Uproxx’s March 2023 cover stars aespa, along with Jessie Reyez and Tokischa, will appear on the upcoming Rebel Moon – Songs Of The Rebellion EP. The project is tied to Netflix’s Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver television series, as each song was inspired by a character on the show. The project drops April 5.
Reyez’s song is titled “Child Of Fire,” and is connected to the main character Kora from the show. She explained that she had started working on it before being tied to the EP though.
“The skeleton of the song existed before Dot Da Genius and I got approached… to collaborate for Rebel Moon,” Reyez told Rolling Stone. “However, the theme of the song happened to parallel the movie, so it seemed very kismet.”
“We massaged in minor lyric adjustments but it was very organic; as if the song was made for the movie before we even knew we’d be given the opportunity to contribute,” she added.
aespa also collaborated with Tokimonsta for “Die Trying,” which taps into the mindset of the character of Nemesis.
“Being able to collaborate with K-pop act aespa was incredible, especially as a Korean American,” Tokimonsta shared. “Nemesis’ heroic strength, which arose from the depths of tragedy and darkness, fueled my creative process throughout the track.”
Finally, Tokischa’s song “Jalo!” was a partnership with Tainy, as they used the House Of The Bloodaxe as inspiration.
Rebel Moon – Songs Of The Rebellion Tracklist
1. Jessie Reyez — “Child Of Fire”
2. Tokischa and Tainy — “Jalo!”
3. aespa and TOKiMONSTA — “Die Trying”
4. Black Coffee — “Ode To Ancestors” Feat. Djimon Hounsou
5. Kordhell — “Revolution”
The last two Alien movies, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, are divisive films, but one thing everyone who saw them can agree on is that they’re not particularly heavy on the horror. Existential dread, yes, which is its own kind of horror, but I mean old school horror, the kind seen in the first Alien movie.
Fede Álvarez is going back to the franchise’s roots.
20th Century Studios has released the first teaser trailer for Alien: Romulus. Set between 1979’s Alien and 1986’s Aliens, the film is about a group of space colonizers who come face to face with “the most terrifying life form in the universe” while scavenging a derelict space station (I’m guessing they didn’t find a Predator). The trailer features almost no dialogue, but there is screaming, blood, and a Xenomorph jump scare. It looks pretty great — and should not be confused with the Alien show coming to FX.
“I knew that I wanted to go back to the roots, to the era of the first film, and so that indicates much of the design right away,” Alvarez (Don’t Breathe) told EW. “This company makes a certain type of hallway, a certain type of monitor, a certain type of engine, and if you live in this universe, you’ll re-encounter a lot of these designs. So production designer Naaman Marshall and I took a lot of care to make sure we were super faithful to the style of the first film. This takes place a few years later, but in the world of Alien, that’s not too much later, really.”
Alien: Romulus, which stars Priscilla breakout Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu, opens in theaters on August 16.
Pickathon is officially making a return to Oregon this summer. Today (March 20), the immersive festival announced its 2024 iteration, which will take place over the course of four days (August 1 to 4) at Pendarvis Farm in Happy Valley Oregon.
Pickathon prides itself as an eco-friendly festival, spanning across over 80 acres of lush forest over the Pacific North West. According to the festival’s official website, Pickathon consists of seven stages within Happy Valley’s forests, hills, meadows, and farm buildings of Pendarvis Farm. The festival also implements a zero-waste policy, and there will be very little trash throughout the grounds. Fans also won’t have to worry about paying festival prices for bottled water, as the website notes “water is free and abundant.”
The lineup for Pickathon 2024 was revealed today (March 20) via Consequence. On the lineup are Courtney Barnett, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Durand Jones, Elephant Revival, Vincent Neil Emerson, Adi Oasis, Ratboys, and more.
Tickets for Pickathon 2024 are available for purchase now through the festival’s website. Music fans are able to camp outside in tents with the purchase of tickets, but car and RV camping will cost extra. Fans can also purchase Thursday passes to get set up and start camping a day before.
You can see the Pickathon line-up below.
EXCLUSIVE: @Pickathon Festival has revealed its 2024 lineup led by Courtney Barnett, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Durand Jones, Ratboys, Elephant Revival, and more.
USA Basketball got a major boost ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics when it got reported that Joel Embiid will join the men’s team. Embiid had a few options for his international basketball career, but ultimately, he decided that he’d suit up for Team USA, which filled the single biggest hole on the roster heading to Paris next year.
France and Cameroon lost out on Embiid’s services, and while Cameroon did not qualify for the Olympics, France did as the host country. They’re already heading into the tournament with an insane 1-2 punch at center of Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama, and it’s hard to see how anyone could have dealt with them if Embiid got added to that equation. In fact, a new piece by Joe Vardon of The Athletic reveals that if Embiid joined them, French coach Vincent Collet had plans to put all three of his bigs on the floor at the same time.
Collet coached Wembanyama last season in the French pro league and also for the few games in which Wembanyama played for Team France in FIBA competition. Collet said he had intended to play Gobert (7-1), Wembanyama (7-4) and Embiid, the 7-foot, 2023 NBA MVP and career 34 percent shooter from 3-point range, together as starters.
The challenges presented to the rest of the world, and the inherent advantages France would have had, are obvious.
“It would be easy to make them play together, especially Victor with Joel, because with Victor’s mobility, he can really play the three,” Collet said. “To have them together on the court would have been very special. That’s why I was so disappointed.”
It’s an idea ripped straight from a video game, and with the dimensions of the courts that are used in FIBA competitions, having to deal with all that size and length would have been a nightmare. But fortunately for Team USA and the rest of the field, they won’t have to figure out a solution to what would have, quite literally, been a big problem.
Like a wave of eerie mist, the reviews for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire are rolling in, and there’s definitely a persistent theme across all of them: Kumail Nanjiani is the film’s secret weapon.
As a direct sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Frozen Empire catches up with the Spengler kids as they join Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson) in New York to become a new generation of the iconic team. How well that concept lands will vary, but for the most part, the early reviews say Frozen Empire has enough going for it to clear the low bar set by the franchise’s first attempt at a sequel: the lackluster Ghostbusters II.
That being said, Frozen Empire isn’t exactly knocking socks off, but Nanjiani is repeatedly cited for bringing back a much needed element to the franchise: comedy. Afterlife leaned way too far into the franchise’s wobbly science, and Frozen Empire has that problem, too, but Nanjiani does his best to bring the Ghosbusters back to their comedy roots.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire tries hard, very hard, to satisfy the series’ fans with plenty of nostalgic throwbacks and mainly succeeds. It’s not nearly as good as the classic 1984 original, but then again, neither was 1989’s Ghostbusters II, and that one was directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, all of whom were responsible for the original. So the fact that this installment manages to be as much fun as it is represents a minor triumph.
Ignoring the Paul Feig venture with Melissa McCarthy, this string of horror-comedies ties to 1984’s Ghostbusters and its 1989 sequel, Ghostbusters II, but has doubled down on lore, following the family of the late Egon Spengler. This makes for a new chapter that is overcrowded with characters, CGI ghouls, and science yelling. While at points, there’s jokes that actually land (thanks to the likes of Kumail Nanjiani and Patton Oswalt), overall, this sequel is a confounding mix of fan service and inexplicable choices meant to cater to a broad audience.
[Kumail] Nanjiani is so nonchalant about this that he becomes the movie’s spark plug, and in doing so I think he points the way toward where this franchise should go. “Ghostbusters II” was a mild and flavorless sequel. The 2016 reboot, while unfairly bashed for its gender flip, was too polite — it lacked the postmodern center of gravity provided, in the original film, by Murray’s malarkey. “Afterlife,” to me, just sat there. “Frozen Empire” has enough going on in it to connect, but now that Jason Reitman and company have brought this series back to life, it’s time to re-infuse it with the spirit that Kumail Nanjiani brings. In a “Ghostbusters” film, the laughter should be more than just a ghost of itself.
As opposed to The Dial of Destiny, which leaned way too hard into the modern-day appeal of an action hero who’s now 80, the new-era Ghostbusters is determined to start from scratch, and it’s telling that this film, like its predecessor, is at its weakest when trying to work in cameos for original stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson.
We get some new character turns: standup comic James Acaster is stuck with the dull role of a boffin called Lars Pinfield, and is given pretty much nothing in the script to allow his natural comedy style to flourish. (The same, sadly, is also true of Rudd.) Patton Oswalt does his best, playing a feisty scholar of the netherworld called Dr Wartzki. But really among the new contingent the only person who actually brings the all-important comedy is Nanjiani, who has the correct spark of humour and subversion. The younger contingent are all too wide-eyed and innocent, while the senior class of 1984 are too detached.
“Frozen Empire” seems more interested in the wacky antics of the miniature Stay-Puft Marshmallow Men, who are even more Minion-like than ever this time, and in celebrating the cultural phenomenon of the “Ghostbusters” franchise as a whole. Once again, this is a movie that repeatedly acknowledges that the Ray Parker Jr. theme song was a massive radio and MTV hit 40 years ago, even going so far as to include a bit of the original music video. But we’d all be better off singing a different tune at this point.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire slimes into theaters on March 22.
The 2024 Men’s NCAA Tournament gets underway across the country this week. There is a four-game appetizer in Dayton on Tuesday and Wednesday before the main event, complete with madness, begins in earnest on Thursday afternoon. Casual observers and die-hard fans will dive in at the same time, following their brackets and the general excitement in the event.
Still, there is another defined angle for evaluation over the next few weeks, and it comes through the lens of the 2024 NBA Draft. The consensus is that the 2024 class is not terribly inspiring in comparison to previous groups, especially when it comes to college prospects, but some players always leap up the board in March and there are plenty of prospects to monitor. We’re going to let you know which players you need to watch as the Tournament begins, and here, we look at the top prospects in the West Region.
1. Ja’Kobe Walter, forward, Baylor 2. Yves Missi, center, Baylor 3. DaRon Holmes, center, Dayton 4. Pelle Larsson, forward, Arizona 5. PJ Hall, center, Clemson
Only two consensus first round picks will suit up in the West, and they are on the same team. Walter is widely projected as a potential lottery pick, and the 6’5 wing could make a leap if Baylor makes a run as he plays well. Missi is a hyper-athletic seven-footer that checks a ton of NBA boxes. He probably won’t be an incredibly high-usage offensive player at the next level, but Missi can finish at the rim and he has tremendous defensive tools.
Holmes is a personal favorite, and he has been one of the best college players in the country this year. Of course, that does guarantee anything at the next level, and Holmes might be a second round pick. Still, he is incredibly productive, and Holmes is a versatile offensive player who has come a long way as a shooter.
Larsson and Hall are closer to potential Two-Way players as rookies in my view, but as noted above, not every region has five clear standouts. Hall has an impressive skill set that keys a strong Clemson team. Arizona also has a couple of additional prospects in KJ Lewis and Keshad Johnson that are very much in the mix at a similar level.
Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder dug coal together. The actors who play them take vacation photos together.
Walton Goggins shared a picture with his Justified co-star Timothy Olyphant on Instagram on Wednesday. “Look at this beautiful Thailand surprise… got to meet up with Raylan Givens for lunch today. Talk about comforts from home…Just what I needed. What a good man. The road we’ve walked,” he wrote. Goggins is throwing up the peace sign, while Olyphant, in a Daniel Johnston “Hi, How Are You” shirt, is pointing at his buddy as if to say, “I’m with stupid.”
We should probably talk about Olyphant’s bleach blonde hair.
No, he’s not playing Ken in Barbie 2, although he has the musical chops to pull it off. Presumably, it’s for his role in Fargo creator Noah Hawley’s much-anticipated FX series Alien, which is filming in Thailand. The Southeast Asian country is also the shooting location for the third season of HBO’s The White Lotus starring — yup — Walton Goggins.
Can we expect another Raylan and Boyd reunion in the future? Maybe in a potential season two of Justified: City Primeval? “Everybody would like to, but it’s up to the network,” co-showrunner Michael Dinner told Entertainment Weekly. “Because it’s not about City Primeval, we would only want to do it if it advanced where we were in the original show. I think we could do that, but it’s up to the network. Walton’s interested, and Tim’s interested, and we think there’s another chapter in Raylan’s life, but what are the needs of FX?”
For now, the Thailand photo will have to do.
IT’S OVER FOR ME Walton Goggins Timothy Olyphant comforts from home…… I’m about to blow up pic.twitter.com/b15OdeUXHI
When Cardi B and Offset tied the knot in 2017, as part of a secret wedding, it shocked fans. Although the two had made public appearances together, including at the Met Gala afterparty in May of 2017, they both had denied any relationship rumors. And only eight days before Offset proposed during a Philly show in October 2017, Cardi B had posted that she was single on social media, according to Billboard. (Wildly enough, the pair would reveal they were already married when that proposal took place.)
After getting married, the two musicians have maintained an on-and-off relationship filled with cheating accusations, separations, and no shortage of lavish gifts to smooth things over. In 2018, Offset even used his Instagram to try to win Cardi B back during one of their many splits, which managed to work.
Cardi B and Offset even briefly announced a divorce in 2020, then didn’t go through with it and got back together. Because of this tumultuous nature, there have been questions about whether the couple is still connected — or if they’ve permanently called it quits.
Here’s what to know about where they stand now.
Is Cardi B Still Married To Offset?
In the most recent update about their relationship, Cardi B revealed she was single as of December 2023, but it’s unclear if the divorce was officially finalized. She celebrated New Year’s Eve with Offset, which once again sparked reconciliation rumors, but nothing has been confirmed yet.
As of right now, Cardi B seems to be legally married to Offset, although they are no longer in a relationship. It’s unclear if she is actually going through the divorce process again.
Cardi had first announced they would divorce in September 2020. “The reason for my divorce is not because of none of that sh*t that ever happened before,” she said at the time during an Instagram Live. “It’s not because of cheating… I’m seeing people be like, ‘Oh, he has a baby on the way.’ That’s a whole f*cking complete lie.” However, by October of that year, the pair had reconnected, and Cardi B put a hold on the divorce filing, so the two remained legally married. They welcomed a second child in 2021.
Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The gang will return for more shenanigans this week before a brief hiatus. Not only will we get to see the familiar Abbott faces, but Keegan-Michael Key will also appear during this week’s episode, titled “Panel.” Here is the official synopsis: “Ava and Gregory are invited to speak on a panel about public schools, while the other teachers must complete CPR training; Janine faces challenges securing district approval for her librarian extension program.”
Episode seven will air on ABC on Wednesday, March 20th. Like past episodes, it will arrive on Hulu around 3 a.m. on Thursday, March 21st.
This isn’t the first, nor will it be the last, crop of guest stars for the show. Creator Quinta Brunson spilled how she was able to get Bradley Cooper on board to appear in the post-Oscars episode. “Once we realized we had the Oscar episode and we had the opportunity to do something flashy, I wanted to do a flashy cold open. So I just kind of went to the roots of Abbott, which are, ‘Who’s from Philly? Who’s associated with the city?’ And Bradley’s a Philly boy, everyone knows him as being a great member of the city,” she explained.
Now all we need is a brief cameo from Kevin Bacon and the Philly experience will really be complete.
Welcome to another installment of Ask A Music Critic! And thanks to everyone who has sent me questions. Please keep them coming at [email protected].
As I’m sure you noticed, viral photos of Timothée Chalamet dressed up as Bob Dylan on the set of the upcoming movie A Complete Unknown were everywhere online this weekend. Lots of people fired off jokes, but I’m honestly curious to see this movie. I know you’re a major Dylan head so I figure you must have an opinion on this. Do you think Timothée Chalamet will be good at playing Bob Dylan? — Carrie from Charlotte
You’re right, I do have an opinion about this. I have thought a lot about the Timothée Chalamet Bob Dylan movie. I have thought way too much about the Timothée Chalamet Bob Dylan movie, probably. I have also thought a lot about Bob Dylan biopics that exist only in my imagination. (More on that in a minute.)
Do I think Timothée Chalamet will be good at playing Bob Dylan? My answer for now is, of course, I don’t know. I’m going to wait and see. What I do know is that I have made two decisions regarding A Complete Unknown. One, I will make fun of it relentlessly in the run-up to the film. (The funniest part of the Chalamet photos is the scarf. It’s practically a Lenny Kravitz-sized scarf! The movie should be called Tangled Up In Scarf.) Two, I will see it opening weekend with the hopes of enjoying myself. Because I like to enjoy myself, and I want this film to be an enjoyable time. As my friend Harry recently said, this movie might be great, which would be fun. But it might also be terrible, which would also be fun. (Possibly more fun!)
There’s also a third option, which I actually think is the most likely outcome: This movie will be well-made and competently acted, though ultimately nondescript and forgettable. I’m basing this speculative opinion on the pedigree of writer-director James Mangold, who has made one movie I love (Cop Land), some movies I like (3:10 To Yuma, Logan) and at least one movie that put me to sleep (Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny). But the most pertinent part of his filmography for this conversation is obviously Walk The Line, the Johnny and June Cash movie starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon that he put out in 2005.
I saw Walk The Line twice that year, and not once since. I remember liking it, but whenever I try to picture the film in my mind I only see scenes from Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. That movie did to Walk The Line and similar biopics what Airplane did to the Airport franchise and other disaster movies. Walk Hard retroactively made Walk The Line seem ridiculous. It didn’t put the biopic genre out of business, exactly, but it did forever affect how these movies are viewed and discussed. And Walk Hard definitely colors my early feelings about Mangold’s Dylan film. Is this going to be the sort of corny biopic that awkwardly shoehorns famous lyrics into the dialogue? (“I know that kid looks like he’s freewheelin’, but a hard rain’s gonna fall when the world hears his songs!” “Don’t think twice … he’ll be alright.”) I hope not. But if it is, I hope it does that a lot, to maintain the aforementioned great/terrible “fun” binary.
The best thing about Walk The Line is the acting by the leads. Phoenix was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar and Witherspoon won for Best Actress, and they both deserved the honors. A Complete Unknown similarly rests on Chalamet, who I’m sure sees this movie as his big Oscar play. Like Phoenix as Cash, Chalamet reportedly will forego lip-syncing and sing as Dylan. If he nails it, the movie will work. If he turns in a hacky impersonation, the movie will sink. It’s as simple as that.
So: Will Timothée Chalamet be good at playing Bob Dylan? As I see it, he faces two major challenges. The first challenge is Bob Dylan’s contradictory nature. He is one of the most charismatic and inviting performers in rock history, and also one of the most awkward and surly. He has a formidable presence, and also a comically slight body. He is the most eloquent lyricist ever, and also an extremely confusing conversationalist. If you film him from a certain direction, he is one gawky looking dude. If you film him from a different direction, he is one striking rock star. The point of fiction is to take the messiness of reality and give it an orderly three-act structure. But Bob Dylan has more successfully resisted order than any great American artist of the last 100 years. Can Timothée Chalamet capture all that? I’m keeping an open mind but I have my doubts.
The second challenge is that A Complete Unknown will focus on Dylan’s early and mid-1960s period, aka the most iconic era of his or any other rocker’s career. As with any icon, it’s very difficult to present this kind of character as a real human being. Simply by putting on the ’60s Dylan costume, you are immediately butting up against a well-worn caricature. From there, the path to Walk Hard-esque silliness is short and wide. You can already see it in the paparazzi photos from the set. Self-parody is a near-impossible path to avoid.
I get why Mangold would pick the Dylan guise that is most likely to resonate with a mass audience. But it’s also the very decision that might cripple his film. I believe there are superior Dylan biopics to be made about other parts of his life and career. Not only are these movies more interesting and entertaining, they don’t have the “iconic caricature” problem that A Complete Unknown has.
Here are the five imaginary Bob Dylan biopics that exist (for now) only in my head.
1. A Basement Tapes Hangout Movie/Buddy Comedy (dir. Richard Linklater)
The best Bob Dylan movie — not counting Larry Charles’ Masked & Anonymous, which reiterates my earlier point about how only Dylan himself can embody Bob Dylan’s singular Dylan-ness — is Inside Llewyn Davis, in which he does not appear until the final minutes (and the audience only gets a glancing look). This movie would be sort of like that. Dylan is in it, but he’s a supporting character in an overall ensemble that includes the members of The Band and various other citizens of the Woodstock community cira 1967. The vibe is similar to Dazed And Confused and Everybody Wants Some!!, with lots of awesome guys in cool clothes hanging out, getting wasted, and having an incredible time, all while recording “Apple Suckling Tree” in the basement of Big Pink.
2. Marriage Drama That Takes Place Between Nashville Skyline and Before The Flood (dir. Noah Baumbach)
Think Marriage Story, only it’s about Bob Dylan stepping away from stardom for several years to be a family man, only to get sucked back into the rock ‘n’ roll show-business machine in the mid-’70s and wrecking his home life in the process. The film opens with Dylan pulling Stephen Stills and Tim Drummond into a hotel room and playing them songs from the not-yet-released Blood On The Tracks. We then do a flashback to happier days for Bob and Sara Dylan as they have kids and raise a family, and trace Bob’s journey from seclusion to his return to the road. The film ends back in the hotel room where a severely coked-out Stills says, “These songs aren’t very good.”
3. Intense Paul Schrader-Scripted Spiritual Drama About Bob Dylan’s Conversion To Christianity (dir. Martin Scorsese)
This movie also centers on a scene in a hotel room. Only this time it’s a room in Tucson in 1978, Bob is sitting alone. He feels miserable. He says to the room’s empty blackness, “I need something tonight.” He reaches into his pocket and removes a crucifix that a fan threw on stage at his concert the night before. Suddenly, he senses the hand of God come over him. It’s a physical act. He feels it. He suddenly feels charged to spread the good word through his music. Many people think he’s crazy, but Bob does not care. Think The Last Temptation Of Christ, only this time the man who hears voices isn’t literally the holy savior. (He is merely rock’s savior.)
4. The Fall And Rise Of 1980s Bob Dylan (dir. The Safdie Brothers)
This film takes place entirely on one day. It is the day that Bob Dylan records “‘We Are The World.” At the start of the film, he looks sweaty and puffy and lost. He is drinking way too much. He has not toured in nearly four years. He suspects his next album, Empire Burlesque, is not very good. He gets to the studio and is surrounded by celebrities. You feel his stress and anxiety as he tries to sing but can’t. The audience spirals as he spirals. It looks as though he might die, figuratively and perhaps even literally, while standing in the vicinity of Huey Lewis and Kim Carnes. Will he survive? The film will hold you in suspense until the final frame. (Bob, naturally, is played by Adam Sandler.)
5. Comedy-Drama About Almost Dying In The Mid-’90s, And Then Making Time Out Of Mind (dir. The Coen Brothers)
The spiritual sequel to Inside Llewyn Davis, only the tone is closer to A Serious Man, i.e. deadpan comedy about the meaning (and meaninglessness) of life and the absence of God with stark, apocalyptic overtones. It is essentially a comeback story, about a guy who nearly perishes in a hospital bed and then makes one of the most acclaimed albums of his life. But the vibe isn’t exactly triumphant. It it melancholy, even tragic. The longest scene takes place in a diner where Bob flirts with a waitress. It is, like the rest of the movie, very funny and very sad.
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