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Last month, Olivia Rodrigo announced a massive 2024 world tour in support of her latest album, Guts. Tickets, as they tend to be for popular events these days, might be hard to get, but it turns out the tour announcement didn’t tell the whole story when it comes to Rodrigo’s upcoming schedule: As part of their Member Week, American Express is partnering with Rodrigo for a Card Member-only concert experience on Monday, October 9, at the Theatre At The Ace Hotel in Los Angeles.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. PT, the show is set to start at 8, and tickets go on sale (for only $25 each, by the way) on October 8 at 10 a.m. PT. Proceeds from ticket sales will go towards Rodrigo’s new nonprofit, Fund 4 Good. Find more information about getting tickets here.

Aside from the performance itself, the event will also feature a complimentary matcha experience, featuring “matcha lattes from LA-based small business Midori Matcha, in a commemorative reusable cup,” as well as a tasty surprise treat after the show.

Rodrigo shared a statement about the event, saying, “I’ve been excited by the response to Guts and I can’t wait to perform live for my fans. Partnering with American Express for my Guts world tour, the Guts Gallery pop-up experiences, and now this intimate performance for my fans means so much. Since we’re making the show available on my YouTube during Member Week, Livies around the world can get a sneak preview of what’s to come on tour!”

Fans can still catch the performance even if they’re unable to make it in person: After the concert, video of the show will be available on Rodrigo’s YouTube channel for a limited time, from October 10 at 8 p.m. ET to October 12. The video will also include “special stories behind each song, and viewers will get an inside look at Olivia like never before.”

Every NFL team has its own language, where different words or phrases represent different plays or adjustments on the field. Peyton Manning’s “Omaha” call became such a big thing he named his production company after it, but every quarterback has his own keywords and phrases that let the rest of the offense know what play or blocking scheme they’re going to change to based on what he’s seeing from the defense.

On Sunday morning in London, the NFL Network’s mics picked up Josh Allen making an audible in the late second quarter, as the Bills were trying to drive down for their first points of the game. On a 2nd and 3, Allen barked out “LEBRON JAMES” to make an adjustment, with the resulting play being an incompletion after he got flushed to his right and just threw it away.

We don’t always get that crystal clear audio at the line of scrimmage, but Allen’s “LeBron James” call was unmistakeable and caught the ear of the King himself, who now is very curious as to what his name means to the Bills offense.

While I don’t have the All-22, the play the Bills ended up running featured two vertical routes and an out route to the bottom of a bunch formation, with an out-and-up move to the single side with the running back running to the flat from the middle after going through his pass pro. I don’t know if LeBron is an actual playcall for that play or just an audible letting the team know which of two playcalls they would go with or what, but for LeBron’s curiosity, that’s what ended up happening after his name got shouted out at the line.

It’s been almost a year since Elon Musk took over the social media service formerly known as Twitter, and boy has he made some big changes. That important verification system? Gone. Those once-banned anti-Semites and former presidents? Unbanned. The robust team that sought to zap dangerous misinformation? Gutted. Many of the features that made Twitter popular, including its own name, have now been removed or sanded down. Soon another popular thingmagig — Twitter/X Circles — will vamoose as well. But how long will it remain?

As per The Verge, fans of the Circles feature will bid it adieu on October 31.

After this date, you will not be able to create new posts that are limited to your Circle, nor will you be able to add people to your Circle,” reads a post on the X help center. “You will, however, be able to remove people from your Circle,” with instructions on how to do that.

Launched in August of 2022, Circles allowed users to share posts exclusively with a limited group of people of their choice. Need to post something spicy or controversial or secretive but only for people you trust? Then you only have till month’s end to do that.

Circles debuted mere months before the Musk takeover. By April of 2023, people were reporting that their clandestine Circles were mysteriously appearing in the “For You” timeline, allowing people they don’t want to see those posts to see them.

As usual, Musk and company have not given a reason for deep sixing Circles.

(Via The Verge)

Is Donald Trump’s brain okay? The former president has often called out the current president for his alleged senility. But it’s Trump who’s the one blaming the Iraq War on Jeb Bush, saying Joe Biden is leading us into “World War II,” and spelling “rumor” like this. His latest blunder? Bragging that he’s been praised by a fictitious serial killer.

“Hannibal Lecter, how great an actor was he?” Trump told an Iowan crowd, as caught by HuffPost. Perhaps he forgot the name of the actor who won his first Oscar for The Silence of the Lambs, which then catapulted him to superstardom. (It’s Sir Anthony Hopkins, by the way, and he won a second Oscar for The Father not that long ago.)

Anyway, Trump went on about how he’s got a big fan in “Hannibal the Cannibal.”

“You know why I like him? Because he said on television on one of the – ‘I love Donald Trump.’ So I love him,” Trump said. “I love him. I love him. He said that a long time ago and once he said that, he was in my camp, I was in his camp. I don’t care if he was the worst actor, I’d say he was great to me.”

It’s not clear what Trump is referring to. There is no record of Hopkins singing his praises. The closest thing to a comment the actor has made about him is from a 2018 Guardian profile, in which he said he doesn’t care about Trump, nor about politics.

“I don’t vote because I don’t trust anyone,” Hopkins said. “We’ve never got it right, human beings. We are all a mess, and we’re very early in our evolution.”

During the speech Trump mentioned The Silence of the Lambs, but perhaps he confused Hopkins with another actor who’s played Lecter? Alas, Hannibal star Mads Mikkelsen hasn’t said much about him. As for Brian Cox, who became the first screen Hannibal in 1986’s Manhunter, he is decidedly non-MAGA, calling him “such a f*cking a**hole” and “so full of sh*t.” But Biden’s the one whose brain we should be worried about.

(Via HuffPost)

When Damian Lillard was traded to the Bucks, there was plenty of excitement imagining what he and Giannis Antetokounmpo would look like together on the court, particularly as an offensive duo that seemingly complement each other incredibly well.

Lillard can stretch the floor in a way none of Giannis’ past teammates ever have, while Antetokounmpo can pressure the rim in a way none of Dame’s past teammates have been able to. The results should be spectacular, but like all new star duos they have to create the right chemistry to maximize that partnership. What should help that process is that Giannis is fully embracing what Lillard can bring to the Bucks and it certainly sounds like there won’t be any friction over who takes the lead on offense.

Over the weekend, Giannis spoke with reporters and insisted there won’t be “any competition” between the stars for touches, stating very plainly that Lillard is this team’s point guard and, as such, “he will have the ball more.”

From the outside this certainly makes sense and seems easy to say, but not every superstar who has been the guy on a championship team would be willing to cede that 1A role quite so easily. Giannis, however, seems keenly aware that to make the most of this new partnership, he has to make an adjustment to Dame as much as Dame needs to adjust to him to help meet him in the middle. To so, they need to ensure Lillard is comfortable being himself and Antetokounmpo is doing his part by overtly saying “I trust him” and that the Bucks have to “let Dame be Dame” a few days into camp. That should make Bucks fans excited that this duo will get on the same page quickly, and if that’s the case the rest of the East will have its hands full trying to slow them down.

Every single week, our TV and film experts will list the most important ten streaming selections for you to pop into your queues. We’re not strictly operating upon reviews or accrued streaming clicks (although yes, we’ve scoured the streaming site charts) but, instead, upon those selections that are really worth noticing amid the churning sea of content. There’s a lot out there, after all, and your time is valuable.

TIE: 10. The Equalizer 3 (Sony Pictures Releasing film on VOD & Amazon Prime)

Denzel Washington returns because of course one can never truly give up the assassin life. That’s especially the case when there are more movies to be made, and Robert McCall only thought he was going to enjoy a quiet life. He’s in Southern Italy these days, and when he finds that the local crime bosses are exerting their fearsome power over McCall’s new pals, he relents and leaps into his old ways against the mafia. It happens!

TIE. 10. Reservation Dogs (FX on Hulu series)

Very few shows can get away with making you laugh and get weepy within the same five minutes, but that’s part of what makes this Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi show so special. This season is a send off to the TV world’s favorite four Indigenous teens (Elora Danan, Bear Smallhill, Willie Jack, and Cheese) whose home base of Oklahoma will always be there for them. As always, the elders provide comedy and drama aplenty while the leading quartet attempts to get their bearings for the rest of life.

9. Sex Education (Netflix series)

Another final season is in the books, this time with a series in which Gillian Anderson portrayed a sex therapist who frequently embarrasses the hell out of her son, Otis (Asa Butterfield). He is, however, endlessly resourceful and has used this mortification to his advantage, and even a useful one, as Otis navigates culture shock in college alongside Eric and Aimee. Maeve is doing the same across the pond, where this series is a massive hit and recently scored the top 2023 season premiere for Netflix in the United Kingdom.

8. Star Wars: Ahsoka (Disney+ series)

The season (and perhaps series) finale went over well with some fans calling the episode the “best ending in Star Wars history.” As well, the Rosario Dawson-starring series ended with a final Jedi performance by the late Ray Stevenson, and no one knows what the future of this franchise looks like on Disney+ as they recalibrate release schedules and plans, but for now, fans are feeling fulfilled by this series.

7. Bottoms (MGM film streaming on Amazon Prime)

The rise of Ayo Edebiri continues, far away from the kitchens of The Bear. She stars alongside Rachel Sennott, who also seems to be everywhere right now, and thank goodness that this project is much better than whatever The Idol was attempting to accomplish. This is, of course, a cringe comedy in the spirit of PEN15, and the two lead (queer) characters go about launching a “Fight Club” of sorts, only in a quest to lose their respective virginities. This film will spark conversations, so know that going in, and also enjoy how these characters are not merely portrayed or their sexual orientations. Rather, it’s the heterosexual characters who stumble into classic archetypes. Fun!

6. Our Flag Means Death: Season 2 (HBO Max series)

This terribly funny and pleasant little surprise of a show has been (for obvious reasons) compared to What They Do In The Shadows, only with pirates. Rhys Darby’s Captain Stede Bonnet is loosely based upon the swashbuckling 18th century figure and his adventures. He’s still attempting to win over a crew that could descend into mutiny at any moment. Taika Waititi portrays the infamous Captain Blackbeard, and if you are in the mood for an affecting reunion and a romance of the high seas, then you’d best drop anchors.

5. No One Will Save You (20th Century Studios film streaming on Hulu)

Kaitlyn Dever cements herself as a powerhouse, although viewers of Justified, Booksmart, Unbelievable, and Dopesick knew that already. This movie would have fared immensely well at the box office, yet it went straight to your home theater on streaming, so it’s the perfect way to spend an October evening. Be amazed at how this film flies by with hardly a scrap of dialogue to be found, which only adds to the suspense of this story that delivers home-invasion horror with an extraterrestrial twist.

4. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon (AMC series streaming on AMC+)

The first season of Norman Reedus’ solo spinoff is nearly halfway over, but do not fear. Daryl Dixon will keep riding (without his motorcycle) in France for at least one more batch of episodes. He’s already taken an unpleasant tour of Paris with Isabelle the killer nun, and the audience will soon learn more about how and why he washed ashore in the first place. If you haven’t yet had the pleasure of watching this breathtakingly scenic and wholly engrossing series, do not hesitate. Then you, too, can consider how Jenner’s cryptic statements about “the French” fit into the entire puzzle.

3. Lupin (Netflix series)

France is not making the most glamorous real-life headlines at the moment, so there’s no better reason for some heist-laden escapism. Could this also be the season for one last job? The Gentleman Thief returns with Assane in hiding but not for long. He comes back to Paris and proposes a new plan for his family, but of course, Assane’s enemies and the police make this much easier said than done. At least he’ll look stylish as hell while dealing with past ghosts.

2. Loki (Disney+ series)

The MCU’s trickster and ice-giant burdened by glorious purpose will learn a lot more about that purpose (and his fate) this season. First, however, prepare for a wrenching performance for Tom Hiddleston, who is here to hopefully reignite fervor for the MCU after too many shows, too fast. And surprise, Miss Minutes is still a pain in the ass, and there’s the whole King the Conquerer/He Who Remains problem to deal with. Yet there’s always love for Loki though, as he attempts to navigate precarious situations with Hiddleston throwing his entire body and soul into the process.

1. Gen V (Amazon Prime series)

For a dong-obsessed series, this The Boys spinoff manages to unfurl an impressively layered set of characters with each passing hour. This week’s collection of WTF moments follows up during the investigation of that season premiere death and also takes a side in the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard situation. Meanwhile, these characters have managed to hook the audience in less than a handful of episodes. The writing is that superb and one of many aspects of the show that stay true to The Boys brand.

In the age of franchises, it’s a big deal that Oppenheimer — an original movie that probably won’t have a sequel — has gobbled up so much cash. Not that it hasn’t inspired controversy. Big as the “Barbenheimer” memes have been, they’ve been met with (very, very understandable) coldness from those in Japan. Even Spike Lee has some thoughts, though his are far more measured.

As caught by Deadline, the beloved filmmaker, scholar, and sometime actor spoke to The Washington Post, during which he weighed in on some of this year’s big movies. One of them was Oppenheimer. He called it a “great film” and described its maker, Christopher Nolan, as a “massive filmmaker,” saying that he’s shown Dunkirk to his class at NYU, where he teaches.

But he had what he calls “not a criticism” but a “comment”:

“If Oppenheimer is three hours, I would like to add some more minutes about what happened to the Japanese people. People got vaporized. Many years later, people are radioactive. It’s not like he didn’t have power. He tells studios what to do. I would have loved to have the end of the film maybe show what it did, dropping those two nuclear bombs on Japan.”

But Lee added, “Understand, this is all love,” saying, “And I bet [Nolan] could tell me some things he would change about Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X.”

Lee isn’t the only person to make that comment. Throughout the film Nolan sticks to J. Robert Oppenheimer’s perspective (that is, when it isn’t jumping over to Robert Downey Jr.’s meddling Lewis Strauss). Just as in real life, Oppenheimer isn’t even told about the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki until after they’re over, and nor are we the viewers. Mind you, that move has always inspired praise for not dwelling on the death and destruction.

In the same interview, Lee shared some fulsome praise for another new movie: Killers of the Flower Moon. Of its TikTok star director, Martin Scorsese, he said, “That’s my guy.” He also gushed about someone he thinks deserves a Best Actress Oscar nomination. “Lily Gladstone, she’s winning an Oscar,” said Lee. “She’s got my vote.”

Oppenheimer is currently in theaters. Killers of the Flower Moon hits theaters on October 20.

(Via Deadline)

It is only Week 6 of the college football season, but we can officially hand Mario Cristobal the award for worst coaching decision of the year.

After a sloppy performance against Georgia Tech coming off of a bye week, the Hurricanes looked like they were going to escape with a 20-17 win after getting a first down with under two minutes to play and the Yellow Jackets having just one timeout. In fact, the math worked out to where all Miami needed to do was snap it inside 5 on the play clock on third down and take a knee to win the game. Instead, they ran a play — with Tim Hasselbeck rightfully losing his mind on the ACC Network call — handing it off to Donald Chaney Jr., who got held up and had the ball ripped out of his hands for a fumble.

The ruling on the field stood after review, as it wasn’t clear and irrefutable that the ball was not moving when his elbow hit the ground.

That meant Georgia Tech got the football with under 30 seconds to play and no timeouts, needing a field goal to tie or a TD to win. Given the Yellow Jackets hadn’t moved it well offensively all game, there were low expectations for the drive, but Haynes King found two big pass plays to pull off a truly stunning upset. The first was a lofted pass over a DB to get Miami across midfield, and the second was on a rollout near midfield where he was able to catch Miami’s defense off guard in the scramble drill, with Christian Leary leaking out behind the defense for a touchdown with two seconds to play.

It was a truly unbelievable finish to the game and Cristobal will get rightfully torched, because this was impossible game to lose once they got to that third down and they managed to do it. Not only did the offense cough up a (questionable, for sure) fumble, but the defense then allowed two big passes to a team that couldn’t move it through the air all night, including a busted coverage in a scramble drill for the game-winning touchdown. Just watch all three plays in succession and tell me it doesn’t hurt your brain.

All credit to Georgia Tech for taking advantage of the opportunities Miami gave them all night with turnovers, and they deserve plenty of praise for how they fought to pull off this win. That said, the story of the night is Cristobal and the Canes, who lost their undefeated season in the most unimaginable way possible.

Pretty much everybody thinks Breaking Bad stuck the landing, but there’s a chance — a slim chance — it might not have. In a new interview with Variety, Vince Gilligan talks about AI as “plagiarism” and his new, non-crime-related Rhea Seehorn show. He also reflects on “Felina,” the beloved capper to the show that made his name, specifically on “one of the dumbest things” he’s ever done in his career: having Bryan Cranston’s Walter White get “that damn machine gun” towards the beginning of the final season.

“That was the thing I remember freaking us out the most because we did that, I committed to that,” Gilligan said, in a bit teased out by The AV Club. “One of the dumbest things I’ve ever done in my career was committing to the idea of Walter White buying a machine gun when we did not know what he was going to do with it. We had no clue. There were literally months on end when I was completely freaked out. We’d be in the writers room’ for a full day, and I’d be slowly banging my head against the wall — not enough to hurt myself but just enough to jar the ideas loose. And everybody was kind of worried about me.”

But it all worked out in the end:

Once we figured out this machine gun, that was when the dam broke and things started slowly to click together. It was after that point that we figured he’s got to win. He’s lost everything because of his hubris and his pride and his ego. He’s lost his family, he’s lost his soul. But he’s got to win on some level. He’s at least got to deliver that money to his family. How the hell does he do that once the world knows who he really is? When we figured out that Gretchen and Elliott could be the mechanism by which Walt wins and gets that money to his family, that was a good day.

Granted, one could still argue that giving Walt a remote-controlled machine gun he uses to take out a bunch of white supremacists is maybe the weakest aspect of Breaking Bad’s otherwise killer episode. But hey it could be worse and who doesn’t enjoy watching neo-Nazis get wiped out by a machine gun?

In the meantime, here’s hoping that once the AMPTP gives SAG-AFTRA what they want, Aaron Paul can finally start making some bucks off his Breaking Bad residuals.

(Via Variety and The AV Club)

Tallahassee is less than an hour from the beach, and FSU’s Lawrance Toafili decided to save the trip and body surf over humans instead on his way to a touchdown.

With 4:57 remaining in the first quarter and No. 5 Florida State facing a 3rd and 7 at the Virginia Tech 28-yard line, Toafili got the ball and ran it up a gaping hole up the middle.

At full speed, it seemed that he wouldn’t be caught but Virginia Tech safety Jalen Stroman made contact at the 10-yard line. Then Hokie defensive back Mansoor Delane appeared to get Toafili wrapped up and on the ground. Well, one out of two isn’t bad.

Toafili did go to the ground, but he managed to stay ON TOP of Delane and body-surf his way straight into the end zone. Toafili has three carries for 43 yards, but the 28-yard run is the Seminoles’ longest of the afternoon. Florida State only has 70 yards on its other 19 carries (3.7 per attempt).

The touchdown put Florida State up 15-0 on the Hokies. Virginia Tech notched its first Power 5 win last week over Pittsburgh, but was always going to have its hands full with the Seminoles. Coming off of a bye week, the ‘Noles still lead the Hokies 22-10 at halftime.