Category: News

It’s that time of year again when everybody who has ever seen a movie decides to give their two cents about which one deserves to win an award and which acclaimed movie darling ends up with nothing for some weird reason. But awards season also gives us a chance to reflect on all of the past mistakes that the Academy has made, and that’s what awards season is all about — holding grudges over past losses.

One pretty famous director who goes by the name of Steven Spielberg seems to still be mad about a certain movie being shut out at the award shows over a decade ago, when there were still just five nominees in the Best Picture category. The director applauded the decision to open the category to 10 nominees, which opens up the pool for more fan-favorite blockbusters to earn a nomination, like Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way Of Water did this year.

“I’m really encouraged by that,” the director told Deadline, adding that it should have happened a long time ago. “It came late for the film that should have been nominated a number of years ago, Christopher Nolan’s, The Dark Knight. That movie would have definitely garnered a Best Picture Nomination today, so having these two blockbusters solidly presented on the top 10 list is something we should all be celebrating.”

Spielberg probably wasn’t expecting his 2008 feature Indiana Jones And The Crystal Skull to secure a nomination (sorry, maybe next year) but he did think that The Dark Knight should have been recognized. Heath Ledger did win a posthumous Academy Award for his portrayal of the Joker that same year.

As for this year’s ceremony, Spielberg secured his first-ever screenplay nomination…along with his ninth directing nom for The Fabelmans. The man has been around for a while, after all. Michelle Williams did receive a nomination for her role in the drama, along with Judd Hirsch.

Even though we can’t retrospectively award movies with honors, Oscar’s season is always the best time to bring up the famous snubs and rally around everyone who agrees with you. There are so many people out there who also believe Laura Dern deserved an Oscar. You are not alone!

(Via Deadline)

Squid Game: The Challenge is still in production, and already, Netflix has been forced to defend the controversial reality series. According to reports from British tabloid, The Sun, the set has allegedly been plagued with medical issues and frostbite after contestants recreated the show’s “Red Light, Green Light” game where they have to remain motionless for hours on end. The streaming giant as well as Squid Game: The Challenge‘s production company quickly denied reports of unsafe conditions.

Via Deadline:

In amidst UK temperatures that have dropped below freezing during the day, Netflix and producers Studio Lambert and The Garden said “while it was very cold on set – and participants were prepared for that – any claims of serious injury are untrue.”

“We care deeply about the health and safety of our cast and crew, and invested in all the appropriate safety procedures,” added the statement.

The Squid Game reality series has been getting side-eyed after since it was announced. For starters, in the original Squid Game show, contestants play to the death, so right off the bat, the concept was on shaky ground even if the reality show contestants are supposedly just fine. However, Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk gave the competition his blessing and met with the production team to make sure it carries on the message of the hit series.

“I think that even though our show does carry quite a heavy message — and I know that there are some concerns on taking that message and creating it into a reality show with a cash prize. I feel like when you take things too seriously, that’s really not the best way to go for the entertainment industry,” Dong-hyuk said via TVLine. “It doesn’t really set a great precedent.”

(Via Deadline)

WHOPPER WHOPPER WHOPPER WHOPPER WHOPPER.

If that’s not ringing any bells, you have not been watching the NFL playoffs. It’s the one time a year people actually watch live TV, which means it’s the one time a year people are subjected to commercials. The new “Fish McBites” — an annoying and annoyingly catchy earworm that you’ll be humming on your death bed — is a jingle for Burger King in which a singer repeats the word “Whopper” approximately 47 times before informing viewers that at BK, you can have it your way. YOU RULE. (Yes, there’s a Genius page.)

The song is part of a larger campaign that Burger King spent $400 million on, “$150 million on advertising and digital channels, and $250 million on technology and physical restaurant upgrades,” according to QSR magazine. In a a statement, Tom O’Keefe, the CEO of advertising agency OKRP, said, “Let’s face it, the song is irresistible, whether or not you remember the old jingle — we’re hoping it’ll be the earworm you can’t shake off.”

Keep Taylor Swift out of it, buddy.

In one way, the Burger King ad is a success: people are talking about it. In another way, though, those same people are being slowly driven insane.

The jazz version is nice, though.

As is the Daft Punk remix.

It’s unclear who sings the song, but it’s not Sam Richardson.

You know what the worst part of all this is? I’m suddenly craving an Impossible WHOPPER WHOPPER WHOPPER. Don Draper would be proud.

Lil Peep’s wrongful death lawsuit is “hopefully” close to being settled without a trial, according to a new report from Rolling Stone.

His mom, Liza Womack, hired a lawyer Paul A. Matiasic, who spoke about the status of the case.

Womack initially filed a lawsuit against her son’s label, “First Access Entertainment (FAE), and subsequent cross-complaints over money generated by Lil Peep’s music and likeness after his death,” per the publication.

Last October, the two sides announced they had reached a deal “in principle.” However, there is still a trial date currently scheduled for March 8.

“Have you wrapped up the settlement here,” Los Angeles County Superior Court judge Teresa Beaudet asked at the first hearing since that October statement.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have that type of news to report at this juncture,” Matiasic answered. “The parties are still working very hard going through their paces. There are a number of complexities associated with what’s being discussed. It’s taking a little bit longer than we all anticipated.”

He also asked for a 30-day delay, to which Judge Beaudet said she wouldn’t move the trial date.

Both sides are required to turn in their trial binders by February 17 unless they reach an official settlement before then.

War is never pretty, obviously, but Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine appears to be of the particularly dismal variety. His mercenary soldiers are being turned into hamburger meat, and he’s been drafting hundreds of thousands of “regular” soldiers to replace those who have swiftly been killed. He’s still claiming that the war is going well, and says he will surely win, even if his declarations are being called out as false by Ukrainian territories that he claimed to have taken. And to add more insult to plentiful injury, Putin is now being undermined by a bunch of Russian rascals who are doing things like blow up bridges meant to carry valuable war supplies to Russian troops.

Al Jazeera reports upon an early January incident, in which Russian activists took out some tracks on the Trans-Siberian Railway. This wasn’t an isolated instance but apparently the sixth successful attempt since Putin invaded Ukraine, and the organization refers to itself as “BOAK, the Combat Orga.” The outlet spoke with a representative who claimed responsibility and did not mince words:

“We are disgusted by this fratricidal bloodbath, and we believe only by halting Putin’s aggression we can hope for this to stop and to never happen again.”

Journalist Jake Harman also pointed towards an October 2022 incident in which BOAK claimed responsibility for another set of train tracks that were torn to shreds by an explosive device. Al Jazeera notes further word from the BOAK representative, who declared, “The government’s defeat in this imperialist war opens up opportunities for the revolutionary movement, giving people the chance to realise how oppressed they were, and what needs to change.” Putin cannot be thrilled about this group’s existence while his first (official) year of Ukraine warmongering comes to a close.

(Via Al Jazeera)

It was reported yesterday (January 24) that Justin Bieber has closed on a deal for the publishing rights and royalties from his master recordings, making about $200 million in the sale to Hipgnosis. While the trend seems to be mostly older artists making these sorts of deals, Bieber is only 28 years old and likely still has plenty of hits to come. Now, Mark Ronson, who sold 70 percent of his music publishing catalog to Hipgnosis in 2020, has shared his perspective on the situation with a TMZ cameraperson.

Ronson seemingly first learned about the Bieber news from the interviewer, as he offered an “oh wow” when they brought it up. He then offered his thoughts on Bieber’s potential mindset with the sale, saying, “I think you’re kind of banking on the fact that like, ‘OK, hopefully I’m still going to write a few more songs,’ you know? ‘So this is what I did up to now, I can live a bit comfortably, not worry about…,’ I mean, I don’t think Justin Bieber’s worrying about living check to check. I think it just gives you, like, a breathing space, and hopefully you’re not done writing songs. That doesn’t mean, like, that that’s everything I’ve ever done.”

As for why Bieber opted to make the sale now specifically, Ronson offered only tongue-in-cheek speculation: “I don’t know… you want to add a wing to the house in Malibu. I don’t really know.”

Jeremy Renner is a hero in real life, too. The Marvel Cinematic Universe actor was protecting his adult nephew when he was crushed by a snow plow weighing over 14,000 pound, according to a Nevada sheriff’s office incident report. “The Pistenbully snow groomer began sliding causing Renner to exit the vehicle without setting the emergency brake,” it reads. “Although the Pistenbully had some mechanical issues, it is believed based on our mechanical inspection that the parking brake would keep the Pistenbully from moving forward. When Renner attempted to stop or divert the Pistenbully to avoid injury to (his nephew), he was pulled under the vehicle by the track and run over.”

Here’s more on the incident:

Renner was “completely crushed under a large snowcat (vehicle)” and had “extreme (difficulty) breathing,” with “the right side of his chest … collapsed – upper torso is crushed,” a 911 call log obtained by CNN said. “The Pistenbully rolled over him and continued down the road,” the report says. “He laid on the ground and focused on his breathing while (his nephew and others) rendered aid to him until medical personnel arrived on scene.”

Renner broke more than 30 bones in the accident, which left him “much worse than anyone knows.” The two-time Oscar nominee is recovering at home, though, and his Marvel co-stars have even started cracking snow plow jokes.

His nephew better get him one heck of a Christmas present this year.

(Via CNN)

Yesterday (January 24), Brendon Urie announced that Panic! At The Disco was coming to an end after 19 years. While most people probably remember Panic as the four-piece band behind the top-10 hit “I Write Sins Not Tragedies,” the project has undergone a number of lineup changes. Ever since the 2016 album Death Of A Bachelor, Panic has actually been a solo project featuring only Urie.

In his announcement, Urie did not call Panic a “band” when he wrote, “Panic! At The Disco will be no more,” although he did refer to the project with the plural “us” on multiple occasions. Semantics aside, after the news broke, fans couldn’t help but make different versions of the same joke, about the “band” being just Urie.

One fan, for example, repurposed an edited clip of Paul Rudd seemingly talking with a clone of himself on Hot Ones, captioning it, “Live footage of brendon urie breaking up panic! at the disco.”

Others took it in a different direction. One Twitter user wrote, “panic at the disco split up…you mean brendon urie experienced self-induced mitosis…” Another tweeted, “as brendon urie was the only member of the band i presume this means he’s been cut up into little pieces.”

Check out some more comedic takes on the end of Panic! At The Disco below.

Panic! At The Disco is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Athletes of all levels, particularly on the professional scale, are known to embellish contact from time to time in hopes of a more favorable whistle from officials. Patrick Beverley has been no stranger to this concept throughout his NBA career, much like many of his peers. During Tuesday’s game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers, the veteran point guard took selling the call to a whole new level when he was stripped on a drive by Terance Mann and tumbled to the floor.

As the replay flashed across the broadcast, color commentator Stan Van Gundy made clear that the foul Beverley was trying to pitch did not, in fact, occur at all.

“Patrick Beverley going down like he got hit in the head,” Van Gundy said. “He did not get hit in the head. That was a pretty good acting job.”

The brief pause from Van Gundy after his first statement is the patience of a wise comedian. Van Gundy knows humor is all about timing. The silence builds suspense, and he delivers. Brian Anderson, running play-by-play duties on the call alongside Van Gundy’s analysis, rewards his co-host with a hearty chuckle. Van Gundy relishes his joke as well. Well done, fellas.

Beverley’s embraced the theatrics of NBA basketball since joining the league in 2012. Tuesday was no different, and Van Gundy lightheartedly wasn’t letting it slide.

Glass Onion dared do something few sequels do: It came up with a completely different title. Well, not completely: The official name of the film is Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. It’s a clumsy title and even writer/director Rian Johnson confessed he didn’t exactly like it either. But for the franchise’s third outing, he thinks he’s come up with a new solution that will keep the moneymen happy.

In a new chat on the podcast The Filmcast (as caught by Deadline), Johnson said he “understood” why Netflix wouldn’t let him call it simply Glass Onion. He even said the move wasn’t “done against my will or something.” He explained that people who enjoyed Knives Out probably knew the title Knives Out more than they knew the name of Benoit Blanc, the sleuth played by Foghorn Leghorn-accented Daniel Craig. He’d even go so far to say that had he told people he was making another Benoit Blanc movie and not a Knives Out sequel, he “would’ve gotten blank stares.”

Still, Johnson admits the subtitle “kills me a little bit,” and that he wants to “see how quickly we can lose that subtitle.” He would much prefer a different one, specifically “A Benoit Blanc Mystery.” He thinks it might even be time to switch it up:

“I will say, with [Glass Onion], with the reach of Netflix and just how many more people I feel like have seen it and how much more it feels like it’s actually in the culture, we’re at least getting closer to being able to get away with ‘A Benoit Blanc Mystery’ and people would know what we’re talking about.”

So is it safe to say Benoit Blanc a major movie character now? If you told people there was a third Benoit Blanc movie coming, might everyone know what you were talking about? More importantly, which semi-deep cut song by an absurdly popular band will Johnson name the threequel after? Steely Dan certainly has a lot of cool song titles, to name one. How about Glamour Profession: A Benoit Blanc Mystery?

(Via Deadline)