Category: Worldwide

Warning: This post contains spoilers for The Many Saints of Newark. And for The Sopranos.

The Many Saints of Newark, the long-awaited Sopranos prequel, arrived last weekend, and it was probably not what most people expected. “Who made Tony Soprano?” read the ads, but we didn’t really learn that much about the mob boss when he was younger (except that he had a surprisingly high IQ). We actually learned more the Moltisanti family, specifically Alessandro Nivola’s Dickie, father to Michael Imperioli’s Christopher.

Imperioli, meanwhile, realized something dark about the character he played across six seasons. As per The Hollywood Reporter, the acclaimed actor and filmmaker recently went on Talking Sopranos, the podcast hosted by fellow alum Steve Schirripa. Imperioli serves as Many Saints’ narrator, with Christopher reflecting upon the past from the grave. But upon seeing the finished product, and upon seeing how Dickie wasn’t some monster dooming his son to an unpleasant life, he had a big realization.

“Dickie is a mobster and criminal, you can’t deny that — but he seems like a good guy,” Imperioli told Schirripa. “There are some noble qualities to him. I imagined him before the movie as more like Christopher, more hot-headed, but he wasn’t. He was a more composed character, which made me think that a lot of Christopher’s defects and addictive-compulsive nature actually came from not having a father.”

In other words, Christopher wasn’t a whole lot like his father. They both had demons, but Dickie was mostly functioning, and could mostly — but not always — keep it together. Christopher is damaged for other reasons.

Perhaps it’s the world he grew up in. Imperioli talked about the ending of Many Saints, in which his father is whacked on the orders of a key member of the crime family, and for petty reasons.

“It shows how f*cked up the Sopranos are,” Imperioli said. “It made me think that Christopher was doomed from the start, from birth. It is almost like it is imprinted in his genetics.”

The Many Saints of Newark is now playing in theaters and on HBO Max.

(Via THR)

LeBron James is about to enter his 19th NBA season, and based on what we saw out of the Los Angeles Lakers star last season, he doesn’t seem like he has any plans to give up his spot among the game’s elite any time soon. Before the season tips off, though, James is lending his name to the newest gigantic facility at the heart of Nike’s campus in Oregon.

Nike unveiled the LeBron James Innovation Center on Monday, which will include the new Nike Sport Research Lab. The 750,000 square foot facility, according to a release from Nike, “s where listening to the voice of the athlete is made tangible,” as researchers will use data accrued while folks are participating in their various sports to help create things that assist them on and off of their respective playing surfaces.

The new scope of the NSRL is fivefold the footprint of its predecessor. Facilities include a full-size basketball court, a 200-meter endurance track, a 100-meter straightaway, and an artificial-turf training pitch — all in service of capturing athletes in motion at full speed. Along with the force plates and motion-capture equipment mentioned above, a series of four advanced climate chambers mimic a variety of conditions. These advancements support an expansion of research and development that encompasses both mental and physical well-being.

“Over the course of my career and my time here at Nike, for all of this to come together is surreal,” James said in a statement. “Sometimes it doesn’t make sense to me, but I’m definitely honored. Having my name on the Innovation building feels very fitting because I’m always trying to figure out ways I can continue to innovate and continue to break the timeline of what they say is your prime.”

Now that the facility is opened, James can now focus 100 percent on the Lakers, whose regular season begins on Oct. 19 at Staples Center against the Golden State Warriors.

Two intriguing AFC West rivals take the field in Los Angeles for the Week 4 edition of Monday Night Football. The Los Angeles Chargers welcome the undefeated Las Vegas Raiders to SoFi Stadium with real anticipation but, despite a scheduled start time of 8:15 pm ET, kickoff didn’t take place in its typical time slot. In fact, it was delayed for weather and, more specifically, for lightning in Los Angeles.

The issue, though, is that SoFi Stadium is a domed venue, meaning that exterior weather wouldn’t normally cause a delay. That left observers quite confused, even as the official kickoff time of 8:55 pm ET was distributed.

Raiders head coach Jon Gruden joined in the confusion, reacting as he was told what was happening just before the game was set to begin.

The jokes were flying, including a play on the presence of Chargers and their trademark lightning bolt logo in this particular setting.

There was seemingly a real reason for the delay, though, as the weather was pretty ugly outside the venue. Given that SoFi Stadium does have open sides, there would be some potential issues for fans in certain areas, even if the field was not affected.

All told, it appears as if the only real fallout will be a delay of under an hour, and football is on schedule — ESPN reports the scheduled kick is 8:55 p.m. ET. Still, this is a bizarre situation and, with all of the renewed attention on sports betting in 2021, one could ask what the odds were of an indoor weather delay on Monday night.

Britney Spears has been on a rollercoaster. Not just for the last few months as she battles it out in court with her father and the corrupt legal team who allegedly orchestrated her abusive conservatorship, but for the last thirteen years where her situation seemed dire and permanent. It was her fans rallying together to create the #FreeBritney movement — which kicked off amateur, and then professional — investigations into her predicament, and after years of not quite knowing what was happening, or if their work mattered, those loyal few are finally getting gratitude straight from the source.

On Twitter today, Britney let her #FreeBritney fans know that she credits her newfound freedom directly to them.
“#FreeBritney movement… I have no words… because of you guys and your constant resilience in freeing me from my conservatorship…. my life is now in that direction !!!!! I cried last night for two hours cause my fans are the best and I know it…”

She’s not completely out of the conservatorship yet, but a landmark decision last week to suspend her father from the proceedings means that dissolution of the system is likely the next step. Meanwhile, she got engaged, and then went on vacation and posted nudes to celebrate. Frankly I can’t think of a better way to acknowledge the shift in control and begin to come to terms with having her life back. As long as she’s also focusing on the fact that she’s got a lot of healing to do.

It was a crazy day on social media Monday, just not on Facebook and its sister services Instagram and WhatsApp. The week kicked off with a massive outage at the social media company. Jokes flew wild…on Twitter. But by the end of the day, all three services started slowly roaring back to life.

It all began around 11:30 EST, the morning after 60 Minutes aired a shocking — though not that shocking — report from a whistleblower about how higher-ups allegedly allowed various strains of misinformation to spread because it was good for traffic. As the company was being accused of favoring profits over public safety, they suddenly went AWOL. Around 6:30 EST, some seven hours later, the company announced — on Twitter — that things would soon be back to normal.

“To the huge community of people and businesses around the world who depend on us: we’re sorry,” Facebook said. “We’ve been working hard to restore access to our apps and services and are happy to report they are coming back online now. Thank you for bearing with us.”

It remains a mystery what happened, beyond some vague chatter about “networking issues.” All three services spent the day reassuring people — again, on Twitter — that they were on it.

Though the outage caused a lot of jokes, some pointed out the parts of it that are no laughing matter. Some suggested that Facebook Inc. should run afoul of antitrust laws.

But there were also jokes.

And there were also people who wished Facebook Inc. hadn’t come back.

But Facebook et al. are back, so at least your uncle who falls for misinformation about horse drugs is happy again.

Harry Styles on tour is guaranteed to produced plenty of newsworthy stories. Not just because his fans do things like open up a pit at a pop show to celebrate when he performs “Kiwi,” or because he gives expert advice on subjects like “should I text him?” but because the music really is that good, too.

And because “Watermelon Sugar” has become one of the singer’s most beloved songs, apparently Harry felt it was time to let everyone know exactly what the song is about. I mean, we all had our theories based on some choice imagery and parallels, but to have the songwriter himself weigh in, well, that’s true pleasure. “This song is about… it doesn’t really matter what it’s about,” Styles said before launching into the song at a recent show in Nashville. “It’s about the, uh, the sweetness of life.” After singing a few lines, though, he decided to give us more: “It’s also about the female orgasm, but that’s totally different. It’s not relevant.”

The ensuing screams from the audience seem to imply otherwise, my dear Mr. Styles.

Check out a fan-captured video of the moment above, and make sure to smugly tell your friends and family that you knew what the sexual innuendo before it was revealed! That’s true fandom.

After six months of chemotherapy, iconic Blink-182’s vocalist and bassist Mark Hoppus announced on Twitter that he is cancer free. His Twitter bio now reads: “bassist singer person in the blink-182 and simple creatures. he/him. Cancer Destroyer.”

Since sharing his diagnosis in June, Hoppus has been the epitome of good spirits while being open about his struggle. In his first online message to the public, he stated “It sucks and I’m scared, and at the same time I’m blessed with incredible doctors and family and friends to get me through this. … I’m trying to remain hopeful and positive. Can’t wait to be cancer free and see you all at a concert in the near future. Love to you all.”

https://t.co/S9oZvPHZEw

— ϻ𝔞Ⓡ𝔨 𝐇𝑜Ƥ𝐩ย𝓼 (@markhoppus)
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This initial announcement, though tragic, incited an outpouring of heartfelt support from fellow music legends and loyal fans. Clearly, this musician—who helped create that distinctly bombastic, aggressively playful sound loved by headbangers everywhere—had made a positive impact.

the news about Mark Hoppus having cancer is so so so incredibly sad and I truly hope that as the godfather of pop p… https://t.co/Mmw5n7KC1V

— Luc (@ellkay_)
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As Hoppus underwent chemotherapy, he candidly documented his treatment updates. Usually with an added joke, like this Instagram photo, where he wrote, “Yes hello. One cancer treatment, please.”

Hoppus’ Instagram Story, shared by today.com
media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com

Clearly, some days were more lighthearted than others. Recently, Hoppus shared how dismally uncomfortable the process was, plainly describing his new normal as “getting pumped full of poison every three weeks.”

But for the most part, it appears he’s been in fairly high spirits. He even posted a picture to his Instagram of his previously bald scalp (which had begun to grow white hairs) with the added caption:

“I mean what the shit is this? Is my hair growing back white? If it does I wonder if I’ll look more like George Clooney or Doc Brown? I feel like this is still the cancery peach fuzz hair and maybe my normal hair will start growing again? It’s so strange to have hair growing back more on my head while my leg hair continues to fall out further and further down, now at the bottom of my shins. I’ve been in chemotherapy for five months and TODAY the hair on my shins decides it’s time to peace out? Cancer is weird.”

It’s the sort of comedy I would lovingly expect from a guy made famous by singing about running around naked and dancing like an animal.

The optimism clearly paid off, as yesterday he was able to give his cancer free announcement on Twitter and Instagram. Hoppus’ words were full of gratitude and warmth as he wrote, “Thank you God and the universe and friends and family and everyone who sent support and kindness and love. Still have to get scanned every six months and it’ll take me until the end of the year to get back to normal but today is an amazing day and I feel so blessed.”

Of course, this was fantastic news for more than just Hoppus. In addition to responses from John Mayer, Adam DeVine and Benjamin Madden, even Blink-182’s drummer Travis Barker joined in congratulating his band brother, according to Us Weekly. And let’s not forget the touching fan comments:

@markhoppus Just thinking how much you meant to two kids from Peru… who learned all your songs… fuck… I wanted to b… https://t.co/Gif0wLy9RF

— Samuel (@samueldlt)
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@azzhat @markhoppus My brother has been fighting cancer the last 2 years also. Right here in KC too. Wonder if you… https://t.co/9ZOYmnyfZg

— Stefen Gamer (@KCGamerGuy)
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@markhoppus This Cat is called Hoppus and is pleased to hear this news too! https://t.co/7dmq3Y5Q5S

— ShorttyE (@ShorttyE)
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Congratulations, Mark. Kicking cancer’s ass is cool. But kicking cancer’s ass and maintaining a sense of humor? Now that’s punk rock.

SNL “Weekend Update” host Colin Jost and his wife actor Scarlett Johansson welcomed a baby into this world in August. The high-profile, private couple was able to keep news of the pregnancy relatively quiet until Jost announced it the day before the baby was born.

The couple was married in October 2020. Cosmo is Jost’s first child and their first as a couple. Johansson is already mom to daughter Rose, 6, who she shares with French journalist Romain Dauriac.

Jost announced the baby’s arrival on Instagram where he couldn’t waste the opportunity to take a jab at his “Weekend Update” co-host, Michael Che. He jokingly said to refer any questions to his publicist @chethinks, Che’s Instagram account.

Your weekday update:
Colin Jost & Scarlett Johansson have welcomed a son. ✔️
Michael Che officially has a new IG b… https://t.co/evM1Sbaq0q

— E! News (@enews)
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Like many creative types, Jost and Johansson chose a name that’s a little quirky and uncommon. In fact, the name hasn’t been a popular American baby name in the past 100 years.

Cosmo hasn’t appeared in the top 1000 U.S. baby names since 1926. However, it’ll probably make a comeback in the coming years after being chosen by celebrity parents.

Appellation Mountain says the name Cosmo has a “quirky, not-quite-real quality,” that could be why it was revealed as the first name of Kramer on “Seinfeld” in 1995.

Scarlett Johansson is pregnant and expecting her first child with Colin Jost. https://t.co/hWmUHErWWw

— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates)
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Jost was on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” on Thursday where he revealed that his mother wasn’t really on board with the name and did everything she could to have it changed without seeming too pushy.

Colin Jost Reveals Why He Named His Baby Cosmo

www.youtube.com

“My mom, I would say, was slightly thrown by it and didn’t quite understand it,” Jost said. “I don’t know if she thought it was kind of like a hippie thing.”

Even though the couple made the name official on the birth certificate, his mother wouldn’t let the issue go.

“She would call us after three or four days,” he explained. “And she’d be like, ‘And now, is it final? Like, did you submit the birth certificate?’ And we’re like, ‘Oh, yeah, we did that at the hospital.'”

Then she started suggesting names that sounded like Cosmo, but were a few letters off.

“She was like ‘OK, interesting. Because I was reading that there’s also a name Cosimo with an ‘I,’ so that could also be an option. Maybe Cosimo, that’s his real name, but then you can call him still Cosmo,'” Jost said as his mother.

He recalled: “Then she goes, ‘There’s a patron saint called Cosmos, so that’s another option.’ We don’t need more worse variants on Cosmo. But thanks, Mom.”

Jost’s mother’s process of dealing with her grandchild’s name followed the five stages of acceptance: denial, anger, depression, bargaining, and acceptance.

It appears as though she finally came to accept the baby’s name when her neighbors on Staten Island told her that it’s a common name amongst Italian-Americans.

“Eventually, she started meeting various members of the Italian community who have a lot of Cosmo relatives,” Jost said. “And so then she would call, and she would say, ‘I met someone — they said their uncle’s name is Cosmo. So it is OK.'”

South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham has a pretty cushy spot in Trumpworld, even after a disastrous coup attempt left the now-former president essentially marooned at Mar-a-Lago. Save for rallies and golfing, Trump isn’t doing much beyond issuing press releases he wishes were tweets.

While Trump seems to planning a 2024 presidential run, many others who have fallen out of favor with him are doing their best to cash in on their experiences. One of those is ex-press secretary Stephanie Grisham, who is publishing I’ll Take Your Questions Now, a tell-all book about her time with Trump that includes a number of shots at those in and around his orbit.

One anecdote that made waves on Monday was an excerpt about the South Carolina senator who became known as “Senator Freeloader” among those who saw him wine and dine at Mar-a-Lago. As Raw Story detailed, Grisham wrote about how Graham was famous for “lapping up” free stuff at Trump’s Florida resort.

“And Lindsey Graham? Well, it struck me he was using Trump to mop up the freebies like there was no tomorrow (seems that he still is),” she explains. “He would show up at Mar-a-Lago or Bedminster to play free rounds of golf, stuff his face with free food and hang out with Trump and his celebrity pals.”

At one point, according to Grisham, Graham actually kicked a Trump staffer out of a room so he could stay and continue to get free stuff at another Trump resort.

“Senator Freeloader was sitting at a table by the pool, a big grin on his face, lapping up the goodies he was getting like some potentate,” Grisham writes. “He said to me with a creepy little smile, ‘Isn’t this great? Man, this is the life.’”

Grisham called Graham’s behavior “almost schizophrenic” and said he would wildly swing from defending Trump’s actions to being a harsh critic. But it’s clear the word was out on his behavior.

You can read the full excerpt from the book below.

[via Raw Story]

On Monday, everyone’s favorite purveyor of misinformation about horse drugs suddenly went down. Facebook servers, and their services, including Instagram and WhatsApp, went MIA for several hours before slowly roaring back to life. Jokes, of course, flew wild on the other big dicey social media platform, Twitter. And some of these jokes were about the same subject: that old Jeremy Renner app that was too pure for this world.

If you remember, the Marvel actor branched out in a most unusual direction: by establishing his own social media site. Dubbed “the Jeremy Renner of apps” by Ringer, it allowed users to interact, along with plenty of pictures of Hawkeye himself. It lasted over two years before Renner himself pulled the plug after some chuckleheads kept exploiting a strange loophole for yuks.

But though the app — called Jeremy Renner Official on iOS and simply Jeremy Renner on Android — is gone, it’s not forgotten. When Facebook suddenly vanished from the internet, lots and lots of people had the same joke. And that joke was about the Jeremy Renner app.

After several hours, Facebook gradually came back, to the delight of olds who have no nose for obvious misinformation. It was a bad 24 hours for the social media giant, which also had to suffer the slings fired by a whistleblower, who made public some hair-raising — though hardly surprising — intel about how their algorithms may have helped destroy the world. The Jeremy Renner app never had it so bad.