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The Dallas Mavericks are out of the play-in race in the Western Conference for now, as the team is holding onto the 5-seed with a 24-21 record as of Wednesday morning. It’s required some remarkably heavy lifting by Luka Doncic that runs the risk of wearing him down by the time the postseason rolls around, and apparently, the Mavericks’ MVP candidate would like a little help.

In a piece by Tim MacMahon of ESPN about the ways that Doncic and Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young will always be connected, MacMahon reports that Doncic is trying something new as the trade deadline approaches: He’s advocating for the front office to bring in reinforcements.

Doncic has been more spectacular than ever this season, efficiently leading the league in scoring despite frequent double-teams and dragging Dallas to a 24-21 record, good enough for fifth place in the West. He’s certainly not satisfied to be in the middle of the playoff pack. Doncic is a fiery competitor with a championship pedigree, having won titles with the Slovenian national team and Real Madrid, and patience isn’t high on his list of virtues.

Sources said Doncic, who hasn’t shown a desire to be involved in personnel matters in the past, has strongly indicated he wants the Mavs to upgrade before the Feb. 9 trade deadline.

Doncic’s numbers have, unsurprisingly, been stellar this season, as he’s averaging 33.8 points, nine rebounds, 8.8 assists, and 1.6 steals in 37.4 minutes per game. He’s scoring and playing more than ever, while his usage percentage of 38.2 percent is also a career-high. Unfortunately for Dallas, a measure complicating any attempt to upgrade next to Doncic would require some patience from other teams, as the Mavericks’ first-round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft belongs to the New York Knicks.

One of the biggest names in photo licensing has filed a significant lawsuit that could slow down the rapid rise in AI art generators. The controversial process “scrapes” previously created art and repurposes it through a series of algorithms that allow users to create theoretically new works. However, Getty Images has pushed back in UK court with a lawsuit that could see the practice stymied in lengthy copyright litigation.

On Monday, Getty targeted Stability AI for “illegally copying and processing millions of its copyrighted images.” Via The Hollywood Reporter:

“Getty Images provided licenses to leading technology innovators for purposes related to training artificial intelligence systems in a manner that respects personal and intellectual property rights,” said the company, which prohibits the sale of AI generated art, in a statement. “Stability AI did not seek any such license from Getty Images and instead, we believe, chose to ignore viable licensing options and long-standing legal protections in pursuit of their stand-alone commercial interests.”

In addition to Getty, a class action lawsuit in California federal court has been filed by a group of artists who seek to protect their intellectual property from being downloaded and repurposed by AI art generators without permission.

“Until now, when a purchaser seeks a new image ‘in the style’ of a given artist, they must pay to commission or license an original image from that artist,” the class action suit reads. “Now, those purchasers can use the artist’s works along with the artist’s name to generate new works in the artist’s style without compensating the artist at all.”

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

This year, the Harlem music festival documented in Questlove’s directorial debut Summer Of Soul is returning and will actually be a year-long affair celebrating the history and culture of the New York neighborhood and its influence. While the Harlem Festival Of Culture will mostly take place in July, a series of related events will kick off this month with a concert at the legendary Apollo Theater headlined by rap icon Lil Kim.

The Jump Off With Lil Kim And Friends is billed for January 26, which is incidentally the Apollo’s 89th anniversary. Yvonne McNair, the Harlem Festival Of Culture’s co-founder and talent producer, said in a statement, “As we prepared to start on this road to the launch of the festival, we realized that this was also a milestone year for hip-hop and knew that our first major event out of the gate had to be special and center around hip-hop and R&B.”

“One of the tenets of HFC’s mission is to celebrate and preserve the cultural contributions of the Black Diaspora in music, media, art, fashion, and entertainment. Hip-hop culture has touched every single part of society, and there is no artist that better represents its far-reaching impact than Lil Kim. We’re so thrilled that Kim will help us curate the evening to bring a full, one-of-a-kind music experience to audiences in the city where it all began. We’re also excited to launch this event and our festival journey with our partners.”

“Apollo was like my backyard,” said Kim herself. “I played there so much and every time it was always love. The crowd is always amazing!”

Over the past year, Kim’s influence has become more apparent than ever, as successors to her raunchy rap legacy like Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion talked about collaborating with her, and even Nicki Minaj acknowledged her impact.

Billie Eilish is reportedly seeking a restraining order against a 39-year-old man accused of breaking into her parents’ Los Angeles home, according to a report by Los Angeles Times. The Times says they have received court documents, including a statement from Eilish.

In the statement, Eilish wrote that a man Christopher Anderson intruded into her childhood home, in which her parents Maggie Baird and Patrick O’Connell still live “unannounced and uninvited after apparently professing his love for me and expressing that he really wanted to meet me.”

Eilish noted that she had never communicated with Anderson prior, and that he had shown up to the home several times before the break-in, which took place on January 5. She added that she does not feel safe returning to her family’s home.

O’Connell also noted in the documents that Anderson, “professed his love for my daughter Billie, claimed that at some point in time, Billie had been watching Mr. Anderson and writing songs about Mr. Anderson and that Mr. Anderson really wanted to meet Billie.”

Back in 2020, Eilish filed a restraining order against another man who had shown up to their house several times in the past.

Eilish’s brother, Finneas, has alluded to stalkers in his song, “The ’90s,” singing “I hate how easy they can find me just by looking up my mom’s address.”

“Regrettably, this is not the first time an unknown individual has attempted to contact my family and me specifically by stalking us outside my family’s home and by making professions of love to and threats of violence against me,” Eilish wrote in the most recent court documents. “However, each such occasion, including the present one, causes me substantial anxiety, fear, and emotional distress over my personal safety and that of my father, mother, and brother.”

Is there anything Snoop Dogg hasn’t accomplished in his thirty-year career? Over the past few years, the rapper has expanded his business empire to include acquiring his former record label, opening a Funko Pop store, starting a pet clothing line, and of course, collaborating on a cannabis line. The musician has surely come a long way since writing out his song lyrics on typewriter.

That said, the Long Beach native is still experiencing a career first, having been named by the Songwriters Hall of Fame as one of its latest inductees. The class of 2023 inductees will also include musical trailblazers Sade, Glen Ballard, Gloria Estefan, Jeff Lynne, Teddy Riley, and Liz Rose.

When discussing the annual event, SHOF Chairman Nile Rodgers said, “The music industry does not exist without songwriters delivering great songs first. Without them, there is no recorded music, no concert business, no merch… nothing. It all starts with the song and the songwriter.”

He added, “We are therefore very proud that we are continually recognizing some of the culturally most important songwriters of all time and that the 2023 slate represents not just iconic songs but also diversity and unity across genres, ethnicity, and gender, songwriters who have enriched our lives and, in their time, literally transformed music and the lives of billions of listeners all over the world.”

In fact, with her induction, Gloria Estefan will become the first Latin woman to enter the ranks.

The ceremonial event is slated for Thursday, June 15th at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. To purchase tickets, click here.

2022 was definitely a year that happened! Despite some potential moral misfires and slight price adjustments, Netflix was able to hold its own throughout the year, thanks to viral movie moments and Daniel Craig in nautical wear. And now it’s on to the next one, though this year will have significantly fewer movies than the last two years, which averaged about one movie premiere a week. That seems excessive, anyway.

The streamer gave fans a first look at what to expect in the coming year of action movies, intense dramas, and more Adam Sandler murder mystery parties. Truly, there is something for everyone!

Kicking off 2023 will be Eddie Murphy’s You People with an all-star cast led by Murphy and featuring Jonah Hill, Lauren London, David Duchovny, Nia Long, Sam Jay, Elliott Gould, Travis Bennett, Molly Gordon, Rhea Perlman, Deon Cole, and Louis-Dreyfus, just to name a few. The comedy will premiere on January 27th.

Just in time for the most romantic holiday of the year (National Umbrella Day), Ashton Kutcher and Reese Witherspoon will lead the romantic comedy Your Place Or Mine, which debuts on February 10th. The preview also included a look at Idris Elba reprising his role as Detective John Luther in Luther: The Fallen Sun, which will premiere on March 10th. Jennifer Anniston and Adam Sandler will reunite in Murder Mystery 2, the sequel to the unexpected 2019 hit. Sandler and Aniston’s characters Nick and Audrey Spitz have returned to become full-time detectives, though they seem to be struggling to get their small business off the ground. It’s very relatable in the gig economy!

When it comes to action films, Chris Hemsworth’s long-awaited Extraction 2 will premiere on June 10th, just over three years since the first film in the franchise. The sequel was written by Joe Russo of The Russo Bros. fame and will bring back Tyler Rake on another high-stakes mission, this time set on a beautiful snowy mountain.

The second half of the year will bring They Cloned Tyrone, a sci-fi comedy starring John Boyega and Jamie Foxx, meanwhile Gal Gadot’s latest action thriller Heart Of Stone will land on the streamer on August 11th.

Other movies slated to drop this year include Millie Bobby Brown’s Damsel dropping on October 10th, Emily Blunt and Chris Evans’ Pain Hustlers on October 27th, and Michael Fassbender’s The Killer, which will premiere on November 10th. Finally, Zack Snyder’s buzzy sci-fi epic Rebel Moon will land in December.

As for the yet-unannounced films, we do know that Netflix has that mighty deal with Rian Johnson, which means there will probably be some progress on the upcoming Knives Out installment in the coming year. Earlier this month, Johnson told Variety how he intends to craft the third installment. “I’m starting to work on the third movie now, and that’s also what’s got me creatively jazzed: I don’t have to replicate the last movie at all. The goal is to strike out in a completely new direction tonally and thematically.” There is a good chance some movement will happen this year, perhaps for a 2024 release. One can dream!

(Via Variety)

There’s two ways of looking at the box office total for conspiracy loving Gina Carano’s most recent film, the Ben Shapiro-produced Terror on the Prairie (think: a grittier Yellowstone, but without the “woke” kisses). The charitable interpretation is that it only made $13,115 because it had an extremely limited theatrical reaction — we’re talking one, maybe two theaters — before being released on Daily Wire. The funnier interpretation is that it only made $13,115 because no one wants to see the fired The Mandalorian star in a low-budget Western — including some conservatives, via Indiewire:

Terror on the Prairie represented the right-wing media outlet’s most serious attempt at mainstream filmmaking to date, [but] it failed to resonate with its target audience. A new story in the AV Club revealed that there are still some fringe online personalities who thought the film was too “woke.” Many of them took to Twitter and IMDb comment sections to complain about the film’s male characters acting insufficiently masculine while allowing Carano’s heroine to save the day.

The people of Worth It or Woke? have spoken, and they are triggered:

In response to a suggestion that she lost millions by not being able to keep her beliefs to herself, Carano wrote, “I didn’t fumble the bag I just didn’t go along with the sell out narrative, the online mob couldn’t handle that so they petitioned to have me fired & won. I’m not sorry for that. I stood for what I believe the right thing to do was & the more time that goes by the better I feel.” She added, “The genuine bag fumble is sell out journalists like you who sold out America and stopped asking questions to be liked by a fickle manipulated mob. That is what you valued and that will be your legacy.”

(Via Indiewire and the AV Club)

One of the traits that endeared GloRilla to audiences so much during her breakout in 2022 was her commitment to bringing her “ratchet ass friends” along for the ride. That included fellow Memphis rapper Gloss Up, who landed her own record deal with Atlanta’s Quality Control Music. Despite being on different labels now, the two clearly remain best friends, celebrating and showing off their bond in Gloss’s aptly-titled new single, “BestFrenn.”

In the video, Gloss and Glo get their GLOW on, borrowing the themes and aesthetic of an underground wrestling promotion. They make one hell of a tag team, taking on all challengers, which include the “Laso Girls” a cowboy-themed duo,
“Battle Buddies,” who share a military look, and “Biker Girls,” whose gimmick ought to be obvious from their title. In the lyrics, the two Memphis rappers boast, “Wе don’t do no one-on-one, we all bе jumpin’ in.” Sounds about right.

While GloRilla was the clear 2022 rookie of the year, Gloss Up was no slouch herself. She appeared on labelmate Lakeyah’s mixtape No Pressure Pt. 2, lending a belligerent verse to the single “Real B*tch” and establishing herself as a potential star in her own right. With Glo backing her up and the QC machine at her disposal, it’s only a matter of time until she proves every bit the crowd-pleasing presence as her bestie.

Watch Gloss Up’s “BestFrenn” video featuring GloRilla above.

Following the success of his album Fantasy Gateway album, Cuco is going to perform in concerts across the US next month. Today (January 18), the Mexican-American singer announced the dates for his Interdimensional Tour.

As a Los Angeles County native, Cuco is known for blending his blending his alternative music with influences of his Mexican heritage. He has brought an alternative edge to Latin music and conversely given alternative music a Chicano touch. Cuco best exemplified that sound with his second album Fantasy Gateway that was released in July. The LP featured his breakthrough hit “Sitting In The Corner” featuring Kacey Musgraves and Mexican singer Adriel Favela.

In support of the Fantasy Gateway album, Cuco will go on embark on the Interdimensional Tour next month. The tour kicks off in San Francisco on February 27. Going into March, Cuco will visit cities like San Diego, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and New York. The tour also includes Cuco’s two stops in Mexico City where he will open for Tame Impala. Check out his website for information on when tickets will be available.

Cuco’s Fantasy Gateway album also featured duets with Mexican-American singer DannyLux in “Decir Adios” and Mexican artist Bratty in “Fin Del Mundo.” Last month, Cuco released the heartfelt song “Pendant” as a tribute to his grandfather. To kick off 2023, he dropped the aptly-titled single “First Of The Year.”

Find his upcoming tour dates below.

02/27 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
02/28 – Pomona, CA @ Glass House
03/01 – San Diego, CA @ North Park Observatory
03/02 – Phoenix, AZ @ Van Buren
03/04 – Las Vegas, NV @ Portal – Area 15 (Meow Wolf)
03/06 – Santa Ana, CA @ Observatory OC
03/10 – Mexico City @ Palacio de los Deportes with Tame Impala
03/11 – Mexico City @ Palacio de los Deportes with Tame Impala
03/28 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
03/30 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall

Later this year, Zack Snyder will drop his sci-fi epic on Rebel Moon on Netflix, which just released the first footage from the highly anticipated film. If the brief preview gave off heavy Star Wars vibes, there’s a good reason for that. The film is a direct result of a pitch Snyder made to Lucasfilm back when Disney first acquired the franchise. Ultimately, the pitch never went past “meaningful conversations” and for years, Snyders denied online rumors that he almost made a Star Wars film. However, that all changed in 2021.

While promoting both Army of the Dead and the release of the Snyder Cut on HBO Max, the director confirmed the Lucasfilm talks and hinted that the film might see the light of a day as a standalone feature. “The 11-year-old me still wants to make that, and now, I know how to,” Snyder told the Happy Sad Confused podcast. Turns out, he had up his sleeve.

A month later, Snyder and Netflix announced Rebel Moon. Via The Hollywood Reporter:

“This is me growing up as an Akira Kurosawa fan, a Star Wars fan,” Snyder tells The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s my love of sci-fi and a giant adventure. My hope is that this also becomes a massive IP and a universe that can be built out.”

Rebel finds its origins in a Star Wars pitch the filmmaker developed a decade ago. It was a more mature take on the universe created by George Lucas and didn’t move beyond meaningful conversations after The Walt Disney Co. acquired Lucasfilm in 2012.

According to Snyder, at one point Rebel Moon almost became a TV series, but he ultimately decided the best route was a full-on film, which will arrive later this year.

Rebel Moon premieres December 22, 2023 on Netflix.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)