Category: Worldwide

The Minnesota Vikings have fallen back to earth after their 5-0 start to the season, losing back-to-back games to the Lions and Rams. That loss to the Rams finished under some dubious circumstances on Thursday night, as Los Angeles, leading 28-20, sacked Sam Darnold in the end zone for a game-winning safety, as they were able to put knees on it to end the game after the free kick.

However, it was very apparent that Byron Young grabbed Darnold by the facemask on the sack, meaning instead of the game being over, the Vikings should’ve moved the ball out to the 20 yard line and had a little bit of life.

In case there was any doubt, Young didn’t even celebrate his sack and grabbed his helmet in frustration because he figured the ref would’ve seen an obvious facemask on the quarterback — who they protect to an insane degree usually. Instead, he got away with an egregious facemask and the Rams were able to not even sweat out a game-tying drive from Darnold and the Vikings.

Now, the likelihood the Vikings came back to win the game was extremely low, as they would’ve needed an 80-yard touchdown drive with 90 seconds on the clock and no timeouts. However, that’s still a chance, and the Minnesota sideline and their fans are understandably furious with the lack of a call. It was bad enough that the NFL didn’t even post the video of the game-winning safety to their social accounts, which is usually a pretty good indicator that there was a big time mistake made by the officials.

It has been about a year since Beyoncé launched her Cé Noir fragrance, which — like most things Beyoncé puts on the market — has been a roaring success. Today, she announced its follow-up, a new fragrance called Cé Lumière. For those who don’t speak French (or took the Beauty And The Beast character’s candlestick transformation less metaphorically), that means “light.”

As such, the fragrance leans in a different direction than its predecessor. According to fragrantica.com, Cé Noir is considered a darker, more mysterious scent, while Cé Lumière is a lighter, brighter fragrance; essentially, “Cé Noir” represents darkness and “Cé Lumière” represents light. To that end, it switches up the original scent, which had “top notes of clementine and golden honey, heart notes of rose absolute and jasmine sambac, and base notes of Namibian myrrh and golden amber,” opting for Madagascar black pepper and Italian mandarin, a heart consisting of jasmine Sambac absolute and rhubarb, and a base of Indonesian patchouli and skin musk.

Cé Lumière is available for pre-order on Beyoncé’s official website in the US and Canada, priced at $160 for a 50 ml Eau de Parfum, with shipping scheduled for November 2024.

You can watch the trailer for Beyoncé’s latest fragrance above.

Piece By Piece, the Lego-animated biopic/documentary about the life and career of Pharrell Williams is out now. Although its box office receipts don’t exactly reflect it, it’s one of the most innovative and interesting examples of the genre, even with a growing number of “weird” biopics on the market. The new music video for its title track is a shining microcosm of the vibrancy of the film, including clips from the movie’s musical sequence highlighting the song and bits and pieces (heh) from throughout its colorful narrative.

The film knows it’s an unusual take on the genre, too, pointing out repeatedly that animating a story — with Lego pieces, no less — is a move most musicians wouldn’t take. Pharrell even went so far as hiding its animated format from some of the interview subjects, like Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar, to ensure they’d give more naturalistic responses. The result is as visually stunning as Pharrell’s production catalog has been for audiences’ ears for the past 20 years — although it does take a few liberties with the facts of Pharrell’s development as an artist and a pitchman. It’s still fun to see little animated details on the Lego avatars of his collaborators, like Lego Snoop Dogg’s little pocket bandana or Lego Gwen Stefani’s painted-on, Rocksteady-era abs. It’s worth checking it out, when you get some time.

In the meantime, you can watch the “Piece By Piece” video above.

The NFL slate rolls along into Week 8, where one of the marquee games on the schedule has a very large asterisk next to it. CBS flexed the Bears-Commanders showdown into their main national window at 4:25 p.m. ET, in hopes of getting Caleb Williams vs. Jayden Daniels. That would be the most interesting game of the week by a decent margin, if we get Daniels in the lineup. He left with a rib injury against Carolina and hasn’t practiced yet this week, with the Commanders hoping to get him back on the field on Friday but no guarantees for him to play. If he plays, that is the most exciting matchup of the week, as the two rookies have their teams above .500 and in the hunt for not just a Wild Card berth, but both are alive in their division races as well. If it’s Marcus Mariota instead of Daniels, the game is still important for the two sides but loses a good bit of its national luster.

With that uncertainty in Washington, we are going to look at the rest of the NFL in Week 8 to identify the games we’ll be keeping a close eye on, as well as a best bet down in the NFC South.

Primetime Game of the Week: Cowboys at Niners (Sunday 10/27, 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC)

I don’t like it, but the mix of a not great primetime slate this weekend and the sense of desperation following both of these teams makes Sunday night’s showdown between Dallas and San Francisco fascinating. Usually when they meet, it’s a game with major stakes for winning the NFC, but this time around, the loser is going to find themselves fighting for their postseason lives in the coming weeks. The Niners are remarkably banged up, especially on offense, while the Cowboys seem constitutionally incapable of doing anything on offense. I have no feel for who wins this game, but I do think that this has the potential to be a game where one team runs away with it at the expense of the other.

Sunday Funday Game of the Week: Bills at Seahawks (Sunday 10/27, 4:05 p.m. ET, FOX)

Here’s why this game has the potential to be a blast: One team has Josh Allen, who attempts and completes insane throws every single game. The other team has Geno Smith, who does the exact same thing. This game has the potential to be a good, old-fashioned QB battle between two of the most fearless dudes who line up under center in the league, and I’m especially excited to see what Buffalo’s offense looks like after another week of getting Amari Cooper embedded. We know Seattle is going to put up points, and if the Bills finally have given Allen a WR1 to replace Amari Cooper, they should be able to do the same.

Under the Radar Banger: Eagles vs. Bengals (Sunday 10/27, 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS)

Both teams are coming off of back-to-back wins, and while neither has exactly looked like a Super Bowl contender in either of those games (well, Philly did last week, but it was against the Giants, which, come on), building up a head of steam and banking wins at this point of the year is always good. The big skill position weapons on the respective offenses — Saquon Barkley, AJ Brown, JaMarr Chase, Tee Higgins, etc. — have really started to get going in recent weeks, and at the bare minimum, this one has the potential to turn into a track meet.

Who Won The MVP Last Week: Lamar Jackson

The Ravens offense took a few weeks to warm up but it is humming right now. The combination of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry is working out as well as anyone could’ve hoped, as teams have no idea what to do against Baltimore on defense. Jackson is picking defenses apart in the passing game, going 17-for-22 for 281 yards and five TDs against the Bucs, while Henry seems to rip off a 40+ yard run each week — and totaled 169 yards on the ground against Tampa Bay. Because the MVP has become a QB award, Jackson is again the frontrunner after his play of late, and if the Ravens keep up this pace it’s going to be really hard to justify not giving him his third (and second in a row).

Best Bet (3-4): Falcons vs. Buccaneers OVER 46 (1:00 p.m. ET, FOX)

I am an Under bettor at heart, but this total is startlingly low for an NFC South matchup. The Falcons have played three times in the division and not had a game finish under 50 points. The Bucs have played two NFC South teams and the lowest score was a 36-30 shootout with the Falcons. There’s not a lot of defense that gets played in this division, and both of these offenses can get it rolling in the passing game. I like both teams to reach the mid-20s at least to take this thing Over.

Horror revival king Fede Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus pulled in $350 million globally at the box office, and more Xenomorph action still sits on the horizon. FX TV showrunning wizard Noah Hawley’s Alien: Earth TV series will stream on Hulu in 2025, and Romulus should arrive on Hulu in the interim. That might not be enough for the masses when it comes to the so-called “perfect organism,” so a question awaits regarding the interquel story’s future.

Will There Be An Alien: Romulus Sequel?

Probably! Before Romulus released, Facehugger Father Ridley Scott expressed his confidence (to LA Times) in Álvarez’s “streak of brilliance” while adding, “I hope Fede’s got another one up his sleeve because I think this is going to do really well.” And in a new wide-ranging Hollywood Reporter interview, 20th Century studios chief Steve Asbell’s response sounds promising:

“We’re working on a sequel idea now. We haven’t quite closed our deal with Fede [Alvarez], but we are going to, and he has an idea that we’re working on. The two survivors, Rain and Andy, played by Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson, were real highlights of the film. And so I always think of it like, ‘Wow, where do people want to see them go next?’ We know there’s going to be aliens. We know there’s going to be great horror set pieces. But I fell in love with both of them and I want to see what their story is.”

In other words, good things are happening behind the scenes, and hopefully we will see confirmation soon that Cailee Spaeny will return to strike more Ripley poses. That wouldn’t be the best news for those who would like to see David Jonsson as Gus in Industry‘s fourth season, but more of Rain and Andy is absolute nothing to complain about.

Until we hear more, you can catch every Alien movie over on Hulu.

In two years, there will be at least five WNBA stars with their own signature sneaker, as Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu have their own sneakers with Puma and Nike, and A’ja Wilson and Caitlin Clark have their own signatures coming with the Swoosh as well in 2025. Joining those four in 2026 will be Angel Reese, as the rookie sensation for the Chicago Sky re-signed with Reebok on a new deal that will bring her own signature hoops sneaker to the market in two years.

Reese has already come out with her own off-court apparel and sneaker designs for Reebok, but will now add a signature hoops shoe. The promo images for the announcement blur out the shoe, as we’ll have to wait until closer to launch for an official first look at Reese’s signature shoe.

Reese broke the news on her podcast, Unapologetically Angel, as she talked with Shaq (who is the president of Reebok basketball) about her shoe and the process they’re in of bringing it to life.

Reebok has been steadily building back its basketball business of late, with Reese as a centerpiece and adding some young players on the men’s side earlier this month with Bulls rookie Matas Buzelis, G League prospect Dink Pate, and 5-star high school prospect Nate Ament.

Week 9 doesn’t feature the kind of marquee matchup between top 5 teams we’ve been spoiled by this October in college football, but there are still some big games on the schedule that will have serious conference and playoff implications. As we move into the back half of the season, teams can now see the finish line and the task only gets tougher as expectations get heavy and it can get harder and harder for coaches to keep players from thinking too far ahead. This week features a handful of ranked matchups, as well as some rivalry games and a few trap spots as we’ve already seen some big programs get tripped up this season.

The Game Of The Year (Of The Week): No. 12 Notre Dame vs. No. 24 Navy (12:00 p.m. ET, ABC)

Notre Dame has gotten its season back on track after it somehow lost a football game to Northern Illinois (remember that!?), as the Irish have won five in a row and have gotten some style points in the process. But now, Marcus Freeman has to get his boys ready to play a team that is undefeated and has won every game by double-figures: Navy.

Yes, the Midshipmen continue to have a lot of the limitations that you should expect out of a service academy. No, that has not been a gigantic problem for them this year, because when they get going on offense, Navy is capable of scoring in bunches behind their standout quarterback Blake Horvath, who is third nationally in QBR and doubles as the team’s top rushing threat. The good news for Notre Dame is that they have a good group of linebackers and a fast, aggressive, well-coached defense, so Horvath is going to need his A+ game and the Midshipmen need to be able to run the ball to open up shots down the field.

On the other side of things, expect the Irish to bank on the fact that they are just a bigger football team in the trenches. Their top three rushers (Jeremiyah Love, Riley Leonard, Jadarian Price) are all averaging six yards a carry, while Leonard hasn’t really got going as a passer since he made his way to South Bend. I don’t expect them to suddenly try to air raid the Midshipmen defense, especially because the strength of Navy’s defense is its ability to take the football away from you — the unit has 10 interceptions in six games, and has three pick sixes on the year.

Lock Into This One: No. 20 Illinois vs. No. 1 Oregon (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS)

The Illini are starting to garner a little bit of buzz as a Big Ten darkhorse, as they responded to a close loss on the road at Penn State with a high-scoring win over Purdue and a win over Michigan. Now, they’re heading to Autzen Stadium for their biggest test of the year against the top-ranked team in the nation, and Illinois is almost certainly going to try to muck this up and lean on the fact that they’re battle tested as they take on the Ducks, which are flying high and are playing in their building for the first time since their thrilling win over Ohio State a few weeks back that had them ascend to the top of the polls.

Both of these teams are going to rely on veteran quarterbacks, reliable pass catchers, and running games that are good at consistently churning out 4-5 yards on the ground. The Ducks are a better and more talented football team, and this game is happening in their building, so I fully expect Dan Lanning to get his guys fired up and ready to take it to Illinois. But few coaches are better at finding ways to keep his team in a game than Bret Bielema, and while my gut says Oregon wins, I’m very interested in what happens if this game is close heading into the fourth quarter.

Under-The-Radar Banger: Michigan State vs. Michigan (7:30 p.m. ET, BTN)

Michigan are 5-point favorites despite the fact that they have some of the most wretched vibes in the nation right now. They’ve lost two in a row, and the questions about the program under Sherrone Moore are slowly starting to ramp up. A good way for Moore and co. to fend that off is to beat the Spartans under the lights in the Big House, and while Michigan State is likewise figuring things out under a new coach, they’re coming off of a 12-point win over Iowa that put the wind in their sails a bit following a losing streak. An oversimplification: If Sparty’s talented young signal caller, Aidan Chiles, can avoid catastrophic mistakes, they win. If not, the Wolverines are gonna get a ton of short fields and should be able to at least kick field goals.

Message Board Meltdown Game Of The Week: No. 5 Texas vs. No. 25 Vanderbilt (4:15 p.m. ET, SEC Network)

This is not on here because I think Texas is going to lose to Vanderbilt — even after last week’s stinker against Georgia, I think the Longhorns are just way too talented to lose, regardless of whether Diego Pavia possesses a sort of magic that I have not seen out of a quarterback in a long time. No, we’re locking in on the Texas QB situation, because Quinn Ewers was awful last week and the calls for Arch Manning (who didn’t get an especially fair shot when he got into the game, but didn’t do very well, either) are getting louder and louder. If Ewers gives us a few three-and-outs to start the game, those calls are going to get deafening.

Who Won The Heisman Last Week?: Bryson Daily, QB, Army

The troops are ROLLIN this year, both in West Point and in Annapolis, as Army and Navy are ranked for the first time in decades. Both teams picked up lopsided wins over the weekend, but we’re going to focus on Bryson Daily who is putting up some insane numbers this season. In a 45-28 win over ECU, he rushed for 171 yards and five touchdowns on 31 carries, while adding 147 yards and another touchdown through the air on 7-of-10 passing. For the season he has 909 rushing yards and a hysterical 19 touchdowns, while throwing for 629 yards, seven touchdowns, and zero interceptions. Watching a quarterback who has mastered the triple option run that offense is a thing of beauty, and there’s no one doing it quite like Daily right now — and he’s a threat to throw too, which makes them impossible to deal with.

Best Bet (4-4): Miami (-21) vs. Florida State (7:00 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Look, usually I’m all for taking a big dog in a rivalry game, but this FSU team just flat out stinks and Miami is going to be looking to embarrass the Noles. The last time they played down in Hard Rock Stadium, Mike Norvell had the boys run it up on Mario Cristobal to the tune of a 45-3 FSU win. I don’t think the Canes have forgotten about that and will be looking to return the favor and kick the Noles while they’re down. On top of the rivalry aspect, Cam Ward has a Heisman Trophy to try and win, and this is a great opportunity to put up some big numbers in a primetime spot. Lay ’em.

Could And Just Like That run for six seasons like its predecessor, Sex And The City? At the pace that this HBO revival series is going, I would not be totally surprised to see that happen. Megan Thee Stallion probably wouldn’t mind, either, although I’m curious to see whether she eventually agrees about AJLT‘s first season feeling like a semi-horror series in several ways.

To be more serious, however, the core-four Sex And The City gang did return in the second season, but this next season is full of cast shakeups, so let’s speculate and piece together clues on what could happen next. You know, after Aidan (John Corbett) said goodbye to Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) while asking her to wait five years to be with him again, and she didn’t say no. Sigh.

Cast

Most curiosity for this season revolves less around plot and more around who will return, who is outta there, and the new characters joining the show:

– Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, and Kristin Davis will be back as Carrie Bradshaw, Miranda Hobbes, and Charlotte York-Goldenblatt, respectively.

– Kim Cattrall will not be back to solve the Samantha Jones Problem in the long term. Her one-and-done cameo led to reports that she might return, but the Glamorous actress denied further involvement via an X/Twitter post.

– Sara Ramírez will not return as the polarizing Great Villain Che Diaz. Their absence was the subject of speculation including a Daily Mail report about Ramírez allegedly being “fired” because “the character really held no value anymore and fans found them annoying.” Recently, Cynthia Nixon fielded a question from Variety and remarked of Ramírez, “They created such an amazing character – such a controversial character, but such an amazing character.” Nixon then suggested that Ramírez’ exit was a mutual decision: “I think they felt, and Michael Patrick felt, that that character had run its course. They came in and shook everything up, and then the arc was completed.” At least Che got a romantic happy ending before heading out.

– Karen Pittman has moved on from her role as Nya Wallace. The Morning Show actress officially explained her absence as down to scheduling conflicts, but let’s also get real about Nya not receiving compelling material. She bought an expensive stroller for her ex and hung out at home, and that’s about it. Pittman will soon be seen in Forever opposite a The Wire actor.

– We do not know if the ghostly Peloton bike will return.

– Confirmed returning supporting cast members include John Corbett (who was photographed on set as Aidan, who presumably rethought the five-year thing), Sarita Choudhury (as Seema Patel), David Eigenberg (as Steve Brady), Evan Handler (as Harry Goldenblatt), Nicole Ari Parker (as Lisa Todd Wesley), and Christopher Jackson (as Herbert Wexley). Additionally, Niall Cunningham, Cathy Ang, and Alexa Swinton will be back as the kids of Miranda and Charlotte, and Sebastiano Pigazzi and Dolly Wells will (according to Deadline) be series regulars as love interests for Anthony (Mario Cantone) and Miranda.

Plot

No synopsis exists yet, so what can we guess will happen?

Well, Carrie will be absorbed with Aidan, but we will also find out if she resents him after she splashed out on a luxurious new flat because he couldn’t get over what happened in her old place. Will they once again argue while he’s taking sledgehammers to walls? Please.

Charlotte must continue to be the saving comedic grace of this show. God only knows whether she will toss her phone into a blender again, but messy Charlotte is the best Charlotte, and we will likely see her back in the art-gallery world. After she pulled off that Sam Smith sale, her sky is her limit.

Miranda’s professional life previously took an odd turn when she quit her Big Law job to be a Human Rights Watch intern. She also stepped in kitty litter while exploring her sexuality after breaking up with Che Diaz. Hopefully, both sides of her story will be less cringey in the coming season.

Release Date

HBO has this series on its 2025 roster with no specific date mentioned.

Trailer

Ditto for a trailer, so let’s enjoy Samantha’s final moments on the show.

Given that Rihanna is a massive global star, she’s collaborated with so many people at this point in her music career. That said, it’s been nearly a decade since her latest album, 2016’s Anti, and since then, a whole generation of music stars has emerged. One of these new icons has caught Rihanna’s eye: Billie Eilish.

In a recent interview (video here), Rihanna was asked who her “dream collaborator” is, and she said, “If I could only do a song with Billie Eilish. Mmm-mmm… she’s so good.”

Eilish hasn’t publicly responded to this situation, but she’ll likely be over the moon when she hears about it, as she’s a longtime Rihanna stan.

Last year, Eilish declared, “I think that I decided the other day that I think she’s the hottest person to ever exist in the history of the world.”

In a 2019 interview, she said, “Who would I want to meet? Um… Rihanna. But, like, only if she would want to, because my entire life, I’ve never even wanted to meet my idols because I never wanted to bother then.” When the interviewer insisted Rihanna would “love” to meet Eilish “and then maybe work together,” Eilish responded, “I would die a million times.”

In a 2019 Billboard interview, she spoke about what she admires about Rihanna:

“People like her and like Childish Gambino, Tyler [The Creator] and Kanye — [there’s] not just one thing that they’re known for. They take what they have and actually turn it into more. That’s what I’ve always wanted to do. I really want to design shoes, and I really want to f*cking design a car. I direct my own videos and edit them myself most of the time, so hopefully more of that. I think Rihanna is f*cking murdering it. Everyone who is like, ‘Stop with the [Fenty] brand and put out more music,’ I think, ‘Shut the f*ck up.’ She is doing exactly what she needs to do, and that’s fire. Yeah, we want new Rihanna music, but we also want Rihanna. Only props to her.”

So, basically, don’t rule out this collaboration actually happening at some point.

Olivia Rodrigo‘s Guts World Tour kicked off in February 2024. It came to an end earlier this week, during an eventful few nights in Sydney, Australia. The “Get Him Back!” singer commemorated the end of the Guts live era (minus a few random festival dates in 2025) in a note on Instagram.

“That’s a wrap on the GUTS World Tour! 95 shows, 22 countries, and a few matching tattoos! Words cannot describe how lucky I feel to have been able to travel all around the world playing these songs with the most extraordinary group of people,” she wrote. “I’ll never forget this experience and all the sweet memories we made on the road. Thank you so much to everyone who bought a ticket and sang and screamed and jumped with me. Sharing these nights with y’all has been a real honor.” She ended the message with a plug for the Olivia Rodrigo: Guts World Tour concert film coming to Netflix on October 29.

Rodrigo also shared photos from along the Guts tour, including one of herself and one of her dancers, Alex White, showing off their matching tattoos and another where someone (possibly Olivia herself?) is wearing a “C U Next Tour.”

It works better if you see it, which you can do right here.