Category: Trending

Fox Nation is getting into the (lady) movie business. After realizing that movies are the “unsung heroes” of streaming services, the right-wing platform is rolling out four films geared towards female Fox News fans. Think Lifetime movies, but everyone’s armed to the teeth, probably. According to a Fox Nation spokesperson, the filmmaking idea was sparked after the success of Duck Family Treasure, which for the record, isn’t a movie, but man, if it didn’t boost streaming views amongst women, somehow.

The first project to capitalize on this new strategy is an adaptation of the Nancy Neigle novel, The Shell Collector, which will apparently try to connect with the same audiences who watched the cast of Duck Dynasty look for buried treasure in real life. (No lie, that’s the premise of the show.) Via The Hollywood Reporter:

“I think first and foremost, we saw the success of film, and it fits into the whole idea of expanding into a lifestyle and entertainment service,” Klarman says, adding that by having direct control over the development process Fox can pick individual projects in genres that best fit with their strategy. And that strategy, at least with films, is about reaching female viewers.

“These films are definitely targeting the female Fox News fan, and we know that this is the kind of title [The Shell Collector] that will absolutely attract her, and creating unique originals that she can’t get anywhere else is certainly part of the strategy to drive growth,” Klarman says.

Will the same people who watched the Duck Dynasty family hunt for treasure actually watch a feature-length movie based on a book? Who knows? But hey, if that’s what Fox Nation says female Fox News viewers want, it’s their money.

The Shell Collector premieres September 1 on Fox Nation.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

Now that Megan Thee Stallion has released her second album, Traumazine, she argues she should be done with her record deal, according to new legal filings in her lawsuit against 1501 Certified Entertainment reported by Rolling Stone. Not only that, but she’s now also demanding $1 million in damages from the label after previously only asking for non-monetary relief.

Megan initially sued the label in February, asking the court to grant her a release from her contract with 1501, arguing that her 2021 release Something For Thee Hotties should count as her fourth obligated album. The label later countersued on the grounds that the compilation project was not made up of original recordings and couldn’t be considered an album under the terms of the contract. For what it’s worth, she’s now released seven projects under 1501 including her breakout EP Tina Snow and her official debut album Good News.

Meg’s amended suit maintains that 1501 has not paid her share of royalties from her music. Furthermore, she’s also accusing the label of leaking Traumazine, forcing her to release the album early. She says she’s hired forensic investigators to get to the bottom of the leak. Meanwhile, 1501 founder Carl Crawford has asserted his own view that Megan has yet to share percentages of profits from touring and merchandise, which he says their contract entitles him to.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

For MyPillow Man Mike Lindell, a “moment” lasts approximately 48 hours. Over the weekend, the unhinged pillow magnate hosted the Moment of Truth Summit, which he promoted as an “historical” two-day event where no conspiracy theory was too bonkers to share (no, Lindell didn’t say that last part). Among the many planned events, was something called “The Trial of the Machines,” where Lindell presumably argued with a bunch of inanimate objects that could not respond to his inanity.

While it was Lindell who did most of the talking, he also welcomed plenty of MAGA ride-or-dies to the stage, including Donald Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis, who claimed it was God who wanted to see her overturn a totally fair election in Trump’s favor and upend democracy as we know it; Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who doesn’t serve on any committees, so really had nothing better to do; and Steve Bannon, who hosted two special episodes of his podcast, The War Room, from the event.

While Bannon was consistently positive about the event and what it would reveal (spoiler: it didn’t reveal anything), even his guests couldn’t help but notice that they were surrounded by a truly, well, unique group of people. At one point, Liz Harrington — Trump’s official spokesperson — sat down with Bannon and commented on the crowd that had gathered.

“You can tell they’re innervated by what they’re finding and that they know they’re having an impact,” Bannon said of the attendees, while Harrington nodded in agreement. Then, in what was presumably meant to be a compliment, marveled at how “everyone’s from all these different walks of life, yet — I was telling someone last night, it’s almost like The Island of Misfit Toys.” (To save face, she noted that she included herself in that descriptor.)

As for the rest of the Summit, it seemed to be as action-packed as Lindell had promised:

Even with HBO Max crashing right out of the gate, House of the Dragon still managed to bring in record-breaking numbers and claim the throne as the “strongest digital premiere performance of any HBO episode.” The Game of Thrones prequel series also managed to take out Stranger Things 4, which had been dominating streaming (and music) charts for almost the entire summer.

According to new numbers from Samba, the House of the Dragon premiere brought in 2.6 million households during its first six hours. Stranger Things 4: Volume One only brought 1.2 million for its first day, which means the HBO series more than doubled the haul of the Hawkins crew during its debut. Via Deadline:

Ashwin Navin, Co-Founder & CEO, Samba TV beamed, “HBO has once again tapped into the magic of Game of Thrones with its spinoff series, House of the Dragon. Diehard GoT fans have been eagerly anticipating more from the franchise and they turned out in force for House of the Dragon, with the HBO program generating the biggest single day premium cable or streaming viewership premiere in 2022. More than doubling initial same-day viewership of Netflix’s Season 4 premiere of Stranger Things, the Game of Thrones prequel recaptured the fire of HBO’s original masterpiece in a big way.”

Of course, the big question is whether House of the Dragon can match the same momentum as Stranger Things 4, which picked up even more steam for its Volume Two premiere.

“Just as Stranger Things’ most recent Season 4, Volume Two drop surpassed its Volume One audience, HBO must look to innovative marketing that drives incremental audience growth to break through today’s saturated content marketplace,” Navin said.

Considering House of the Dragon lit up an entire apartment building three years after Game of Thrones went off the air, and quite disastrously some might say, it’s probably a safe bet that the show will continue to pick up speed with audiences. Unless something goes way south like one of the dragons starts talking about the power of a good story. In that case, run.

(Via Deadline)

Nicki Minaj’s latest single, “Super Freaky Girl” has debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making history along the way. While women in hip-hop have made a resurgence on the chart in the last couple of years, “Super Freaky Girl” is now the first song by a solo female rap act to debut at the top of the chart since 1998 when Lauryn Hill’s “Doo Wop (That Thing)” was released in limited quantities making the song eligible to appear on the chart after initially being released as a radio-only single two months earlier.

Meanwhile, Nicki helped push her own hit to the top of the charts by teasing it on Instagram a month before its release, then taking a fan poll when the title needed to be changed for copyright reasons. Finally, after the single’s release on August 12, she followed up less than a week later with the “Roman Remix” of the song, which added another verse, and juiced its streams at the 11th hour to get her all the way over the hill (and past Harry Styles, whose single “As It Was” held onto the top spot for 10 weeks prior).

“Super Freaky Girl” is now Nicki’s third No. 1 single after she cracked the seal with Doja Cat on “Say So” in 2020, then followed up with Tekashi 69 and “Trollz” later that year.

It’s been increasingly common for certain movies to get minor edits for clarity in other countries, and sometimes it’s a good thing, but the latest change in Minions: The Rise Of Gru took it a bit too far.

At the end of the family-friendly yellow monster movie (uh, spoilers), Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) and Wild Knuckles (voiced by none other than Alan Arkin) successfully avoid being captured by authorities by faking his death after robbing a bank and stealing the Mona Lisa, naturally. But that’s not how it ends in the international version, according to Reuters.

In China, the film added an addendum in which Wild Knuckles was actually caught and spent 20 years in jail, showing that no bad deed goes unpunished! The subtitles then suggested that Gru ended up being a good guy who raises a family instead of turning to crime.

Obviously, this doesn’t entirely align with the rest of the series, which portrays Gru as an evil guy with a ton of yellow minions following him everywhere, doing evil things. But he does have three cute daughters!

This isn’t the first time a movie has been altered for overseas audiences: earlier this year, Pixar’s Lightyear was banned in numerous countries because of its same-sex kiss. Unfortunately, it happens in America, too! The movie still shattered box office records and brought Gen Z to the movie theaters, so it seems like the little yellow guys will be okay.

Neil Gaiman fans should be peachy-keen pleased. We’ve received an ongoing The Sandman Audible production for the past few years, and now, the first season of the long-awaited Netflix show has turned out to be a streaming hit. The entire first batch of episodes is freaking gorgeous from both substantive and aesthetic viewpoints, and “The Sound Of Her Wings” turned out to be the most beautiful episode of TV so far this year.

The show’s also been sitting atop the Netflix Top 10 charts for over two weeks, and to celebrate, Gaiman announced a bonus episode that features a live-action “Calliope” installment, which is one of the most telling and hard-hitting issues (this is where I chuckle at how Marc Maron admitted that he used to view the comic as “journalism” during a drug-induced era) of the entire The Sandman comic. Did I mention that the show’s a worldwide streaming hit? As of late last week, a Netflix press release revealed that the show accrued “196.98 Million hours viewed since its debut” and sat atop 93 country charts. That includes Denmark, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Italy, and France.

Will we get a second season though? Maybe, and the official explanation from Neil Gaiman is pretty simple: The Sandman costs a lot of money, and Netflix (which isn’t as able to pour dollars into shows at the moment) isn’t ready to shell that out yet. “Because Sandman is a really expensive show,” Gaiman revealed. “And for Netflix to release the money to let us make another season we have to perform incredibly well. So yes, we’ve been the top show in the world for the last two weeks. That still may not be enough.”

Binge watching appears to help the cause, as Neil seems to suggest.

So there you have it: Netflix is looking at the binging numbers, and those hours add up. The Verge previously reported that completion rate matters a lot when it comes to renewal, so if The Sandman fans thought that parceling out episodes each week was a good strategy for renewal, well, that’s not the case. They might as well binge it all and watch it again (I highly recommend this tactic).

Speaking of fans, horror author Joe Hill (who knows quite a bit about seeing his work on the streaming screens) urged Gaiman devotees to heed the call. “[I]f you were thinking of giving #Sandman a try, don’t wait,” he tweeted. “To use a horrid industry term, engagement matters, especially immediate, overwhelming engagement. We can have 5 – 7 seasons of this, but only if you show Netflix you want it.”

The Sandman‘s full first season (with bonus episode) is currently streaming on Netflix.

You think sitting on a chair made of swords is tough? Try being on social media. Emily Carey, the 19-year-old actress who plays the younger version of Alicent Hightower on HBO’s House of the Dragon, quit Twitter after she got tired of hearing from toxic so-called “fans” over an innocuous comment she made at a recent convention.

“There were some gaps that we had to fill, so to figure it all out I sort of started journaling, and with the help of [co-showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik], I managed to come up with some form of backstory, and it proved to be very useful,” she said about playing the Hand’s daughter. “I’ve never had the freedom to create a whole human being like this before. It was so much fun being able to go so in depth with her.”

This, apparently, upset the worst A Song of Ice and Fire purists who were mad that Carey came up with her own backstory for her character, instead of only relying on George R.R. Martin’s original text. The “loud” backlash led the actress to bail on Twitter.

“I love social media. I’m 19, so I’m all on social media, and I’ve been on social media since I was a kid because I’ve worked since I was a kid so I’m very conscious of things… Any hate that comes in, it’s just… It’s a person behind a screen. You just have to move on from it,” Carey told news.com.au. “But I will say I did delete Twitter [after Comic-Con] because it’s just so loud. Even when it’s good, there’s so many and it’s so loud.” She loves the “buzz” of Twitter, “but sometimes it can be overwhelming.”

Here’s my advice for what we should do to Twitter:

This applies to a lot of social media, actually. Something to think about it.

(Via news.com.au)

This story originally appeared on 02.01.22

Last November, Upworthy published a popular story about Chloe Sexton, a mother who went viral on TikTok for a video she made explaining “daddy privilege” or the idea that fathers are applauded for doing things that mothers are supposed to do.

“In my opinion, ‘daddy privilege’ is that subtle upper hand men sidestep into as parents that allows them to gain praise for simply…being a parent,” she said. “You fed the baby? What a great dad! You held the baby while mommy bathed? So considerate of you! You picked up something for dinner? What would your family do without you?! It’s all the little ways mothers do exactly what the world expects of them without a second thought and then watch fathers get praised for simply showing up.”

Sadly, the post resonated with a lot of mothers, because it’s true. Expectations for fathers are so low that men are commended for handling basic parenting tasks. But if a mother falls short of perfection, she faces harsh criticism.

Mary Catherine Starr, a mother living in Cape Cod who owns a design studio and teaches yoga, is getting a lot of love on Instagram for her cartoon series that perfectly explains daddy privilege.

In “An Illustrated Guide to the Double Standards of Parenting,” Starr shares this concept by showing that when a man comes home with fast food for his kids he’s the “fun dad.” But if a mom comes back with a bag from McDonald’s she is seen as a “lazy mom.”

In the comics, the same double standards apply whether it’s how they handle technology or parent at the park.

(Note: Click the arrow on the right-hand side of the image to see the slideshow.)

See on Instagram

Starr was quick to point out in the comments that the target of her comics isn’t fathers, but society at large. “This is not a dig at dads, it’s a dig at our society—a society that applauds dads for handling the most basic of parenting duties + expects nothing short of perfection from mothers (or even worse, shames them for every decision and/or move they make!),” she wrote.

The comics resonated with a lot of women.

“This hit a nerve with so many women! I was a single mom living in an apartment,” an Instagram user named Saturdayfarm wrote in the comments. “Next door – a single dad. Neighbors felt so bad for him that they helped him with his laundry, brought over food, and babysat. For nothing. I just shakily carried on somehow. And I had so much less money and opportunities.”

“This is exactly part of the why I feel like being ‘just’ a mom isn’t as valuable. Being so run of the mill. But if my husband has the baby in a sling, the toddler in the pram and is out walking the dog, he’s superman for letting me have one hour for zoom work,” rebecca_lee-close_yoga wrote.

A father who understands his privilege completely supports Starr’s message.

“It actually annoys me when I get those types of comments / ‘compliments’ knowing it’s totally a double standard,” JonaJooey wrote.

Starr’s comics and Sexton’s TikTok videos won’t stop the double standards when it comes to parenting, but they do a great job at holding a mirror up to the problem. Where do we go from here? We can start by having greater expectations for fathers and holding them up to a higher standard. Then, we should take the energy we put into praising dads for doing the bare minimum and heap it on mothers who thanklessly go about the most important job in the world.

This article originally appeared on 01.31.22

Any parent knows that kids can be surprisingly astute little philosophers at the most unexpected times. One minute your child is throwing a tantrum because you sliced their sandwich wrong, and the next they are blowing you away with their deep preschool thoughts. It’s enough to give you whiplash, but it’s also one of the most fun things about being around kids. You never know what they’re going to say and sometimes what they say is just awesome.

Case in point: This 5-year-old who gave his mom some sage advice about handling her nerves.

Twitter user @Eprecipice (StressieBessie) shared the story in a tweet thread. She wrote:

“When talking about our agendas for the day, I told my 5yo I was a little nervous about a meeting I have today. He said, ‘Mama, I am nervous all the time. I know what to do.’ So friends, here is all the advice he could fit into the drive to school:”

When talking about our agendas for the day, I told my 5yo I was a little nervous about a meeting I have today. He said, u201cMama, I am nervous all the time. I know what to do.u201d So friends, here is all the advice he could fit into the drive to school:

— StressieBessie (@StressieBessie)
1643118594

1. “You gotta say your affirmations in your mouth and your heart. You say, ‘I am brave of this meeting!’ , ‘I am loved!’, ‘I smell good!’ And you can say five or three or ten until you know it.”

Okay, first of all, the fact that this kiddo knows what affirmations are is awesome. Some people have questioned whether this advice really came from a 5-year-old because of the vocabulary, but kids are sponges and affirmations aren’t rocket science. It’s become quite common for preschools and kindergartens to teach kids things like this, so it’s not actually surprising to hear him talk about affirmations. It’s just adorable to hear the ones he suggests.

2. u201cYou gotta walk big. You gotta mean it. Like Dolly on a dinosaur. Because you got it.u201d

— StressieBessie (@StressieBessie)
1643118788

2. “You gotta walk big. You gotta mean it. Like Dolly on a dinosaur. Because you got it.”

Okay, so this actually is sound advice. Researcher Amy Cuddy gave a whole TED Talk about how our minds respond to our own body language, and how using confident body language can actually release chemicals in our brains that make us feel more powerful and self-assured. So “walk big” like you mean it is legit.

4. u201cThink about the donuts of your day! Even if you cry a little, you can think about potato chips!u201d

— StressieBessie (@StressieBessie)
1643118922

3. “Never put a skunk on a bus.”

No idea what this means, but it’s definitely solid wisdom.

4. “Think about the donuts of your day! Even if you cry a little, you can think about potato chips!”

I’m genuinely not sure if this is referencing real donuts or not, which is part of what makes it delightful advice. Metaphorically, “the donuts of your day” could be the positive things that happened, and focusing on those instead of the negative is basic positive thinking. Then again, if you cry and think about potato chips, perhaps he’s just referencing comfort with food. Either way, totally feeling it.

6. u201cEven if itu2019s a yucky day, you can get a hug.u201d

— StressieBessie (@StressieBessie)
1643119356

5. “You gotta take a deep breath and you gotta do it again.”

Pretty much every therapist from every psychological school of thought will tell you that breathing exercises are one of the quickest ways to calm your body and mind. Simple, but seriously sound advice.

6. “Even if it’s a yucky day, you can get a hug.”

Even though that sounds like a pretty typical thought for a kid, it’s also good well-being advice. According to The Conversation, the chemicals released when we hug can help us manage stress, reduce anxiety and manage our emotions.

Smart kid.

He added one more piece of advice for good measure as well for those of us who tend toward distraction.

Extra addition from this afternoon: u201cDonu2019t get distracted and your feet will stay on the sidewalk and not too full of snow.u201d

— StressieBessie (@StressieBessie)
1643147180

Like a little Confucius, this one.

Seriously, if you ever want to hear some of the most oddly profound things you’ll ever hear in your life, spend some time interviewing a 4- or 5-year-old. They really do say the darnedest things. And if you’re nervous about something, just keep telling yourself you’re “brave of” it. If nothing else, it’ll bring a smile to your face remembering this delightful thread.