Less than a year after announcing their engagement, Avril Lavigne and Mod Sun have apparently called it quits, according to TMZ. The news comes just after rumors surfaced speculating that Avril had been getting cozy with Compton rapper Tyga; this will undoubtedly add fuel to those rumors now that she’s apparently single.
Lavigne and Mod Sun, whose real name is Derek Ryan Smith, had apparently been dating for about a year before he proposed in Paris. At the time, Lavigne said, ““I knew we had a very strong unstoppable connection from the first week of writing and working together in the studio. Immediately. He made every day better. It was like I had known him forever. As time went on, things kept getting better, and it felt incredibly natural. […] I look forward to having fun, creating, working together, touring together, growing together. It feels good to have someone who can help celebrate the good times, hold you through the tough ones, and be there for all the moments in between.”
It looks like she has since changed her mind, although no reason was given for the breakup. According to TMZ’s sources, neither side cheated, they just couldn’t seem to get on the same page. Oddly, a rep for Mod Sun told TMZ, “They were together and engaged as of 3 days ago when he left for tour so if anything has changed that’s news to him.” They were together as recently as Grammys weekend, when they attended an event together.
Meanwhile, as far as those dating rumors with Tyga are concerned, TMZ says the two are good friends and have been for a long time, but are not romantic.
Steven Spielberg is a bit of long shot for the Best Director Oscar this year (hey, he already has two!), but he’s already making big plans. They just happen to be for the small screen. As per Deadline, the legendary filmmaker is returning to something he did two decades back: Make one of Stanley Kubrick’s unrealized dream projects a reality.
While speaking at the Berlin Film Festival, Spielberg revealed he’s teaming up with HBO to make a seven-episode limited series out of Napoleon, one of the massive projects Kubrick never got to make. The project still doesn’t have a series order, but Spielberg promises it will be a “large production,” fit for the destructive/diminutive French emperor, who threw Europe into chaos in the early 19th century.
The series will be based on Kubrick’s script, which he initially hoped to shoot after 1968’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Both Jack Nicholson and David Hemmings were considered for the lead, with Audrey Hepburn to play his wife Josephine. Alas, after the disastrous reception of the big-budget Waterloo in 1970, which featured the likes of Rod Steiger and Orson Welles, Kubrick abandoned it. He later scratched his itch to make a period epic with one of his finest films, 1975’s Barry Lyndon.
Spielberg and Kubrick were close, which surprised those who thought the former is a sentimentalist (he’s not) and the latter ice cold (ditto). After Kubrick died in 1999, not long before the release of Eyes Wide Shut, Spielberg was quick to turn one of his pet projects, A.I. Artificial Intelligence into a downer summer blockbuster, and one of his most underrated films. Given that Spielberg didn’t ruin A.I., it’s a safe bet that he won’t screw up Napoleon either.
The Atlanta Hawks are using the All-Star break to shake things up on their coaching staff. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Atlanta will part ways with head coach Nate McMillan amid a year where the team has found itself closer to falling out of the play-in race than fighting for a spot among the Eastern Conference’s elite.
McMillan went 99-80 in his tenure with the Hawks, which spanned parts of three seasons after he took over when Lloyd Pierce was fired early in the 2020-21 season. The high point of McMillan’s time as head coach was the Hawks stunning run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021, as he guided them past the Knicks and Sixers before losing to the eventual champion Bucks in six games. Since then, the Hawks have failed to build on that success, and after exhausting their future assets this offseason to land Dejounte Murray, the 29-30 record 59 games into the season was enough to get McMillan fired.
Wojnarowski reports that Joe Prunty is expected to take over as the interim head coach, and has his work cut out for him. There have been rumblings of discontent in Atlanta for some time — a report in December indicated that McMillan was considering resigning, and he reportedly bumped heads with Trae Young at one point this year. Still, there is talent on the roster when healthy and the expectations in Atlanta are clear, as they’ll hope another fired coach bump is on the way as it was in 2021.
Actors are basically freelancers, so when they score an insanely popular TV show no one wants to end, it must be a relief. After all, it’s a steady paycheck. No doubt David Harbour was thrilled when Stranger Things, in which he plays police chief Jim Hopper, turned into a phenomenon. But now, after almost a decade on the job, it sounds like he’s not sad that it’s finally coming to an end with its fifth season.
“What’s funny is when I started the show, I never ever wanted it to end. That’s why I love the show,” Harbour told Discussing Film (in a bit caught by IndieWire). “I think it’s a great show, even if I wasn’t in it. Now we’re almost nine years from filming the first season, and I think it is time for it to end. But it is, of course, very bittersweet. You know, there’s a sadness there.”
He added, “But also, we’ve all grown up. It is time for us to leave that nest and try other things and different projects. And to let the Duffer Brothers try different things as well. I mean, those guys are so talented. I want to see what they come up with next. So it is bittersweet, but it’s definitely time.”
The announcement to end Stranger Things came nearly a year ago. The reason for ending it was practical: The kid stars just keep getting older, as kids do, and while CGI de-aging has come into vogue over the last few years, the Duffer brothers still don’t want to have the leads still playing kids when they’re in their mid-30s.
That said, you won’t be saying bye to the Stranger Things-verse. There are already multiple spinoffs in the offing, including one for Millie Bobbie Brown’s Eleven. As for Harbour, he’ll be back in the MCU with this summer’s Thunderbolts, and this week Netflix will drop his new ghost movie We Have a Ghost.
Last month, Alec Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter over the 2021 death of Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust. Now, the Santa Fe District Attorney has downgraded the charges and lessened Baldwin’s potential prison sentence.
The involuntary manslaughter charge still remains against both Baldwin and the movie’s armorer Hanna Gutierrez-Reed, but The Santa Fe District Attorney has now removed a firearm enhancement from a second charge, meaning the maximum prison sentence for Baldwin will be 18 months.
Baldwin has still maintained his innocence over the last year and even attempted to clear his name by suing his former crew members. The actor claims that the crew members were negligent and did not provide property safety training, though reports have been piling up against him.
Heather Brewer, the spokesperson for the New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney, explained the reasoning for the charges in a statement: “In order to avoid further litigious distractions by Mr. Baldwin and his attorneys, the District Attorney and the special prosecutor have removed the firearm enhancement to the involuntary manslaughter charges in the death of Halyna Hutchins on the Rust film set. The prosecution’s priority is securing justice, not securing billable hours for big-city attorneys.”
Surprisingly, the movie is still expected to resume shooting this spring with Baldwin still attached. His next project, the disaster film Supercell starring the late Anne Heche, is expected to be released on demand next month.
Don Lemon and most of his fellow CNN hosts don’t get boozy on TV anymore, but that doesn’t prevent all instances of stepping in it. Lemon dropped himself into a well of controversy, which has nothing to do with claims from George Santos, while discussing Republican 2024 presidential candidate Nikki Haley on CNN’s This Morning. Last week, things got heated on the subject of Haley questioning the mental competency of Donald Trump, and then, yeah, something bad happened.
As revealed in the below clip, Lemon declared (although he attempted to couch the remarks as “not according to me”) that Haley “isn’t in her prime,” and he stated as much given her age of 51 years. He continued to unfortunately ramble while adding that women are “considered to be in their prime in 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.” As one might expect, this didn’t go over kindly with Lemon’s co-hosts, Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins. Also, Meghan McCain weighed in on Twitter:
This caused plenty of backlash, of course, from all political ends of the spectrum with the Left expressing disappointment and the Right expressing contempt for apparent hypocrisy from Lemon. The former Don Lemon Tonight host didn’t appear on Monday or Tuesday morning’s edition of his new stomping grounds. Yet as CNN itself reports, Lemon will return to the air on Wednesday, and he’ll participate in “formal training” for why he shouldn’t, you know, say these things. Yikes. Here’s more from CNN with quotes from CEO Chris Licht via a companywide email:
“I sat down with Don and had a frank and meaningful conversation,” Licht wrote in a memo. “He has agreed to participate in formal training, as well as continuing to listen and learn. We take this situation very seriously.”
“It is important to me that CNN balances accountability with … fostering a culture in which people can own, learn and grow from their mistakes,” Licht added. “To that end, Don will return to CNN This Morning on Wednesday.”
As for Lemon, he apologized to his colleagues on Friday. “When I make a mistake, I own it,” Lemon admitted. “And I own this one as well.”
Character Actress Margot Martindale has been busy wrangling cocaine bears and maybe stalking her neighbors, and next up, the actress will concoct an elaborate heist in order to steal nearly 18 million dollars worth of maple syrup. Otherwise known in Canada as just another Tuesday! Just kidding, this is a real show based on a real thing that happened, much like Cocaine Bear and The Watcher. Just think of Martindale as a very hands-on historian.
The Sticky will follow Martindale as Ruth, a quaint Canadian maple syrup farmer whose farm is threatened by Big Maple, also known as the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers. The half-hour Amazon comedy will be produced by Jamie Lee Curtis and also star real-life Canadian Chris Diamantopoulos, who you might know from Silicon Valley, Arrested Development, or The Office… or as the voice behind the modern-day Mickey Mouse. But it’s probably for one of the other things.
As per the official synopsis:
The Sticky is a half-hour series revolving around Ruth Clarke, a tough, supremely competent middle-aged Canadian maple syrup farmer who’s had it with being hemmed in by the polite, bureaucratic conventions native to her country’s identity. Especially now that that very bureaucracy is threatening to take away everything she loves: Her farm, her comatose husband, and her right to manifest destiny. With the help of Remy Bouchard, a pint-sized local blockhead and an aging and Mike Byrne, a low-level mobster, Ruth changes her fate—and transforms the future of her community with the theft of millions of dollars’ worth of maple syrup.
Filming is expected to begin this summer, but if you need your maple syrup fix before then, you can check out the Netflix documentary about the whole ordeal. But be warned that it does not feature Character Actress Margot Martindale, so it might not be worth it.
If you were presented a mystery list of cities leading the world in innovative transportation, Los Angeles — with its endless traffic and maddeningly minimal light rail service — would probably not come to mind. But would you think of the flourishing desert oasis, Dubai? Home to the world’s tallest skyscraper and vast swaths of engineered coastal real estate, Dubai continues to make its case as one of the most innovative, efficient, and sought-after places to live in the world.
One piece of their dynamic strategy includes becoming a global leader in sustainable urban air mobility transportation. Simply put, they want flying cars. To start, the city plans to implement a fully functioning Air-Taxi system by 2026. Yes, air taxis. Like in The Fifth Element.
His Royal Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum dropped this bombshell on Twitter:
If you ever played Call of Duty, you might be aware of a feisty little vehicle known as a VTOL Jet — the one that hovers around in one place and “helps you out.” The allure of VTOL flight (vertical take-off and landing) is it doesn’t require much space to take off or land, pretty much like a helicopter. But Dubai’s not trying to use powerful, gas-guzzling helicopters, think more of a smart car or a supersized Air-hog.
The city has partnered with Eve and Falcon Aviation systems to introduce a line of 35 all-electric VTOLS to serve as their first green fleet of air taxis.
With a top speed of just under 200mph and a maximum range of 150 miles before needing to recharge, these are the perfect vehicles to taxi people short to medium distances. That’s the idea: For now, the plan is to connect Dubai’s four main hubs, Downtown, The Dubai Marina, Dubai International Airport, and The Palm Jumeirah (the engineered palm tree-shaped coastline). Once implemented, Dubai will be the first city in the world with an interconnected system of Vertiports (obviously this is all theoretical at this point, but Dubai does seem to be in the lead).
The vehicles will be large enough for a pilot and four passengers andwill basically function the same as any taxi or Uber — the only difference being you’re freaking flying. The cost will eventually be the same as an uber, but initially… prices might be a lot higher, as it usually is for new technology. (Remember, flat screens used to cost thousands of dollars.)
WHY AIR-TAXIS?
It’s not just Air-Taxis. Dubai has been working to completely vamp up its cityscape in all aspects from commerce, to infrastructure to governance. This is all outlined in a project known as Smart Dubai where they aspire to lead the world in digital governance, happiness, and sustainability.
For transportation, aside from flying taxis, they plan to build a supersonic transit system connecting Dubai with Abu Dhabi, Sky Pods, and even a 93km indoor, air-conditioned walking track. The bottom line is this: in a bustling, dynamic city, anything that dissuades congestion is a step in the right direction for the world (especially if it’s energy efficient) and that’s where the city seems to be heading. As Dubai keeps innovating, city planners around the world may look to the Emirates Capital as a bastion of modern progress.
Within weeks of his first audition, the musical savant became a viral sensation—wowing judges and audiences alike with his almost supernatural musical abilities.
Though legally blind and diagnosed with autism at an early age, Lee easily masters multiple styles of music and has been blessed with a rare “audio photographic” memory, meaning he can recall music he hears after just one listen, according to his website.
Lee has once again returned to the stage for “AGT: All Stars” with a cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes,” and it’s nothing short of spectacular.
The lyrics to “Heroes” were inspired by a real-life couple Bowie would see every day outside his apartment window in Berlin in 1976. The Thin White Duke had become creatively burnt out in Los Angeles, but after witnessing the lovers meet every day to share a kiss under a gun turret on The Berlin Wall, his mojo was recovered, and he went on to create what would be one of his most enduring songs. Though originally intended as a love story, “Heroes” encapsulated much bigger themes of the time, even becoming forever linked with the dismantling of the infamous Berlin Wall.
Similarly, judge Simon Cowell remarked that Lee’s rendition gave the lyrics “whole new meaning” after his performance.
“You have this real gift and every time you perform there’s just silence. Everyone’s focused, and then they’re listening to every word and then we’re wondering what you’re gonna do with the song. And then you hit those big notes, and you’re so cool, and just so brilliant,” he said.
Howie Mendel echoed the sentiment, saying, “The lyric is ‘We can be heroes just for one day,’ and Kodi, you are a hero every day.”
Watch the All-Star performance that received a standing ovation below. Somewhere, David Bowie is smiling while listening to this.
When it comes to the controversy over her documented history of anti-transgender remarks, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling apparently isn’t losing sleep on how she’ll be judged in the future. Despite castmembers like Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe publicly denouncing Rowling’s views, she’s only concerned about the present.
“I do not walk around my house, thinking about my legacy,” the author said during the first episode of The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling podcast. “You know, what a pompous way to live your life walking around thinking, ‘What will my legacy be?’ Whatever, I’ll be dead. I care about now. I care about the living.”
According to Variety, the podcast is an attempt to claim that Rowlings views on transgender women are “misunderstood.” It also attempts to equate the criticism of those views with Christian claims that the Harry Potter books are witchcraft, which is one heck of a take:
[Host Megan] Phelps-Roper is looking for commonality between the intolerant right-wingers who wanted to ban and burn the Harry Potter books and trans activists who have threatened Rowling over her comments. “What is it about this woman and her work that has captured the ire of very different groups of people across time?” Phelps-Roper says in the intro to the premiere episode.
Despite constant claims that she’s being “canceled,” Rowling contains to maintain a lucrative relationship with Warner Bros. In fact, after the studio merged with Discovery, it’s become increasingly eager to make more Harry Potter movies with Rowling even though the Fantastic Beasts prequel films — which she personally wrote — failed to match the success of the original franchise. That’s not the kind of thing that happens to someone who’s been “canceled.”
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