Over the weekend, the filmmaking community was shocked to learn about the death of Lynn Shelton, who passed away as a result of a previously unidentified blood disorder. Shelton, who directed indies Your Sister’s Sister and Sword of Trust, as well as episodes of many of your favorite shows, including Mad Men, GLOW, and Master of None, was in a relationship with Marc Maron, who dedicated Monday’s WTF podcast to her memory.

“She was my partner. She was my girlfriend. She was my friend. And I loved her. A lot. And she loved me, and I knew that,” Maron said at the beginning of the episode, which includes a re-upload of his 2015 interview with the do-it-all filmmaker (they had been dating for over a year after working together on Maron, as well as GLOW). “I don’t know that I had ever felt what I felt with her before. I do know, actually. I did not. I have not. I was getting used to love in the way of being able to accept it and show it properly in an intimate relationship. I was so comfortable with this person, with Lynn Shelton.” He added, “No one’s got anything bad to say about Lynn Shelton, that’s for fucking sure.”

It’s a tough listen (the wounds are still fresh for Maron, obviously), but a lovely tribute.

Will Ferrell has embodied an outlandish character or two in his day, and now he has another on the way. He and Rachel McAdams are set to star as a musical duo in the upcoming Netflix film Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga, which is set to premiere on June 26. Ahead of then, some music from the movie has been released, and Ferrell and McAdams have teamed up in a video for “Volcano Man.”

The song, which was written/produced by the Scandanavian duo of Gustaf Holter and Christian Persson, is an upbeat Eurodance ballad, and features lyrics like, “Volcano Man / He’s got my melting heart / Volcanic Protector Man / A timeless hero must love too.” The video has Ferrell and McAdams performing the song in a vast natural expanse while wearing costumes straight out a fantasy movie.

Netflix describes the movie, “When aspiring musicians Lars (Will Ferrell) and Sigrit (Rachel McAdams) are given the opportunity of a lifetime to represent their country at the world’s biggest song competition, they finally have a chance to prove that any dream worth having is a dream worth fighting for.”

Additionally, Demi Lovato also stars in the film, and she has an original song, “In The Mirror,” in both the movie and its soundtrack, which will be released on June 26 through Arista Records.

Watch the “Volcano Man” video above.

The Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga soundtrack is out 6/26 via Arista Records.

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Even though many regions are slowly starting to relax their “shelter at home” protocols for coronavirus prevention, many formerly bustling city centers still look like ghost towns, including Chicago, the eerie location for Polo G’s intense “33” video. Directed by Ryan Lynch, the video tracks Polo and his crew as they roam the deserted streets of their hometown at night, flashing money fans and dazzling jewelry and only occasionally observing face mask safety.

“33” is the latest track from the Chicago native’s new album, The GOAT, which released on Friday amid one of the more crowded weeks of hip-hop drops this year. Building up to the release, Polo appeared the moody video for “DND” and the high school takeover video for “Go Stupid” with NLE Choppa and Stunna 4 Vegas. He also made a guest appearance on fellow Chicagoan Lil Durk’s “3 Headed GOAT” with Lil Baby from Durk’s own Just Cause Y’all Waited 2, which also dropped this past Friday.

The new releases just confirm what Polo’s 2019 debut album Die A Legend and its flurry of singles suggested: That the “Pop Out” rapper has the versatility, depth, and insight to live up to his own lofty vision as one of the best young artists in hip-hop today.

Watch Polo G’s “33” video above.

Keeping up with the best new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.

This week saw Charli XCX’s quarantine album and an absolute bunch of hip-hop to get into. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.

Charli XCX — How I’m Feeling Now

Charli XCX has been working on perhaps the defining project of this strange quarantine era: A new album, which is now out. The record was made with virtual collaboration with her fans, and the result is an appealing experimental pop beauty and some of the best new music this week.

Future — High Off Life

When Future teamed up with Drake for “Life Is Good” (which was titled before the coronavirus situation came to a head), the rapper was actually kicking off a new era. High Off Life hit virtual shelves last week, and aside from the Drake reunion, it also includes a Lil Uzi Vert meet-up, along other highlights.

Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit — Reunions

Isbell told Uproxx of his new album, “When we were making Reunions, I was really tense. Just really f*cking tense the whole time. […] Sadly, for me, I didn’t necessarily enjoy the process of making that record as much as I could have, which, in hindsight, I regret because I think it’s a great record.”

Read the full interview here.

Migos — “Racks 2 Skinny”

Like many artists, Migos have been cooking something up during quarantine. While Culture III (which may not end up being called that, actually) is on the way, they plan to drop a mixtape to hold fans over. They previewed the tape with “Racks 2 Skinny,” which is driven by a flute-heavy beat from DJ Durel.

Perfume Genius — Set My Heart On Fire Immediately

Mike Hadreas told Uproxx about the new album, “The whole record, I was imagining performing it live. It’s about being outside and it’s about connection; it’s about the people, and all the ideas that are formulating around performance, and how I was going to get the music to people beyond just releasing it.”

Check out the interview here.

Moses Sumney — Grae

Moses Sumney has established himself as one of today’s most boundary-breaking musical creatives, and that continues strongly on Grae. Labels tend to not do Sumney justice, but highlights like “Me In 20 Years” and “Cut Me” can at least offer a quick example of the diversity within Grae.

Deante’ Hitchcock — Better

Hitchcock found his way into the Revenge Of The Dreamers III sessions, but now he’s ready to lead his own charge with his debut album. He shines mostly on his own here, although the record features a handful of assists from hip-hop peers like JID and 6lack.

Polo G — The Goat

While Polo G may still have a way to go before reaching the legendary heights his new album’s title suggests, he’s certainly putting his best foot forward. After breaking out in 2019, he’s back with an album that includes highlights like a Lil Baby collaboration and a posthumous Juice WRLD feature.

Retirement Party — Runaway Dog

The Chicago trio has followed-up their indie-favorite debut with an engaging effort. The album was initially heralded by its title track, an album-opener that does a tremendous job at creating anticipation with its energetic and promising build-up.

Rico Nasty — “My Little Alien”

Rico Nasty found herself on the soundtrack for the animated Scooby-Doo reboot Sccob!, and she made the most of the opportunity. Her contribution is “My Little Alien,” a catchy number that can both bring joy to a family movie and work as a banger in its own right.

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

Looking to share a project for the second straight year, Gunna has been teasing his upcoming album, Wunna, since the beginning of 2020. Originally slated for a February release, the album was delayed — most likely to give his ATL counterpart Lil Baby an uninterrupted rollout with his My Turn album. Getting things back in order, Gunna shared the album’s first single, “Skybox,” in early March. With a release date in place, he now returns with the album’s title track, a laid back tune with a soothing instrumental that’s complemented by Gunna’s relaxing vocal rhythm.

The new single arrives days after he revealed the release date for Wunna would be May 22. Heading down to Jamaica to work on the album as well as shoot its trailer, the video depicts Gunna receiving some words of wisdom from a resident of the country. Per the album trailer, Gunna also revealed that the album would feature a guest appearance from Nechie, as well as production from Turbo, Wheezy, Taurus, and Keyz.

The single follows Gunna’s recent collaborations which include “Turks” with Nav and Travis Scott, “Quarantine Clean” with Young Thug, and “Heatin Up” with Lil Baby.

Check out “Wunna” in the video above.

Wunna is out 5/22 via YSL and 300.

Season two of Vice TV’s Dark Side Of The Ring docuseries has pulled no punches in its nine-episode run, covering everything from Chris Benoit’s last days to the wild story of Herb Abrams. But the season two finale carries with it a heaviness all its own: It’s the story of Owen Hart‘s death, as told by not only the people who were there (including Jim Ross, Jimmy Korderas and the Godfather), but also by Hart’s widow, Martha, and their two children, Oje and Athena.

For those who don’t know the story, Hart was in the midst of a revival of his Blue Blazer persona, and the WWE (at the time, the WWF) wanted him to rappel down from the rafters of the arena in Kansas City for his Intercontinental Championship match with the Godfather at Over The Edge. Only something went terribly wrong, and Hart plummeted 80 feet to his death, in front of tens of thousands of fans. After paramedics removed Hart from the ring, the show was resumed by the decree of Vince McMahon, certainly one of the darkest decisions the WWE CEO has ever made.

We caught up with Martha Hart to discuss her involvement with Dark Side Of The Ring and to talk further about Owen Hart’s life and death.

UPROXX: Why did you choose to tell this story now, after all these years? What was it that made this situation right for you?

MARTHA HART: There’s a few things. We had just celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Owen Hart Foundation. But it’s actually a story I really hoped would always be told, It was kind of by accident. The Dark Side Of The Ring producers got in touch with me through the Owen Hart Foundation last year, and they had broached this project. I do get a lot of requests, and when I do, I give them the courtesy of my time, and I looked at it and I put together some thoughtful questions and I thought “well, if you want to do this project, let’s see how you answer my questions.” When they sent the responses back, I was really impressed with their honesty and I liked what they said. Then we chatted some more and Evan Husney, one of the producers who was in Toronto at the time, flew to Calgary and we went to dinner. I probed him some more with more questions. Unbeknownst to him, he gave me every single correct answer. He was really honest and upfront, and nervous. But I guess it was all meant to be. I’m so happy with the episode. It’s a really well done, informative episode. The producers not only had the good intentions to tell the story, but they had the means to make it happen. Even though I didn’t have creative control, per se, they really have created the story I always hoped would be told.

It felt as equally your story as Owen’s story. This tells an entirely different side of who he was—it was refreshing to see the home videos and hear about how dedicated Owen was as a family man. Even your children participated.

People really get to see what they didn’t know before. People knew him as this wrestler, and that’s okay, but now what they’re getting to see is the real person that he was, and how amazing he was as a father and a husband and a human being. He was such a kind person and so helpful to everyone, and such a humanitarian. Even though the episode doesn’t get into it too much, he was just such a happy person. He always wanted to spread that joy and help people any way he could.

In the episode, you say on the night of Owen’s death, you received a phone call from Vince McMahon, who then passed you off to a doctor who told you what happened. Were you not actually watching the pay-per-view live? Did you normally not watch Owen’s matches as they aired?

Normally I didn’t watch. That was his job. It wasn’t all-encompassing in our life. Like a lot of marriages, you talk about your work with each other, but you don’t live and breathe it. But it wasn’t uncommon for me not to watch the matches, and that particular night I wasn’t watching and didn’t know about it.

Was that phone call the last time you ever spoke to Vince McMahon? Did he or anyone else from the WWE ever apologize or express their condolences?

No, they didn’t. It wasn’t the last time I spoke to Vince, but it was the last time for quite some time. Days and days had passed and I hadn’t heard from him. Then he eventually started reaching out to me, I think probably on the advice of his legal counsel. But he never apologized to me. I have heard somewhere along the way that he said something to that effect, that he took responsibility [for Owen’s death] — and he should. They were responsible. So I appreciated that, but it was never said directly to me.

One of the most powerful moments of the episode is when you pulled out the quick-release clip that essentially led to Owen’s death, among other items from the time period. Was that the first time you had revisited that in decades, or do you find yourself going through those items even when cameras aren’t around?

Doing the whole episode was really challenging for me. It took me a long time. I was in a very dark place for a long time. To revisit all those memories and look at the clip… It was disturbing and it was upsetting. Even when I watch that episode, I can see how sad I am and how it took me back to where I was and how I didn’t like being in that place. I can see physically how draining it was for me, and it’s painful to see that. Like I said, I worked really hard to recover. To put yourself back in those shoes and walk that path again and relive those feelings, it takes you back. Now certainly I’ve resolved my loss, and you have to do that in life, but it will definitely always be hard to revisit. It’s like shrapnel in your body: You can learn to live with it but it always has the potential to hurt you. You move one way or you think about one thing… That’s kind of the way I view it.

But at the same time, even though it was really difficult I think it’s a very important story to tell. I think people need to realize this billion-dollar company put Owen at risk, and it was unnecessary, and they did it for their own selfishness, and they hired riggers that weren’t qualified to save money and because they wanted something that was inappropriate that qualified riggers refused to do. And they knew they refused to do it, and they knew why — because these riggers they hired before, who had rigged everybody from the Rolling Stones to Elton John to Robin Williams, said to them, “No, we don’t do this, we don’t have talent just quick-releasing themselves. That’s not what we do. We have them in securing harnesses with locking carabiners.”

Everything with that stunt was done inappropriately. The harness used was the type of harness you use to drag someone behind a car. It wasn’t meant for suspending someone 80 feet above the ground. It was cutting off Owen’s circulation and he couldn’t breathe in that harness. And of course, that snap shackle was meant for use on sailboats. It was totally inappropriate. It’s meant to open on load, so the fact that Owen’s weight was hanging on it made the possibility of opening it that much greater, because that’s how it’s designed. The whole stunt was designed to fail.

We had every top rigging expert in the whole industry on our side. They gave us affidavits or they were deposed. Vince had no one that would stand up and say on his behalf that they had done things properly. Vince knew that. He knew he didn’t have a case. A proper rigger would make sure there were redundancies and make sure the talent didn’t have any control over the stunt.

I don’t know how much you’re keeping up with WWE these days, but they have continued to run shows during this COVID-19 pandemic, and on their most recent pay-per-view, they actually staged a stunt where two wrestlers were thrown off a rooftop. I was wondering if you had any thoughts about that?

Well first of all, I wasn’t aware, because I don’t follow wrestling. But I’m not surprised. Even when Owen’s incident happened, what the talent was looking for was good leadership, and Vince McMahon completely failed in that regard. He did everything wrong. I’m not surprised. They always push the envelope, and that’s another thing to know — this was a company who was so disrespectful to Owen. After he died in the ring, they just scraped his body off the mat and paraded out match after match after match in a wrestling ring that had Owen’s blood on it, and the boards were broken underneath from his fall. The wrestlers could feel the dip in the ring where he had fallen. Right out of the gate, they had no regard for human life whatsoever.

On top of that, this is a company that sued me, the widow, for breach of Owen’s contract because I didn’t sue them in Connecticut, I sued them in Kansas City. It’s like, “I’m not suing you for breach of contract, I’m suing you for his wrongful death.” They actually sued me, and I had to go and hire legal counsel in Kansas City for the wrongful death lawsuit as well as legal counsel in Connecticut to fight them suing me. On top of that, they manipulated Owen’s family, which caused some of them to work against me in the lawsuit, which was another betrayal. It was just hand-over-fist disrespect to me and Owen. They’re the dirtiest fighters on the planet. But they underestimated me, and they didn’t realize I would fight till the end. I didn’t care. It was wrong, and they needed to be accountable. I was going to hold their feet to the fire.

If there were any good to come of this, it would be that the Owen Hart Foundation was created. In the past 20 years, your organization has helped countless lives, which is something I’m sure you’re proud of and something Owen would have been proud of as well. Additionally, I think it’s interesting that both of your children have chosen very honorable careers with your son pursuing human rights law and your daughter earning a journalism degree and pursuing animal humanitarianism. Do you believe those still would have been their career paths had Owen continued wrestling into his 40s and 50s?

I’m sure they would still have the career paths they chose. Owen wasn’t planning on wrestling being his lifelong career by any means. He had planned to be a teacher, then sort of got lured into the family business to help his dad rebuild his territory after Vince McMahon was buying up all the smaller promotions. Owen was always trying to escape wrestling and do other types of work. It wasn’t his life’s work. He always hoped to be out of it before his kids went to school, and that didn’t happen, but he definitely would not have encouraged them to follow in his footsteps. He would’ve been really proud of the direction they’ve taken. I know I am.

The season two finale of Dark Side Of The Ring airs May 19 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Vice TV.

Matt Reeves has assembled an impressive cast for The Batman, including Robert Pattinson as the Dark Knight, Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as the Riddler, Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon, and Colin Farrell as the Penguin. It’s the first time the Penguin has appeared in a live-action Batman movie since Danny DeVito’s iconic (and disgusting) performance in Batman Returns, but according to Farrell, we shouldn’t expect actual penguins to reenact the Ghanaian Funeral meme.

“I had only started it [before the production shut down] and I can’t wait to get back. The creation of it, the aesthetic of the character, has been fun and I really am so excited to get back and explore it,” Farrell told GMA. “And I haven’t got that much to do. I have a certain amount in the film. I am not all over it by any means. But there are a couple of some tasty scenes I have in it and my creation and I can’t wait to get back.”

That makes it sound like Penguin will be a side character in The Batman, somewhere between Scarecrow in Batman Begins (the main villain) and The Dark Knight (a glorified cameo) in terms of screen time. What a shame. Then again, I’m not sure if I want to see Colin Farrell go from this to… this. The Batman comes out on October 1, 2021.

(Via GMA)

Two weeks ago, Killing Eve seemingly killed off a long-suffering character, Niko Polastri (portrayed by Owen McDonnell), via a pitchfork attack. I say “seemingly” because, well, viewers now know that Niko ain’t dead. Eve’s long-suffering husband is alive and (mentally) kicking, and although he may not be able to speak while sitting in his hospital bed, he stared dead-straight at his wife and tapped out a message: “Piss off forever.” It’s a declaration that’s been a long time coming. Niko’s had enough of everything that he’s endured since Eve met Villanelle, which includes not only infidelity but finding himself, repeatedly, in harm’s way. Not only that, but Niko’s been nursing a bad case of PTSD after last season’s gruesome events. Even after fleeing to Poland, Eve’s actions came back to haunt him again, and the poor guy just can’t catch a break.

As of this week, Eve hasn’t fully pieced together who attacked Niko (Dasha), but this mess probably serves as final nail in the coffin of their already dead marriage. That’s ironic, given that Dasha actually meant to drive a wedge between Eve and Villanelle, which might be an impossible feat. Owen McDonnell was gracious enough to speak with us to discuss his character’s miraculous survival and what’s going on in Niko’s head, along with what it’s like to be “pitchforked” by a real-life dame on TV.

Well, Niko’s looking very alive right about now, so congratulations on that.

Yes! Funny that he could survive a pitchfork, huh?

It seems like on any show, an actor should be prepared for their character’s demise, but especially on a show like Killing Eve, you wouldn’t be surprised to see Niko go, right?

Yeah, I think with Niko being married to Eve, and with Eve’s obsession with Villanelle, he’s very lucky to have made it this far in every case.

Were you shocked that he survived this type of injury, though?

I was a bit because we get the scripts in two-episode blocks. So I read the end of the fourth episode, and I thought, “Oh, he’s dead!” And then when I got to the read through, producers said, “No, no, no, he survives!” And I thought that wasn’t possible, so it was very weird. I was sure that they’d killed him, finally, and I was okay with that, but no. And who knows what the future holds for him.

One thing that I found striking about the pitchfork scene, well, other than the sudden, blunt-force trauma that we’re talking about…

[Laughs]

… is that you got pitchforked by a real-life dame, Harriet Walter. Did you guys just launch into action mode when you rehearsed?

Yeah, we rehearsed it before but not much because we wanted it to be fresh, so when you see it for the first time, she was, well, you saw how Dasha-Harriet stabbed him in the neck… I think she enjoyed it. She got vicious with that pitchfork, and I was genuinely in fear for my life… she was really into it! She tried to run around the back of the barn, and I had my back to where she was, and I thought that she’d better give me a signal before she thrust the pitchfork. So yeah, it was terrifying, just terrifying!

Harriet is so brutally good, and so funny, as Dasha.

Ah yes, she’s fabulous.

After all Niko’s been through, were you in any way proud of him for telling Eve to “piss off forever”?

[Laughs] He tried to say it in so many nice ways in the past episode and the previous season, and going to Poland should have been enough. Yeah, he’s just in a space where he can’t keep doing this. He needs to break all ties with Eve, his job, his colleagues, and his friends and see if there’s a possibility of having some future happiness after all of the business with Gemma, Eve, and Villanelle. I think he’s starting to see that — he’s had a lot of thinking time at the start of Season 3, and after the pitchfork, he’s trying to be as clear as possible that he does not want to be anywhere near his wife. He can’t make her go away, so it’s a very stark request.

He did answer a few of her text messages before Dasha swiped his phone and delivered the Poland invite. Did he really want to talk to Eve at all?

Well, I think he really loves her, and if he was given the chance to still be married to Eve, pre-Villanelle, he would take it at the drop of a hat. He can’t be with her when she’s in the grip of this obsession, and he no longer trusts her because she’s unable to let go. So I think that, yes, part of him would love for them to be together, but they’re not breaking up because she had an affair. They’re breaking up because he doesn’t feel that she can keep him or herself safe, and she will always put their lives at risk because of Villanelle and because of her obsession. So, it’s a split based upon self-preservation more than falling out of love with someone.

Do you think, in your heart, that Niko and Eve would have made it if Villanelle never materialized on the scene? They had been together over a decade.

Yeah, they were together twelve years before Villanelle came along, and they were happy. They were at a point in their relationship where they absolutely loved each other and were in a very good marriage, but they were kind-of, not quite getting everything that the other person was doing. They were at a point when they needed to give each other a good shake and say, “Look, this relationship could go either way, what are we gonna do?” And I think they would have probably had that conversation and hopefully made efforts to be there for each other, to stimulate each other both equally, but that chasm grew deeper, wider, and that’s the point where Villanelle came into their lives. It’s like she just ran into those cracks in their relationship.

On this show, the gender stereotypes are flipped in multiple ways, and with what Niko deals with, do you worry that he suffers the brunt of, you know, that flip? Like an unintentional scapegoat effect.

I don’t think he’s a scapegoat, but as far as the gender flipping, a number of people have mentioned it to me. I didn’t really see it like that going in. I just thought, “This is a guy who really got a kick out of making his wife happy.” And they were in a situation where she was the one who was more of the financial provider for awhile. I also didn’t see it like that, though I can understand why people do. With regards to being a scapegoat, I think it’s more of anyone, whether they’re male or female, and regardless of what role they fulfill in the marriage, ends up being way more obsessed with something other than the person that they’re married to. That person’s going to suffer, and Niko (in the marriage) is mentally and physically suffering. If anybody has an obsession that takes over their lives, it will do it to the detriment of the partner. I think that’s [actually] one of the nice things about their relationship. Even though with what’s happened is very extreme, [the writers] try to make it so that everything in their relationship is recognizable.

Do you have any advice for Niko on how to handle life from here?

Oh, run Niko, run!

Is there anywhere he can go and be safe?

I don’t know, I mean. His life is such a mess, and I don’t know where he goes next. He thought he was going somewhere safe when he went to Poland, god, but I do know that he’s not a quitter. He’s gonna try, and what shape that takes, I really don’t know.

It would be nice if he actually ended up being the last one standing, though.

Hahahaha! It would be nice, but I’m not sure that’s gonna happen.

BBC America’s ‘Killing Eve’ airs on Sundays at 9:00 PM EST with simulcasting on AMC.

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