Category: News

A reason exists why the Paramount Network, as I once chatted about with soap opera king Darren Star of all people, was known as “Yellowstone territory” for years. Before Paramount+ launched with a vast movie library, the Taylor Sheridan-created series starring Kevin Costner took off like a bucking bronco in 2018. This, of course, is wild and something that everyone wants to harness. After all, Sheridan was previously best known as the Sicario screenwriter and an ex-Sons Of Anarchy cop (RIP), and now, he’s TV royalty.

These days, several helpings of Taylor Sheridan-involved series, both of the Yellowstone proper and adjacent varieties, still dominate the Paramount Network and Paramount+. Collectively speaking, those shows not only star Costner but also Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, Sam Elliott, Jeremy Renner, and Sylvester Stallone. Upcoming shows will star Zoe Saldana, Nicole Kidman, Billy Bob Thornton, and maybe even Matthew McConaughey. A-listers want in, and that’s evidence that Westerns are truly alive in well in an unexpected time, but perhaps there’s never been a better time for a resurrection.

Not only has Sheridan himself spawned a host of “imitators” (a less awkward word won’t come to me at this moment) within his own universe, but other streaming services want to get in on that sweet Western windfall, too. Let’s list several of them right here. Before we begin, though, I feel the need to mention a few shows and set them apart from this list:

Justified: City Primeval: To be super clear, this Neo-Western joint will completely stand on its own, given that it’s a Justified revival, and no other solitary cowboy can compare to the Elmore Leonard-forged Raylan Givens (and the man who wears that hat, Timothy Olyphant). We will, of course, be talking about this show a lot when it arrives, so let’s keep moving.

Godless: Also to be fair, this Netflix show probably would have landed on this list (with bonus mustaches), had it not preceded Yellowstone a year in 2017.

Now for the Yellowstone-esque or -inspired shows, here or coming your way:

Outer Range (Streaming on Amazon Prime)

Whenever I first mentioned this show on our streaming lists, I wrote, “This ain’t Yellowstone,” and that’s correct. This story is more of a thriller with a side of the supernatural, but comparisons have been made. Also, Brolin may be far away from his former No Country For Old Men territory while portraying a Wyoming rancher, but there’s still a gravitational force to be reckoned with here, not from a questionably-haired Javier Bardem but from a dark void. When quizzed about whether this series is capitalizing upon the Amazon trend, Brolin told Variety that he’s already been there and done that, multiple times.

“Yellowstone was the first — like we were with True Grit — in bringing back the Western, and that’s a great thing,” Brolin asserted. “If you piggyback on that trend, you feel like you are piggybacking… But if you are coming with something within the genre that’s wholly original, then you feel good about it. There’s nothing other than horses and cowboy hats and maybe warring families in Outer Range that reminds me of Yellowstone.” Fair enough.

The English (Streaming on Amazon Prime)

This series will not only scratch the Western itch but also deliver nearly unparalleled visuals (in our current TV landscape which loves to spend millions upon production and then light it with a 15-watt bulb). And the show’s a standout for the surprisingly revelatory pleasure of being able to see the action, but more than that, Emily Blunt (Cornelia) and Chaske Spencer (Eli) wonderfully embody a story where an Indigenous character serves much more purpose than propping up white characters’ stories. Likewise, we don’t have to worry about this story being bogged down in romance because Cornelia vows to never marry, and Eli happens to be the only male character in the show without ulterior motives towards her. Together, they form a splendid team for dodging murderous parties to make their way across the wild frontier.

The Thicket (Peter Dinklage series coming to Tubi)

Game of Thrones fan-favorite and multi-Emmy winner Peter Dinklage will star in (and executive produce) a Western-thriller adaptation of Joe R. Lansdale’s same-named novel. A dastardly kidnapper, known as Cut Throat Bill, will be portrayed by none other than Juliette Lewis. And the former Lannister will portray a bounty hunter who helps the fresh-faced Jack (Levon Hawke) rescue his sibling (Esme Creed-Miles) from Cut Throat Bill. Of course, there’s a full-on motley crew here (including a sex worker played by Leslie Grace and a grave digger played by Gbenga Akinnagbe) to help with that task. Metallica lead singer James Hetfield has a role as well. Thank you, Yellowstone.

The Abandons (Kurt Sutter series coming to Netflix TBA)

Sons Of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter will be showrunning again following his 2019 exit from Mayans M.C. That dustup involved Sutter labeling himself as an “abrasive dick,” and as it turned out, he clashed with FX’s new Disney way, but he’s in his own driver’s seat again while executive producing under his Sutterink umbrella. When we first mentioned this show here, I noted that the first Western project for Kurt will be a nice little pop-cultural intersection, given that Taylor Sheridan portrayed a cop on Sons Of Anarchy. I don’t imagine that The Abandons will hone in on the same conservative-leaning audience as Yellowstone, but we’ll eventually find out.

Can we get a Charlie Hunnam role up in here, Kurt? I’ve got my fingers crossed that you’ll make it happen. From the show’s synopsis:

As a group of diverse, outlier families pursue their Manifest Destiny in 1850s Oregon, a corrupt force of wealth and power, coveting their land, tries to force them out. These abandoned souls, the kind of lost souls living on the fringe of society, unite their tribes to form a family and fight back. In this bloody process, ‘justice’ is stretched beyond the boundaries of the law. The Abandons will explore that fine line between survival and law, the consequences of violence, and the corrosive power of secrets, as this family fights to keep their land.

Untitled Nic Pizzolatto Series (Coming to Amazon Prime)

When The Hollywood Reporter first broke news of this series from True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto, the outlet reported that Amazon had “fast tracked” the show with the online-retailer-turned-streaming-service’s U.S. head of content, Nick Pepper, having “the streamer’s version of Paramount Network mega-hit Yellowstone” in mind. The series will boast an ensemble cast as well as a story about “a former outlaw who must reckon with a threat from his past in order to keep the life and family he has worked so hard to build.” This character “sets out on an epic journey that unites a formidable gang of indelible figures to face an even greater danger, in an epic saga of adventure and romance that forces this former criminal to become the hero he’s been pretending to be.” Yes yes, very Western in scope and theme. Hmm, this sounds like something that McConaughey might want to get on, too?

American Primeval (Peter Berg series coming to Netflix in 2024)

The dream team of Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights), Eric Newman (Narcos), and Mark L. Smith (The Revenant) will executive produce this project that stars Taylor Kitsch amid an ensemble cast including Betty Gilpin, Dane DeHaan, Jai Courtney, and Shea Whigham. The Hollywood Reporter relayed that the show will be a “raw, adventurous exploration of the birth of the American West. The violent collisions of cultures, religions and communities as men and women fight and die for control of this new world — for a land they truly believe is their destiny… a story of the sacrifice all must pay when they choose to enter a lawless and untamed wilderness.” The scripts will come from Smith, and clearly, Netflix is going all in on Westerns with this set for a 2024 arrival.

Best Actress at the 2023 Oscars is — with all due respect to Michelle Williams, Andrea Riseborough, and Ana de Armas (who was nominated for the wrong movie) — a two-person race between Michelle Yeoh and Cate Blanchett.

The Everything Everywhere All at Once actress believes it’s her time, because a) Michelle Yeoh is an icon and it’s nuts that she doesn’t have an Oscar already, and b) doesn’t Cate Blanchett (who, to be fair, gives an admirably prickly and career-best performance in Tár) have enough trophies already?

Yeoh thinks so. On Tuesday, she shared a Vogue article about the lack of diversity at the Academy Awards. (The last non-white Best Actress winner was Halle Berry for 2001’s Monster’s Ball.) There’s also an excerpt about “how it should be noted that [Blanchett] already has two Oscars. A third would perhaps confirm her status as an industry titan but, considering her expansive and unparalleled body of work, are we still in need of yet more confirmation?”

The article continues:

“Meanwhile, for Yeoh, an Oscar would be life-changing: her name would forever be preceded by the phrase ‘Academy Award winner,’ and it should result in her getting meatier parts, after a decade of being criminally underused in Hollywood”

Yeoh’s Instagram post has since been deleted, possibly because, as noted by the Daily Beast, it’s “a potential violation of the Academy’s campaign rules. In no. 11, ‘References to Other Nominees,’ Part B reads: ‘any tactic that singles out ‘the competition’ by name or titles is expressly forbidden.’ The words aren’t Yeoh’s, but sharing an article that wonders if Blanchett should win could still be considered a “tactic.” The Academy hasn’t commented yet.

Imagine if Instagram had existed in the 1940s. Humphrey Bogart would have been such a b*tch to Mickey Rooney.

(Via the Daily Beast)

Ask ten people who the best rapper of all time is and it’s possible you’ll get ten different opinions. It’s a question that’s been pondered and debated for decades, and one that has only subjective answers. Still, Jonathan Majors couldn’t help but be taken aback by Creed III co-star Michael B. Jordan’s take on the conversation.

On a new episode of Complex’s “GOAT Talk” series, the question of who the best rapper ever is came up. Both actors hesitated and contemplated the tough question, with Majors saying it’s between Jay-Z and Tupac. Eventually, Jordan worked up the courage to declare, “Drake, fight me.”

Majors was shocked, as he burst out into boisterous laughter after responding, “You said Drake?!” Jordan continued, “Jay-Z, Drake? Yeah, it’s tough! It’s tough!” After some more discussion (in which Majors made Jay-Z his final pick), Jordan elaborated, “This is what it is: to have an artist, rapper to rap about things I’ve been through, situations that I can relate to the most… literally, like it literally, [I listen to his music and I think], ‘Oh, I’ve been through that. Oh, I’ve thought that.’ So how it relates consistently, I gotta go there.”

The conversation wrapped up with Majors concluding that he picks Jay-Z for similar reasons.

Watch the full video below.

Yesterday (March 7), Nick Cannon and Kevin Hart announced Who’s Having My Baby? with a trailer. What is it? It looked like an upcoming game show on E! hosted by Hart, in which Cannon looks for a new woman to impregnate and add to the whopping 12 children he already has.

Now, Who’s Having My Baby? is a ridiculous concept for a game show, but in some ways, it seemed somewhat plausible. Cannon has been eager to joke about his prolific paternity and Hart previously got in on the fun by sending Cannon a condom vending machine. Furthermore, perhaps impregnation wasn’t the literal goal of the game show, and the promo was just a clickbait-y sort of introduction for a show with a less atypical premise. E! getting in on the video made everything seem more real, too:

Ultimately, though, it does appear that Who’s Having My Baby? is fake, at least in terms of it being a genuine game show. Variety reports that the idea is “actually a gag, orchestrated by comedian Kevin Hart, as a sketch for an upcoming, not-yet-announced project,” which could be announced as soon as today, per “insiders.”

Neither Cannon nor Hart have yet to drop the bit and reveal the show isn’t real, but it appears an announcement on that front is coming soon.

In a world in which most movies are available at the touch of a button – or the touch of a button and a rental fee; or, in some rarer cases, the touch of a button and a disc shows up a couple days later – it’s weird to think there was a time period where it was near impossible to watch Star Wars. (Okay, if we are getting into semantics, yes the original, non-Specialized version is pretty difficult to watch right now, but that’s not what this is about.) When I was five years old my parents took me to see The Empire Strikes Back and this was my first cinematic introduction to the Star Wars galaxy. I was too young to see Star Wars in theaters when it came out so that was that and I’d have to wait until a 1981 theatrical re-release before I ever saw the first movie. (Star Wars would not be released on home video until 1982, which I made my parents rent 50 times, in Betamax.)

I mentioned The Empire Strikes Back was my cinematic introduction, but it wasn’t my first experience with the characters because I had already gotten a bunch of Star Wars action figures made by the good folks at Kenner. The brand new toys from The Empire Strikes back then were all anyone could talk about at school and I had been counting the days until I could finally see this movie. So the way it works is, Kenner made 20 figures from the first Star Wars movie. Then they made Boba Fett with the promise he’d be a big part in the new movie that was still many months away. (This is a big reason Boba Fett still has the following he does today among Gen X, even though he’s not really even in Empire that much. The action figure had been released long before the movie so kids had him going on hundreds of adventures long before he just kind of stood around in the actual movie.)

When the new figures from The Empire Strikes Back hit stores, the original Star Wars figures were still there, too, and just kind of all blended together. There was no rhyme or reason to what my parents got me, so I’d get a figure of Walrus Man, then wonder what adventures this Walrus Man fellow will be on in The Empire Strikes Back. (Walrus Man, now better known as Ponda Baba, is not in The Empire Strikes Back.) Speaking of rhyme and reason, there didn’t seem to be a lot of it when Kenner decided what action figures to actually make. Did they make the actual head villain from the movie, Grand Moff Tarkin? Nope, they sure didn’t. Did they make R5-D4? Yep, they sure did.

I truly didn’t realize a good amount of these action figures were only in the movie for a few seconds. I just assumed R5-D4 was R2-D2’s pal. Look at the picture that comes with R5-D4’s action figure, we see our hero Luke Skywalker really having what seems to be an important moment with R5-D4. No doubt thanking R5-D4 for saving the day once again. Anyway, I had had an R5-D4 action figure for well over a year before I ever saw the original Star Wars. And when I finally did, R5-D4 shows up, shorts out, his head explodes and catches on fire. Then some Jawas wheel him away. That was it.

I can only assume Jon Favreau had a similar experience with R5-D4 and wanted to change this narrative. When Favreau was teasing The Mandalorian before its premiere, one of the first photos he shared was of R5-D4, who would eventually show up in the fifth episode, eventually becoming the droid belonging to Amy Sedaris’s Peli Motto. And it was nice that R5 finally had a nice home.

But that now has all changed as R5-D4 has now actually joined the adventure in this second episode of the season, accompanying Din Djarin and Grogu, serving as the astromech droid for Din’s Naboo Starfighter. And, as luck would have it, without R5-D4, that would be it for this season of The Mandalorian. Grogu can do some impressive things, but he probably can’t pilot a starfighter back to Bo Katan. But R5-D4 sure can, and does, paving the way for a rescue. (Well, technically two recuses. It probably wasn’t Din Djarin’s finest hour.)

But it’s a moment that had to make me step back and re-calibrate a bit. What a motley crew. A guy who kind of looks like Boba Fett, with a kid who looks like Yoda, with the actual R5-D4, just cruising around the galaxy looking for memory chips for IG assassin droid units and magical lakes of redemption. What a strange thing to exist. But, most importantly, finally, after all these years, that R5-D4 action figure has finally paid off. Now let’s get Snaggletooth into some action.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Blondshell — the indie project of 25-year-old Sabrina Teitelbaum — is building up the anticipation for her self-titled debut, whether that’s with singles taken from the record, such as the explosive “Veronica Mars” or the haunting “Olympus,” or one-offs like the Spotify single “Cartoon Earthquake.” Or this new Cranberries cover of “Disappointment.”

It’s safe to say that Teitelbaum’s take on “Disappointment” is not a disappointment. The build-up is beautiful and potent, her vocals and the guitars blending together and sweeping the listener into the hypnotic storm of sound.

“I wanted to sing a song off of No Need To Argue, which is one of my favorite albums ever. Dolores’ voice carries so much emotion throughout the entire album, not just on the big hits like ‘Zombie,’ but on the more understated songs as well,” the New York City-native singer said in a statement about the cover. “‘Disappointment’ hits me so hard because it feels like heartbreak disguised as apathy. I wanted to sing the song how I heard it, with the intensity of the pain behind those airy, relaxed vocals and drums.”

Listen to her cover of The Cranberries song above.

Blondshell is out on 4/7 via Partisan Records. Find more information about it here.

This week Tucker Carlson dusted off an old favorite of his: downplaying the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. This time he had 40,000 hours of security footage in his mitts, and he did what everyone knew he did, namely cherry-pick the most boring segments from it to make the outlandish claim that the violent attempt to overturn democracy was a mostly peaceful affair populated by mere “sightseers.” He’s doing it out of love for Trump, right? Wrong, at least if you go by some newly publicized texts he exchanged with a staffer two days before that fateful day.

“We are very very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can’t wait,” Carlson texted an unknown Fox News employee. “I hate him passionately,” he soon confessed, adding that he “blew up at [ex-Trump staffer] Peter Navarro today in frustration. I actually like Peter. But I can’t handle much more of this.”

Wow, Tucker sure seems pretty exasperated, huh? It’s almost as though he wants to go back to the old days, when he wore a bow-tie on the air and got shredded by Jon Stewart, who all but ended his tenure at CNN. (That’s right, Tucker Carlson was once on CNN. Crazy to think.)

The leaked texts are the latest treasure trove from Dominion’s pricey lawsuit against Fox News, which claims — with lots of evidence — that the network’s brass and stars knew all the 2020 voter fraud nonsense they were peddling was bull.

Does Tucker still hate Trump “passionately”? Is it all a schtick to Hoover up fame and money and a sense of power? It sure seems like it. As it happens, him admitting in private that he despises the big guy jibes interestingly with comments he said about non-far right media some two months prior: “Reporters hate Trump with an all-consuming mania. They hate him so intensely that at times it’s been amusing to watch.”

It’s almost as though Republicans like Tucker often trade in projection: accusing others of the very thing of which they’re guilty.

Tucker’s latest Jan. 6 segments have drawn ire from not only Democrats and families of officers who died as a result of the Capitol riot. Even Republicans and his own network have torn it asunder. Meanwhile the guy who gave him the footage, Kevin McCarthy, is simply claiming he hasn’t seen what he did with his dubious gift.

(Via The Hill)

Manchester Orchestra are going all-in with The Valley Of Vision, their forthcoming album, which arrives with a virtual reality short film. First, they unleashed the lead single and opener “Capital Karma.” Now they’re back with “The Way,” the second track on the LP.

“The Way” is a mystical experience right off the bat. Against a haunting ambiance, frontman Andy Hull‘s voice is a guiding force as he recollects some emotional wreckage: “I think I’m losing my mind / Fear became the fentanyl / Hungry like the animal / I’ve been sleeping in,” he sings. Despite the darkness and eerie texture, Hull reaches for hope as he repeats the line, “Let me start again,” grasping for redemption.

The forthcoming short film that accompanies the song was directed by Isaac Deitz. He said in a statement, “Experiencing the film in its intended 180-degree, 3D VR format feels like downloading a dream into your head,” he explained. “Each symbol represents a different experience nested in our internal worlds; it’s up to you whether you want to just enjoy them, or try to interpret what the dream means.”

Listen to “The Way” above.

The Valley Of Vision is out 3/10 via Loma Vista Recordings. Pre-order it here.

NCT 127 kicked off 2023 by reissuing their album 2 Baddies as a deluxe edition called Ay-Yo. Now, the other NCT group NCT Dream are back with The Dream Show2, their first headlining tour in the United States, which takes place this spring.

The tour is a short run, beginning on April 5 and ending on April 21. It hits the east coast with cities like Newark in New Jersey and Atlanta in Georgia, as well as the west coast with Los Angeles in California and Seattle in Washington.

Unfortunately, it looks like member Haechan won’t be joining. It was announced in January that he would be taking a step back from the group. “Recently, Haechan had experienced abnormal conditions,” a statement explained, “such as heart palpitations, chest tightness, and more, so he went to the hospital with his manager and got a consultation and examination where he received the medical advice that treatment and rest are required. As Haechan’s health recovery is the most important, he will not participate in scheduled activities for the time being and plans to recover his health while resting.”

Check out the full tour dates below.

04/05 — Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center
04/07 — Chicago, IL @ Allstate Arena
04/09 — Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena
04/12 — Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
04/14 — Dallas, TX @Texas Trust CU Theatre
04/18 — Los Angeles, CA @ Honda Center
04/21 — Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena

Find ticket information here.

The quest to determine the top club in CONCACAF is on. The 2023 CONCACAF Champions League kicked off on Thursday with three fixtures, all of which involve teams from MLS traveling south. The evening kicked off with Austin FC traveling to Haiti to play Violette, while it will end with Orlando City SC taking on Mexican side Tigres UANL.

In between those games, the defending MLS Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia Union went to El Salvador, where Alianza were waiting for them in the Estadio Cuscatlán. It was a tense game, and during the second half, a little bit of levity got added to the festivities when a dang dog ran onto the pitch.

If you look right up near the corner flag at the 67:47 mark, you can see the dog emerge and start running around. John Strong and Stu Holden of Fox Sports both delighted in the game getting postponed for this extremely good boy, and they especially enjoyed when the dog made a beeline for the ball and picked it up with its mouth. A stadium worker with a huge smile on his face came out and got the dog out of there so the game could resume.

And now, I will end this post with several bad puns: Robert Lewandogski, Diego Maradoga, Kevin De Beagle, Harry Cane Corso. Thank you.