Category: News
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The word “sequel” has become synonymous with “blockbuster” (seven of the 10 highest-grossing movies ever are sequels), so it’s always surprising to see how few sequels that Steven Spielberg, the “blockbuster king,” has directed over his decades-long career. Yes, there’s the Indiana Jones franchise and The Lost World, but E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial? No sequels. Jaws? Yes sequels, but Spielberg had nothing to do with them. His early 2000s run of A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Minority Report, and Catch Me If You Can? No sequels. The Goonies? Spielberg didn’t direct the original, he only has a “story by” credit, but: no sequel.
That being said, there’s been a near-constant chatter for a follow-up to the kid-friendly film ever since it came out in 1985. And during the first episode of Josh Gad’s “Reunited Apart” series, the Frozen star (virtually) brought together Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Martha Plimpton, Corey Feldman, Ke Huy Quan, writer Chris Columbus, director Richard Donner, and Spielberg to raise money for charity. And Gad asked for an update on The Goonies 2.
“Chris [Columbus] and [Richard Donner] and I — and Lauren [Shuler Donner] — have had a lot of conversations about it. Every couple of years we come up with an idea, but then it doesn’t hold water,” Spielberg said on the livestream, which you can watch below. “The problem is the bar that all of you raised on this genre… I don’t think we’ve really successfully been able to find an idea that is better than The Goonies we all made in the ’80s, so until we do, people are just gonna have look at this [reunion] a hundred times.”
Who needs The Goonies 2 (The 2oonies?) when the Bob’s Burgers episode “The Belchies” already exists? There’s even a Cyndi Lauper song.
(Via SYFY)
With movie lovers trapped at home and in constant need of new entertainment, dropping 99 cents to watch Green Lantern on iTunes can start to seem like an enticing offer. Why not find out if the Ryan Reynolds superhero film is as bad as people (including Ryan Reynolds) say it is? It’s not like you have anything else to to do.
Fortunately, one brave Twitter user decided to ask Reynolds for advice before pulling the trigger on the cheap rental, and the actor didn’t mince words on what folks should do if they’re even thinking of watching Green Lantern: “Walk away.”
Walk away.
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) April 25, 2020
Of course, this news shouldn’t exactly come as a surprise to Deadpool fans. Reynolds spent time in the franchise mercilessly mocking his DC Comics role. In Deadpool 2, there’s even an end credits scene where Deadpool travels back in time and shoots Reynolds in the back of the head while he’s reading the Green Lantern script.
However, even Warner Bros. has been a good sport about mocking its failed attempt to launch a DC Cinematic Universe with Reynolds. Here’s a tweet that Warner Bros. sent to Reynolds ahead of Deadpool 2:
We tried to put a ring on it! #GreenLantern @VancityReynolds pic.twitter.com/W9e0KhgbnU
— Warner Bros. (@WBHomeEnt) May 18, 2018
And here’s the one WB sent after watching the film:
Sorry @VancityReynolds, we’re going to need the ring back. pic.twitter.com/dPyfsRPUYg
— Warner Bros. (@WBHomeEnt) May 19, 2018
As for what went wrong with the emerald space cop film, Reynolds spoke candidly about the filmmaking process in an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2016, when he explained why Deadpool succeeded where Green Lantern didn’t:
“Well it’s simple: Deadpool always knew what it was,” Reynolds tells EW. “With Green Lantern, I don’t think anyone ever figured out exactly what it was. That isn’t to say the hundreds of men and women didn’t work their fingers to the bone to make it as good as poosible. It also fell victim to the process in Hollywood which is like poster first, release date second, script last. At the time, it was a huge opportunity for me so I was excited to try and take part in it.”
On an interesting note, Reynolds also said that before agreeing to star in Green Lantern, he wrote Fox a letter giving them one last chance to snatch him up for a Deadpool movie, which the studio obviously passed on. It took Fox a few more years to finally give Reynolds a chance as the Merc with a Mouth, and the rest is history.
(Via Ryan Reynolds on Twitter)
A Durant-produced documentary about Maryland’s Prince George County, a basketball hotbed in the DMV that has produced many successful NBA and WNBA players will premiere on May 15 on Showtime. The trailer for “Basketball County: In The Water” dropped Monday, and featured interviews with Durant, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Quinn Cook and a number of other players.
Excited to show the world a story close to my heart. #BasketballCounty: In The Water coming May 15 to @ShoSports pic.twitter.com/JIVwQpPdfo
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) April 27, 2020
Since 2000, 25 NBA players, more than a dozen WNBA players and countless other elite college basketball talents have come out of Prince George County, making it one of the most productive areas in the country for elite basketball talent.
“You mention Prince George County, people know what it’s about,” former New York Liberty player Marissa Coleman said in the trailer. “It’s the Mecca of basketball.”
Durant and his manager and Thirty Five Ventures partner, Rich Kleiman, are listed as executive producers of the film along with Cook and Victor Oladipo of the Indiana Pacers. Durant, Oladipo and Cook are all “PG County” natives, along with five-time WNBA champion Rebekkah Brunson, Markelle Fultz of the Orlando Magic, Jeff Green and more.
“We’re pushing the community and the culture forward,” Durant said.
The documentary will dive into what makes the hoops culture in Prince George County so strong and explore how those from the area have navigated the path to the pinnacle of the basketball world.
Barack and Michelle Obama signed a wide-ranging deal with Netflix in 2018. The projects are now starting to pour forth, including a recent uplifting documentary, Crip Camp (about the transformative but ramshackle summer camp for disabled teenagers situated down the street from Woodstock). Soon, we’ll also see a documentary about former First Lady Michelle’s life following two presidential terms in the White House. In the above clip from Becoming, she makes clear to a group of young women that her path was unclear while transitioning back into “normal,” and she’s still “figuring out” life.
That sounds familiar to all of us right now, but guess what? Michelle also revealed in a press-release letter that she really misses hugs, and folks are bound to identify with that sentiment in these strange times as well. Uproxx Editor-in-Chief Brett Michael Dykes recently wrote in a newsletter (you can sign up for future editions here) that he’s missing hugs during the pandemic, and here’s what Michelle had to say on the subject:
“As many of you know, I’m a hugger. My whole life, I’ve seen it as the most natural and equalizing gesture one human can make toward another — the easiest way of saying, ‘I’m here for you.’ And this is one of the toughest parts of our new reality: Things that once felt simple — going to see a friend, sitting with someone who is hurting, embracing someone new — are now not simple at all.”
Michelle’s letter continued to express that humanity can come together with empathy despite our inability to gather, and she hopes that we can “remake the world” to be a better place despite the fear and loneliness that many of us feel right now.
With Becoming, director Nadia Hallgren takes an intimate look at how Michelle tackles the notion of profound change, which will likely resonate even more strongly now than it would under “normal” circumstances. The documentary will dive behind the scenes as Michelle tours 34 cities to support her memoir and finds a striking commonality among audiences in the process. It’s a project where “becoming” defines how people should dare to express their hopes and dreams, which can (hopefully) transform into beacons of light during our current difficult times.
Netflix’s Becoming streams on May 6.
A staple at music festivals over the last few years, Khruangbin has set themselves apart from other artists in the psychedelic pop genre. Khruangbin boasts captivating instrumentals, funky grooves, catchy bass lines, and ever-present wigs. The Texas trio has released two albums, a number of EPs, and a project with crooner Leon Bridges. But now the group is ready for a new era: Khruangbin announced their upcoming album Mordechai with a funky lead single.
Featuring Khruangbin’s signature bouncy guitar riffs, “Time (You and I)” adds onto the group’s cross-genre catalog and is peppered with influences spanning from reggae to East Asian surf-rock. Bassist Laura Lee Ochoa penned the lyrics, as well as all the verses on the album, with her late grandfather in mind. Ochoa filled hundreds of pages with lyrics over a day she took a self-imposed vow of silence. “Time (You and I),” in particular, draws inspiration from the breezy feeling of a summer festival winding down after a hectic weekend. “If we had more time / We could live forever / Just you and I / We could be together,” the band harmonizes on the track.
Listen to Khruangbin’s “Mordechai” above. Below, find the Mordechai album art and tracklist.
1. “First Class”
2. “Time (You and I)”
3. “Connaissais De Face”
4. “Father Bird, Mother Bird”
5. “If There Is No Question”
6. “Pelota”
7. “One To Remember”
8. “Dearest Alfred”
9. “So We Won’t Forget”
10. “Shida”
Mordechai is out 6/26 via Dead Oceans. Pre-order it here.
Over the past few months, a handful of songs have found their way to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. As songs have fallen and risen to the top, though, one constant has been Post Malone’s “Circles” being somewhere in the neighborhood. The single has hung out near the top of the chart for a long time now, and because of that, it just set a new record: “Circles” is No. 6 this week, and it is now the song that has spent the most time in the top 10 of the Hot 100, at 34 straight weeks.
.@PostMalone‘s “Circles” now holds the record for the most weeks spent in the top 10 of the #Hot100, with 34 total weeks.
— Billboard Charts (@billboardcharts) April 27, 2020
33 weeks was apparently a tough barrier to bust through, as “Circles” broke a three-way tie between Maroon 5 and Cardi B’s “Girls Like You,” Ed Sheeran’s “Shape Of You,” and Malone’s own Swae Lee-featuring “Sunflower,” all of which spent 33 weeks in the top 10. “Sunflower” appears on Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding, as does “Circles,” so two of the four longest-tenured top-10 songs ever come from the same album.
“Circles” made its first chart appearance all the way back on the Hot 100 dated September 14, when it debuted at No. 7. Over the next couple months, the song gradually climbed up the chart until it finally reached No. 1, on the chart dated November 30. It has since fallen off the top spot, but it hasn’t fallen that far at all.
This news comes shortly after Posty teamed up with Travis Barker for a livestream concert that consisted of just Nirvana covers.
Six years from now, the COVID-19 baby boom will hit kindergarten. Though it’s hard to imagine right now what school will look like at that point (somewhat normal, hopefully?), Leigh Hedgeworth Jones of Naples, Florida has predicted what taking attendance will be like.
And oh my, is it hilariously accurate.
Kids, meet your classmates, Baskin, Charmin, Pandemica, and Kah’Rona.
It’s a joke, but you know some parents are going to go there. You just know they are, because this is 2020 and nothing is too outrageous to imagine.
Like most people, podcaster John Roderick has been passing time in quarantine by revisiting the classics — namely, Star Wars. In a now-viral tweet, Roderick shared a question from his young daughter that has been tormenting Star Wars fans ever since Revenge of the Sith revealed that only C-3PO had his memory wiped, not R2-D2, following the events of the Prequel Trilogy:
My daughter just asked, “R2-D2 was there for the whole story and never had his memory wiped so why didn’t he just tell Luke that Vader was his father at some point?” I just sat there dumbfounded until she shrugged and walked away.
As Roderick’s daughter correctly notes, not wiping R2-D2’s memory means the spunky robot spent the whole time during A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back knowing full well that Anakin Skywalker is Darth Vader. He also knew that Luke and Leia are brother and sister, yet never divulged that fact either despite the two sharing a very awkward kiss. (Nice looking out, Artoo.)
Roderick’s tweet found its way in front of Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill, who’s usually not afraid to dive into Star Wars lore on Twitter. He’s just as much a fan of George Lucas’ world as everyone else. Only this time around, even Hamill was stumped and had to bail on attempting to explain the pretty significant plot hole:
I read this tweet, thought long and hard… then just shrugged and walked away. #NoPlausibleAnswer
You can see Hamill’s reaction below:
I read this tweet, thought long and hard… then just shrugged and walked away.#NoPlausibleAnswer https://t.co/JcMdFKjXf4 pic.twitter.com/hRVNpn2c8A
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) April 25, 2020
As for a definitive answer to this conundrum, well, there isn’t one, which probably explains why Hamill bounced. Again, Star Wars fans have been mulling this one over for years. The best theories they can come up with is that R2-D2 actually did have his memory wiped sometime before meeting Luke, or he’s just a robot who’s not programmed to divine human relationships, so he just assumed Luke already knew who his father was and that Leia is his sister. Anakin being Darth Vader was simply no big deal to the little guy.
And then there’s this very plausible Reddit theory from sirlionel13:
I think it has more to do with his personality in general. He doesn’t tell anyone any more than they absolutely need to know at any given time. He doesn’t tell C3P0 that ignoring the restriction on the escape pods to launch off to Tatooine was a direct order from the Princess. He doesn’t tell Luke that his finding Obi-Wan Kenobi was important for the sake of the entire galaxy. No one even considered giving him a memory wipe at the end of the Clone Wars, even though he knew Luke and Leia survived, and where they were, and that a fugitive jedi was with one of them, and that the other was being raised by someone plotting against the newly formed empire – like they trusted him to hold out against interrogation, even when as a machine he could have information extracted directly from his memory.
R2’s just a sneaky, witty, compulsive liar, pretty much.
R2-D2 is secretly the most badass droid ever made who’ll never crack under pressure? We can get down with that theory.
(Via Mark Hamill on Twitter)