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The Boston Celtics once again took care of business on the home floor on Thursday night. Thanks to a 37-point outing from Jaylen Brown, Boston was able to pick up a 127-112 win over the Phoenix Suns in their latest statement about how hard it’s going to be to beat them at TD Garden once the postseason rolls around.

Late in the game with the Celtics up by 18, Phoenix called a timeout while the ball was in Royce O’Neale’s hands. O’Neale — who didn’t make a three all game — decided to shoot before making his way to the bench, but his shot got contested by Boston coach Joe Mazzulla. It didn’t seem like O’Neale had a big problem with this, but as he explained on Inside the NBA, Charles Barkley was very much not a fan.

“I would’ve knocked the hell out of him, I’m not gonna lie,” Barkley said. “I would’ve hit him … I’ma tell you why I don’t like it. What if he stepped on his ankle and hurt himself badly. He can’t do that, come on, man.”

While Kenny Smith found the whole thing pretty funny, he agreed with Barkley’s sentiment that a coach can’t be doing this, which got Barkley to once again say that O’Neale should have “knocked the hell out of him.”

Mazzulla did explain himself after the game, telling the press that “I didn’t want him to feel good about himself going to the bench … one of the biggest pet peeves is thinking that a guy is just gonna get a free shot. That’s just not the way it works.”

The Scream franchise has a long history of taking horror movie tropes and flipping them on their head, and they are doing it again by continuously producing an endless number of sequels years beyond its peak. It’s also known as the Friday The 13th Effect.

Scream first hit screens in 1996, followed by Scream 2 in 1997 and Scream 3 in 2000. A follow-up called (you guessed it!) Scream 4 hit theaters in 2011, which also happened to be the last film in the franchise that creator Wes Craven worked on. After a fresh reboot, the series returned in 2022 with Scream and 2023’s Scream 6 starring Gen Z icon Jenna Ortega along with Melissa Barrera, Mason Gooding, Hayden Panettiere, and Courtney Cox. Now that you’re all up to speed, here’s where things get a little dicey.

In August 2023, it was announced that horror director Christopher Landon would tackle the seventh installment, which was delayed due to the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. Then, in November, Barrera was fired from the production due to her social media posts about the Israel-Hamas war where she was vocally supportive of Palestine. Landon posted (in a now-deleted post) said, “This is my statement: Everything sucks. Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make.” Shortly after that, Ortega exited the film, though it was reportedly over shooting conflicts with Wednesday. Landon also exited the film in December.

After that, writers Guy Busick and James Vanderbilt scrambled to get production back on track by allowing Neve Campbell to return as Sidney Prescott for Scream 7. The actress did not appear in 2022’s Scream 6 after a salary dispute. At the time, the cast rallied around her with support. As for right now, it seems like she’s the only one on board.

Still, Scream VII is moving forward…albeit with very little momentum. Here’s what we know so far.

Plot

Scream 6 brought the crew to the horrifying land of New York City, where Ghostface actually blends in very well. The official plotline for the seventh film has not yet been released, though it will likely focus on Sidney’s story.

Cast

It’s been confirmed that Barrera and Ortega will not return to the franchise, though it’s unclear if they will be replaced. Cox, who has appeared in every Scream film, has not confirmed if she will return either.

Nearly two years after her very public bow out of the franchise, Campbell shocked the world by announcing she would be returning as Sidney Prescot for Scream 7.

In March, she posted a picture of the script with the caption, “It’s always been such a blast and an honor to get to play Sidney in the Scream movies. My appreciation for these films and for what they have meant to me, has never waned. I’m very happy and proud to say I’ve been asked, in the most respectful way, to bring Sidney back to the screen and I couldn’t be more thrilled!!! Well actually I could,” she said.

Release Date

While production is still in the early stages, Variety reports that the Scream films “don’t require extensive visual effects and can be produced quickly,” so it could very well hit theaters by next year, assuming that script is complete (and they don’t lose any more actors).

Trailer

Filming has not yet begun, so there is no trailer yet. Instead, you can look at these outtakes from the original film featuring Henry Winkler. It was a simpler time.

No matter how you slice it, Aaron Donald is one of the greatest defensive players in NFL history. Now, the clock will start on his inevitable Hall of Fame induction, as the Los Angeles Rams legend announced his retirement on Friday afternoon in a statement and a video posted to his Twitter account.

The Rams posted about his retirement as well with a graphic that sums things up pretty nicely.

There is no question that Donald is an all-time great and on the short list for the greatest defensive linemen to ever live. The No. 13 pick in the 2014 NFL Draft out of Pitt, Donald spent the entirety of his professional career with the Rams — first in St. Louis, then in Los Angeles — and put together a resume that few, if any, can match. He was named the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year on three occasions and earned All-Pro first-team honors eight times in 10 years. In 2021, Donald was the lynchpin of the Los Angeles defense as the team went on to win the second Super Bowl in franchise history.

In all, Donald will retire with 111 sacks and 176 tackles for loss in 10 years. Donald has flirted with retirement in the past, but now, it’s official, and the clock will start counting down on when — not if — he’ll be enshrined in Canton.

Reneé Rapp, who is quickly becoming one of our leading celebrities, called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during the 35th GLAAD Media Awards on Thursday.

While accepting the award for Outstanding Music Artist, the “Not My Fault” singer and Mean Girls star said, “We’re in a room of very influential people, very privileged people, which is exciting and also a huge privilege to be a part of that,” she said. “Having said that, I’d like to take the opportunity to show support and call for an immediate ceasefire and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.” She urged all the famous people attending the ceremony to “continue to advocate for yourselves, continue to advocate for your friends, your queer friends and for those who can’t advocate for themselves.”

To date a number of other celebrities have also called for a ceasefire, including Gigi and Bella Hadid, Susan Sarandon, Kehlani, The Weeknd, Annie Lennox, Hunter Schafer, Hozier, Pedro Pascal, Angelina Jolie, Mark Ruffalo and Boygenius.

Rapp also reflected on her coming our journey at the GLAAD Media Awards. “Living as my authentic self and as an out queer artist and a lesbian most recently is the most rewarding, validating, scary, and exciting experience I’ve ever had,” she said. “The creatives in the room know that we couldn’t do it without GLAAD. Thank you, GLAAD for helping the world see us as we are. It means a lot.”

You can watch the speech below.

Thanks to fierce pushback, FKA Twigs was seemingly able to reverse the UK’s ban on her Calvin Klein campaign. Unfortunately, in life, everything’s not as easily mendable. For The Crow star, there are still years-old traumas whose impact can still be felt to this day. Yesterday (March 14), the “Killer” singer opened up to Vogue UK about those ongoing battles.

During the chat, FKA Wigs claimed that the abuse she allegedly endured throughout her relationship with Shia Lebouf has had a lingering physical and emotional effect on her. “I’d be sad for six months to a year, and then one day, I’d wake up, and everything would be fine,” she said. “But the fact is being abused changes the whole of your nervous system.

The supposed suffering has made FKA Twigs more vigilant in relationships since their 2019 split. “[My] window of tolerance is now much smaller than it used to be,” she said.

In December 2020, FKA Twigs filed an explosive lawsuit against Labeouf. The filing accuses Lebeouf of “relentless abuse,” including sexual battery, assault, and infliction of emotional distress throughout their relationship, which spanned from September 2018 to May 2019.

Initially, Labeouf denied FKA Twigs’ claims. However, while speaking with Jon Bernthal on his podcast Real Ones in 2022, Labeouf seemingly confirmed several parts of FKA Twigs’ damning statements. The case is still pending.

At long last, Rick Grimes has returned to The Walking Dead realm in The Ones Who Live, and there’s certainly a vocal fanbase that has been enjoying the breathlessness of Grimes’ ongoing reunion with Michonne. Will this allure be enough to warrant a second season for this spin off?

The simple answer to that question that there is no answer. However, Dead City and Daryl Dixon both received second-season renewals (with the latter transitioning into The Book Of Carol), so it would feel almost unheard of for the the daddy of them all to not receive another helping. Speaking to The LA Times, co-creator Scott Gimple is keeping it cryptic:

No decision has been made yet about a second season — “anything can happen,” Gimple said — and it remains unclear whether fan interest in the franchise is capable of surmounting the structural challenges facing basic cable in the long run, especially as AMC lacks a streaming partner with the scale of Hulu, like competitor FX has.

That latter sentence seems telling on a broader note, since Hulu and FX’s partnership has led to wildly popular, multi-season sensations including The Bear and Reservation Dogs, but AMC is not to be written off, especially with their history of beloved dramatic series including Mad Men, Breaking Bad and a wealth of planned series in the making. So, fingers crossed that Rick and Michonne make their way home and perhaps receive a second dose and an overarching reunion season.

(Via LA Times)

Love Lies Bleeding has been racking up rave reviews, which has only increased interest in the noir love story starring Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian. The film was already on the top of several Must See lists, but if you’re hoping to catch it soon on streaming, it’s gonna be a bit.

When Will ‘Love Lies Bleeding’ Be On Streaming?

Considering Love Lies Bleeding just opened in theaters, the earliest it would arrive on VOD for rent or purchase is late April, if not early May. Going by The Iron Claw, the current release window for A24 films is roughly 45 days between theatrical and digital.

A24 also re-upped its exclusive streaming deal with Max, but that’s going to be an even longer wait. The Iron Claw hit theaters in late December, and it’s still not available for streaming on Max as of this writing. According to Forbes, it won’t arrive on the service until April or May, which is nearly a four-month wait.

If Love Lies Bleeding follows a similar strategy to The Iron Claw, it won’t start streaming on Max until mid-July.

Here’s the official synopsis:

From director Rose Glass comes an electric new love story; reclusive gym manager Lou falls hard for Jackie, an ambitious bodybuilder headed through town to Vegas in pursuit of her dream. But their love ignites violence, pulling them deep into the web of Lou’s criminal family.

Love Lies Bleeding is now playing in theaters.

France has done a pretty good job at churning out centers who dominate on the defensive end of the floor. For years, the NBA’s most imposing paint protector has been Rudy Gobert, and while he’s still as good as anyone in the league at doing that, Victor Wembayama is going to take that title sooner rather than later. Already in his rookie year, Wembanyama is a marvel on defense, as he uses his size, length, and athleticism to protect the rim and jump passing lanes like few we’ve ever seen.

It’s very hard to see a future where Wembanyama isn’t named the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year during his career, but this year, Gobert is the favorite to earn that award for the fourth time. Wembanyama got asked about this recently, and while he admitted he’d be happy to see Gobert win the award this year, he made clear that he’s coming for it going forward.

Wembanyama did chuckle as he said that Gobert’s turn is going to be over soon, so it’s very possible this was a joke that he felt comfortable making because it’s his national team teammate. Having said that, he is also correct and he made clear that he wants to win DPOY during his career, so we wouldn’t be surprised if he enters next year as the NBA’s favorite to win the award.

It was Monday night, the night after the Academy Awards, feeling tired but also thrilled we could stop talking about the same ten movies that I decided, yes, I wanted to watch a movie. When the pandemic started here in New York City four years ago this week, I started a list of “movies I’m embarrassed I had never seen.” According to Letterboxd, as I type this – since March 14, 2020 – I have watched 1597 movies. Of these, 1080 have been first-time watches. (This is not a perfect science. Sometimes I forget to hit the “I’ve seen this before” button. Also, a good percentage of those would be new releases.) I mention this because I’ve been pretty motivated to watch movies I’ve never seen before over recent years. Anytime I feel guilty about not having seen a classic movie, I tell myself, “You know, if I watch right now, that feeling will be gone.” It gives me a sense of accomplishment. There’s still plenty I’d like to see, and will, but it’s gotten to the point I’m running out of movies I truly feel guilty having not seen.

Anyway, on Monday night I watched Kindergarten Cop on cable, a movie I’ve seen at least a dozen times. I watched it because it was on. It’s still my favorite way to watch movies.

Five years ago I wrote about the impending death of the random cable movie. At the time, it certainly looked like streaming was about to make cable television obsolete. Then, once the pandemic happened, studios went all in on streaming. This was mostly out of necessity, but the gradual changes that were happening were implemented almost immediately with seemingly unlimited amounts of money of support and … the future of streaming looks a lot more unclear now. And cable bundled with internet service remains my most affordable option – especially with Max, Paramount+, and Disney+ all included with my subscriptions.

And for whatever reason, streaming hasn’t been able to replicate the feeling of flipping through hundreds of channels and then going, “Ohhh, Kindergarten Cop is on,” and it already being halfway over. What’s weird is, when I’m in a “whatever is on cable,” mood, I really don’t want to watch a movie from the very beginning. Wherever it happens to be is fine. Goodfellas plays on a never-ending loop on cable. At this point it’s not surprising Goodfellas is playing, the surprise now is, “Oh, what part are we at?” Because of this, sometimes I wind up watching a movie I’ve seen many times, but not in full in quite awhile, and the first ten minutes feel unfamiliar because I so rarely see that part. I bet the stats on how many times I’ve seen the beginning of Weekend to Bernie’s compared to the ending would be startling. I bet it’s something like two times to 50 times.

(Scorsese movies are always a good example of this. Goodfellas, Casino, The Departed, and even The Aviator, and Shutter Island are on all the time. As long as cable exists, these movies will never go away. If The Irishman or Killers of the Flower Moon were on cable, I’d watch those dozens of times, too. But they aren’t. And I’m never going to go to Netflix or Apple+, respectively, to watch either of those. Because if I’m going to go out of my way to play a movie, it’s going to be something I’ve never seen. The Irishman just feels kind of gone because it’s never “on television” and, now that the Oscars are over, I suspect the same thing will happen to Killers of the Flower Moon. They will both just live on one specific different app each on a device that has many, many apps.)

This all came to a head last September when I contracted the novel coronavirus. (Also known as Covid-19.) Yeah, it was pretty terrible. I had it once before and it was basically a cold. This time, it was the worst thing I had ever had in my life – which included ten straight days of a fever. (This is where, undoubtedly, anti-vax people start yelling at me on social media, “Um, if you’re vaxxed, why was it so bad?” The problem was I was long overdue for my booster, but the advice at the time was to wait for the updated booster that would be out in September that protected against the new variant. I caught it before the new booster came out.) Between the fever hallucination, I was in no real position to make decisions about my viewing selections (or anything, really). I just let cable television do that for me.

According to Letterboxd (I barely remember any of this) I watched: Young Adult, Leaving Las Vegas, Road House, Election, The Firm, White Men Can’t Jump, Dragnet, The Karate Kid, Stand By Me, Rain Man, Clockwatchers, and Good Will Hunting. You know what? Not bad! And even at the time, I remember thinking how happy I was that cable movies were still an option. Also, being in bed for a week and a half, being shut off from the outside world … it was strangely comforting to know I was watching all these movies at the same time as other humans. I don’t know why that matters, but for some reason it really did.

Going back to the piece I wrote five years ago, today I’m less sure it’s going away than I was then. It’s just going to be more scattered. Movies like Tombstone and the aforementioned Goodfellas will seemingly play on cable forever and, ergo, live forever. New steamer-exclusive movies like Killers of the Flower Moon and Maestro will disappear. Popular Warner Bros. movies will always pop up on HBO. Popular Paramount movies will always pop up on Showtime. And then movies like Oppenheimer and The Holdovers, both owned by Comcast (Universal and Focus) will do their run on Peacock, then be licensed out to cable, which is smart.

But I wish the streamers like Amazon and Netflix would license out their movies this way. If nothing else just to keep them in the conversation. If I’m flipping through channels and Killers of the Flower Moon were on, I’d get sucked in. Everyone would. Because as long as these movies play on cable, they stick around. All those movies I listed, that I watched while sick, will have a longer shelf life than the original streaming movies that are brand new. Because they are all available for us when we need them most … the day after the Academy Awards or when we are in bed sick for 10 days.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Modern Black femme artists are reveling in the spoils of dance music reentering the mainstream, not that it hasn’t been here all along. Staking claim to 1990s house music were vocalists Caron Wheeler, Robin S., Cece Peniston, and Crystal Waters, who often melded gospel tones with club-oriented production. Janet Jackson ruled the dancefloor with energetic choreography, disruptive sounds bespoke to her album-to-album evolution, and lyrics that prioritized her largely queer fanbase. Over time, Black women have seen the futurities of a genre that they shaped and, rightfully, continue to shift.

Breaking new ground for underrepresented dance communities was Beyoncé’s seventh album, Renaissance, which made the music icon the first Black woman to win a Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album. The masterpiece was Beyoncé’s first dalliance with an album concept of escapism, heard throughout its pulsating, 16-track rush. Post-Renaissance, the dance phenomenon has been ongoing, with Black women bringing the underground to the mainstream field on a grand scale.

The movement will only go further as artificial intelligence, techy aesthetics, counterculture parties and the return of true remix albums take the forefront. Renaissance was just the reintroduction, and perhaps a reawakening, for audiences to sit up and take notice of the contemporary Black female artists who’ve been on the dance music moodboard for years.

Perhaps matriarchal of the progressive Black dance culture resurgence, Kelela envisions an underground nirvana that underrepresented and queer communities can thrive in. Introduced to some as an alt-R&B vocalist who had not one but two guest features on Solange’s 2013 Saint Heron compilation, the D.C. native took shape on her cutting-edge debut mixtape, Cut 4 Me, released just one month before.

Kelela kept pushing creativity within her Warp Records collection, whether brief but potent (Hallucinogen), sexily haunting (Take Me Apart), or a masterclass in nightclub liveliness and comedowns (Raven). On the first anniversary of Raven, the LP got a remix edition, Rave:n, the Remixes, a pastiche to Take Me a_Part, the Remixes, because it isn’t a Kelela album rollout without her highlighting top-notch producers. Leading the new dance frontier with seductive vocals and sounds that bend subgenres, Kelela adventurously forms new worlds.

The music of pop and alt-R&B heroine Tinashe became enshrouded in dance-forward grooves after her 2019 split from RCA Records. Although the singer released three albums with the label, including her 2014 debut Aquarius, which featured the smash “2 On,” Tinashe had creative differences with RCA, along with inadequate promotion. Freed from depending on major label support, 2019 marked the year of reinvention for Tinashe, who channeled her early 2010s mixtape run on her first independent album, Songs for You.

The release was a salve from the choppy rollouts of Tinashe’s prior three albums, as she directly reintroduced the vibes to her fanbase, whom she affectionately calls ‘SweeTees.’ Songs like “Stormy Weather,” “Save Room for Us,” “Die a Little Bit” and “Perfect Crime” leaned on candied dance-pop and electronic, making it a hint towards the preternatural and psychedelic 2021 album 333 and the experimental LP BB/Ang3l, which dropped last year.

Embracing the latest technology – Tinashe used VR headsets in her 333 launch – and maintaining a highly-choreographed aesthetic, she recently brought viewers into her visual album and virtual performance, The BB/Angel Experience. Featured on the rapid new single “Zoom” with electronic/IDM producer Machinedrum, Tinashe’s just getting restarted, and we’re all bearing witness to her infallible ride through the dance space.

Dallas-born and raised artist Liv.e expands her radical take on R&B into hints of electronic and drum and bass on her sophomore album, Girl in the Half Pearl. From neo-soul roots (some liken her style to Erykah Badu, pioneer of the subgenre), Liv.e went from SoundCloud beginnings into groundbreaking status, with GITHP teetering between twitchy ballads and unconventional post-breakup cure-alls.

The LP was an aperture to its own electronic remixed version, GITHPREMIXEDITION, entirely produced by fellow Dallas native Ben Hixon, with Liv.e being tapped as a feature on Kelela’s Rave:n, the Remixes. Putting her own spin on dance, Liv.e makes listeners agog to hear what world she’ll bring us into next.

Overseas, noteworthy Black female artists in the UK are making a statement in dance music, essentially, due to the genre connecting to British audiences at the turn of the ‘90s. Nearly three decades later, we’ve met international sensation PinkPantheress, who found her footing on TikTok, where she hybridized garage, drum and bass, and syrupy hyperpop. Racking up fandom for her loosies on the social media platform offered PinkPantheress worldwide recognition. While she topped the charts with Ice Spice (“Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2”), she hasn’t compromised her energetic and quirky appeal.

Deconstructed club, alt-pop, and grime darling Shygirl opened the doors to Club Shy, her latest EP, where the South Londoner brought the masses into her saucily warped universe. Months before Shygirl unveiled the project, she caught the attention of Beyoncé, who gave her a spot as an opener on a London stop of the Renaissance World Tour. Apart from her Tinashe-assisted single “Heaven,” Shygirl was also on Rave:n, the Remixes, laying claim to the JD. Reid remix of “Holier,” where she traded rhapsodic notes with Kelela.

Skilled junglist, music producer, DJ, and vocalist Nia Archives touches upon drum and bass, and dancehall in her fearless works. She deejayed and freely danced alongside Jorja Smith last year when she dropped her since-viral take on Smith’s “Little Things,” and she’s kept us partying for the last five years. Since giving us a masterclass on breakbeats and global flair on EPs Headz Gone West, Forbidden Feelingz, and Sunrise Bang Ur Head Against Tha Wall, she’ll explore deeper dance terrain on her debut album Silence Is Loud, due next month.

Black women in all scopes of dance music — we’d be remiss not to mention amapiano, industrial, and Jersey club — are elevating it past its outdated boundaries. Motion in the wide-ranging genre will persist as long as we welcome diverse perspectives because the rise in Black femme-forward dance isn’t a reclamation; the space has always been ours.