This year is the 50th anniversary of William Friedkin’s The Exorcist, one of the handful of films that could be considered the scariest movie of all-time. The occasion will be marked with pea soup cocktails (pink is out; green is in), as well as the release of The Exorcist: Believer.
Like 2018’s Halloween, it’s a direct sequel to the first film in the franchise starring an original cast member (Ellen Burstyn, reprising her role as Chris MacNeil) that’s directed by David Gordon Green. This time, instead of one demon girl, there’s two demon girls. Will any podcasters get possessed by Pazuzu? Here’s hoping! You can watch the trailer above.
Here’s more:
Since the death of his pregnant wife in a Haitian earthquake 12 years ago, Victor Fielding has raised their daughter, Angela on his own. But when Angela and her friend Katherine, disappear in the woods, only to return three days later with no memory of what happened to them, it unleashes a chain of events that will force Victor to confront the nadir of evil and, in his terror and desperation, seek out the only person alive who has witnessed anything like it before: Chris MacNeil.
The Exorcist: Believer, which also stars Leslie Odom Jr., Ann Dowd, Jennifer Nettles, Norbert Leo Butz, Lidya Jewett, and Olivia Marcum, opens in theaters on October 13th.
No one seems to be sure what Elon Musk is doing over at Twitter. Rather than improve his latest toy/social media platform amid its many ongoing hiccups, he decided to proceed with a seemingly overnight rebranding. Twitter is apparently now “X,” a decision that doesn’t appear to have been planned out too well in spite of his ongoing obsession with the letters, and when Piers Morgan is cheering for something, you know that it’s worth reexamining. That’s especially the case since future cage-fighting rival Mark Zuckerberg is one of many who already claim some form of copyright registration for “X.”
Among the many ongoing jokes of this debacle, now Sesame Street has gotten involved with shading the Twitter/X CEO: “The letter X will be holding a press conference later today.”
Oscar the Grouch does not appear to be impressed by this hot mess at all: “If you are thinking of doing this next to my trash can you can X-out that idea!”
If you are thinking of doing this next to my trash can you can X-out that idea! https://t.co/iYkmPyB4Cv
Oscar knows of what he speaks. There’s no telling whether Elon will (again) try to pry “Twitter” off the side of the building after a permit screw up, but yeah, he probably will go there.
As difficult as it may be to believe, Post Malone is four albums deep into his artistry, with another one on the way. The rapper’s forthcoming project, Austin, will hit streaming platforms at the end of the week. Through a series of social media posts, Malone promised that this release is not going to be like anything fans have heard thus far from him, as he’s a completely different person than when he entered the industry.
In a note uploaded to Instagram, the musician shared a note to fans about the project. “This whole deal has been one of the most challenging, rewarding, and exciting records I’ve worked on. I feel it captures who I am as a man and as an artist in this moment. thank y’all so much for your patience, and thank you for being there with me in my hardest times. I love y’all so much,” penned Malone.
Here’s everything we know so far.
Release Date
Austin is out 7/28 via Mercury Records/Republic Records. Find more information here.
Tracklist
1. “Don’t Understand”
2. “Something Real”
3. “Chemical”
4. “Novacandy”
5. “Mourning”
6. “Too Cool To Die”
7. “Sign Me Up”
8. “Socialite”
9. “Overdrive”
10. “Speedometer”
11. “Hold My Breath”
12. “Enough Is Enough”
13. “Texas Tea”
14. “Buyer Beware”
15. “Landmine”
16. “Green Thumb”
17. “Laugh It Off”
Singles
Prior to the project’s release, Malone has shared a total of three singles, “Mourning,” “Overdrive,” and “Chemical.” With Austin slated to drop this Friday (July 28), it is assumed that Post Malone will not share any more singles until after its release. With each of the records, Malone played a big part in terms of production, with additional support from Andrew Watt, Louis Bell, Max Martin, and Rami Yacoub.
Artwork
A major theme of Post Malone’s album, Austin, is finding pockets of peace in his, at times, chaotic professional life. The project’s official artwork is a reflection of that as the entertainer enjoys a tranquil poolside moment.
Tour
Post Malone didn’t wait for the album’s release to hit the road. Malone’s If Y’all Weren’t Here I’d Be Crying Tour kicked off earlier this month. View the remaining tour dates below. It is not clear whether Post Malone will extend the tour any further.
07/26 — Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
07/29 — Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion
07/31 — West Palm Beach, FL @ iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
08/01 — Tampa, FL @ MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
08/03 — Atlanta, GA @ Lakewood Amphitheatre
08/05 — Dallas, TX @ Dos Equis Pavilion
08/08 — Houston, TX @ The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
08/10 — Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Amphitheater
08/12 — Phoenix, AZ @ Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
08/13 — San Diego, CA @ North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
08/15 — Wheatland, CA @ Toyota Amphitheatre
08/16 — Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
08/19 — San Bernardino, CA @ Glen Helen Amphitheater
A couple of years back, Ice Cube shared some of his storytelling inspirations with Uproxx for People’s Party With Talib Kweli. He popped back into Uproxx Studios in LA recently, this time, to sit down with Just Blaze and Katty Customs for Fresh Pair, and once again talked storytelling in hip-hop. This time around, he shared his five favorite narrative rap songs, which he called “the best hip-hop ever.”
Of course, Ice Cube himself wrote what has long been considered to be one of hip-hop’s top storytelling raps in his 1992 hit single “It Was A Good Day.” The second single from his third solo album, The Predator, “It Was A Good Day” peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and has been the subject of a running joke in internet culture of people trying to determine just which day Cube describes in the song (he maintains he had no particular day in mind, but that hasn’t stopped online sleuths from trying). It was also recently reproduced by Logic, drawing mixed reactions from fans — although the original artist liked it.
Somehow, Cube’s list of the best five storytelling songs does not include his own rap staple, but does have some old-school classics. Among them: Timeless, foundational hip-hop hits from Slick Rick, Dana Dane, Boogie Down Productions, and at least one left field take (it’s not really much of a story, after all).
You can find out which songs Ice Cube picked in the preview clip above; the full episode drops Wednesday, 7/26 at 3pmET / 12pmPT.
And a lot of those theories are bad — intentionally so.
On the Stranger Things subreddit, user Tiutautikli asked, “What would be the worst possible ending for Stranger Things 5?” For them, it would be “they use tropes that are way too overused and boring. Like Will sacrificing himself and then in the epilogue Mike and El have a son that they name after Will.” If Stranger Things has a Harry Potter-ass ending, it should never comes back.
Others shared their worst-case scenario predictions:
The whole series was a D&D game played by Wills friends in his memory after his passing.
El and Mike use the power of friendship to send Vecna back to the Upside Down.
Eleven dies/ loses her powers forever.
It was all a dream.
Will dies (“bury your gays” trope) while all the straight characters live happily ever after.
Along with the things that others have said, I’d hate to see a time travel story where they fix their problems by going back in time and changing their history so the events of the series never happened.
But the most upvoted terrible ending belongs to Sweetbeans2001:
You really want the worst possible ending? Vecna possesses Will without anyone’s knowledge. Will spends all season 5 picking off the others one-by-one like a bad 80’s slasher movie, starting with Jonathan and Joyce.
Only Will, Mike, and El are left in the final episode. All of Hawkins had been consumed by the upside down. El figures out that Will is possessed and knows she has to kill Will in order to kill Vecna. She struggles to find the courage and strength to attack Will. Mike encourages her to do so in order to save the world. She is heartbroken and crying when she kills Will.
Immediately, the scene brightens and the surroundings start coming back to life. Mike embraces El in a hug, whispers to her that he is Vecna and stabs her in the back. She dies with her eyes open showing despair and betrayal. Vecna returns Mike to normal long enough to show him the vision of what he did to El. He is then horribly killed Chrissy-style.
The final scene is Max waking up from her coma, still blind and crippled, calling out the names of everyone (starting with Lucas) while the hospital and all of Hawkins outside of her window are turned back into the upside down.
Honestly? I don’t hate it. Someone should pitch it at Horror Nights.
Despite right-wing outrage merchants like Ben Shapiro completely melting down over the Barbie movie’s fun-filled skewering of the patriarchy, the Greta Gerwig film lit box offices on fire all across the country — even in red states. There’s no denying that Barbie is a cinematic phenomenon, and the ladies of The View had a field day skewering the Ben Shapiros of the world who couldn’t stop the pop culture juggernaut.
Never one to tolerate nonsense, Whoopi Goldberg wasn’t having Shapiro’s complaints that the Barbie movie is “angry, feminist claptrap that alienates men from women, undermines basic human values and promotes falsehood all at the same time.”
“It’s a movie. It’s a movie about a doll. I thought y’all would be happy. She has no genitalia, so there’s no sex involved, Ken has no genitalia so he can’t [either]. It’s a doll movie,” the 67-year-old said on Tuesday’s live broadcast. “The kids know it’s colorful and it’s Barbie, they haven’t lived through what the adults have lived through, so when they’re seeing this movie, that’s not how they’re looking at it. The kids are looking at it as a Barbie movie.”
Goldberg then challenged these quote-unquote conservative manly men to look their daughters in the eye and repeat the talking points they’ve been spewing.
“You guys, I want you all to tell your daughters why you’re not taking them to see the Barbie movie,” Goldberg said. “I want you to explain to them what’s wrong with Barbie.”
Of course, it wasn’t long before Joy Behar slipped in a Matt Gaetz joke. The conservative congressman took his wife Ginger Gaetz to a promotional screening where she criticized the film for giving Ryan Gosling’s Ken “disappointingly low T.”
“I read that Matt Gaetz complained about Barbie,” Behar quipped. “But it’s rated PG-13. Seems like his crowd.”
After getting in some more laughs at Shapiro, Goldberg wrapped up the segment by encouraging The View audience to see Barbie.
“It’s not meant to do anything but give you a good time,” Goldberg said. “Go see the movie.”
According to Newsweek, Lake doesn’t have much support amongst voters in her home state, and what she does have isn’t nearly enough to justify a Senate bid — something the right-wing firebrand has been contemplating since her 2022 midterm loss. Of course, Lake is still arguing that she actually won the race for governor that took place nearly a year ago, fighting to have the election results overturned in court. But, should she ever give up and admit defeat, many political pundits have predicted she’ll turn her sights to Washington D.C. and, with Trump’s backing, they assumed her senate campaign would be a slam dunk.
Now it seems the woman Trump reportedly dubbed a “spotlight hound” isn’t as beloved by the MAGA crowd as she thought. A poll of 1,000 registered voters showed that 51% of voters in Arizona hold a “very” or “somewhat” unfavorable opinion of Lake. The Republican candidate is also viewed unfavorably by 51% of independent voters, a key demo she’ll need to win in order to compete against current Senator Kyrsten Sinema and her Democratic challenger Ruben Gallego. Lake said she was considering a senate run earlier this month claiming she had, “a lot of options on the table,” but these new poll numbers show she’ll have a steep climb to keep up with her running mates. New data published earlier this year shows that Lake would lose to Gallego, possibly trailing him by double-digits, should she run as a Republican in the race.
Ten years ago, we had the “c*nt punch” sorority girl. Now, it’s the “queen of chaos.”
Rayanna Brock, a former student at Eastern Kentucky University and Western Kentucky University (she was reportedly expelled from both) and member of the “Kentucky Chicks” sorority, recently went viral after appearing on the “mugshawtys” Instagram account. She’s been arrested 11 times, and in most of the mugshots, she’s seen smiling. Brock has leaned into the nickname, but she’s also ready to retire that side of her personality.
“I think why I smiled is, honestly, because I was just high, and I just really didn’t care about anything,” she told The Messenger about her viral mugshots.
Brock became homeless when she was a teenager following the death of her grandparents. “I couldn’t even make it to school half the time,” she said. “I had no way to get to school. Where I was living was so far that the buses didn’t reach the house, and I didn’t know where I was staying half the time.”
Despite the challenges, Brock was accepted into college, but she was expelled not once (after being caught with LSD), not twice, but thrice. “In just the five years since she turned 18, Brock had been arrested on multiple charges, including probation violations, stalking, harassment, shoplifting, wanton endangerment, and evading police,” according to The Messenger.
Today, Brock says she is off drugs and has turned her life around after finding a support system in her boyfriend, stepfather, and other friends who can relate to her struggles… Her dream is to return to school, and she hopes to pay things forward by becoming a counselor for drug-adducted youth — while discovering more about herself along the way.
Brock will tell her story on her TikTok called, what else, The Queen of Chaos.
Ten years ago, we had the “c*nt punch” sorority girl. Now, it’s the “queen of chaos.”
Rayanna Brock, a former student at Eastern Kentucky University and Western Kentucky University (she was reportedly expelled from both) and member of the “Kentucky Chicks” sorority, recently went viral after appearing on the “mugshawtys” Instagram account. She’s been arrested 11 times, and in most of the mugshots, she’s seen smiling. Brock has leaned into the nickname, but she’s also ready to retire that side of her personality.
“I think why I smiled is, honestly, because I was just high, and I just really didn’t care about anything,” she told The Messenger about her viral mugshots.
Brock became homeless when she was a teenager following the death of her grandparents. “I couldn’t even make it to school half the time,” she said. “I had no way to get to school. Where I was living was so far that the buses didn’t reach the house, and I didn’t know where I was staying half the time.”
Despite the challenges, Brock was accepted into college, but she was expelled not once (after being caught with LSD), not twice, but thrice. “In just the five years since she turned 18, Brock had been arrested on multiple charges, including probation violations, stalking, harassment, shoplifting, wanton endangerment, and evading police,” according to The Messenger.
Today, Brock says she is off drugs and has turned her life around after finding a support system in her boyfriend, stepfather, and other friends who can relate to her struggles… Her dream is to return to school, and she hopes to pay things forward by becoming a counselor for drug-adducted youth — while discovering more about herself along the way.
Brock will tell her story on her TikTok called, what else, The Queen of Chaos.
Straight-up delicious. A tried and true classic that never gets old. Especially on a scorching hot summer’s day.
We’ve already blind taste-tested chocolate ice creams, but that list was short (and sweet). This year, we decided to widen the net in order to make sure we have the stone-cold champ. You’re going to need at least one of these stocked in your freezer all summer long, here are our favorites from least essential to most.
A flat chocolate taste that comes across as natural and bitter, but not very sweet. The consistency is a bit too slushy, Halo Top has made attempts to make its ice cream creamier, but I think it still needs a bit more work. It lacks that luxurious creaminess you expect out of, you know, ice cream.
Halo Top is a health-conscious ice cream, an entire pint is only 300 calories and the brand has something like 63% less sugar than your typical pint with 18 grams of protein. If you’re watching your calories and cutting your sugar you might be tempted to grab a pint of this but… maybe think about not doing that though unless you like being disappointed. Just have less regular ice cream instead.
The Bottom Line:
It’s a chocolate ice cream that sacrifices flavor for a lower calorie count and less sugar. And trust us, you taste the compromise.
Icey and watery, lacking a strong chocolate flavor. The cocoa is there but it comes across as super diluted.
In my blind taste test of chocolate ice creams two years ago, I was a bit too harsh on this brand, writing “Chocolate Paradise? More like Chocolate Sh*t.” I, for the record, don’t think this taste like chocolate sh*t. That said, it’s the sort of chocolate ice cream that might lead you to believe the flavor is boring and unimaginative.
The Bottom Line:
A fine but unremarkable chocolate ice cream that isn’t nearly as chocolatey as something called “chocolate paradise” ought to be.
Here is my issue with Halo Top, it takes a beloved well-established flavor (chocolate) and tries to make it health-conscious, which is why it can’t live up to expectations. Nubocha is also a health-conscious ice cream at 250 calories per pint, low in sugar, and dairy-free, but it approaches chocolate from a different lane. And it works!
It has a distinct earthy Mexican chocolate flavor to it with hints of banana and citrus — offering a fruity and tropical spin on chocolate.
The Bottom Line:
A low-calorie dairy-free gelato that doesn’t taste like a compromise but be warned, this isn’t straight chocolate either. It has a tropical and fruity quality that tastes unlike anything else on the market.
12. So Delicious — Dairy Free Dark Chocolate Truffle Cashewmilk
A mix of rich cacao and nutty cashew flavors with small granules of chocolate similar to the texture of vanilla bean ice cream. I’m not the main audience for Dairy-Free ice cream, I love dairy, but So Delicious delivers an ice cream that doesn’t feel like it’s compromising, despite its lack of milk.
The Bottom Line:
A great ice cream with a wonderful flavor and a nice creamy texture that just happens to be dairy free.
There is something muted about Blue Bunny. The chocolate notes are there but I feel like the flavor takes a bit too long to actually read as chocolate on my palate and there is a certain oily quality to it that sort of mutes the creamy flavors. Just generally a “lab-created” vibe to the proceedings.
The consistency is very soft, which is nice, but it strikes me as cheap ice cream masquerading as something more premium thanks to its branding. The ingredients include dairy product solids, coconut oil, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, and a whole bunch of gums. I don’t know for a fact that’s why it tastes diluted and oily, but something about the flavors made me check the nutrition facts in the first place, so… that’s not great!
The Bottom Line:
It looks nicer, scoops better, and has a soft consistency that might lead you to believe it’s better than it is, but the flavor just isn’t there. And the chemicals are.
A sweet and creamy milk chocolate flavor that is similar to what you’d find in a standard chocolate bar (higher than Hershey quality of course). It’s focused and simple, but a bit icier than I want it to be.
It lacks rich creaminess, but the flavor is on point if you like milkier less cacao-focused chocolate.
The Bottom Line:
A good solid mid-tier ice cream brand for those who like the flavor of milk chocolate.
Don’t overlook Dreyer’s (or Edy’s if you’re an East coaster). I know it’s cheaper than more popular brands like Breyers of Blue Bunny, but this chocolate ice cream is simple and delicious. There is a pleasant sweet chocolate flavor here with a nice thick creamy consistency.
The recipe is solid, just skim milk, cream, sugar, and cocoa, meaning it doesn’t rely on corn syrup to get its sweetness like some of the other affordable brands.
The Bottom Line:
One of the best budget ice creams out there — Dreyer’s punches above its weight.
A light cocoa flavor dominates here, a bit like milk chocolate with a weirdly chalky — but pleasant — consistency. I love the flavor, but it tends to stain the palate longer than I’d like. If it didn’t have that lingering aftertaste, I’d rank this one higher.
Favorite Day is Target’s in-store brand which might lead you to write this ice cream off as lesser than the more expensive brands. That would be a mistake.
This one was a bit hard for me to rank because I absolutely love Tillamook’s Rocky Road and Mudslide flavors, which are technically chocolate but elevated with other ingredients, so including them felt like we were cheating.
That made this ice cream come across like it was missing something. The base chocolate flavor is really good, with strong cocoa flavors leaning a bit on the darker side with just a hint of creamy milk flavors. It’s deeper than milk chocolate, but not quite dark chocolate.
The Bottom Line:
A rich and indulgent chocolate ice cream. It’s delicious, but Tillamook makes a few other alternatives that utilize the chocolate flavor a bit better. We recommend those.
There is something gourmet about the way Turkey Hill’s Belgian Style Chocolate ice cream tastes. It’s rich and velvety with a deep natural cocoa flavor and a nice slightly bitter coffee-like aftertaste.
Turkey Hill’s strength is in its ingredient sourcing, the milk in this ice cream is from cows local to Turkey Hill’s Conestoga, PA facility and follows a simple recipe of milk, cream, sugar, cocoa, and real Belgian chocolate.
The Bottom Line:
A chocolate ice cream that tastes distinctively different from the competition. It’s very rich and has that heavy fudge flavor that is typical of Belgian chocolate.
VanLeeuwen is one of the only brands we sampled that truly captures the dark fruit qualities of actual chocolate, and for that, we love the brand. This simple Chocolate ice cream is rich, fruity, and has a deep dark chocolate flavor that frankly, isn’t for everyone.
If you like milk chocolate, this brand may come across as too intense.
The Bottom Line:
Great texture, and rich and subtle fruity flavors, VanLeeuwen is a brand for people who want their chocolate ice cream to lean heavier on the natural chocolate side than the cream.
A balance of slightly earthy bitter chocolate notes and sweet milky cream. This ice cream has a great soft texture that melts into the tongue with rich milky flavors. You’ve no doubt seen Breyers in your freezer aisle, this is one of the most prominent ice cream brands in the grocery store, and that’s for good reason.
It is a bit pricier than some of the other cartons out there, but you get nothing but quality here — from the ingredients to the flavor.
The Bottom Line:
Breyers might not be as romantic a choice as some of the more obscure high-end brands, but it holds its own against the best of ‘em. It might not be your favorite, but you won’t be disappointed with Breyers.
Very rich, dense, and creamy. The cocoa flavors here are very prominent and hit you right away. It doesn’t have that natural slightly bitter or fruity flavor you get from real chocolate, but it has an addicting fudgy sweetness to it.
Häagen-Dazs lives up to the hype but it’s not just the flavor that’s a winner, the consistency is super dense, a single scoop of this stuff somehow feels like more ice cream than most of the competition.
The Bottom Line:
Truly one of the greatest straight chocolate ice creams you will ever eat. Especially if you’re a milk chocolate fan.
I mentioned that VanLeeuwen’s Chocolate might come across as too intense for people who are more into milk chocolate than dark chocolate, but that’s because the brand advertises the flavor as simply “chocolate.” If you’re actually looking for an ice cream that provides deep dark chocolate flavors, Jeni’s Darkest Chocolate is the perfect choice.
This ice cream has a super indulgent strong fudge flavor, with a smooth texture that is a true joy to let melt against your tongue. There is a lot to savor in every spoonful and it stands as one of the best chocolate ice creams I’ve ever had, scoop shops included.
The Bottom Line:
Deep, dark, and super fudge-heavy. This is an ice cream for true chocolate lovers, if you prefer milk chocolate, this will taste far too intense for you.
Absolute ecstasy on the tongue. McConnell’s Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate isn’t just the best-tasting chocolate ice cream I’ve ever had, it’s the most chocolatey. The flavor hits you in waves, first with an intense bitter-sweet natural chocolate flavor, once you get a sense of the flavor it quickly shifts gears into a rich fudge before finishing milky with subtle notes of vanilla and coffee.
It’s a true journey of flavors that once you have a spoonful of you’ll instantly love, whether you’re a milk chocolate or dark chocolate fan. That name isn’t an obscure Brady Bunch reference either — checking the ingredients, McConnell’s actually uses three different forms of chocolate, Guittard baking Cocoa, a melted chocolate chip swirl, and Guittard bittersweet chocolate.
The Bottom Line:
Simply the best chocolate ice cream on the market today. It’s so far in first that it actually makes our top five feel like a disappointment in comparison. Be warned, once you have McConnell’s, chocolate ice cream will never taste the same.
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