Category: News

Comedian Whitmer Thomas has been garnering attention for his 2020 comedy special, The Golden One, and now he’s announced a December tour that will feature some new material as well. The Golden One was produced by Bo Burnham (who has enjoyed some pandemic-related success of his own with Inside), Chris Storer, and A24, and came out in February of last year.

But as the special racked up rave reviews and continued resonating, Thomas continued working on new material and songs, building off pre-existing clips like “Partied To Death,” which you can also watch above. All the music from the show was actually released as an album which was titled Songs From The Golden One.

The short tour, dubbed The Collage Of Crap Mini Tour 2021, begins December 1 in Los Angeles and finishes up December 15 in Chicago. In an interview with our own Jason Tabrys last year, Thomas talked about how the blend of music and comedy helps him confront some of the darker subject matter he deals with. “I think it’s easier for me to write about it in music, but I feel more comfortable talking about it in comedy,” he said. “If there’s a joke or if there’s a larger funny thing, then it’s easier for me to talk about grief and stuff like that. Trauma.”

Check out the full tour dates on the poster below.

Sunflower Bean splashed onto the scene, fresh of their teenage years with 2016’s stunning debut Human Ceremony. They proved they were no fluke on 2018’s dashing and reflective Twentytwo In Blue and then again on the 2019 King Of The Dudes EP. The New York City trio of Julia Cumming, Nick Kivlen and Jake Faber have now released their first music of 2021 in the retro-minded “Baby Don’t Cry” and announced over a dozen tour dates.

The song is produced by Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Jacob Portrait and recorded partly at the famed Electric Lady and the band’s own studio. There’s a distinct callback to 50’s doo-wop trios on the song, but with a decidedly modern take that sees both Faber’s drums and a drum machine driving the rhythm. Cumming’s vocals have the same gravitational pull she showcased on Yves Tumor’s track “Strawberry Privilege” last year, and Kivlen’s jangly guitar, which has become a hallmark of the group, round out the welcome return. The band commented on how focusing on the present informed the track:

“So many things in our lives are disposable. Content and news is consumed and discarded leaving us unfulfilled. ‘Baby Don’t Cry’ is about enjoying the real. The things right in front of us that give us meaning and how sometimes, even sad songs can give you that warm feeling of hope.”

Check out Sunflower Bean’s upcoming tour dates below and visit their website for pre-sale and general ticketing info.

12/9/21 — Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Showcase Lounge
12/10/21 — Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom
12/11/21 — Portsmouth, NH @ 3S Artspace
3/4/22 — Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
3/5/22 — Millersville, PA @ Phantom Power
3/6/22 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Club Cafe
3/8/22 — Columbus, OH @ A&R Music Bar
3/10/22 — Indianapolis, IN @ HI-FI
3/11/22 — Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar
3/12/22 — St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway
3/19/22 — Nashville, TN @ Exit/In
3/20/22 — Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle
3/21/22 — Durham, NC @ Motorco

Last week, Black Panther star Letitia Wright found herself being widely criticized after a Hollywood Reporter report claimed the actress was spreading anti-vaccination views on the set of the sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. More specifically, Wright was accused of sharing misinformation similar to a video she had previously shared on social media that caused her to delete all of her accounts following a wave of backlash. The controversial video (via EW) spread misinformation about not only the COVID vaccine but contained “doubts regarding climate change, accusations of China spreading COVID-19, and transphobic comments.”

However, on Tuesday, Wright quietly returned to Instagram where she posted a heavily religious-themed response, in which she denied spreading anti-vaccination views on the Black Panther 2 set:

It saddens me to have to address the reports published by The Hollywood Reporter on October 6th 2021. The report spoke about my conduct on the set of black Panther 2. I honestly assert that this was completely untrue.

Anyone who knows me or has worked with me, knows that I work incredibly hard at my craft & my main focus is always to do work that’s impactful and inspiring. That has been & will continue to be my only focus.

I will continue to hold onto Gods hands, and onto the scripture of Isaiah 54:17.

As for why Wright is personally responding to press reports, she reportedly parted ways with her publicity team after her first anti-vaccination controversy exploded in December 2020.

You can see Wright’s full Instagram post below:

(Via Letitia Wright on Instagram)

It’s a safe bet that Charlie Kaufman has one of the bleakest minds to ever infiltrate Hollywood. But the screenwriter, director, and novelist — last year’s 700-paged Antkind is even more bonkers than you think — has somehow never sold out. That’s to say, he’s never sullied himself with comic book fare or IP reboots. Then again, we never got to see his Gilligan’s Island.

This comes from James Gunn, fellow Hollywood weirdo, albeit one who’s more of the Troma gore variety. The Marvel/DC guy claims that in the late ‘90s, around the time Kaufman had his first screenwriting hit with Being John Malkovich, he pitched his own deranged take on the ‘60s classic about shipwrecked survivors forever stranded after a three-hour tour gone awry.

Kaufman’s Gilligan’s Island was, of course, far from faithful to the source. Gunn says his version found the islanders “starving & desperate.” Instead of making radios out of coconuts, they “started killing & eating each other.” Improbably, Warner Bros. was into it. Alas, Sherwood Schwartz, the show’s creator (and also the brains behind The Brady Bunch), was not.

The years passed, and Gunn, having had his own monster hit with the first Guardians of the Galaxy, tried to revive Kaufman’s Gilligan’s Island. This time, Gunn claims, the estate of the now-late Schwartz wasn’t having it either. “Anyway,” Gunn said, “if the Schwartz estate changes their mind, I’m here.”

Let’s not mince words: The estate of the late creator of The Brady Bunch should let James Gunn help Charlie Kaufman realize his dream of a Gilligan’s Island in which (presumably) Gilligan and the Skipper fight over the remains of the Professor, only to both be eaten by wholesome farm girl Mary Ann. It’s the dark reboot humanity deserves after the last several trying years.

(Via James Gunn on Twitter)

Dopesick: Season 1 (Hulu series) — Michael Keaton (who is still the greatest Batman in history, so don’t mess with him in any role) finally comes to TV beyond cameo mode. Here, he takes on Big Pharma as a physician whose patients are dying off amid an opioid epidemic, and Rosario Dawson portrays one of the heroes who want to take the makers of Oxycontin down. The title of the source material (Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors and the Drug Company that Addicted America, the book by Beth Macy) tells you a lot, but this trailer promises an intense ride, and the cast includes Michael Stuhlbarg and Kaitlyn Dever, who’s all over TV now and making Justified‘s Loretta proud here.

Just Beyond: Season 1 (Disney+ series) — This horror-comedy anthology bases itself on R.L. Stine’s BOOM! Studios comic book series of the same name. Expect plenty of supernatural journeys (with a personally affecting touch) through alternate dimensions with witches, aliens, and ghosts onboard.

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (CW, 8:00pm) — Season 7 sees the Legends stranded in 1920s Texas after they defeated the alien intrusion. Astra attempts to fix circumstances with her powers.

Batwoman (CW, 9:00pm) — Season 3 arrives with Batwoman fending off Gotham’s threats while Batwing assists, and Luke can’t get used to his suit.

The Wonder Years (ABC, 8:30pm) — This reimagining adopts a different perspective (from the Fred Savage-starring original show) with the focus on an African-American family and their home base in 1960s Montgomery, Alabama. Don Cheadle narrates the usual tween ordeals and also the experience of being part of a Southern Black family. This week, “Take Your Son to Work Day” means that Dean goes to work both Bill and Lillian with very different results.

American Horror Story: Double Feature (FXX, 10:00pm) — The White House receives an unexpected visitor, who’s got a horrific plan in mind.

Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens (Comedy Central, 10:00pm) — Awkwafina’s semi-autobiographical series is deep into its second season, in which she gazes into the future with starry eyes. This week, Nora’s adjusting to New Mexico when she receives a letter from home that makes her question everything.

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Nicole Holofcener, Victoria Beckham, Holly Humberstone

In case you missed these streaming picks from last Wednesday:

Bad Sport: Season 1 (Netflix series) — Sports and crime intersect in this show, which dives into personal accounts from athletes, coaches, and law enforcement. Expect to see the 2002 figure skating scandal (out of Salt Lake City), a weed-smuggling scandal surrounding an Indycar driver, a horse hitman committing insurance fraud, a basketball point-shaving scheme, and more bad boys who fell from grace.

Among The Stars: Season 1 (Disney+ series) — This show takes space fans behind the a vital NASA mission of fixing the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), a tool that hopes to reveal the universe’s origins, although the job comes with a $2 billion price tag.

You have to hand it to Speedy Ortiz’s Sadie Dupuis for building one of the most rewarding, truly independent acts of the past decade. Dupuis is much more than just an artist with her band and solo project Sad13, but also an accomplished author, label owner and industry activist who has always championed marginalized voices. Now as her flagship Speedy Ortiz project approaches ten years of age, the jam-packed The Death of Speedy Ortiz & Cop Kicker…Forever double album of her first recordings is due out next month.

The package features the newly remastered titular LP and EP where Dupuis recorded all of the instruments herself ten years ago, as well as previously unreleased bonus tracks plus unearthed photos and journal scans from the band’s beginnings. In the new liner notes written by Dupuis, she shared some thoughts on the release:

“I can’t claim Speedy as a solo project anymore—I love working with the friends and bandmates who have played and recorded with me over the years—and I’m glad I now have Sad13 as an outlet for my home-produced concoctions. But I’m so proud of these 22 solo songs, which I put a lot of heart and time and sweat into in both 2011 and 2021, and it feels right to honor them by finally re-releasing them with Carpark (who I’ve worked with for pretty darn close to a decade, too) in a more widely listenable way. Happy 10th birthday, Speedy Ortiz, and thanks to everyone who’s been following along. Me at 23 and me at 32 love you very much.”

And along with the announcement, comes the self-directed video for the new version of “Cutco.” A well-documented fan of teen horror flicks, Dupuis applied a Blair With Project treatment to the clip, which you can watch above. The Death of Speedy Ortiz & Cop Kicker…Forever is out digitally on November 12th and physically as a double LP on January 28th via Carpark Records. Check out the album art and tracklist below and pre-order it here.

1. “Hexxy Sadie”
2. “Cutco”
3. “Phish Phood”
4. “Kinda Blew”
5. “Ken Ohki”
6. “Speedy Ortiz”
7. “Hurricane Speedy”
8. “Thank You”
9. “Frankenweenie”
10. “Blondie”
11. “Ka-Prow!”
12. “Necronomicon”
13. “Teething”
14. “Doomsday”
15. “All Red”
16. “Let’s Get Evicted”
17. “Open Sesame”
18. “Bill Sauce”
19. “Summon It”
20. “Deady”
21. “Meat of Contract”
22. “Son Of”

The cult favorite Swedish post-punk band Makthaverskan announced their fourth album, För Allting will be out next month, kicking off the news with the shimmering lead single, “This Time.” Considering this is their first new music since 2017’s III — their third album — the band’s devoted fan base were thrilled to get new music. And this time around, the band has moved into more of an atmospheric, melodic direction. The album’s second single, “Closer,” doubles down on that shift. Check it out above.

According to a press release, the band started recording music just before lockdown last year. They purposefully wanted to shift their sound away from the first three albums:

“When we started the songwriting process for this album, I think we all were pretty determined to take the music in a new direction. Not necessarily that we would sound ‘different,’ but to work on the songs using somewhat different methods than before. For our previous albums we have written the songs in our rehearsal space and pretty much recorded them the way they were. For this album we intended the songs to be finalized in the studio in a different and left some more room to work with.”

The method seems to be working well, as both new singles are epic. För Allting will be out 11/12 via Run For Cover Records. Pre-order it here.

We’re already halfway through October, meaning spooky season is in full effect. Because the sun has already started setting much earlier, it also means it’s time get cozy by bringing out the chunky blankets and warming up a bowl of soup. Jimmy Fallon and country rocker Chris Stapleton know exactly how to maximize the cozy vibes, so they wrote an entire sketch about it on a recent episode of The Tonight Show.

Of course, Stapleton is an awarded musician, but Fallon also has some musical chops. The host even filled in for Stapleton on guitar earlier this month for a performance of the singer’s track, “You Should Probably Leave.” Because of their shared love of music, they decided to write a song to narrate their perfect night in.

Titled “A Film By Nancy Meyers,” the tongue-in-cheek track makes light of the affluent characters in Meyers’ iconic romantic comedy films like Something’s Gotta Give, starring Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton, and “The Holiday,” starring Jack Black and Cameron Diaz. They sing of getting comfortable in cashmere sweaters, linen pants and wool while opening a bottle of white wine curling up on the couch with one of Meyers’ classic films.

Watch Stapleton and Fallon’s “A Film By Nancy Meyers” sketch on The Tonight Show above.

While it won’t be out in time for this Halloween, just the first trailer for Universal Pictures upcoming horror film The Black Phone might be enough to give you chills — and leave you incredibly creeped out by Ethan Hawke. In the first trailer for the upcoming film, Hawke dons a top hat, seriously sinister-looking mask, and a pretty spot-on Heath Ledger’s Joker impression as he abducts and ultimately murders young boys. The supernatural thriller is the next project from Scott Derrickson (Sinister, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Deliver Us From Evil) and is a collaboration between the filmmaker and iconic horror film studio Blumhouse.

Based on a short story by Joe Hill from his New York Times bestseller 20th Century Ghosts, The Black Phone follows Finney Shaw (Mason Thames), “a shy but clever 13-year-old boy,” after he is adducted by Ethan Hawke’s “The Grabber.” Shaw is then trapped in a soundproof basement with a cot and a broken phone, seemingly doomed to meet the same fate as all of The Grabber’s victims — until the phone begins to ring. Using calls coming from beyond the grave (while the police investigate the case with the help of his prophetic, former classmate), Shaw must figure out how to escape the basement and get home free, even if that means taking on The Grabber head-on.

In addition to Hawke and Thames, The Black Phone features Jeremy Davies, James Ransome, Madeline McGraw, Kellan Rhude, J. Gaven Wilde, E. Rodger Mitchell, and Gina Jun. The film is produced by Derrickson & Cargill’s Crooked Highway, and will be presented by Universal and Blumhouse. The Black Phone hits theaters February 4, 2022.

Lil Kim is just about fed up with her “Magic Stick” collaborator 50 Cent after his latest post, calling his trolling antics corny and opining that the Queens rapper is “obsessed” with her. 50, who seems to spend almost as much time trolling on Instagram as he does producing his many, many shows on Starz (which include the latest iteration of Power and BMF) posted a side-by-side comparison of a photo of Lil Kim performing at a show and the titular villain from the Leprechaun horror movies.

“I’m sorry i know it’s early but i don’t know why sh*t like this is funny to me,” he captioned the photo. However, when Kim saw it, she was less than amused. “Ur so obsessed wit me this is getting creepy,” she commented. “This one ain’t it bro. Not funny at all. I was hoping to laugh wit u but cornyyyyy. Boooo!!! U falling off. Im too bad and too fly in this video. U reachin now but we all know whyyyy.” For those who don’t know, Kim previously joked that 50 was “in his feels” over being turned down for a dinner date after he compared her BET Awards look to an owl.

In that instance, Kim herself reposted the side-by-side, teasing 50 and promoting her upcoming memoir (a very 50 Cent-esque move, to be honest). This time, though, there was no image to repost after the initial clap back. 50 deleted his post… but not before The Shade Room got ahold of it. You can see both posts above.