After starring as the “Godfather of Rap” in My Name is Dolemite, Eddie Murphy will portray another legendary “godfather” in an upcoming biopic.
Deadline reports that the Coming to America actor is in “early talks” to play George Clinton, the “Godfather of Funk” who has led the Parliament-Funkadelic collective since the late 1960s. The passion-project film “will tell the story of the iconic musician’s humble beginnings in North Carolina in the 1940s, to the formation of his groundbreaking band George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic, and ultimately to becoming a musical influence on artists of the hip-hop generation including Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Outkast, and Wu-Tang Clan, among many others.”
“Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker),” “One Nation Under a Groove,” and “Flash Light” are the songs you hear on the radio, but be sure to take a deeper dive into the Parliament and Funkadelic discographies, as well as Clinton’s solo material. Not only for the funky grooves, but also the song titles. I, for one, can’t wait to hear Eddie Murphy sing “Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow,” “Standing on the Verge of Getting It On,” and my personal favorite, “Do Fries Go with That Shake?”
Earlier in the week, Disney took its strongest stance yet against Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill after Governor Ron DeSantis signed it into law on Monday. After weeks of employee pushback over the company’s tepid response to the anti-LGBTQ legislation, Disney came out with a forceful statement demanding that the law be repealed. “We remain committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to achieve that,” the company said in a statement.
With the House of Mouse now firmly opposed to the discriminatory legislation, state Republicans have already begun exploring avenues to retaliate against the entertainment giant. One such move involves repealing an over 50-year-old statute that would severely impact Disney’s ability to invest in its Florida theme parks.
Yesterday was the 2nd meeting in a week w/fellow legislators to discuss a repeal of the 1967 Reedy Creek Improvement Act, which allows Disney to act as its own government. If Disney wants to embrace woke ideology, it seems fitting that they should be regulated by Orange County. pic.twitter.com/6sj29Gj6Wz
“Yesterday was the 2nd meeting in a week w/fellow legislators to discuss a repeal of the 1967 Reedy Creek Improvement Act, which allows Disney to act as its own government,” including oversight of land use and environmental protections within the District, and [providing] essential public services such as regulation of the EPCOT building code and maintenance of roads. [State Rep. Spencer] Roach continued, “If Disney wants to embrace woke ideology, it seems fitting that they should be regulated by Orange County.”
According to Deadline, “there is still a very long way to go” before the Reedy Creek Improvement Act can be repealed, if it even gets that far. However, should Republicans continue with their efforts, there is a possibility such a move could impact Disney’s decision to move over 2,000 of its California-based jobs to its campus in Orlando. At that point, who are Florida Republicans really hurting: Disney or the state?
Lil Durk isn’t done with 7220 yet. After the album helped the Chicago rapper secure his first solo No. 1 album, he returns with the video for the album’s standout track, “Petty Too” featuring Future. The standout track was also the centerpiece of Lil Durk’s performance on The Tonight Show shortly after the album’s release, with Durk bringing out Future to perform alongside him to the live audience’s delight.
Like all of Durk’s videos this cycle, it’s directed by Jerry Productions and features a stripped-down concept, with Durk and Future rapping on a rooftop and treating some lady friends to a private shopping spree. As the women peruse a pair of clothing racks, Durk and Future declare their petty ways and spit boastful rhymes about their disdain for romance.
In addition to “Petty Too,” Durk has put out videos for the menacing “Ahhh Ha,” the chest-beating “Golden Child,” and the sneering “Computer Murders.” The videos helped push 7220 to No. 1, and helped Durk secure an extension on his record deal reportedly worth $40 million, something he was quick to brag about on social media. Next month, you can catch Durk on tour beginning April 9 and running through May 2.
Each week our staff of film and TV experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish movies available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.
Benedict Cumberbatch gives a villainous performance for the ages in The Power of the Dog, the first film in 12 years from director Jane Campion. The western is expected (and deserves) to be an Oscars frontrunner, so hop on the horse-drawn bandwagon now. Watch it on Netflix.
Jennifer Lawrence is back in Don’t Look Up, Adam McKay’s apocalyptic satire about two low-level astronomers (J-Law and Leonardo DiCaprio) who try to warn everyone on Earth about an approaching comet — but no one seems to care. The ensemble cast also includes Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill, Ariana Grande, Timothée Chalamet, Cate Blanchett, and Tyler Perry. Maybe that’s why no one cares about the comet. They’re too busy looking at all those stars. Watch it on Netflix.
Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson star as a preposterously attractive couple who get together after her character — one half of a global sensation pop duo — discovers her lover and music partner has been stepping out. That’s right, it is rom-com time over here. Will they? Won’t they? Whose hair will look better in the pivotal scene that will probably take place in the driving rain? There’s one way to find out: Grab some popcorn and comfy pajamas and set up shop on the couch. Watch it on Peacock.
Zoe Kravitz plays a stay-at-home digital detective in this latest thriller from Steven Soderbergh who — with the help of her friendly A.I. sidekick Kimi — uncovers a string of murders she traces back to the company she works for. She then must venture out into a pandemic-ridden Seattle in search of the reason why. Honestly, we can’t relate. But, Kravitz is quickly becoming a bonafide action star and a Soderbergh script rarely disappoints. Watch it on HBO Max.
Let’s go straight to the official description of this one: “A man breaks into a tech billionaire’s empty vacation home, but things go sideways when the arrogant mogul and his wife arrive for a last-minute getaway.” Hmm. Intriguing. As is the cast, which features Jesse Plemons and Lily Collins and Jason Segel. We could tell you who plays the arrogant CEO and who plays the thief. You could look it up, too. But, really, either way would work just fine. Watch it on Netflix.
Well, guess what: It’s a remake of the 2003 classic with Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt, which was itself a remake of a film from 1950, only this time is stars Zach Braff and Gabrielle Union as the flustered parents and can be found on Disney Plus, a service that did not even almost exist when the other versions came out. Which is fine. Time marches on. And this one is written and produced by Kenya Barris from Black-ish, which is also fine. Good, even. Round up the family and grab some snacks. Watch it on Disney Plus.
Ryan Reynolds plays Mark Ruffalo’s time-traveling son, so there’s a little MCU crossover there for you before Deadpool makes his possibly sooner than expected MCU return. They’re going to save the future, of course, and this film also has Ruffalo’s 13 Going On 30 co-star, Jennifer Garner, so there’s reteaming aplenty here. Expect both family drama and romance and drama across four dimensions. Watch it on Netflix.
Steven Spielberg brings the classic musical to the big and/or small screen, to the delight of both older fans and newer ones who get to experience it all for the first time. Get in there. Really let the experience wash over you. Sing along. Dance around your living room. Get in a knife fight with your sworn enemy. Okay, maybe not that last one. But the other ones, definitely. Watch it on Disney Plus.
In Domee Shi’s Turning Red, a boy band-loving teenage girl turns into a red panda whenever she experiences strong emotions, which as every parent of a teenager knows all too well, is often. Too often. It’s all the time, really. Turning Red is being called Pixar’s best movie in years, as it should. It’s about time red pandas got the cinematic showcase they deserve. Watch it on Disney Plus.
Deep Water is an erotic thriller that stars Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas as… honestly, what more do you need? It’s a “weird, wild mess” of a movie from the director of Fatal Attraction and Unfaithful, with a murder mystery, duplicitous characters, and Affleck as an alpha cuck. Deep Water is the kind of sleazy mainstream movie that rarely gets made anymore, so it feels like a sexy treat that it even exists (from Disney, no less). Break out your Ana de Armas cardboard cutout and make it a double feature with Basic Instinct.Watch it on Hulu.
2. Apollo 10 1/2: A Space-Aged Childhood (Netflix)
NETFLIX
Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood is loosely inspired by director Richard Linklater’s childhood in Texas. The coming-of-age animated film (think: Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly, but more nostalgic) is set during the summer of the Moon landing, and features performances from Glen Powell, Zachary Levi, and Jack Black. Linklater brings out the best in Black (he’s fantastic in both School of Rock and Bernie), and Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood looks to be no exception. Watch it on Netflix.
Judd Apatow’s The Bubble is a pandemic-era movie about making a movie during the pandemic. We’re through the looking glass, people. The comedy, which stars Karen Gillan, David Duchovny, Keegan-Michael Key, Pedro Pascal, and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm breakout Maria Bakalova, was produced like a “two-hour Simpsons episode,” according to Apatow, and reportedly inspired by the production of Jurassic World Dominion. If enough people watch it on Netflix, maybe we’ll get a full-length Cliff Beasts 6: The Battle For Everest movie. Watch it on Netflix.
Each week our staff of film and TV experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish shows available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.
Based on a best-selling book of the same name, this epic, generations-spanning saga follows a Korean family on an immigration journey, with the action taking place in Korea, Japan, and America. Looking for a well-reviewed, emotionally moving series that starts with a forbidden romance? Of course you are. Watch it on Apple TV.
A pirate comedy starring Taika Waititi, Rhys Darby, Leslie Jones, and Hodor from Game of Thrones? Don’t mind if I do. Our Flag Means Death is about an 18th-century aristocrat (Darby) who gives up whatever aristocrats do to become a swashbuckler alongside Blackbeard (Waititi). If it’s anything like What We Do in the Shadows but with pirates, prepare to be… Hook-ed. Watch it on HBO Max.
Jerrod Carmichael’s Rothaniel feels like an intrusion, and we mean that in the best possible way. Deeply personal, the comedian – in what is technically his third HBO special following 8 and Home Videos – comes to the spare stage of the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City on a winter day ready to bare his soul. And while some of the truths he tells are things he may have alluded to in the past, this feels unique, naked, and gripping, elevated by the vision of director Bo Burnham, whose focus is unrelenting as Carmichael seems to be processing the experience of sharing the most intimate details and observations about his life in real-time with an audience whose feedback he welcomes. It is remarkable, human, and a special that everyone is going to be talking about. Watch it on HBO Max.
We are going back in time, again, this time to the 1970s, again, to see the dawn of an erotic magazine made specifically for women. That sounds fun. It also co-stars Jake Johnson from New Girl as a seedy pornographer who wears shirts unbuttoned halfway to his navel, which sounds… really fun. Worth a shot, at the very least. Watch it on HBO Max.
Do you enjoy Big Mouth, the Netflix animated series where a bunch or horny teens are mentored and/or terrorized by teams of very literal fur-covered hormone monsters, some of whom are voiced by Nick Kroll and Maya Rudolph and David Thewlis? You probably do, because Big Mouth is awesome. And now it has this spinoff, which focuses exclusively on the hormone monsters working in their office behind the scenes. It’s a fun idea, made by people who are good at this. That’s all you can really ask for sometimes. Watch it on Netflix.
If Hulu’s The Girl From Plainville wasn’t based on a true story, we’d say it was a bit too unrealistic. But, since all of this actually happened, we’ll just call it the wildest f*cking true crime drama we’ve seen in a while. It’s got Elle Fanning playing a sociopathic teenager so obsessed with mirroring her life off a Ryan Murphy musical that she convinces her boyfriend to kill himself so she can take all the glory. It’s also got some terrific performances – from Fanning, obviously but also from Chloe Sevigny who plays the dead boy’s mom. Fanning’s Michelle Carter is both an ego-maniac and a shy, mentally disturbed young girl who idolizes Leah Michele, and her Glee alter-ego, Rachel Berry. That’s clearly her first mistake, but things turn dark when she decides her own love story should also turn out like Michele’s real-life relationship with co-star Cory Monteith. It’s just … bizarre. And yet, like a train car full of feral cats veering off the tracks, we just can’t help but watch. Watch it on Hulu.
“Am I livestock?” Who among us hasn’t asked ourselves that question while grazing amongst the cubicles at work? But the workplace in Severance (a new Adam Scott starring and Ben Stiller produced Apple TV+ series) is a little different, running workers through a process that effectively breaks people in two with zero crossovers between their work life and non-work life. Sound ideal in a world where work stresses bleed into home life and Sunday scarys seem to always kneecap your weekend? Perhaps in some respects. Susan from HR probably LOVES the idea, seeing it as the ultimate NDA, but as the show is set to explore, it’s a less tidy experience that raises all kinds of questions about what happens when people are severed from the awful things they might be asked to do at work. Watch it on Apple TV Plus.
Audiences can’t get enough of space-bound conflict these days, and the ever-morphing Pablo Schreiber leads this cast as the indispensable “Master Chief,” who’s apparently the deadliest weapon in existence and the key to ensuring humanity’s survival against all odds. Expect a ton of action as humanity battles “the Covenant,” but more importantly, get ready to meet characters from all walks of life. Clearly too, this selection will be of interest to the gaming crowd. Watch it on Paramount Plus.
If you think about it, Winning Time (HBO’s new Adam McKay-produced series about the 1980s LA Lakers) has all the elements of a classic heist movie. Assembled by a larger than life fast talker with equally big ambitions (in this case, former Lakers owner Jerry Buss), a rag-tag group comes together, leaning on their exceptional and unique talents to paper over any personality conflicts that might arise while taking the thing (a whole mess of gold trophies) no one thought they’d ever get their hands on. This while having some wild misadventures along the way. We’re simplifying, of course, but the point is this should appeal to basketball fans and non-basketball fans alike, earning the right to be the most buzzed-about piece of basketball culture crossover content since The Last Dance helped us all stave off boredom for a few months by telling the story of another mismatched group of big personalities and champions. Watch it on HBO.
Abbott Elementary has done something wild. It poked through the bubble of pop culture to become a phenomenon despite being a weekly network sitcom in 2022. Do you understand how crazy that is? Do you understand the odds against this happening? It’s basically impossible. And yet, here we all are, talking about Quinta Brunson and her very sweet, very good show. And Principal Ava. We are always talking about Principal Ava. Watch it on Hulu.
The bad news, for enthusiasts of The Duke, is that Regé-Jean Page isn’t back this season (as planned), but the good news is that the show still brings the momentum despite the odds. This season focuses upon Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) seeking his own match as outlined by Julia Quinn’s books. Lady Whistledown (already revealed as Penelope, portrayed by Nicola Coughlan) is still doing her thing and f*cking with everyone during her society letters, thank god. Watch it on Netflix.
Well, guess what: Atlanta is back, four years since its second season and just as ready and willing to throw you for a loop. Earn and Paper Boi and Darius are still off in Europe on that tour they were en route to way back then, but there are detours and flights of fancy and all the other weird, stunning, inventive stuff that made (and makes) this one of our greatest shows. Donald Glover and this crew are pretty good at this stuff. It’s great to have them back. Watch it on Hulu.
Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke are in the MCU now, but don’t expect either of them to be the typical Marvel superhero or villain. This show is sheer chaos (and joyous to behold) with Isaac’s character plagued with dissociative identity disorder and tormented with mockery by an Egyptian god. He’s a gift-shop employee, a mercenary, and a hero? Sure. Hawke plays a David Koresh-esque cult leader. Hold on tight. Watch it on Disney Plus.
One little girl is delivering some Grade-A cuteness to the internet. With just a dash of diabolical.
The now-viral TikTok video opens with little Maddy (what an innocent name right?) being told “you’re gonna change the world someday.”
Her response? “No I won’t. I’m evil.”
Whoa! Dad wasn’t expecting that! So much for a heartfelt moment.
But Maddy is fully committed to her role now. She squints her eyes and gives a sinister gaze into the camera as she exclaims, “I’ll make everybody witches and bats and vampires!”
Oh, and she’s also going to make us all sassy, just like her. [insert head wobble with lots of ‘tude here]
And then, poof! Evil Maddy is gone. She giggles, and says, “I’m kidding. I would never do that.”
(Seriously, I don’t know what to believe here. That performance was just too good.)
Her mother was quick to come to her defense in the caption: “Maddy doesn’t have a mean bone in her body! Sass…yes!! Mean..No!!”
E3 has for decades been one of the biggest events of the yearly video game calendar. Usually slotted into the summer, it was an opportunity for some of gaming’s largest publishers to showcase what it had coming in the future.
At the time, the digital-only showcase was said to be due to health concerns with COVID-19, but many reports stated that the future of the entire show was in doubt when the hosts of E3, the ESA, remained oddly quiet about their biggest event of the year. On Thursday, those fears came to fruition when the ESA informed partners the event would be cancelled entirely.
Just got an email… It’s official, E3 digital is official cancelled for 2022. Lots of mixed feelings about this…
Many major publishers have recently opted to have their own yearly presentations sans the event. A lot of them did this when E3 was cancelled in 2020 and we’ve seen the physical presence of major publishers like EA and Sony pull out of the event in the past.
Despite these concerns, E3 is reportedly planning to return in 2023 according to IGN’s Rebekah Valentine.
Sources connected to the event tell IGN that discussions about a possible digital equivalent have been ongoing ever since, but without strong momentum to drive them. Instead, the ESA seems to be making plans to regroup for a larger comeback in 2023.
What a larger comeback would look like, we aren’t entirely sure. One thing that does seem certain is if E3 does return, it isn’t going to be the same showcase many of us have grown to know.
Four years ago, McDonald’s decided to cash in on the Rick and Morty hype train by bringing back the fast food giant’s practically mythical Szechuan sauce after it was featured in an episode of the hit Adult Swim series. The rollout could not have gone worse. Due to limited supplies, Rick and Morty fans were having full-on meltdowns inside the chain restaurant over the sauce’s availability. The whole thing was such a colossal disaster that even Rick and Morty creator Dan Harmon blasted fans for how they acted.
“I wouldn’t wish that show’s fans on any fast-food restaurant,” Harmon said in a 2018 interview where he accused McDonald’s of “mugging” them with the promotion. “I think everybody got what they deserved all around.”
So with that in mind, surprise! McDonald’s is bringing back Szechuan sauce for another round of chaos. Although, this time, employees are prepared for Rick and Morty fans to do their worst. Via Business Insider:
“The Szechuan sauce packets are locked in a closet that only I and my general manager can access,” one California shift manager told Insider. The North Carolina worker says he and his coworkers plan to keep close tabs on remaining stocks of Szechuan sauce, and remain strict about the order limits imposed by McDonald’s.
According to Insider, McDonald’s has yet to reveal when this latest Szechuan sauce rollout will begin, but reportedly, the plan is to only make the sauce available through online orders on the McDonald’s app. In theory, that should limit employees’ interactions with bug-wild Rick and Morty fans, but if they know the sauce is in restaurants, there’s very little stopping them from going in and asking for it in person. Godspeed, everyone.
Kid Cudi and Jack Harlow both have nominations at this weekend’s Grammy Awards and it turns out they’ll both be busy next weekend, too: Billboard reports they’re going to perform at Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards (hosted by Miranda Cosgrove and Rob Gronkowski) next Saturday, April 9.
Billboard notes Cudi will perform a medley of his new Sonic The Hedgehog 2 single “Stars In The Sky” and his 2010 classic “Pursuit Of Happiness.”
Cudi said in a statement, “I can’t believe my late 30-something butt gets to party at the Kids’ Choice Awards! I grew up loving Nickelodeon and it’s been a dream of mine to get slimed.” Harlow offered a similar statement, saying, “I grew up on Nickelodeon so to be nominated AND perform at the Kids’ Choice Awards is crazy. Here’s to hoping I get slimed!”
Harlow has a nomination at this year’s ceremony, as he’s up for Favorite Breakout Artist against Chlöe, Glass Animals, Olivia Rodrigo, Saweetie, and Walker Hayes. As for who leads the music nominations, Taylor Swift and Adele each have four nods in various categories. This year’s first-time music nominees include Rodrigo, Saweetie, The Kid Laroi, and Doja Cat.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Toro Y Moi continues the rollout for his upcoming seventh studio album, Mahal, today with the trippy video for his latest single, “Déjà Vu.” A psych-rock track backs his nostalgic rumination on an old relationship, while the Justin Morris-directed video takes some strong visual cues from Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, with dimly-lit vignettes providing amusing, non sequitur counterpoints to the song’s soft, fuzzed-out guitars and mellow melodies.
“Déjà Vu” is the fourth video from Mahal, which means “love” in Tagalog, the official national language of his mother’s native Philippines. Toro previously released videos for “Magazine” and “Postman” alongside the original announcement of the album, following up with the video for “The Loop” in February. The album will be his first on Dead Oceans after previously leaving Carpark. The album features Salami Rose Joe Louis, Sophie, The Mattson 2, and Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and is due on April 29.
In addition, Toro will join headliners The National, labelmate Mitski, and The Roots as a performer at the Pitchfork Music Festival this summer. He’s also set a tour for the album that kicks off on its release day and runs through July. You can check out the dates below.
Watch Toro Y Moi’s “Déjà Vu” video above.
4/29 — Cincinatti, OH @ Brady Music Center*
4/30 — Asheville, NC @ Asheville Civic Center*
5/1 — Columbia, SC @ The Senate
5/3 — Charlotte, NC @ Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre*
5/4 — Richmond, VA @ Virginia Credit Union LIVE!*
5/5 — Charleston, SC @ Firefly Distillery*
5/7 — Miami, FL @ The Fillmore Miami Beach* [SOLD OUT]
5/8 — Miami, FL @ The Fillmore Miami Beach* [SOLD OUT]
5/10 — New Orleans, LA @ The Republic NOLA^
5/11 — Houston, TX @ 713 Music Hall* [SOLD OUT]
6/23 — 6/26 – Rothbury, MI @ Electric Forest Festival
7/17 — Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival
7/23 — Seattle, WA @ Capitol Hill Block Party
9/23 + 9/24 — Big Sur, CA @ Fernwood Resort [SOLD OUT]
* = w/ Khruangbin
^ = support from Uffie
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NYC (@WillJPowers) 
