Category: News

The U.K. government has had an eventful (to say the least) week, and actor/director/British man Kenneth Branagh will not be acting it out.

Branagh is starring as the soon-to-be-former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the Sky drama series This England (originally titled This Sceptered Isle). This England follows Johnson and his government amid the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, only months into his leadership. In 2020, Johnson caught the virus and was hospitalized. The show is currently in post-production.

Variety reports that the series will not be adding any additional scenes that cover Johnson quitting as PM this week. Johnson’s resignation followed the sudden resignation of Cabinet Members and politicians in his party. “Of course, it is painful not to be able to see through so many ideas and projects,” Johnson said in front of 10 Downing Street in London, per NPR. “But as we have seen at Westminster, the herd instinct is powerful and when the herd moves, it moves.” Sky released a teaser for the series back in May, and Branagh looks unrecognizable as Johnson.

“The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic will be remembered forever,” This England creator Michael Winterbottom said about the show in January 2021. “A time when the country came together to battle an invisible enemy. A time when people were more aware than ever of the importance of community. Our series weaves together countless true stories — from Boris Johnson in Number 10 to front line workers around the country — chronicling the efforts of scientists, doctors, care home workers and policy makers to protect us from the virus.”

This England does not have a release date but is expected to premiere in the fall.

(Via Variety)

The new season of Stranger Things is really putting young fans onto some quality ’80s music they probably would have otherwise never heard. Of course, there’s Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill,” but Metallica’s “Master Of Puppets” had a major moment of its own in the season finale, which has generated a renewed interest in the group. Metallica is super supportive of this and won’t stand for gatekeepers trying to delegitimize Stranger Things fans who have come to enjoy them.

The band recently shared a live performance clip of “Master Of Puppets” on TikTok and as Billboard notes, one commenter wrote, “I’m sorry Metallica for all the fake Stranger Things fans love ya.” The group wasn’t having that, as they responded, “Don’t be sorry. Everyone is welcome in the Metallica Family. If they like ‘Puppets,’ chances are they’ll find plenty of other songs to get into.”

They later added in another pair of comments, “FYI – EVERYONE is welcome in the Metallica Family. Whether you’ve been a fan for 40 hours or 40 years, we all share a bond through music. All of you started at ground zero at one point in time.”

No matter how long you’ve been into Metallica, check out “Master Of Puppets” below.

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try invading another country. That seems to be the strategy that Vyacheslav Volodin, Russia’s lower house speaker and a top goon of Vladimir Putin, would like to employ as the country struggles in the war it started with Ukraine.

As The Daily Beast reports, Volodin—tired of seeing America interfere and help Ukraine by seizing Russian assets—threatened that if our country keeps it up, Russian soldiers might just want to come and try to take back the state of Alaska, which the U.S. purchased from Russia in 1867. (Quick—someone alert Sarah Palin!)

“Let America always remember, there is a part of [Russian] territory: Alaska,” Volodin said, according to Ukrainian media outlet Hromadske. “So when they start trying to dispose of our resources abroad, before they do it, let them think: we also have something to return.”

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy secretary of Russia’s Security Council, even seemed to imply that a nuclear attack could be on the table if America isn’t careful. “The entire U.S. history since the times of subjugation of the native Indian population represents a series of bloody wars,” Medvedev said. “The U.S. and its useless stooges should remember the words of the Bible: Do not judge and you will not be judged… so that the great day of His wrath doesn’t come to their home one day.”

But according to Steven Pifer, a former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, there’s no reason for Americans to panic. “This is not a serious person,” Pifer said of Volodin.

While Russia did just managed to seize Luhansk, a city in eastern Ukraine, Russian forces are falling apart in many other places. As Shannon Vavra wrote for The Daily Beast:

In recent hours, Russian forces haven’t been up to the task of fighting war in Ukraine, necessarily. Some Russian troops are so drunk in regions of Zaporizhzhia—and causing car accidents and arms violations—that they are banned from buying alcohol. Some Russians are worried their commanders have been selling out their locations to make a buck or two.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Are you a friend of Martha Stewart‘s who’s maybe seen her looking at your husband? You might want to sit down for this. The culinary guru recently stopped by Chelsea Handler‘s podcast where she opened up about trying to get back into dating. Turns out, Stewart has developed a two recent crushes, but there’s just one small problem: One of the men is married to her friend.

Apparently, this is a recurring problem for Stewart, which has led the meticulous lifestyle maven to have some pretty dark thoughts. When Chandler brought up that it’s tempting to hope that maybe the person’s current relationship is just “temporary,” Stewart took things to a whole other level. Via Mediaite:

“Or maybe they’ll die,” Stewart said bluntly. “I always think, oh gosh, couldn’t that person just die.”

“The wife?” Handler asked.

“Yeah! Not — not painfully,” Stewart clarified. “Just die … But it, it hasn’t worked out.”

While Stewart may fantasize about her friends kicking the bucket so she can steal their husbands, one thing she would never do is intentionally ruin a marriage. “I’ve never been a home wrecker,” Stewart said. “I’ve tried really hard not to be. I’ve had the opportunity to be a home wrecker and I have not taken anybody up on it.”

Unfortunately, Stewart’s main source of meeting potential suitors is when they’re already attached. “That’s where I meet men,” she admitted. “They’re all married to friends of mine or something like that.”

Welcome to every one of Martha’s friends never eating her cooking again. Is her pecan pie really worth risking a trip to the morgue? No, seriously, we’re asking. It’s probably pretty good, right?

(Via Mediaite)

This past May, Sharon Van Etten released We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong, an album centered around being resilient in the face of modern life’s perils, acknowledging what’s broken and being mindful in putting things back together. Now in the new video for album standout “Headspace,” Van Etten tackles how the dynamics of sex and domesticity in a relationship have changed in the increasingly digital post-pandemic era.

In the video, Van Etten is a medium of sorts, as a couple does an interpretive dance number to illustrate shifting bedroom dynamics. The song’s industrial production pulse — which isn’t a far cry from something you’d hear on a Nine Inch Nails album — adds to the tension as Van Etten and the dancers navigate through their internal conflict.

“When I was writing this song, I wanted to talk about domesticity and intimacy frustrations under the tensions of working at home and seeking connection while being tied to our devices and still trying to reach each other as lovers, parents, humans…,” Van Etten said in a statement. “Reminding each other that there is still a primal attraction even in the midst of the mundane and repetition of everyday life.”

Watch the video for “Headspace” above and check out Van Etten’s tour dates with Angel Olsen and Julien Baker here.

We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong is out now via Jagjaguwar. Listen to it here.

John Legend and Muni Long get sticky in the suggestive video for their new collaboration “Honey,” oozing sensuality in every frame. The video opens with John Legend waking up on the floor in an elegantly appointed but utterly wrecked music room amid the remains of the last night’s festivities. As he takes in the devastation, he notices honey dripping from beneath a framed portrait of Muni Long, peeling away the wallpaper to reveal a honeycomb and a hole in the wall, through which he watches the real Muni luxuriate in a bathtub full of, you guessed it, honey.

The song is John Legend’s second single of the year, following the groovy, upbeat “Dope,” which also features a rising artist in Atlanta tongue twister JID. It would seem that both singles are paving the way for Legend to release a follow-up to his 2020 album Bigger Love at some point. Legend recently wrapped up his 2021 tour for that album and as the consummate entertainer, doesn’t seem to be waiting around to unleash a new collection of loverly R&B tunes on the world.

Muni Long, meanwhile, is experiencing quite the breakout herself, garnering plenty of attention for her viral single “Hrs And Hrs” after it jumped from TikTok virality to the Billboard Hot 100. She’s also planning to release a project this year, a sequel to her star-making 2021 release Public Displays Of Affection.

Watch John Legend’s video for “Honey” featuring Muni Long above.

Last month, indie weirdos The 1975 sent postcards to fans to reveal the tracklist of their new album, Being Funny In A Foreign Language. Today, the promising first single “Part Of The Band” is out, whose funny lyrics were revealed a little while ago and intrigued many: “I like my men like I like my coffee / Full of soy milk and so sweet, it won’t offend anybody.”

The entire song is full of notable, witty lines like above, including, “Am I ironically woke? The butt of my joke? / Or am I just some post-coke, average, skinny bloke / Calling his ego imagination?” The song sounds folkier than the rest of their music, which is usually more electric and synthy. It shows a new direction for the band.

This album will follow their short hiatus, as they appeared on 2021 song “Spinning” alongside No Rome and Charli XCX, which was later remixed multiple times by AG Cook. Their last full-length was 2020’s 22-song Notes On A Conditional Form, which debuted atop the UK Albums chart, selling 34,000 album-equivalent units whereas, in the United States, it debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 with 54,000 album-equivalent units sold.

Listen to “Part Of The Band” above.

Being Funny In A Foreign Language is out 10/14 via Dirty Hit.

As fans gear up for the final episodes of Better Call Saul, there are some important questions to ask: what will happen to Kim Wexler? When does Gene get his job at the Cinnabon? Who is Gene? And, an equally important question, when are Walt and Jesse going to show up?

Fans are aware that the duo was on set last year, but details have remained slim. They did not appear in the first half of the final season which means that there are only a handful of episodes where we can expect to see our favorite grumpy old man/over-active millennial duo.

Bryan Cranston recently appeared on the SMX Basic! Podcast where he very briefly spoke about his upcoming appearance on the show–without giving away too much.

“There’s a scene that Aaron [Paul] is in without me. And there’s a scene where I’m in without him. And then there’s a scene where we’re both in. So there’s three scenes to come,” Cranston explained. The actor then said that though he was on set, the details have been so under wraps, that he doesn’t even know what episodes he will appear in.

“It’s pretty cool,” the actor added. “But to be honest with you – because we shot everything in a bubble and completely out of sequence — I don’t even know what episodes we’re in. You’re gonna find out.”

Cranston has been open about his not-so-secret cameo on the series, explaining how the whole thing went down in a recent interview. “Aaron and I shot this episode a year and a half ago,” Cranston recently said on Live With Kelly And Ryan.

He added, “They weren’t even in production yet, so they actually flew us into Albuquerque under the dark of night. We took two steps off the airplane and into an SUV, cloaked, and we went to an Air BNB. They said, ‘Here’s where you stay. You cannot leave.’ It was so interesting. I was literally walking around the perimeter within the wall… You feel like you’re in the witness protection program.” Is that a potential spoiler? Will Saul end up in witness protection? Or will he finally get to eat Cinnabon in peace?!

Better Cal Saul returns July 11th on AMC.

(Via Collider)

Among the many shrewd finds from the Memphis Grizzlies’ scouting department is 26-year-old John Konchar. The 6’5 forward is a heady off-ball mover and stout defender who’s drilled over 40 percent of his triples in his career. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Konchar agreed to a three-year, $19 million contract extension on Thursday that runs through the 2026-27 season. Wojnarowski reports the deal is fully guaranteed.

Last year, Konchar emerged as a useful part of the Grizzlies’ wing depth off the bench, appearing in 72 regular-season games and logging 17.2 minutes per night. He averaged 4.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists on 61.5 percent true shooting (.515/.413/.551 split).

With the departures of De’Anthony Melton and Kyle Anderson, there’s a chance Konchar may stand to garner increased minutes next season. However, Memphis is loaded with options, so that’s far from a lock. Nonetheless, Konchar is a rock-solid wing who’s set to earn over $30 million in his career after being undrafted back in 2019, so this is quite the cool development.

Konchar is a bit marginalized because of how many excellent players the Grizzlies roster. He could certainly carve out a more substantial and consistent rotation spot on many other teams. He’s a good player who fills the gaps well on both ends. This is a nice deal for he and Memphis, but most importantly him, of course.

Has an electro rock band ever aged this gracefully? Hot Chip have their eighth album, Freakout/Release, on deck for an August 19th release and they’ve never stopped making dance rock that grows as naturally as they do. Alexis Taylor, Joe Goddard and company have slowly been bringing in more of their crate-digging influences into their last couple of albums and the lead single from Freakout/Release, “Down,” saw them reviving a sample from 60’s soul staples, Universal Togetherness Band. Now on “Eleanor,” the band flexes their incomparable ability to craft electro-pop songs that match up nimbly to the defining Hot Chip sound; emotional, danceable and uniquely cathartic.

Dashing synths drift comfortably into Taylor’s familiar coo and the band turns heartache and pain into sheer strength. “You’re like a river flowing, that will never stop (Eleanor). You’re like the toughest tree, that withstands the chop,” Taylor sings. “It’s about the world smashing into you, waves crashing into you, all-encompassing pain, and how you have to walk through it,” the vocalist said in a statement. “The verses are about separation when families are divided against their will. It’s about strong friends. It’s also about Samuel Beckett giving Andre The Giant lifts to school, and about how Beckett must have learned a lot from Andre’s wisdom.”

Listen to “Eleanor” above.

Freakout/Release is due out on 08/19 via Domino Records. Pre-order it here.