12/08 — Newcastle @ Newcastle University
12/09 — Manchester @ The Ritz
12/10 — Southampton @ Engine Rooms
12/12 — Rennes @ Antipode
12/13 — Esch @ Kulturfabrik
12/14 — Köln @ Kantine
12/15 — Amsterdam @ Paradiso

Frog In Boiling Water is out now via Fantasy Records. Find more information here.

TV ratings ain’t what they used to be. In 1994, the highest-rated scripted series on TV was Seinfeld, which averaged over 30 million episodes. Thirty years later, TV’s biggest non-sports show barely gets 10 million viewers — and that’s with a Super Bowl-assisted bump.

With data provided by Nielsen, Variety shared the list of the 100 most-watched TV shows of the 2023-2024 season. NBC’s NFL Sunday Night Football is number one for the sixth year in a row with 19.8 million total viewers, followed by ABC’s NFL Monday Night Football, and Amazon Prime’s NFL Thursday Night Football. Finally, at number four, comes the first scripted series: CBS’ Reacher-lite action-drama Tracker with 10.7 million.

According to Variety, it’s the “first time a first-year TV series was ranked as the No. 1 show since Survivor premiered as an instant phenomenon in 2000,” although that’s partially due to Tracker premiering after the most-watched TV event in decades. The Taylor Swift Effect can be felt in unexpected places.

Here’s the top 10 for total viewers:

1. NFL Sunday Night Football (NBC) (19.8 million)
2. NFL Monday Night Football on ABC (ABC) (11.9 million)
3. NFL Thursday Night Football (Amazon Prime) (11.9 million)
4. Tracker (CBS) (10.7 million)
5. NCIS (CBS) (9.6 million)
6. Young Sheldon (CBS) (9.1 million)
7. FBI (CBS) (8.9 million)
8. Chicago Fire (NBC) (8.7 million)
9. Blue Bloods (CBS) (8.4 million)
10. 60 Minutes (CBS) (8.2 million)

The full top 100 list can be found here. How many shows do you watch? Or better yet: how many shows have you even heard of? You can’t convince me that 2.5 million people watch something called Farmer Wants a Wife every week. It’s simply impossible.

(Via Variety)

It’s not that unheard of for two romcom stars to date while filming, but only few of them can win the coveted MTV Best Kiss Award. However, Syndey Sweneey and Glen Powell’s on-set romance was a little more ambiguous.

While the two were filming Anyone But You last year, Powell and Sweeney were rumored to be dating, despite the pair both having other partners. Then, Powell and his girlfriend split, and it got even more messy, with rumors that Powell had cheated on his girlfriend with Sweeney.

In a new interview, Powell told GQ that the frenzy (and subsequent media attention) was extremely stressful for him. “At the time, [the rumours] were like, whoa, whoa, whoa, time out! I was going through a real breakup at the time. It was stressful,” he said.

But instead of denying the rumors, Sweeney thought they should embrace them. “She’s dealt with the public eye before, she’s so much more comfortable than I am. She’s so in on the joke, man,” he told the mag. Her idea was to play up the rumors in order to keep the people talking. It worked– the romcom became a modest box office hit and now there are talks of a sequel.

Powell then compared Sweeney to Bruce Wayne, who is also famously sneak, because of her business moves. “She’s a businesswoman, and she understands that who she is in the public eye and who she is in reality are two separate people. It’s Bruce Wayne and Batman. You can shoot Batman as many times as you want, it’s not gonna affect Bruce Wayne.”

Even though the two playing up their non-romance was just a tactic, Powell says it all paid off. “That insane circus around it took a normal romcom and made it IP,” he says. “It was the electricity that kept that movie going. And we made the hell out of that movie. I’m really proud of it.”

Not only did the movie make bank, but Sweeney and Powell have vowed to work together again, which means more fake dating. This is all because of Madame Web! Thanks, Dakota Johnson.

(Via GQ)