Finally, Charlize Theron is portraying a butt-kicking mercenary (just like fellow A-listers Ryan Reynolds and Chris Hemsworth) on Netflix. The Mad Max: Fury Road (but not Furiosa prequel) star is officially back in action mode in The Old Guard. As this trailer showcases, Theron portrays Andy, the leader of a covert mercenary group who — and this is actually in the synopsis — possess “a mysterious inability to die.” What a roundabout, cryptic way of stressing their immortality, and I love it. This movie will land on Netflix in July, while we’re all hungry for action blockbusters and gorging on microwave popcorn, and the trailer highlights all the butt-kicking that one would ever want from a Charlize Theron action tentpole.

Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball, Beyond The Lights) directs the project, which is based upon Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernandez’s comic book of the same name. The film will follow the unkillable Old Guard group, who generally manage to fly under the radar, but a mission goes wrong, and they might be exposed to the world, and I think we all can guess where this is going to go, and that does not matter in the slightest. Theron’s co-stars include Chiwetel Ejiofor, KiKi Layne, Matthias Schoenaerts, Luca Marinelli, and Marwan Kenzari, and here’s the synopsis:

Led by a warrior named Andy (Charlize Theron), a covert group of tight-knit mercenaries with a mysterious inability to die have fought to protect the mortal world for centuries. But when the team is recruited to take on an emergency mission and their extraordinary abilities are suddenly exposed, it’s up to Andy and Nile (KiKi Layne), the newest soldier to join their ranks, to help the group eliminate the threat of those who seek to replicate and monetize their power by any means necessary. Based on the acclaimed graphic novel by Greg Rucka and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, THE OLD GUARD is a gritty, grounded, action-packed story that shows living forever is harder than it looks.

The Old Guard arrives on July 10. Here’s a fresh poster as well.

Actress Lori Loughlin, along with her fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli, have agreed to a plea deal for their involvement in the college admissions scandal.

The Full House star will be charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, while Giannulli intends to “plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and honest services wire and mail fraud,” according to the Justice Department. She will serve two months in prison, pay a $150,000 fine (there goes one month of Full House residuals, unless she asks the judge to “have mercy”), and two years of supervised release with 100 hours of community service; his punishment is slightly steeper, with five months in prison, a $250,000 fine, and 250 hours of community service. Both sentences are subject to the court’s approval.

“Under the plea agreements filed today, these defendants will serve prison terms reflecting their respective roles in a conspiracy to corrupt the college admissions process and which are consistent with prior sentences in this case. We will continue to pursue accountability for undermining the integrity of college admissions,” said attorney Andrew E. Lelling. The couple will enter their guilty pleas on Friday via video conference

(Via Justice.gov)

While creating How I’m Feeling Now, Charli XCX detailed the highs and lows she felt during the process. She is continuing her trend of transparency even after the record is out, as she has revealed that since How I’m Feeling Now dropped, she hasn’t been in the best place.

In a lengthy Instagram post, Charli XCX begins, “since releasing my album last week i’ve been in quite a fragile state. i suppose i was so caught up in making and releasing this album, a process that more often than not takes months, sometimes years to complete, that i really ignored my mental health and emotional needs. ignored is maybe not the right word, perhaps pushed aside is a better phrase.”

She goes on to say that she feels “very lost, overwhelmed and fragile,” and that it seems she is “unable to cope with even the most minuscule tasks without crumbling into panic or tears.” She also notes, “somehow, after a soaring high, i always seem to end up in an excruciatingly low place – this is something i’m really trying to work on.”

Charli then shared the reason for her emotional update, writing, “i’m updating you on how i’m feeling because i want to be open and honest with you and i want to let you know that if you’re feeling emotionally volatile or a bit lost and confused right now – it’s ok. it happens to everyone and you should not feel weak or guilty or wrong, and you should definitely not start comparing yourself to others. […] this process has brought me closer to you guys than ever before, and it’s also begun to show me the importance of really listening to myself and my needs without letting guilt get the better of me. i am extremely grateful for both of these things.”

Read Charli’s full post below.

“since releasing my album last week i’ve been in quite a fragile state. i suppose i was so caught up in making and releasing this album, a process that more often than not takes months, sometimes years to complete, that i really ignored my mental health and emotional needs. ignored is maybe not the right word, perhaps pushed aside is a better phrase. i was so focused on pushing myself, finishing my work and distracting myself from the actuality of the current state of the world that now i’ve come out the other side i feel very lost, overwhelmed and fragile. it seems i am unable to cope with even the most minuscule tasks without crumbling into panic or tears and i constantly doubt myself and my purpose. i think it’s hit me so hard at this point in time because i have just let go of this body of work that was created in such an intense and emotional way, more so than anything i’ve ever made before. i feel like i’m left staring out into the abyss thinking, what was the point? do enough people care? why do i always want more? somehow, after a soaring high, i always seem to end up in an excruciatingly low place – this is something i’m really trying to work on. i’m updating you on how i’m feeling because i want to be open and honest with you and i want to let you know that if you’re feeling emotionally volatile or a bit lost and confused right now – it’s ok. it happens to everyone and you should not feel weak or guilty or wrong, and you should definitely not start comparing yourself to others. i’ve done all of the above, when really all i needed to do was forgive myself and take a day to be calm and breathe and relax: that’s what i’m doing today. call your friends, read a book, open the window, watch your favorite film, eat yummy food, dance around, do what you want – just don’t put pressure on yourself. this process has brought me closer to you guys than ever before, and it’s also begun to show me the importance of really listening to myself and my needs without letting guilt get the better of me. i am extremely grateful for both of these things <3 thank you for everything <3.”

Charli XCX is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

This past weekend marked the one-year anniversary of Carly Rae Jepsen’s latest full-length album, Dedicated. Today, she has celebrated in a big way, by releasing Dedicated Side B, a companion release featuring songs that weren’t included on Dedicated.

Jepsen put out a similar release to accompany Emotion, but while Emotion Side B was an EP that lasted under a half hour, Dedicated Side B is actually slightly longer than Dedicated, as its 12 tracks run for about 43 minutes.

Sharing the news today, Jepsen wrote, “So yes there have been whispers and I’m bad at keeping secrets. Side B for DEDICATED is out now babies and I couldn’t be more thrilled to share these tunes. I hope it makes yah dance your pants off! Thank you for all the joy you shared with me on this last year of touring. I owe yah one…or like two albums turns out. 😉 For the record, I love all of you.” She also captioned the post, “New tunes for your blues. If this helps in any small way – I’m relieved. Sending you all my love and sharing dis damn side B I’ve been storing in my cheeks.”

This release comes after not much of an advanced heads up. She teased it yesterday with a video that all but confirmed the album, but did not indicate when it would drop.

Stream Dedicated Side B below.

Dedicated Side B is out now via Interscope. Get it here.

Now that we know the “Snyder cut” of Justice League is real, or will be once Warner Bros. drops another “$20-30 million” for director Zack Snyder to, I dunno, get Jason Momoa to say “my man” a few more times, Twitter has been crowded with suggestions for alternate “cuts.” Most of them, like Game of Thrones or the infamous “butthole cut” of Cats, are jokes, but the #ReleaseTheAyerCut folks aren’t kidding around. How ironic.

Around the same time that HBO Max announced that the “real” Justice League will be hitting the streaming service in 2021, Suicide Squad director David Ayer tweeted, “Mr. J’s version of the beginning,” along with a photo of… something (it’s pseudo-religious scribblings interrupted by the occasional “HA!”), and a nightmarish GIF of Jared Leto’s Joker. “I AM DIFFERENT FUCK YOUR OPINION,” it reads in flashing text. Twisted.

Ayer’s tweets, along with his candidness over how much reshoots altered his vision (“Diablo survived originally, Harley and Deadshot hooked up as a couple. This was changed during reshoots,” he recently tweeted), has led to #ReleaseTheAyerCut to trend on social media. “Suicide Squad always was a prequel to Justice League,” a typical tweet goes, “so might as well make mine a double @hbomax and #ReleaseTheAyerCut,” goes a typical tweet. Or another: “Let’s open the Conversation about David Ayer Suicide Squad version. Let’s do it. Also Ayer cut is more complete than Snyder Cut, This baby is ready to go #ReleaseTheAyerCut.” This about sums it up:

Other reactions are more enthusiastic:

If Jared Leto tweets “#ReleaseTheAyerCut,” may god have mercy on us all. (Luckily, he won’t, because he’s probably on another silent meditation retreat in the desert.)

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Women have dominated the charts over the past couple weeks, with songs by Ariana Grande, Doja Cat, Nicki Minaj, Megan Thee Stallion, and Beyonce all reaching the top of the Hot 100 or coming very close to it. This has prompted some words from Lana Del Rey, who hopes the success of these women can free her from some of the criticisms her music has faced.

In a lengthy Instagram post, Del Rey writes, “Im fed up with female writers and alt singers saying that I glamorize abuse when in reality I’m just a glamorous person singing about the realities of what we are all now seeing are very prevalent emotionally abuse relationships all over the world.”

She goes on to expand upon that point, and at the very end of her post, she reveals that her next album will be released on September 5.

Find Del Rey’s full post below.

“Question for the culture:

Now that Doja Cat, Ariana, Camila, Cardi B, Kehlani and Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé have had number ones with songs about being sexy, wearing no clothes, f*cking, cheating etc – can I please go back to singing about being embodied, feeling beautiful by being in love even if the relationship is not perfect, or dancing for money – or whatever I want -without being crucified or saying that I’m glamorizing abuse??????

Im fed up with female writers and alt singers saying that I glamorize abuse when in reality I’m just a glamorous person singing about the realities of what we are all now seeing are very prevalent emotionally abuse relationships all over the world.
With all of the topics omen are finally allowed to explore I just want to say over the last ten years I think it’s pathetic that my minor lyrical exploration detailing my sometimes submissive or passive roles in my relationships has often made people say I’ve set women back hundreds of years.
Ler this be clear, I’m not a feminist -but there has to be a place in feminism for women who look and act like me – the kind of woman who says no but men hear yes- the kind of women who are slated mercilessly for being their authentic, delicate selves, The kind of women who get their own stories and voices taken away from them by stronger women or by men who hate women.

I’ve been honest and optimistic about the challenging relationships I’ve had.
News flash! That’s just how it is for many women.
And that was sadly my experience up until the point that those records were made. So I just want to say it’s been a long 10 years of bullsh*t reviews up until recently and I’ve learned a lot from them
but I also feel it really paved the way for other women to stop ‘putting on a happy face’ and to just be able to say whatever the hell they wanted in their music-
unlike my experiences where if I even expressed a note of sadness in my first two records I was deemed literally hysterical as though it was literally the 1920s
Anyways none of this has anything to do about much but I’ll be detailing some of my feelings in my next two books of poetry (mostly the second one) with Simon and Schuster. Yes I’m still making personal reparations with the proceeds of the books to my choice of Native American foundations which I’m very happy about. And I’m sure there will be tinges of what I’ve been pondering in my new album that comes out September 5th.

Thanks for reading
Happy quarantining.”

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

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