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Don’t Worry Darling got off to such a good start. It’s Olivia Wilde’s directorial follow-up to Booksmart. It had that super sexy trailer, which was supposed to be even sexier. But over the last few weeks what was supposed to be a sure thing has been plagued with bad press. When it finally debuted this weekend at the Venice Film Festival, it scored not very good reviews, as well as a pretty awkward press conference, which its star Florence Pugh decided to skip. But one actor to stayed knew how to handle it: he zoned the eff out.

Chris Pine — who plays some guru loosely modeled on pseudo-intellectual incel champ Jordan Peterson — showed up at the presser looking pretty fly, with long blonde locks. He looked handsome in the photos, but he also looked…detached. He didn’t look drugged-up, but he looked like he had decided to self-disassociate from a press to-do in which journalists were reportedly not allowed to address a number of large, controversial elephants in the room. He either looked zen or he looked like he’d rather be anywhere else.

The photos scored a lot of jokes, with some worried about him.

The once and future Captain Kirk may have seemed out-of-it at the press conference, but the red carpet was a whole other story. He had a disposable camera, a different outfit, he looked like he was having fun.

Throw this in with other recent cinema happenings — like Tom Cruise almost killing himself for a mere CinemaCon intro and Brendan Fraser getting an epic standing ovation for The Whale — and it seemed like all was well with the movies once more.

Don’t Worry Darling hits theaters on September 23.

This article originally appeared on 02.09.22

High schools are a perfect breeding ground for weirdness. First of all, you have a bunch of teenagers who are starting to deal with adult problems but they don’t have the experience or the brain development to figure out how to navigate complex feelings and relationships.

Then you add sex, drugs, learner’s permits, the stress of trying to get into college and really bad facial hair to the situation and you have all the ingredients for people and situations to go completely sideways.

Then there are the teachers. High school teachers tend to be a bit more eccentric than those in the younger grades because they are hired as specialists in a given field, such as history, math or science. Whereas teachers in younger grades have to be nurturing and have a more holistic approach to child development.

Also, hindsight makes a lot of things that seemed normal at the time begin to seem a bit strange. As we get older and have a firm grasp on the realities of being an adult, there are some things that we can’t believe we lived through as teenagers in high school.

When I was in high school we had a drama teacher that sat in the gym and chain-smoked while we rehearsed the play and we didn’t think anything of it. I’m pretty sure my home economics teacher hit the cooking sherry during lunchtime, and we got a day off from school due to the L.A. riots in 1992.

Everyone dealt with some amount of weirdness while they were in high school, so Jimmy Fallon asked his “Tonight Show” audience to share their stories with #MyHighSchoolWasWeird and he read some of his favorites on his show.

We took a look at the hashtag and picked some of the responses we liked the most. Here are 19 of them. Why was your high school weird? Tell us in the comments on Facebook.

Itu2019su00a0Hashtagsu00a0time! Tell us something weird or funny about your high school, and tag it with #MyHighSchoolWasWeird. Could be on the show!

— jimmy fallon (@jimmy fallon)
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1.

My chemistry teacher would give us an example a day of how to kill your mother in law with chemical compositions #MyHighSchoolWasWeird

— Liisa Spink (@Liisa Spink)
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2.

We had a kid nicknamed Johnny Appleseed ( JohnA for short) who placed marijuana seeds in any available place they could grow. Our school had pot plants popping up so often they had to get rid of all the potted plants in classrooms and offices . #MyHighSchoolWasWeird

— OldHippie (@OldHippie)
1643055449

3.

#MyHighSchoolWasWeirdnOne teacheru2019s bathroom pass was an actual toilet seat that you had to carry with you to the restroom. pic.twitter.com/tesVLEpKe9

— Robin Smith (@Robin Smith)
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4.

My high school was across the street from a another high school #MyHighSchoolWasWeirdpic.twitter.com/iPXC7SQx7b

— Timmy Stotlar (@Timmy Stotlar)
1643056920

5.

This is the mascot at the high school i went to. nPart anthropomorphic sugar beet part food processing machinery. nn#MyHighSchoolWasWeirdpic.twitter.com/2R42p5zCYu

— omicrust prime (@omicrust prime)
1643070771

6.

#MyHighSchoolWasWeird because we had free periods during the day where we would sleep or hang out in the halls.pic.twitter.com/UCYxZPz4Dv

— nikkiu2728 (@nikkiu2728)
1643061702

7.

#MyHighSchoolWasWeird because Grimace won every student vote by a landslide. If you werenu2019t writing in Grimace on your ballots you were a narc. Youu2019d think Mayor McCheese would make more sense, being an actual politician, but I guess enough kids couldnu2019t spell it or something.pic.twitter.com/N6CrLw4v7r

— Mike-o Neill (@Mike-o Neill)
1643060956

8.

The mascot was a literal mop #MyHighSchoolWasWeirdpic.twitter.com/ypvheLGnZ2

— Courtney (@Courtney)
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9.

One time a swim meet was canceled at my friend’s high school because the pool “caught on fire.” Still have no idea how that’s possible. #MyHighSchoolWasWeird

— jimmy fallon (@jimmyfallon) January 24, 2022

10.

My high school had the mayonnaise bandit who would put mayo on the under side of the stair railings from the cafeteria making them useless or risk getting a handful of slimy mayonnaise on your way to class #MyHighSchoolWasWeird

— Rachel Lambert (@rlambert1201) January 24, 2022

11.

My high School was called Start. The student motto for it was Start High Stay High#MyHighSchoolWasWeird

— Kelly Reads (@ReaderofBook) January 24, 2022

12.

I graduated from North Pole High School in Alaska. We had to answer letters to Santa for an English grade. #MyHighSchoolWasWeird

— Nancy J. (@LifeboatSinger) January 24, 2022

13.

My Junior year of high school there was a competition for one of the teachers to kiss a cow. Of course the most disliked teacher ended up kissing the cow. #MyHighSchoolWasWeird

— Edward Schmidt II (@edwardschmidtii) January 24, 2022

14.

There was this kid that would run around during highschool and hiss at people. He was really smart but he would just randomly hiss lol #MyHighSchoolWasWeird

— The Zelda Corner (@ZeldaCorner) January 24, 2022

15.

Got a new principal in my senior year who decided to enforce the dress code with bright orange “Dress Code Violator” t-shirts. They became badges of honor instead of the intended punishment… 🤦‍♀️ #MyHighSchoolWasWeird

— Kelsey K 켈시 (@krklemm) January 24, 2022

16.

Our cafeteria’s chicken fries were such a rare and glorious experience, once people GRADUATED, they would still come back to buy them. #myhighschoolwasweird

— EmmyAnn (@EmmyAnn412) January 24, 2022

17.

#MyHighSchoolWasWeird because we had a bring your tractor to school day, those who brought one in got to skip all classes and just talk with others about their tractors. It always causes traffic delays because there was one main road into the school.

— Mary Olmsted (@MaryOlmsted13) January 25, 2022

18.

My science teacher was convicted of a double murder during summer break. I wish I was kidding!

— Mike Bennett (@MikeBennett11) January 24, 2022

19.

Weird Al graduated from my high school. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Suge Knight also graduated from my high school. #MyHighSchoolWasWeird

— Cindy Price (@Cinderella1976) January 24, 2022

If you look back at how you acted, dressed and behaved in high school and have a little bit of shame, that’s probably a good thing. If you cringe a little when you think about your former self, that shows that you’ve grown as a person.

But wouldn’t it be great if you could go back to high school knowing what you know now? How much easier would it be to approach that special person you wanted to ask to the dance but couldn’t muster up the courage? How much more would you appreciate those carefree days when all you had to worry about was a bio test or who had a crush on whom in homeroom?

Personally, if I went back to high school I’d have a lot more appreciation for my teachers knowing just how hard of a job they have. Now that I’m an adult I have a lot more sympathy for what we put them through and I can totally understand why teaching at a high school can turn someone a little weird.

Here’s Jimmy Fallon reading off some of his responses to #MyHighSchoolWasWeird.

Since invading Ukraine in late February, Russia has been hit with intense pushback — at least from people who don’t work at Fox News. Sanctions have partially crippled the economy. Businesses have pulled out, resulting in attempted creative salvage jobs. Russia has pushed back, too, banning a number of sometimes random figures. Did you know Morgan Freeman can no longer enter the nation? Nor can Rob Reiner or Piers Morgan. Now there’s a few more people who will have to stay away from the watchful eye of Vladimir Putin.

As per Newsweek, Russia released a new batch of banned figures. There are only 25 of them, but they include lawmakers like Kyrsten Sinema. There are also some entertainers. Sean Penn is on the list, and so is Ben Stiller.

Penn’s inclusion should shock no one. The actor and activist has been very vocal in his support of Ukraine, even visiting the country in the early days of the invasion. He’s even making a documentary about the war. Eventually he was told to skedaddle, if only for his own safety.

But what’s Stiller doing with a lifetime Russia ban? Well, for one thing, he’s good buds with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, in part because they’re colleagues: They’re both comic performers, though only Zelensky became president of a country, which he’s helped steer through unimaginable strife. Stiller has even called him “my hero.”

For the record, Stiller has also done his part to use his fame for good. He’s been helping to bring attention to the global refugee crisis since 2016, and he visited Ukraine in June, on National Refugee Day, where he observed the heavily-bombed nation. Apparently that enraged Putin and associates. Still, at least Penn and Stiller — and Sinema — can say they’re among increasingly august company.

(Via Newsweek)

In a recent segment on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight, the program went ahead and hurled an insult at Maren Morris by showing a photo of her on screen and giving it the label “lunatic country music person.” Morris had some fun with that, sharing a screenshot on Twitter on Friday (September 2) and jokingly declaring, “#NewProfilePic.”

She didn’t stop there, though, as she took the mean-spirited jab and turned it into a fundraising effort to which Carlson probably didn’t contribute.

On the same day Morris shared the screenshot, she offered a new bit of merch for sale, a t-shirt. The shirt has her name on it as well as the Fox News appointed title “lunatic country music person.” Below that is the phone number for the Peer Support & Crisis Hotline for trans youth, (877) 565-8860. Morris noted that all proceeds from sales of the shirt will be split between Trans Lifelife and the GLAAD Transgender Media Program.

The response was enthusiastic. Morris noted that in just two hours, the shirts had raised $63k. The next day, less than 24 hours after the shirts went up for sale, Morris offered another fundraising update, tweeting, “Over $100K raised. Have a great Labor Day weekend, lunatics.”

The shirt is available for purchase here.

Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.

This week saw Lil Baby and Gorillaz both launch their own new eras. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.

For more music recommendations, check out our Listen To This section, as well as our Indie Mixtape and Pop Life newsletters. Also find our Uproxx HQ Spotify playlist, which is updated weekly with the best new music, at the end of this post.

Lil Baby — “Detox”

Last Friday (September 2) brought a Rushmore-ian announcement for Lil Baby’s upcoming third album, It’s Only Me. The day also yielded a single to kick things off, “Detox,” on which the rapper lauds a minimal style while boasting a set of skills that’s anything but paltry.

Ari Lennox and Summer Walker — “Queen Space”

Music fans are pumped for Ari Lennox’s new album, Age/Sex/Location, to drop — J. Cole, for one, “can’t wait ’til this sh*t comes out.” The album’s out in just a few days but Lennox didn’t want her fans to wait even that short period of time, so she offered an EP, Away Message, last week. Highlighting that effort is “Queen Space,” a smooth and soulful Summer Walker collaboration.

The 1975 — “I’m In Love With You”

Being Funny In A Foreign Language, the upcoming album from The 1975 due out in October, is shaping up nicely so far. Advance singles have teased a promising LP, with new single “I’m In Love With You” carrying the promotional weight last week. It’s the lively sort of pop-rock tune that has brought the band much success in recent years, and the cherry on top here is a Phoebe Bridgers’ appearance in the song’s video.

Arctic Monkeys — “There’d Better Be A Mirrorball”

It’s been a hearty minute since Arctic Monkeys’ last album, 2018’s Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino. The wait for its follow-up won’t last much longer, though, as The Car is set to drop in November. The group previewed it last week with “There’d Better Be A Mirrorball,” a ballad much in the vein of the album that preceded it.

Gorillaz — “New Gold” Feat. Tame Impala and Bootie Brown

Next February, Gorillaz will bring us to Cracker Island on their just-announced new album. The Thundercat-featuring lead single/title track came back in June and the LP’s second single is also a collaboration, this time with Tame Impala and Bootie Brown. The song is “New Gold” and it definitely has Kevin Parker’s psychedelic stamp all over it, with Brown’s verse living harmoniously in the song’s groove.

Freddie Gibbs — “Too Much” Feat. Moneybagg Yo

While it’s been a quiet 2022 for Gibbs, that’ll change soon: His recently announced new album Soul Sold Separately is out at the end of the month and “Too Much,” a Moneybagg Yo single that’s Gibbs’ first of the year, dropped last week. Uproxx’s Armon Sadler says of the tune, “It is a unique foray for Gibbs, as the production is more trap-focused and he utilizes Aut-Tune on his vocals. As for Moneybagg, this beat is right in his usual brooding yet high-energy pocket.”

Kali Uchis — “No Hay Ley”

Uchis has indicated she’s working on a third album and while one hasn’t been officially announced yet, it would seem that last week’s single “No Hay Ley” is a taste of it. Uproxx’s Alex Gonzalez notes of the upbeat tune, “Over a hypnotic house-inspired dance track, Uchis sings about the ‘cosas magicas’ she wants to do with her lover.”

Smino — “24-8”

Last month, it would have been late NBA icon Kobe Bryant’s 44th birthday. Sports fans continue to mourn the loss of the superstar, including Smino, who honored Bryant’s jersey numbers on the single “24-8,” an introspective track that pays homage to the beloved Laker.

Justin Bieber — “Beautiful Love (Free Fire)”

In recent years, the virtual worlds of video games have become increasingly accommodating spaces for musicians to perform and share their work. Just recently, Bieber debuted a new song called “Beautiful Love” in the Free Fire game and now he’s given the afrobeats-leaning tune a proper release.

Charlie Puth — “Smells Like Me”

Puth has long proven himself to be an extremely capable songwriters and invoker of aesthetics. He fulfills both roles on last week’s “Smells Like Me,” a catchy ballad that reaches its presumed goal of sounding like a modern take on an emotional, lovelorn track from an ’80s movie.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

At the start of August, YouTube channel Recess Therapy posted a video of a kid named Tariq, a video you’ve probably seen by now: It’s the one where the young man enthusiastically talks about how much he loves corn. The clip inspired Schmoyoho (aka The Gregory Brothers, the folks behind Stranger Things remix “Chrissy, Wake Up” and 2010 hit “Bed Intruder Song”) to remix the video into a song, which has been viral on TikTok for weeks now.

The tune has caught the attention of Kevin Bacon, who went ahead and performed a rendition of the track. In a recent TikTok video, the actor/musician sings and strums along on acoustic guitar… or rather, he uses an ear of corn to hit the strings, which worked out surprisingly well. The performance of course includes all the viral lyrics, from “a big lump with knobs” to “it has the juice.”

This time, Bacon wasn’t surrounded by goats like he usually is. He frequently shares clips of himself on TikTok, performing songs with some goats in tow, like last week when he offered his version of Beyoncé’s Renaissance highlight “Heated.”

Check out the “It’s Corn” cover above and Bacon’s goat-flanked rendition of “Heated” below.

The Creative Arts Emmy Awards were handed out this weekend and it was a big moment for some notable folks in the music industry: Adele, Eminem, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr all won awards, which puts them each just a Tony Award victory away from attaining the coveted EGOT status — meaning they’ve won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar (Academy Award), and Tony.

The Adele: One Night Only concert special won a total of five awards, as did the The Beatles: Get Back documentary, getting Adele, McCartney, and Starr their first Emmys. This year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show also got three awards, giving Eminem his first Emmy.

Those four artists now join a list of musicians who are just one win away from the EGOT, as they all already had Grammy and Oscar wins under their belts. Aside from the aforementioned, performers just missing a Tony include Cher, Common, producer/composer Ludwig Göransson, Randy Newman, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Barbra Streisand, and composer John Williams. Meanwhile, Oscar Hammerstein II, Elton John, and Stephen Sondheim are an Emmy shy of their EGOT. As for artists who are an Oscar shy, that list includes Quincy Jones, Cyndi Lauper, Bette Midler, and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

The short list of those who have gotten their EGOT already includes Richard Rodgers (who secured his in 1962), Helen Hayes (1977), Rita Moreno (1977), John Gielgud (1991), Audrey Hepburn (1994), Marvin Hamlisch (1995), Jonathan Tunick (1997), Mel Brooks (2001), Mike Nichols (2001), Whoopi Goldberg (2002), Scott Rudin (2012), Robert Lopez (2014), Andrew Lloyd Webber (2018), Tim Rice (2018), John Legend (2018), Alan Menken (2020), and Jennifer Hudson (2022).

Find the full list of people (musician or otherwise) who are one win away from an EGOT below.

Needs an Emmy Award

• Henry Fonda
• Oscar Hammerstein II
• Elton John
• Alan Jay Lerner
• Frank Loesser
• Benj Pasek
• Justin Paul
• Stephen Sondheim
• Jule Styne

Needs a Grammy Award

• Jack Albertson
• Anne Bancroft
• Ingrid Bergman
• Shirley Booth
• Ralph Burns
• Ellen Burstyn
• Viola Davis
• Melvyn Douglas
• Bob Fosse
• Jeremy Irons
• Glenda Jackson
• Jessica Lange
• Frances McDormand
• Liza Minnelli
• Helen Mirren
• Thomas Mitchell
• Al Pacino
• Christopher Plummer
• Vanessa Redgrave
• Jason Robards
• Geoffrey Rush
• Paul Scofield
• Maggie Smith
• Maureen Stapleton
• Jessica Tandy
• Tony Walton

Needs an Academy Award (Oscar)

• Harry Belafonte
• Leonard Bernstein
• Jerry Bock
• Martin Charnin
• Cy Coleman
• André De Shields
• Fred Ebb
• Cynthia Erivo
• Anne Garefino
• George Grizzard
• Julie Harris
• Hugh Jackman
• James Earl Jones
• Quincy Jones
• Rachel Bay Jones
• John Kander
• Tom Kitt
• Alex Lacamoire
• Stan Lathan
• Cyndi Lauper
• Katrina Lenk
• Audra McDonald
• Bette Midler
• Lin-Manuel Miranda
• Cynthia Nixon
• Trey Parker
• Ben Platt
• Billy Porter
• Marc Shaiman
• Bill Sherman
• Ari’el Stachel
• Matt Stone
• Charles Strouse
• Lily Tomlin
• Dick Van Dyke
• James Whitmore
• David Yazbek

Needs a Tony Award

• John Addison
• Adele
• Kristen Anderson-Lopez
• Julie Andrews
• Burt Bacharach
• Alan Bergman
• Marilyn Bergman
• Jon Blair
• George Burns
• Cher
• Common
• Eminem
• Rob Epstein
• James Gay-Rees
• Michael Giacchino
• Alex Gibney
• Alex Gibson
• Ludwig Göransson
• Brian Grazer
• Hildur Guðnadóttir
• Ron Howard
• Paul McCartney
• James Moll
• Morgan Neville
• Randy Newman
• Sid Ramin
• Trent Reznor
• Caitrin Rogers
• Atticus Ross
• Martin Scorsese
• Ringo Starr
• Barbra Streisand
• Peter Ustinov
• John Williams
• Robin Williams
• Kate Winslet

Donald Trump has a truly out-there relationship with the press. On one hand, he deplores them because they keep reporting on all the terrible and weird stuff he does. On the other, he adores them, obsesses over them, needs them. The former president has always loved few things more than seeing his name in headlines, reporters quoting him, changing the world with the power of either the press or, better yet, social media. Now he’s even offering some help to some of his longtime journalistic nemeses.

As caught by The Hill, Trump took to his failing Twitter clone Sunday night to a) rail once again against Fox News while b) trying to get CNN on his side.

“Wow! Fox News is really pushing the Democrats and the Democrat agenda,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Gets worse every single day. So many Dems interviewed with only softball questions, then Republican counterparts get creamed. RINO Karl Rove is unwatchable, very negative, and on all the time – Has a big record of losing! Not an easy place to be as a Republican, especially with all of the “pervert” purchased ads.”

He then turned to one of their ostensibly non-partisan rivals. “If ‘low ratings’ CNN ever went Conservative, they would be an absolute gold mine, and I would help them to do so,” Trump wrote.

As it happens, if the offer is sincere, he might have good timing. CNN is under new management, and owner Chris Licht has been slammed for either laying off or driving away some of its more openly anti-Trump reporters, most recently White House correspondent John Harwood. Then again, right now there probably aren’t a lot of people who want to get in business with someone who might have to run for president from jail.

(Via The Hill)

During Sunday’s EuroBasket game between Turkey and Georgia, Philadelphia 76ers guard Furkan Korkmaz grew animated, butted heads with a Georgian player and was ultimately ejected. The clip makes clear that something set Korkmaz off and, apparently, things didn’t end once he was ejected.

According to various reports, three Georgian players confronted Korkmaz on his way to the locker room following his ejection and initiated a fight.

“When I was talking to the tunnel, our conditioning guy was with me,” Korkmaz said, per BasketNews. “As soon as we walked out of the tunnel and were trying to reach the locker room, I saw three Georgian players alongside two security guys running at us. We started throwing punches at each other. That’s basically what happened.”

“It was like a street fight. There was no talk or conversation. People just came at us and were trying to attack us. Of course, we reacted and tried to defend ourselves,” he continued. “I also think it’s a security problem. But I don’t know if it’s a security problem or if they just showed tolerance to their players.”

Clearly, this incident understandably frustrated Korkmaz. Fortunately, he was back at Turkey’s team shootaround on Monday. Turkey and Belgium square off on Tuesday.

It seems as though Korkmaz has moved on and will be in the lineup for Turkey’s next game.

Movie Awards Season has only just begun, and there’s already a pick for the most controversial entry. It’s Don’t Worry Darling, Olivia Wilde’s hotly anticipated follow-up to Booksmart. Over the last few weeks, the film has been hit with one mini-scandal after another. Did Wilde fire original key supporting player Shia LaBeouf, or did he quit? Did Wilde have a falling out with her main star, Florence Pugh? Can Harry Styles act? It’s all a mess, and during a predictably awkward press conference during its premiere at the Venice Film Festival, the director did her best to sidestep the “tabloid” issues.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, handlers at the presser reportedly shot down proposed questions from journalists about LaBeouf and Pugh. Instead, most of the questions stuck to the costumes, the sets, the cinematography, etc. Only at the end did someone get in a question about the absence of Pugh, who announced she would skip the conference but still attend the premiere.

Wilde did her best not to pour gasoline on an already raging fire, calling Pugh “a force, and we are so grateful that she’s able to make it tonight despite being in production on Dune.” (Indeed, she arrived in town while the presser was still going.) She added, “I can’t say enough how honored I am to have her as our lead. She’s amazing in the film.”

Then she tried to dismiss all the elephants in the room, saying, “as for all the endless tabloid gossip and all the noise out there, I mean, the internet feeds itself. I don’t feel the need to contribute. I think it’s sufficiently well-nourished.”

THR reported that they tried to ask a question about LaBeouf specifically, only to be told that Wilde “already answered that” in relation to “Internet noise.”

Is this all nonsense and Don’t Worry Darling is some stunning masterpiece? It would hardly be the first great film to face terrible press in its lead-up. Perhaps everyone will go back to talking about all the film’s hot sex. Whatever the case, the film hits theaters on September 23.

(Via THR)