Category: News

Brendan Fraser opened up about the Batgirl cancellation, and once again, he didn’t pull his punches. While promoting his new Darren Aronofsky movie, The Whale, Fraser expressed his frustration over seeing the film get shelved for a tax write-off after the production spent months in Glasgow crafting a Gothic film that didn’t heavily rely on CGI. Fraser was cast as the Batman villain, Firefly, and DC Comics fans were especially miffed when they learned his performance would never see the light of day.

“It’s tragic,” Fraser told Variety before putting Warner Bros. Discovery on notice that the cancellation will make creatives wary to work with the newly-merged conglomerate. He also praised Leslie Grace’s performance as Batgirl:

“It doesn’t engender trust among filmmakers and the studio. Leslie Grace was fantastic. She’s a dynamo, just a spot-on performer. Everything that we shot was real and exciting and just the antithesis of doing a straightforward digital all green screen thing. They ran firetrucks around downtown Glasgow at 3 in the morning and they had flamethrowers. It was a big-budget movie, but one that was just stripped down to the essentials.”

Fraser’s words make the second time he’s criticized Warner Bros. Discovery over the Batgirl fiasco. In mid-September, Fraser called out CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels by name after he essentially accused the media of blowing the cancellation out of proportion. Fraser then called the situation “disappointing,” but it taught him to only work with “trusted filmmakers” from now on.

(Via Variety)

TMZ reports that R&B star Brandy has been hospitalized after apparently having a seizure on Tuesday afternoon (October 11). The singer was rushed to the emergency room but appears to be recovering.

According to TMZ, emergency medical services were called to Brandy’s home at noon, with sources with direct knowledge relaying the belief that she suffering a seizure. Her parents are reported with her at the hospital but no other information regarding a possible cause for the seizure or any underlying medical issues has yet been released.

Brandy’s popularity surged earlier this year thanks to an unexpected convergence of events that led to the R&B star performing with Jack Harlow at the 2022 BET Awards. After the Kentucky rapper flunked a radio pop culture quiz, Brandy jokingly issued a rap battle challenge, taking the first shot with a fiery freestyle over Harlow’s “First Class” instrumental. The playful feud culminated in Brandy performing the freestyle as part of Jack’s performance, delighting fans and showing off both stars’ savvy.

Even before that, Brandy’s bars were getting some attention thanks to her role on the network musical drama Queens in which she, Eve, and Naturi Naughton play a ‘90s rap trio reuniting to revive their flagging careers. She previously impressed with her verse for the 2020 BET Hip-Hop Awards Cypher, portending her unlikely second act as a rapper. Hopefully, she can recover and keep it up.

At the top of October, Paramore kicked off a North American tour. They’ve only played a handful of shows so far, but trends are already starting to emerge when it comes to setlists. So, now we can ask the question: What songs is Paramore playing on the road?

Setlist.fm, the most comprehensive resource for concert setlists available online, has the answer: Per their data (as of October 12), the setlist has stayed pretty consistent. They tend to open with “This Is Why,” close the main set with “Told You So,” then come back for an encore of “Hard Times” and “Still Into You.”

As for album-by-album representation, they’ve mostly been playing songs from After Laughter, followed by Brand New Eyes, Riot!, and Paramore. Their sets have also included performances of Hayley Williams’ solo song “Simmer” and Zac Farro’s solo HalfNoise song “Boogie Juice.”

Find Paramore’s average setlist for their current tour below. Also find the group’s upcoming tour dates here.

1. “This Is Why”
2. “Brick By Boring Brick”
3. “Decode”
4. “Caught In The Middle”
5. “That’s What You Get”
6. “Ignorance”
7. “I Caught Myself”
8. “Misguided Ghosts”
9. “Ain’t It Fun”
10. “Simmer” (Hayley Williams song)
11. “Rose-Colored Boy”
12. “Boogie Juice” (HalfNoise cover)”
13. “Misery Business”
14. “Told You So”
15. “Hard Times” (encore)
16. “Still Into You “ (encore)

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Math is weird.

On the one hand, it’s consistent—the solutions to basic math problems are the same in every country in the world. On the other hand, there are multiple strategies to get to those solutions, and it seems like people are still coming up with new ones (much to the chagrin of parents whose kids need help with homework using methods they’ve never learned).

Math professor Howie Hua shares math strategies that make math easier on social media, and his videos are fascinating. Hua, who teaches math to future elementary school teachers at Fresno State, demonstrates all kinds of mental math tricks that feel like magic when you try them.

For instance, Hua has two videos showing how easy and quick it is to add multidigit numbers left to right instead of right to left, and it’s genuinely mind-blowing.

Check out how he explains why adding left to right is “underrated.”

u201cNew TikTok video: Adding left to right is underratedu201d

— Howie Hua (@Howie Hua)
1665353677

OK, seriously. That is way easier to do in your head. It’s basically putting the numbers into expanded form and adding them, which makes it easier to visualize.

Adding this way makes sense, but subtracting is a bit more complicated, right?

Wrong, apparently. Watch Hua work his math sorcery subtracting two and three-digit numbers.

@howie_hua

Did you know you can subtract left to right? #math #mathematics #mathtok #maths #teachersoftiktok #teacher #mathtricks #mathtrick

Holy moly. That’s faster than the right-to-left, borrow-from-the-next-column method, isn’t it? And again, so much easier to visualize what’s actually happening, though I don’t know if I could fully do this in my head like I could with the left-to-right addition.

Hua recently shared another cool subtraction trick for problems with minuends that have a lot of zeroes. (The minuend is the first number in a subtraction problem. Don’t be too impressed. I had to look it up.)

Check this out:

@howie_hua

An underrated subtraction strategy #math #mathematics #mathtok #maths #teachersoftiktok #teacher #mathtricks #mathtrick

So simple, so time-saving and so something I would never have figured out on my own.

These tips and tricks might come in handy for anyone, but they’re especially useful for kids who are having to do these kinds of math problems at school all the time. Even if they’re supposed to solve the problem with a different strategy, these methods can be a quick way to check their answers.

Anything that makes math easier, I say. You can watch Hua’s videos on TikTok, YouTube and Twitter.

Sophie Allison, best known to fans as Soccer Mommy, created an original score for the upcoming limited podcast, We Were Three. A joint venture between The New York Times and Serial Productions, the show is a three-part series about a family grappling with losing two family members to the pandemic. Hosted by This American Life producer Nancy Updike, all episodes (including ones with Allison’s score) will be available to listen to tomorrow.

“Nancy Updike is a titan of audio storytelling and we are thrilled to work with her on her first podcast series,” Julie Snyder, executive editor of Serial Productions, said in a statement. “Nancy has a winning ability to explore idiosyncratic stories with sensitivity and humor, while also raising questions about the universal themes that affect us all — family, history and grief. ‘We Were Three’ is an incredible, one-of-a-kind show.”

We Were Three tells the story of Rachel Mckibbens, who lost both her father and her brother to COVID-19 last fall. She was unaware that they were sick until both passed within two weeks of each other. However, according to the press release, “the story of what happened started long before that.”

“Rachel wrote on Twitter about her shock at finding out her father had suddenly died of COVID, when she hadn’t even known he was sick,” Updike added. “Then her brother died soon after, at 44 years old, when she thought he’d gone to the hospital and gotten better. I wanted to find out what happened.”

Soccer Mommy fans can listen to Allison’s score on We Were Three starting October 13 on their preferred podcast platform.

There’s not really a good reason to like Daemon Targaryen, on paper at least. The devious younger brother on House of the Dragon has been kind of banished from the realm by his older brother, the king. He seduced and then married his teenage niece after helping stage her husband’s death and shipping him off to gay paradise. He has various dragon-related strikes against him, ranging from “flies his dragon while doing a cocky little ‘look, no hands’ thing” to “his wife committed suicide by dragon at least in part to get away from him.” And yet, here I am, rapidly approaching the season finale and one week out from declaring that I wanted to see him get “walloped with a mallet once or twice,” coming around on him completely. I might even step in front of that mallet to protect him. It’s weird.

Part of it is this cool little trick the show does, a piece of character-based misdirection that I’m really starting to appreciate. It goes something like this: They’ll introduce a despicable character, a devious and morally bankrupt little goblin, and you’ll spend a solid episode or two hoping a dragon drops a sack of bricks on their heads from the clouds, but then a new character — or an aged-up, time-jumped version of a previous one — will strut into some castle and reveal themselves to be more devious and despicable by a factor of six or seven, and you’ll re-focus so much of your brick-sack-dropping wishes in that direction that the other character seems almost charming by comparison. A sweet little smirking rascal.

Another part of it is that my beloved Viserys died this week after a long battle with… some sort of illness that ate his flesh and eyeball and left him looking kind of like how Gus Fring looked in Breaking Bad after an explosion blew off half of his face. This created a void that needed to be filled by someone. It helped that the king’s wife and her father were jacking him up with opium all hours of the day and ruling the kingdom as he drifted off – this is the “introduce someone worse” thing I just mentioned – and Daemon was the one to quite literally sniff it out and help inspire his triumphant little march to the throne. Which was cool. I shouted a tiny bit.

I think the biggest part of my sudden turn, though, is my growing respect for the man’s deep and endless love of drama, which was on display beautifully during this week’s episode. First, during the hearing where Viserys dragged his saggy mess of rotting flesh into his throne, the one where one of the Valaryons started dancing around an accusation about the validity of the princess’s kids. Which led Daemon to whispering this…

… which was all the nudging my guy needed to shout in front of god and the dragons and everyone that the kids were bastards and that the princess — the king’s daughter and Daemon’s wife — was a whore. His words, not mine. And that, as will happen in a time of kings and queens where most of the people carry swords, led to… well…

There are two things I enjoy about this particular piece of business:

• The little smirk he does after lopping off the dude’s head diagonally in front of a room filled with lords and ladies and children, like he’s amused by it, like he’s a mischievous little scamp with a blood-soaked sword
• The fact that he goaded the man into this and then murdered him for it in a way that seemed to imply he was just getting bored and wanted to mix things up under the guise of defending the honor of his niece/wife

It was really quite fun, as far as shocking decapitations via sword go. And it wasn’t even his messiest moment of the week, somehow, at least not on my scorecard. That honor goes to this scene from later in the episode, the one where Aemond — his nephew who snuck in and stole his dead wife’s dragon from his daughter and got an eye sliced out by his stepson, which is a heck of a thing to see all typed out in one aside like this — also called the children’s validity into question during a toast.

Chaos ensued. A fight almost broke out. And then Daemon stepped in and looked at Aemond like this.

Which I loved. Look at his face. Just the biggest smirking sigh you’ve ever seen, kind of a cross between begrudging respect for the needless introduction of drama and utter joy that he gets to be in the middle of it all. Again, for the second time in the episode, someone —correctly, but still — called his stepchildren bastards and questioned his wife’s morality in front of a large group of her friends and family, and he reveled in the anarchy it created. A little bit. He didn’t chop anyone’s head off this time, though. It’s nice to mix things up.

He did smirk, though. Lord in heaven did he ever smirk. It was a little hard to see because the show insists on lighting every scene by candle despite having a budget the size of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ payroll, but it’s there. Look closely. Look at the little glance he shoots off as he walks away.

I genuinely do not think he can help it. He just loves chaos. The room he is sitting in could be engulfed in real and/or metaphorical flames and I suspect he would be sitting in a chair smack in the middle of it with a diabolical grin on his face, one of those cartoon ones like the Grinch does that gets so wide it makes his cheeks start to spiral into little curls. And I regret to inform you that I simply cannot get enough of it right now. Again, I did not see this coming. One hour of television ago I wanted him to get the smirk sliced off of his face via swordplay. But now, here we are, a full 180 later, with me fully in the tank for this platinum blond weasel. It’s a little incredible, really.

Things can change quickly on this show. I’m aware of that, as I should be seeing as I just wrote this whole thing about my opinion changing overnight. Daemon could do something irredeemable in the first 30 seconds of the next episode and I might just go ahead and retract all of this like a coward. But for right now, in this moment, with all of its decapitations and smirks fresh in my mind, I’ll go ahead and say it…

All hail Daemond, a prince by birth but an unapologetic king of drama. I hope he lives forever.

Fans of House of the Dragon are very active online (like, really active) which is probably why the show does so well! The fanbase is huge and everyone is always talking about those pesky little dragons and various brooding blonde-haired boys…which is both a good and bad thing. Good for publicity, but bad when fans are bullies.

When the initial cast was announced, the show received backlash from viewers who didn’t think that Black Valyrians existed, and the stars were subsequently harassed online. Steven Toussaint, who plays Corlys Velaryon, said that he wasn’t prepared for the amount of hate he received. “I didn’t realize it was a bigger deal until I was racially abused on social media when it was announced,” Toussaint said earlier this year. “Yeah, that sh*t happened.”

Of course, showrunner Ryan Condal says that the decision was just to cast incredible actors in a fantasy world. Condal told recently The Wrap why they chose to cast Black actors for the family:

It’s 2022, it’s a different era than the shows used to be made in, we have an incredibly diverse audience that’s not only across America, but in multiple countries that speak all sorts of different languages, that represent all the colors under the sun. And it was really important to see some of that reflected up on screen. This is a fantasy world. I think if this was a historical fiction piece, it’d be a more nuanced discussion. But I think simply because of the fantasy world, if we believe in dragons, and shapeshifters and direwolves, we can believe everybody in the story is not white.

Condal added that there were vague descriptions in the text that inspired him when it came to casting the show. This is significant considering the fact that Martin’s frequent collaborator (and Game of Thrones scholar) Linda Antonsson has been vocally opposed to casting people of color in the series. “There are no Black Valyrians and there should not be any in the show,” Antonsson blogged at the time. She was wrong! Condal added:

Why we went to the Velaryons, in particular, was because that felt like the most fantastical race in the show, and it felt like these were people from a lost continent that we don’t really know that much about. We know they all silver hair, we know they have an affinity for dragons, some of them. And we know they are seen, as quoted in the books and in the show, as closer to gods than to men. So what does that all look like? It always stuck with me, this article where George had talked about when he set out to write these books, considering making all of the Velaryons Black, and Black people with silver hair, that always really stuck with me as an image.

We will likely never hear what Martin has to say about the cast since he refuses to interact with the “toxic internet” ever since The Incident, but it’s good to know that at least the showrunner is looking out for his cast!

(Via The Wrap)

In 2021, Chris Evans was rumored to have been crowned PEOPLE‘s Sexiest Man Alive (the title actually went to fellow Marvel man Paul Rudd), but Chris Meloni might be the sexist Chris of all. Arguably!

The Law & Order: Organized Crime leading man covers the magazine’s latest issue to discuss how much he enjoys his “second act,” not only in the Dick Wolf franchise but also as a meme contender. He’s 61 years old, and somehow, the Wet Hot American Summer actor has been getting his glutes out (nearly as much as Kim Kardashian does) and hurling heavy objects as the Internet swoons. Previously, he gamely declared, “I catch flies with my a** cheeks, like a Venus flytrap.” With all of that in mind, PEOPLE caught up with him a few times to reflect on this phenomenon in a cover story.

Here’s what Meloni declared about his current second wind:

“It’s a second act to a certain degree… It’s a gas. It’s fun. I don’t know, has anyone else been crowned Zaddy? Once it’s bestowed upon you, you have to just ride that horse as long as you can.”

He also revealed that his children often receive “Zaddy” memes from their friends, and there like, “Really? Really?” Oh, Dad. Hopefully, they stay far away from Meloni’s home gym, since he previously revealed (also via PEOPLE) that he lets it hang out while exercising at home: “I work out naked. It’s my gym… And I don’t black out the window. And I’m okay with that. My wife is not.” While Meloni fans consider that revelation, they can also enjoy the PEOPLE-published photoshoot for good measure.

(Via PEOPLE)

Steve Lacy’s tour may be called the Give You The World Tour but he’s currently taking over the world with his hit record “Bad Habit.” The breakout single recently racked up its second week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the LA guitarist (formerly of Odd Future-associated funk band The Internet) shows no signs of slowing down as he crossed the country on his headlining tour. The Give You The World Tour most recently rocked Philadelphia as of this writing and has Atlanta, Baltimore, Nashville, and New Orleans on its agenda; the tour will wrap up with a hometown show at the Greek Theatre on November 11.

In addition to “Bad Habit,” concertgoers can expect to hear many of the songs from Lacy’s groovy new album Gemini Rights in the setlist, including “Static,” “Buttons,” and, of course, “Give You The World,” for which the tour is named. You can see the full setlist, as well as the remaining tour dates, below.

1. “Buttons”
2. “Mercury”
3. “Only If”
4. Playground”
5. “N Side”
6. “Lay Me Down”
7. “Static”
8. “Helmet”
9. “Some”
10. “Infrunami”
11. “Ryd”
12. “Cody Freestyle”
13. “Amber”
14. “Give You the World”
15. “Bad Habit”
16. “C U Girl”
17. “Dark Red”

10/13 — Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Soundstage
10/15 — Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore
10/17 — New York, NY @ Terminal 5
10/19 — Richmond, VA @ The National
10/20 — Charlotte, NC @ The Underground
10/21 — Nashville, TN @ Eastside Bowl
10/23 — Atlanta, GA @ Center Stage Theater
10/24 — New Orleans, LA @ Republic
10/25 — Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
10/27 — Austin, TX @ Emo’s
10/28 — Dallas, TX @ The Studio at the Factory
10/30 — Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre
10/31 — Las Vegas, NV @ House Of Blues
11/02 — San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park
11/04 — Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
11/06 — Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre
11/07 — Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo
11/08 — Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
11/10 — Anaheim, CA @ House of Blue
11/11 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre

During the Detroit Pistons’ 115-99 home loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday evening, fifth-year big man Marvin Bagley III slipped on the court during the opening minute, suffered a non-contact right knee injury, and was helped off the floor. Roughly 20 minutes later, Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes reported that Bagley would not return.

Any non-contact injury, especially to the lower body, elicits considerable concern and Bagley was no different. Fortunately, he’s seemingly avoided a long-term or season-ending injury. According to Haynes, the 23-year-old has been diagnosed with a bone bruise and sprained MCL. He will be out for 3-4 weeks.

Following his trade from the Sacramento Kings to Detroit last February, Bagley flourished in his 18 appearances with the Pistons. He averaged 14.6 points (58.5 percent true shooting), 6.8 rebounds, and 1.1 assists across 27.2 minutes per game. His arrival provided Detroit, namely rookie sensation Cade Cunningham, with a necessary lob threat inside. That duo thrived together, often linking up through ball-screens or on Cunningham’s drives. In his first two preseason games, Bagley averaged six points and six rebounds in 19.5 minutes a night.

He’ll presumably return sometime in early or mid-November, hopefully with a clean bill of health ready to build upon his promising late-season run and help further advance Detroit’s youth movement.