Category: News

After much pandemic-induced delay, Daniel Craig’s final spin as James Bond belatedly arrived last fall, bringing an end to a unique period in the franchise’s long history. The English actor helped take the series in darker directions, with a continuous story rather than the traditional self-contained (and often borderline campy) romps. He even attracted Oscar-winning directors to the helm. One of them is the esteemed Sam Mendes, who went from the small parental dramedy Away We Go to, suddenly, Skyfall. And Mendes may not have gotten the gig had Craig not been a little tipsy.

On an episode The Hollywood Reporter’s podcast Awards Chatter (as per IndieWire), Craig talked about how, over a decade ago, he attended a Christmas party thrown by Hugh Jackman. Mendes, who had directed him in 2002’s Road to Perdiction, was also there, and at one point — while he was, as he put it, “definitely a little drunk” — sat down to chat with Mendes. And while slightly inebriated, he realized the director of American Beauty and Revolutionary Road should direct a 007.

“It just became glaringly obvious to me sitting opposite him,” he says. “And so I just basically went, ‘I’m probably not supposed to say this, but do you want to direct the next Bond movie?’”

Thing is, Mendes agreed. “And he just did this thing, he kinda just looked at me [and squinted] and said, ‘Yes.’ And then I went, ‘I’m in s*it now,’” Craig recalled thinking. “I’m sure there is someone I have to talk to about that before I go offering directors jobs. It’s not my responsibility, but I was drunk!”

Luckily, when he rang up series producer Barbara Broccoli the next morning, she thought it was a good idea, too, saying, “Amazing. Great.”

Skyfall went on to become the highest grossing movie in the Bond franchise, outperforming other Craig ventures like Casino Royale and No Time to Die, which may still wind up somehow losing money despite one of the highest grossing movies of last year. The Bond team liked Mendes so much that he directed the follow-up, Spectre, before going back to more serious pictures, like the one-take WWI movie 1917.

In other words, if you’re some famous director and you run into Craig at a party and he’s had a couple, you may suddenly wind up directing some blockbuster that will make you and everyone involved even richer.

(Via Awards Chatter and IndieWire)

The Cincinnati Bengals hope to break a three decades-long streak of never winning a playoff game on Saturday afternoon. The team, which earned the 4-seed in the AFC, kicked off the 2022 NFL postseason by playing host to the Las Vegas Raiders, and after holding the 5-seed to three points on their first drive, Cincinnati got the ball and marched right down the field.

As he’s done so many times this season, Joe Burrow marched the Bengals offense right down the field, going 5-for-7 for 65 yards on his first ever playoff drive. To cap things off, Burrow went to one of his favorite targets, throwing a strike on third-and-goal from the 7-yard line to tight end CJ Uzomah.

It was the first time Uzomah’s career that he scored a touchdown in the playoffs, and he celebrated by showing some love to beloved former Bengal Ickey Woods. Right after he got up, Uzomah hit the Ickey Shuffle before doing the Griddy.

As an added twist, Uzomah did this with Woods in attendance. Woods, who was on the last Bengals team to win a playoff game, got the crowd fired up before the game, and of course did his famous dance.

The Bengals are hoping to win a playoff game for the first time since Jan. 6, 1991.

Since last summer, Pooh Shiesty has been locked up for two separate incidents. One of them is a federal robbery case that stems from October, when the “Back In Blood” rapper and another individual allegedly shot two people during a meet-up for sneakers and marijuana. Earlier this month, he accepted a plea deal in the case which helps him avoid a potential life sentence. In the deal, prosecution and defense agreed to a sentence of 97 months for the charge. However, Magistrate Judge Lauren Fleischer Louis, who presides over the case, noted that his sentence could surpass the suggested sentence. After Pooh Shiesty accepted the plea deal, his team filed to receive bond, but that didn’t work out.

Judge Louis turned down the request in a court order dated January 13 after holding an evidentiary hearing earlier this week. The rappers’ attorneys pitched a strict bond plan that included “unspecified monitoring, limited visitation, and drug and alcohol treatment,” but she was not sold on it. Judge Louis agreed that the plea deal will result in him facing less severe charges, however, she noted that Pooh Shiesty was not entitled to bond and mentioned his superstar status in the public eye.

The rapper is also facing gun charges for a 2020 Memorial Day incident that took place at the King of Diamonds strip club in Miami.

Pooh Shiesty is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Avril Lavigne’s new single “Bite Me” is a return to form for the pop-punk icon, who recently signed to Travis Barker’s DTA Records. As the lead single off her new album, Love Sux, which will be out on February 25, “Bite Me” re-establishes Avril’s delightfully acerbic take on the classic pop-punk riff, and has fans just as excited as her recent collab with Willow and Travis Barker on “Grow” for Willow’s album did.

Now, she’s followed up the lead single with another new track, this one called “Love It When You Hate Me,” featuring Blackbear, who pop-punk fans might remember from MGK’s lowkey hit “My Ex’s Best Friend.” Blackbear is a great foil for Avril because he toes the line between emo and rap, and though she never strays into the hip-hop world, her brash sound fits in with the latest round of pop-punk influenced stars like The Kid Laroi. The new song comes on the heels of Avril announcing her album release date, and the full tracklist for the project, which includes a whole host of exciting collaborators.

Mark Hoppus, MGK, and of course Blackbear are all featured guests, while Barker’s fingerprints are all over the whole record as a collaborator and producer. Check out her new single above and look for the album out next month.

Earlier this week, LA’s Fox affiliate revealed that Kanye West was being investigated for allegedly punching a fan in the face outside a Los Angeles nightclub. According to the report, the rapper was approached by the individual for an autograph while he sat in his SUV outside Soho Warehouse at 3am on Thursday. The rapper then punched the fan in their face, which caused them to fall to the ground. The report also suggested an argument occurred, but at the time police did not reveal any details and Kanye had not spoken to them either. During a recent interview with Jason Lee on Hollywood Unlocked, Kanye spoke about the incident.

“It’s 3 a.m. in front of the warehouse,” Kanye began. “I’m saying, ‘You don’t know what I’m dealing with right now.’ This dude, he just had this attitude like, ‘What you gon’ do?’” He added, “Imma just tell you, that blue COVID mask ain’t stop that knockout.”

His comments come after he and The Game shared their new collaboration, “Eazy.” On it, Kanye took time to throw some shots at Pete Davidson, rapping, “God saved me from that crash/Just so I can beat Pete Davidson’s ass.” He also addressed his divorce from Kim Kardashian and showed some love to his new partner Julia Fox.

Additionally, during the Hollywood Unlocked interview, Kanye claimed that security at Kim Kardashian’s home blocked him from entering the house to see his children because Pete Davidson was home.

Nicole Kidman has been Hoovering up awards for Being the Ricardos, the new Aaron Sorkin movie in which she plays Lucille Ball opposite Javier Bardem’s Desi Arnaz. But it’s not the only motion picture that’s garnered her a lot of attention lately. Perhaps even more people have seen her AMC Theatres ad. It bowed in September and it finds the actress beckoning people back to movie theaters — specifically AMC theaters — as the pandemic seemed to be getting better. It cost $25 million but perhaps it was worth it. Despite the Omicron variant, people are still flocking to see Spider-Man: No Way Home as well as the new Scream.

People also kept talking about the ad. It’s been a fixture on social media, inspiring jokes and memes. When AMC cut the minute-long ad in half, removing its most celebrated line (“Somehow heartbreak feels good in a place like this”), people online noticed.

One person who had no idea the ad was so big was Kidman herself. In a new interview with The Playlist, the Oscar-winning actress — who may win another trophy for Being the Ricardos — was stunned to learn that it was so big that had even inspired t-shirts:

Well, I don’t know if you know this, but people love the line, “Somehow heartbreak feels good in a place like this,” so much that they have printed it on T-shirts.

Are you kidding?

Oh no. It’s real. Ask [your publicist]. She can send you stuff. It’s a thing.

Publicist: People have printed it out and handed it out in a theater so they could read it with you before a movie.

What?

Yes. It is a thing.

No.

Yes.

What?

Kidman was a bit less shocked to learn that so many people glommed onto the line about heartbreak. “But it’s a great line, right?” she said, adding, “It’s so true. How true is it too?” She then elaborated:

I mean, talk about not feeling alone, sitting in a cinema with a broken heart, and then watching something that breaks your heart again, and you go, “I’m not alone.” Please. This must not go away. We have to have cinema.

So, if you too like crying in movie theaters, then Kidman has your back. You can watch the full, original ad in the video above.

(Via The Playlist)

The end of 2021 turned nightmarish for Travis Scott after his signature Astroworld festival led to the deaths of nine people, including a nine-year-old boy who was trampled to death. A crowd surge when Drake showed up to the festival resulted in the stampede, and security was unable to handle the surges. Since the tragedy, Travis has made it clear he didn’t know what was happening at the time, and tried to make things right by helping families with the funeral costs — but many have refused.

The rapper has been mostly laying low on social media since the event, but is apparently going forward with working on his Utopia album while the ongoing lawsuits for Astroworld are mounting. Last week, one of his producers let fans know that Travis was still working on the project, and he all but confirmed that last night in a series of posts on his Instagram story.

Along with a contemplative beach shot (he was reportedly in Cabo working on the record, according to his producer Wheezy), Scott also shared photos of what looks like customized Utopia headphones, a pretty clear sign that the album is definitely in the works, and possibly close to done. It will be interesting to see how new music goes down with fans following the festival’s tragic situation. Check out the photos below.

Last week, it was revealed that Sinead O’Connor’s 17-year-old son passed away after he went missing earlier in the week. “My beautiful son, Nevi’im Nesta Ali Shane O’Connor, the very light of my life, decided to end his earthly struggle today and is now with God,” she wrote on Twitter. “May he rest in peace and may no one follow his example. My baby. I love you so much. Please be at peace.” A week after this news was shared, it was reported that O’Connor has been admitted into a hospital.

According to CNN, the singer told fans on Thursday that she was going to the hospital after she shared a string of concerning posts on an unverified Twitter account that was linked to her official account. “I’ve decided to follow my son,” she reportedly wrote in the now-deleted post. “There is no point living without him. Everything I touch, I ruin. I only stayed for him. And now he’s gone.”

She continued, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that,” she reportedly wrote. “I am with cops now on way to hospital. I’m sorry I upset everyone. I am lost without my kid and I hate myself. Hospital will help a while. But I’m going to find Shane. This is just a delay.”

Following the death of her son last week, O’Connor accused Tallaght Hosptial’s Lynn Ward of wrongdoing, asking how they “let him out of their grasp this morning when 7 days ago he made two severe suicide attempts.” She later apologized for the accusations and wrote that they “did their best. We all did: and I am deeply sorry to have blamed anyone.”

John Goodman has always been able to move freely between the comedy and drama worlds. He’s not a comic but he’s frequently the funniest person in comedies. He’s back to doing the lord’s work in the new season of The Righteous Gemstones, bringing a coiled fury to the role of a televangelist and megachurch honcho and paterfamilias — a close cousin, if you will, to Brian Cox’s Logan Roy on Succession. But early in his life he aimed for a more overtly comedic career. And, he says, it did not go well.

Goodman appeared on The Tonight Show Jimmy Fallon, and he wound up discussing SNL, which he’s hosted a whopping 13 times, not counting his seven guest appearances over the years. But his first blush with the sketch show was a non-starter. In 1980, years before his breakthroughs in Raising Arizona and on Roseanne, Goodman auditioned for SNL, which was one of his favorite shows.

“It’s not that I had any material to show or anything good to do. I just knew they’d hire me, ’cause I’m a nice guy,” Goodman recalled. “It’s the worst thing I’ve ever done in front of people in my life. I wrote something about 15 minutes before I went over there and… oh, God, it was awful.”

Had Goodman gotten the gig, he would have joined the semi-notorious 1980 season, the first without Lorne Michaels and which debuted a completely new cast, including Joe Piscopo, Gilbert Gottfried, and Charles Rocket.

But it all worked out in the end. Goodman would eventually find fame on another comedic show, which led to him frequently hosting the program that once turned him away. “It used to be my favorite thing I’d do every year would be Saturday Night Live,” Goodman said of his hosting duties. “They always made me feel at home, and you’re with a bunch of smart and funny people. It just feels great.”

You can watch Goodman’s virtual appearance on Fallon above.

Keanu Reeves has long been one of the internet’s favorite celebrities, so now that he’s back on the talk show circuit promoting his new project, Matrix: Resurrections, he’s back to giving us a goldmine of information about his life. Which, we all want to know much more about, or at least I do! One thing Keanu fans might potentially be wondering: What kind of music does he like? Well, the actor revealed a little bit about his tastes in a late night interview with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show.

According to Keanu, he’s only ever asked for two celebrity autographs in his life, and only one of those was a musician. It may have been for a friend, but Keanu asked Lou Reed of The Velvet Underground to give him an autograph — and the notoriously grouchy Lou was very kind about it. “He was cool about it,” Reeves said. “It was a little piece of paper, and it was blue ink. And it just said ‘Lou Reed.’”

“It would have been really disappointing if it didn’t say ‘Lou Reed,’” Colbert joked. “I know,” Keanu mused. “But it could have said ‘all my best’ or… like, you know?” Hey, he’s not wrong! The other celebrity Keanu approached for a memento was Bob Carlin, who starred alongside keanu in BIll & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, and Carlin was slightly more grouchy than Lou in this case. “He wrote … I think it was, ‘Dear Keanu, F*ck you!’” the actor remembered. “I always thought he just wrote that for me. Then I met someone else who said that he wrote the same thing to them! .Anyway, beautiful.”

Beautiful indeed. It’s also beautiful to imagine Keanu and his friend vibing out to The Velvet Underground. For now, he also let fans know the one song he would listen to for the rest of his life: “I’m gonna take Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart.” Solid choice! Check out the interview clip above.