On Thursday, August 15, Halsey released “Lonely Is The Muse.” The alt-rock single traces back to Halsey’s sonic palette for her Grammy-nominated 2021 album, If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power.
“I always knew I was a martyr and that Jesus was one, too,” Halsey sings in the chorus. “But I was built from special pieces that I learned how to unscrew / And I can always reassemble to fit perfectly for you / Or anybody that decides that I’m of use.”
If that weren’t poignant enough, Halsey flexed her poetic acumen even more in the second verse: “So, whеre do I go in the process whеn I’m just an apparatus? / I’ve inspired platinum records, I’ve earned platinum airline status / And I’ve mined a couple diamonds from the stories in my head / But I’m reduced to just a body here in someone else’s bed.”
Halsey has yet to announce her forthcoming album’s title or release date, but it goes without saying that it should arrive sooner than later.
Each week our staff of film and television experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish shows available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.
A British mystery-comedy starring Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley? Yeah, that’ll do. Wicked Little Letters is about an English seaside town in the 1920s that gets upended by scandalous mail (or whatever they call it there). A boisterous Irish migrant named Rose (Buckley) is charged with the crime, but as the townspeople, including buttoned-up local Edith (Colman) do their own investigation, “they suspect that something is amiss, and Rose may not be the culprit after all.” The trailer is very charming.
Tony Hale has a pretty solid track record when it comes to comedies. Buster in Arrested Development, Gary in Veep, FORKY in Toy Story 4 (do not hold Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip against him). Next up is The Decameron, which is like if The White Lotus took place during the bubonic plague pandemic (or as actress Jessica Plummer described it, “Love Island, but back in the day”). The social satire is getting rave reviews for being “the best apocalyptic ensemble comedy since Clue.” Grab your juice and start watching.
Last season on Futurama, Fry, Leela, Bender, & Co. took on an Amazon-like company formed by Mom; caught a rage virus; and got turned into toys (that was a weird one). In season 12 (which is technically the second half of season eight if you go by production order, but let’s stick with Hulu’s season designations for the sake of ease), the gang “embarks on mind-bending adventures involving birthday party games to the death, the secrets of Bender’s ancestral robot village, A.I. friends (and enemies), impossibly cute beanbags, and the true 5 million-year-old story behind the consciousness-altering substance known as coffee.” Guest stars include Danny Trejo, Cara Delevingne, and Kyle Maclachlan. (Read more about the new season here.)
A while back, I remember seeing someone online make the case for Planet of the Apes as the most consistently good movie franchise. That’s overstating things (how soon we forget Ape Lincoln?), but there are more keepers than stinkers in the series, especially among the recent films. Surprise box office hit Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes needed to justify its existence following the strong conclusion to the Caesar trilogy — and it did. The 10th overall Planet of the Apes features typically CGI work and a stirring story about determination. You won’t hate every ape you see, from chimpan-A to chimpan-Z.
11. Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Paramount Plus)
paramount plus
2023’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem made a decent amount of money at the box office and received strong reviews — but doesn’t it still feel under-appreciated? It’s a really good movie (and should have been nominated for an Oscar over Elemental)! Paramount Plus spin-off series Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is set in the same universe as Mutant Mayhem, and the animation looks just as cool as it does in the film. The voice cast of the Turtles (Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu, and Brady Noon) is back, too, as well as Ayo Edebiri as April O’Neil.
It’s a Happy Endings reunion! (Kind of!) Mr. Throwback brings together Happy Endings creator David Caspe and star Adam Pally in a mockumentary series about a memorabilia dealer who reunites with a member of his sixth-grade basketball team: a fellow named 10-time NBA all-star Steph Curry. The cast also includes SNL favorite Ego Nwodim and The Afterparty’s Adyen Mayeri.
A Damon / Affleck movie that isn’t Matt and Ben?!? Now I’ve seen everything. The Instigators stars Matt Damon and Casey Affleck as unlikely partners in a heist, but when things go south, they “find themselves engulfed in a whirlwind of chaos, pursued not only by police but also by backward bureaucrats and vengeful crime bosses.” The rest of the cast is stacked — including Hong Chau, Michael Stuhlbarg, Paul Walter Hauser, Ving Rhames, Alfred Molina, Toby Jones, and Ron Perlman — although following the Road House debacle, it would be nice to see a movie directed by Doug Liman in a theater again.
The Umbrella Academy season 4 bids farewell to the Hargreaves family, including Victor (Elliot Page), Luther (Tom Hopper), Klaus (Robert Sheehan), Number Five (Aidan Gallagher), Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman), Diego (David Castañeda), and Ben (Justin H. Min). Guest stars include David Cross as “a man desperate to reconnect with his estranged daughter” and real-life married couple Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally as college professors. (You can read more about the final season here.)
Did you know that the number one movie on Netflix for much of this cursed week has been The Emoji Movie? Yes, the movie where Patrick Stewart plays a talking pile of poop. This simply will not do. Instead, why not check out a quality animated film, like the vibrant They Shot the Piano Player? The origin story of Bossa nova “captures a fleeting time bursting with creative freedom at a turning point in Latin American history in the ’60s and ’70s, just before the continent was engulfed by totalitarian regimes.”
Still not on the Sydney Sweeney bandwagon? You will be after watching Immaculate. The horror film stars Tank’s mom as a devout American nun who travels to a convent in Italy where things aren’t quite as they initially appear. Hate it when that happens. The wild ending, in particular, is pretty great.
Solar Opposites doesn’t get as much love and attention as Rick and Morty, another science-fiction/comedy animated series, but it should. The show goes to some truly unexpected places, including The Wall and SilverCops side-stories, and the voice cast of Dan Stevens, Thomas Middleditch, Sean Giambrone, and Mary Mack do fine work as the chaotic former residents of Planet Shlorp. I would die for the Pupa (assuming it doesn’t kill me first).
This third season of Industry, overall, convinces me that there will be a future moment when this series will move beyond scoring critical acclaim and maintaining a loyal but relatively modest audience. Years into the future, this show could catch on with a whole new audience and be streamed into oblivion in a Suits-like way. That USA Network show maintained a dedicated enough audience to last a decade, but years later, the show’s exploding popularity on Netflix led NBC to double back and find new life in the franchise. It’s very easy to imagine Industry someday harnessing broad streaming appeal in the same way. (You can read our review here.)
The world did Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga dirty. Maybe it’s not a stone-cold masterpiece like Mad Max: Fury Road, but few films are. The George Miller epic deserves better than making less money at the domestic box office than It Ends With Us. It has the best action sequence of the year, Anya Taylor-Joy rules, and Chris Hemsworth gives a genuinely Oscar-worthy performance. Also, there’s a character named Pissboy. Fire up Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga on Max and make it the hit it should have been when it was in theaters.
Scrubs, Ted Lasso, and Shrinking creator Bill Lawrence’s comedy empire expands with Bad Monkey, a good show with a fun premise: Vince Vaughn plays a former cop who is now a health inspector in the Florida Keys. “But after stumbling upon a case that begins with a human arm fished up by tourists, he realizes that if he can prove murder, he’ll be back in. He just needs to get past a trove of Floridian oddballs and one bad monkey,” according to the plot synopsis. The show is based on author Carl Hiaasen’s novel of the same name, and has fun summer binge written all over it.
Without naming names, a lot of the biggest names in pop and indie seem afraid to have fun these days. That’s what makes Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter (and on the indie side, Jeff Rosenstock and The Linda Lindas) such a breath of fresh air — they’re not afraid to call out people for pretending to be “too cool” to let loose, jump around, and dance.
Charly Bliss falls into this let’s-have-fun camp, too.
On the band’s first new album in five years, Forever, the quartet — singer Eva Hendricks, drummer Sam Hendricks, lead guitarist Spencer Fox, and bassist Dan Shure — have honed their balance of bubbly pop hooks and crunchy guitar riffs, and they’re having a blast. You will, too. It’s an album meant to be enjoyed among friends or fellows fans, possibly on the Forever And Ever tour.
I recently spoke to Eva Hendricks about the international backstory to making Forever, her feelings on the band’s debut album, and Charly Bliss’ very entertaining Twitter account. Seriously, give it a follow.
I’m asking this as a fan of the band first and a journalist second: where the heck has Charly Bliss been for the past five years?
That is a great question. So much has changed for us in the last five years. Putting this record out has been so wild because it forces you to look at your life and these very specific chunks, like where was I when we were making Guppy? Where was I when we were making Young Enough? And for this album, there’s never been a more intense period of change in my life.
I moved to Australia. Sam became a dad twice over, and so much has just changed for the four of us. It’s really wild. So, yeah, I guess a lot of what transpired was kind of pandemic related. When I went to Australia, I thought I was going there for six weeks. I had just fallen in love with someone who lives there. And right after Sam and his wife had their daughter, I thought, “Well, we can’t be touring for the next six weeks.” It’s so funny we thought that was all at the time. But, yeah, I was like, cool, I’ll go work on the album and write a lot over in Australia and test out this new relationship and see what it is. I left Los Angeles on March 3, 2020, and ended up not leaving Australia for a year and a half. I became like an Australian citizen in that time. We wrote so much of the album over Zoom and figured out a way to make it work while we were apart.
So yeah, that’s where we’ve been.
What does the album title mean to you?
I think when you’re in a period of so much change, it forces you to look at your life and see what are the permanent things. In the period of being in Charly Bliss, I’ve been through so many different romantic relationships and apartments and lifestyle changes, and, you know, tent poles of who I thought I was. This album is so much about reflecting on all of that and realizing that even through all of these shifting external factors, the one thing that never changes, that never goes away, is Charly Bliss. That is the “Forever” of my life.
As much as I do think this is a romantic record, I also think it’s a very friendship-driven record. Me being in Australia and away from my bandmates made me just ache to be back with them. On the song “Waiting For You,” so much of that is about watching footage of us on stage from before the pandemic and realizing, “Oh my god, my dreams came true, and I totally missed it.” I was so stuck thinking about how tired I was or how stressed I was, or is the album doing well or are there enough people at our shows. It’s so possible to focus on all of that and miss what is really happening around you, which is like my greatest dreams for myself, for my friends, for my brother, like it happened. And it’s continuing to happen, like we get to tour the world together and release music together and that is what matters most.
What were some of the challenges — or possibly advantages — of the songwriting process happening virtually?
It was so much fun. I never would have predicted that it would have worked for us, but it really did. I think there’s a lot of pressure trying to be in the same room as people and write a song and work on things. I think I really benefit from being able to go really internal and work something out before I’m ready to let other people hear and react to it. So being able to kind of say, “OK, I’m going to go in the other room for a second and work on something,” or, “I’m going to mute myself for a couple minutes.” And the time zone difference was actually really helpful. Keep in mind, Sam was a new dad through a lot of writing this album, so the fact that my morning was his nighttime was incredibly advantageous to us. Morning, noon, and night kind of ceased to mean anything, because it was like someone is probably always awake in Charly Bliss, so we could work on something.
Then while someone was sleeping, I would work on recording vocals, and then I would send it over to the guys, and then while I was sleeping, they would work on the track. It kind of became this never-ending working period for us. Instead of being like, “OK, we have the practice space for three hours, we have to figure out what’s going on with the song in that time slot.” It felt very seamless and because we didn’t have restaurant jobs or whatever, we were kind of constantly immersed in the process of writing this album. And that was really wonderful for us.
To my ears, this album feels like a mix of the rock-focused Guppy and the more pop-leaning Young Enough. “How Do You Do It,” in particular, reminds me a bit of E•MO•TION-era Carly Rae Jepsen, and then it goes to the fuzzed-out “I Don’t Know Anything.” Did you go into the studio with a sound you were looking for?
It was more of a feeling. There was something about making Guppy that was so special because we didn’t think anyone was going to hear it. I mean, we knew our friends and our parents would hear it and that was about it, and I think there was this sense of no one’s watching. Whereas on Young Enough, we felt overwhelmed by the sense of: people are watching. It was such a condensed turnaround of like, OK, while we’re on tour, every time we’re home, we have to be writing, and then we have to get into the studio, and we have to turn this around as quickly as possible. Whereas, on Forever, we were able to re-find that feeling of no one’s watching. It was so important to us to feel playful in the studio, to feel really creative and free, and return to that feeling that we had captured on Guppy. That was exactly what we wanted to make. Instead of like, what do we think people are hoping for from us?
The truth is, we’ve always loved both of those things. We’ve always loved both very sleek pop and really crunchy guitar music, and I think the bands that have been our touchstones for the longest have also kind of done that as well, like played between those worlds. I’m thinking of Weezer and even a band like Haim, and now Olivia Rodrigo is working in that world, and that’s so exciting to us. We love it. I think it was mostly about, how do we make this album? This distillation of what our collective brains sound like, and less about genre.
One thing I like hearing about from bands and artists is putting together setlists for a tour. When you were recording the album, did the thought ever go through your head of like, “This would be a really good opener”?
Being in a band is fascinating because you are in so many different head spaces while you’re creating something. It’s like, the writing period feels so different than the recording period, which feels so different than the planning a live show period. And then there’s this whole part of your job where you need to be like, how do we market this? How do we create the album artwork and the merch and whatever? You are using so many different parts of your brain to make an album from start to finish. And then there are these moments where you’re in this studio and you finally hear something coming together, and you have this realization of, “Oh my god, we’re going to play these songs in front of people at some point.” You do kind of have this moment of, like, “It’s the perfect opener. We’ve been playing ‘Percolator’ as the opener for like 10 years, we finally wrote a song that’s gonna be as effective as an opener.” It’s so exciting, but I also think it can be a little bit dangerous, right? We’ve always believed that you have to make the songs the best they can possibly be, and then figure out how you’re going to manage to play them live later, and not let your imagination be restrained. I think some of our most creative and exciting live show editions have come from us being forced to figure it out.
You mentioned “Percolator.” Do you still feel personally attached to the songs on Guppy, or is there a little bit of an emotional distance?
Oh my God. I don’t know why. I just got choked up when you said that.
I’m sorry!
No no, that makes me happy. A good way. When we were making Young Enough, I was like, “I’m so sick of those songs. I’m so sick of everything on Guppy. I don’t feel it all attached to them.” But now I’m in a place in my life where I’m happier than I’ve been in a really, really long time. I kind of feel so much closer to those songs than I did maybe even five years ago, because I remember what that felt like. I feel closer to that unselfconscious, free person who made that album than I do the terrified person who made Young Enough. And that is a really wonderful feeling.
Here’s something I’ve wondered for years: who runs the band’s Twitter account?
Spencer [laughs]. I guess sometimes people give me credit for the jokes that he makes on Twitter, and I don’t deserve it at all. He has such a unique brand. He’s the best, he’s hilarious.
So he’s probably the one who is tired of being tagged in every photo of three guys and one blonde lady.
He’s definitely not sick of it. I think he loves it. It’s so fun. With Spencer, however funny you think he might be from Twitter, he is even funnier in real life to spend your life with. He is by far the funniest person I’ve ever known in my life.
Forever is out 8/16 via Lucky Number Music. Find more information here.
When Will Post Malone’s New Album F-1 Trillion Be On Apple Music?
Post Malone is due to release F-1 Trillion on Friday, August 16. The album should become available to stream on Apple Music, Spotify, and all DSPs at 9 p.m. PT on Thursday, August 15, and midnight ET on Friday, August 16.
Post Malone’s F-1 Trillion Tracklist
1. “Wrong Ones” Feat. Tim McGraw
2. “Finer Things” Feat. Hank Williams Jr.
3. “I Had Some Help” Feat. Morgan Wallen
4. “Pour Me A Drink” Feat. Blake Shelton
5. “Have the Heart” Feat. Dolly Parton
6. “What Don’t Belong to Me”
7. “Goes Without Saying” Feat. Brad Paisley
8. “Guy for That” Feat. Luke Combs
9. “Nosedive” Feat. Lainey Wilson
10. “Losers” Feat. Jelly Roll
11. “Devil I’ve Been” Feat. ERNEST
12. “Never Love You Again” Feat. Sierra Ferrell
13. “Missin’ You Like This” Feat. Luke Combs
14. “California Sober” Feat. Chris Stapleton
15. “Hide My Gun” Feat. HARDY
16. “Right About You”
17. “M-e-x-i-c-o” Feat. Billy Strings
18. “Yours”
How does Taylor Sheridan keep up with his own stable of shows? The ultimate TV multitasker is preparing to put Yellowstoneout to pasture this fall, launch Landman, and move onto The Madison while also prepping second seasons for Lioness and Tulsa King. Then there’s Sheridan’s ultimate A-lister feather in his cap: the Yellowstone prequel led by Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren as earlier American Duttons.
The more things change for this family, the more that things (i.e., the ranch under threat of being taken by dastardly forces) stay the same, but that’s part of what keeps the audience tuning in for more: reliability. Taylor Sheridan knows what his audience wants, and as is increasingly the case in this streaming age, 1923 was intended a limited series but has blossomed into more. The prolific cowboy creator has been specific, however, about how this followup season will be the final farewell to Jacob and Cara Dutton.
Let’s get down to business on what has been revealed about a second season:
Plot
Filming was underway as of early summer with both Ford and Mirren, although there still appears to be plenty more work to do this fall. This month, the City of San Antonio revealed that they are working to help facilitate a leg of production in the southern Texas (and home of The Alamo) city. In a press release, as well, the city revealed that although the first season dove between Malta, Africa, and Montana, “the majority of season two’s filming will take place across Texas.” That includes filming near Austin, but there will also be plenty of scenes set in Butte, Montana.
As for the story, the Duttons are now at the mercy of Whitfield, who stepped up to pay those property taxes and would really like to take the ranch and might go to any lengths to do so, so don’t expect him to behave in a benevolent manner. Other loose threads remain, including resolution of violent struggles between Hank and Teonna along with with that duel between Spencer and Alex’s ex-fiancé. And then there’s the fact that Spencer and Alexandra are separated and presumably both headed to the ranch, and word on the cowboy-rumor street is that those two could be the focus of future Yellowstone spinoff 1944, with or without Matthew McConaughey or the 2024 series in the mix.
However, the Sheridan stable has grown ever more complicated with the recently announced The Madison starring Michelle Pfieffer (along with possibly Kurt Russell and Patrick J. Adams) in a series about a New York-originating family that end up in Montana’s Madison River valley with the story taking the form of “a heartfelt study of grief and human connection.” This will also be a Yellowstone spin off, but the timeline on this show (or whether it is actually 1944 or 2024) has not yet been clarified by Paramount+ or Sheridan.
Whichever show that Spencer appears on next, however, he should figure in prominently. He is the son of 1883‘s James and Margaret, and the Dutton family tree will grow more convoluted but hopefully gain clarity before 1923‘s second season finale. Speculation that Elizabeth is Jack Dutton III’s grandmother might be dead in the water following her miscarriage, but never say never. No matter what happens, the second 1923 will be a tangled web amid the overarching Sheridan soap opera.
Cast
Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren both climbed back onboard without any apparent hesitation, and Brandon Sklenar will reprise his role. Additionally, Dexter devotees will be interested to learn that Jennifer Carpenter joined the cast along with Janet Montgomery (New Amsterdam), and word is still pending on Michelle Randolph, Timothy Dalton, Robert Patrick, Jerome Flynn, Aminah Nieves, Julia Schlaepfer, and Brian Geraghty.
Release Date
1923 won’t return until mid-2025 at the earliest. That will be more than two years after the renewal landed, but this slow return can largely be blamed on the 2023 Hollywood strikes. Additionally, Taylor Sheridan has so many other TV shows in the works and more to come, so staggered release dates are to be expected to keep the Paramount+ slate humming along nicely.
Trailer
No luck here yet. Instead, here’s Stephen Colbert reminding Harrison Ford how hot he and Helen Mirren were together in 1986’s The Mosquito Coast. That hasn’t changed, either.
The United States men’s basketball team are Olympic gold medalists once again. Despite getting major scares from Serbia in the semifinals and France in the final, the U.S. was able to win its fifth consecutive gold medal in the event. It was a group built around the three greatest players of their era, as LeBron James and Kevin Durant were joined by Olympic debutant Steph Curry to bring the Americans to glory.
Now, all eyes are on 2028, when the Olympics will take place on U.S. soil in Los Angeles. Despite that, getting a sixth gold in a row won’t be easy for the hosts, as countries like France and Canada will be built around All-NBA caliber players at that point. With that in mind, we wanted to look at which guys will have an argument for a roster spot once we get to 2028, and we decided to break things down into three categories: Definitely, In The Mix, and Wild Cards.
A lot can happen between now and then — for example, I think even the biggest Derrick White fan on the planet probably couldn’t have imagined that he would have a role on the Olympic team if we did this exercise in 2021. Having said that, as we look at the state of play before likely head coach Erik Spoelstra has to put together a roster, here are the players who stand out.
Point Guard
Definitely: Tyrese Haliburton
Haliburton didn’t have an especially productive Olympics, as he was the team’s 12th man in a role that he, to his credit, really embraced. But he had a big role on the World Cup team in 2023, was with the program this summer, and should be on the roster as long as he is healthy in four years, when he will be 28 and right in the prime of his career.
In the mix: Jalen Brunson, Tyrese Maxey, Ja Morant, Derrick White
Brunson, a member of the World Cup squad, not making the team was rather controversial, but if he continues to be the face of the Knicks, he’ll have a very good shot of making it in 2028. Maxey is on his way to superstardom and can bring an injection of pace and shooting off the bench that is a nightmare to deal with. Despite a really difficult last two years, Morant is one of the NBA’s most explosive and dynamic guards who is capable of taking over a game, and international guards would have an awful time trying to stay in front of him. White will be 34, but he has experience in the U.S. setup and is an unbelievable glue guy who will embrace any role he’s given, which is crucial when putting together a star-studded roster.
Cunningham has impressed as a member of the Select Team in the past, and while the first three years of his career have been rough amid the seemingly constant turmoil in Detroit, he’d look really good as a jumbo playmaker surrounded by All-Stars. Curry is on here mostly out of respect for what he did in Paris, although he will be 40 and got the gold medal he’s coveted this time around, so riding off into the sunset for the national team after this summer makes sense. Henderson is a talented youngster, and while he’s coming off of a rough rookie year, we’ll see where he’s at as a player in 2028. Suggs would be a terrific fit in a White/Jrue Holiday-type role if they want that, while Young certainly is good enough to make it, but has a … let’s call it tense history with the USA Basketball program.
Shooting Guard
Definitely: Devin Booker, Anthony Edwards
You can write both of these names in pen right now. Booker was spectacular as the guy who did all the little things in Paris, and as long as he wants to be there, he should be one of the faces of the team in 2028 — I’d go as far as to say that the praise he earned this time around, mixed with the fact he is a two-time gold medalist, makes him a potential captain in 2028. And it’s very clear that the USA Basketball program absolutely adores Edwards, who had his ups-and-downs in Paris but keeps getting better and might be the most dynamic perimeter scorer in the world once the L.A. Olympics roll around. Plus, come on, it’s Anthony Edwards, and things tend to be more fun when he’s around.
In the mix: Mikal Bridges, Jaylen Brown, Donovan Mitchell
Bridges’ ability to defend on the perimeter, hit shots, and provide a little creation in a smaller role would be a really good fit for a fifth starter or a crucial guy on a bench unit, plus he has experience in the USA Basketball system due to his time on the World Cup team. Brown got into a high-profile spat with the program after he was left off the team in the aftermath of Kawhi Leonard’s departure before the Olympics started. If everyone can get on the same page, he’ll be on the roster, and should be bumped up to the definitely section on this list. Mitchell has been a USA Basketball participant in the past as the second-leading scorer on the 2019 World Cup team, and while they just might not need a guy with his skill set when he’s 31 years old in 2028, if he’s still producing in a big way, he’ll be a contender.
Wild cards: Desmond Bane
Bane will be 30 in 2028 and may need to be on the World Cup team to break into the USA Basketball world, but his dogged on-ball defense and shooting are exactly what you want out of a bench wing in FIBA play. He’d have an uphill battle to break into this roster, but if he makes it, I can absolutely see him being a guy who plays more than you might think.
Small Forward
Definitely: Jayson Tatum
Yes, Tatum had a pretty bad Olympics, both because of how he struggled to get into a rhythm when he played and his multiple DNP-CDs against Serbia. Having said that, he is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and was the second leading scorer on the 2020 team. I do not think he is suddenly going to get considerably worse at basketball between now and 2028, when he will be 30 years old and still in the prime of his career. He’ll be there, and in all likelihood, he’ll have a very important role on the gold medal favorites.
In the mix: Kevin Durant
Here’s the thing: If Kevin Durant wants to be on the team in 2028, Kevin Durant will be on the team in 2028. He’ll be just shy of his 40th birthday, and he might not be anything more than the final guy on the roster who only plays in very specific situations, but also, KD will be able to rise and fire over people until the day he dies. I will believe he’s not on the team only if the first game happens in L.A. and he’s not there in uniform. And if that’s the case, hopefully he can fill the ex-player superfan role that Carmelo Anthony had this time around.
Wild cards: Scottie Barnes, AJ Dybantsa, Jaime Jaquez, Cameron Johnson, Herbert Jones, Brandon Miller, Trey Murphy, Amen Thompson, Jalen Williams
This is the ultimate grab bag position, as Spoelstra can go in a number of different directions based on how young guys develop and what the rest of the roster looks like. Need someone a little more comfortable initiating the offense? Someone like Barnes or Thompson could go. Need a 3-and-D wing? Johnson, Jones, Murphy, and Williams can take care of things. Want a Heat player familiar with how the presumed next coach does things? Bring Jaquez, who has played for Mexico’s youth teams in the past, but was on the Select Team this time around. Or maybe by the time 2028 rolls around, at least one of Dybantsa or Miller has established themselves as an All-NBA caliber wing, and they’re locks to make it onto the roster.
Power Forward
Definitely: No One
Probably the least stable spot on the 2028 roster right now, as they don’t have a no-doubt guy who would fill this role. Having said that, if they decide to, say, slide Tatum up here and start someone from that grab bag of 3s, that would make a ton of sense. Plus they do have some options that just need to earn a spot, like…
In the mix: Paolo Banchero, Cam Boozer, Cooper Flagg
Banchero chose the United States over Italy for his national team career, and Joe Vardon of The Athletic reported that he had a real shot of making it in 2024. If he was that close this time around, you can make a very strong case he should be in the definitely category for this one. Still, we’ll put him down here, just because he’s such a young player and we’ll see how he continues to develop (I, for one, am very excited about what the future holds for him). And speaking of young players: Boozer and Flagg are perhaps the two most promising youngsters in the American basketball landscape right now. They would, however, be really early in their respective NBA careers — Flagg (who impressed with the Select Team in the lead-up to the Olympics) is slated to enter the league in 2025, while Boozer is coming in 2026 alongside Dybantsa.
Wild cards: Jalen Johnson, Jabari Smith Jr., Zion Williamson
Johnson and Smith are a pair of guys whose development we’re watching over the next few years, because the best versions of each guy are players you could really use at the international level — the former is a jumbo wing who can score and rebound, while the latter is long and can really shoot. As for Williamson, he’s only down here because he cannot stay healthy and his inability to shoot would be a big problem in the international game. But his athleticism and physicality would be a problem for opposing teams, and he’ll only be 28.
Center
Definitely: Bam Adebayo
The man affectionately known by the rest of Team USA as Bamonte is going in 2028, if only because there is no chance that Spoelstra is going to leave him off the team if he does get the head coaching gig. It helps that he’s been a good soldier for the national team over the years as a member of the 2020 and 2024 gold medal teams, while his defensive versatility, playmaking, and ability to play alongside other bigs makes him a very good addition to the roster.
In the mix: Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid, Chet Holmgren, Jaren Jackson Jr., Evan Mobley
Davis and Embiid are in the same spot — the former will be 35, the latter will be 34, and if they want to go for gold again and they can deal with the demands of playing in an international tournament during the NBA offseason, they’ll be in the mix. Holmgren and Mobley are two of the best up-and-coming big men in the league, and I won’t say I expect at least one of them to make it, but I feel pretty good that Holmgren’s ability to positively impact winning on both ends of the floor would be ultra valuable, as would Mobley’s defensive tenacity. Jackson struggled when he was on the World Cup team, but he’ll have plenty more experience under his belt by the time 2028 rolls around and will presumably still be one of the league’s best mixes of shooting and rim protection.
Wild cards: Donovan Clingan, Walker Kessler, Dereck Lively III
Could Clingan, who the Blazers took seventh overall this year, get a look as a potential Victor Wembanyama stopper? What about Kessler, who went through a major sophomore slump in Utah but is still an imposing presence down low and got a roster spot at the World Cup? Lively is coming off of a terrific rookie year with the Mavericks as a rim running, shot blocking big, perhaps he could be an option. You don’t want to completely build your roster around the fact that one team has Wembanyama, but having a big man in the wings who can battle with him wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world.
This Friday, chameleonic pop star Post Malone is releasing his first-ever country album, F-1 Trillion. While his output from this project has so far — singles such as the Blake Shelton-featuring “Pour Me A Drink,” the Morgan Wallen collab “I Had Some Help,” and “Guy For That” with Luke Combs — been fairly warmly received, there are some listeners who have regarded (rightly, it must be said) the Dallas singer’s swing from hip-hop-courting crooner to burgeoning country star with skepticism. The ease and speed with which he’s made this pivot begs the question: Was Post Malone ever really a rapper to begin with?
After all, in the minds of many music fans, his genre turn only culminates the character arc some of us predicted from the very first moment he stepped into the spotlight, with 2015’s “White Iverson.” Remember Posty’s “White Iverson” era, when he was adorned with all the accoutrements of a rapper, from cornrows and gold grills to lingo that suggested he’d be more likely to be seen at the local lowrider show than a Texas rodeo? Back then, he fielded all sorts of accusations of cultural appropriation, which only strengthened defenses for his right to present himself however he felt most comfortable. And now, he alternates cowboy and trucker hats, sports plaid button-ups and dungarees, and even threw on a bolo tie at the CMAs.
We want to be sensitive and fair here. Post recently admitted that early categorizations as a “culture vulture” had a negative impact on him, and out of respect for that, we can’t cast aspersions on his intentions with “White Iverson” and Stoney-era follow-ups like “Congratulations” (featuring Quavo), “Rockstar” (featuring 21 Savage), or “Psycho” (featuring Ty Dolla Sign). But it’s hard not to look at Post Malone’s early output and image and compare them to his five-year evolution from the sort of artist who’d unironically brag, “I’m with some white girls and they lovin’ the coca,” to the time-honored tradition of comparing the repair of a broken heart to fixin’ up a pick-up truck.
It’s especially difficult in light of those comments he once made about hip-hop. “If you’re looking for lyrics, if you’re looking to cry, if you’re looking to think about life, don’t listen to hip-hop,” he told a Polish outlet during a 2017 interview. “There are great hip-hop songs where they talk about life and they spit that real sh*t, but right now, there’s not a lot of people talking about real sh*t. Whenever I want to cry, whenever I want to sit down and have a nice cry, I’ll listen to some Bob Dylan.” While he later posited the soundbite was taken out of context, the damage had been done; he was considered a hip-hop outsider who only used the culture to gain a foothold on the spotlight and discarded it as readily as he was accepted into the culture by collaborators like Young Thug, Travis Scott, Roddy Ricch, and those mentioned above.
It has been seven years since those comments, and it’d be fair to allow for growth of both his worldview and his taste in music. But maybe he never should have been considered a rapper in the first place, just because he had braids and a song comparing himself to a hip-hop icon. When you look at songs like “White Iverson,” it’s not like he was out here quoting Rakim or giving J. Cole a run for his money. Hell, there are so-called “mumble rappers” with more cohesive verses than the clump of strung-together clichés that comprise “White Iverson”‘s most rapperly bars, which are mostly delivered in a singsong hum — he’s always been more of a “singer whose lyrics are informed by rap” than a stand-up rapper.
Complicating matters is Post’s acceptance into the country world, with so many co-signs from country stars up to and including the queen herself, Dolly Parton, where artists like Beyoncé and Lil Nas X were held at arm’s length. Even Beyoncé’s supposed overture to the country establishment, Cowboy Carter, was met with pushback that we never really saw for Post Malone; “Texas Hold ‘Em” was initially rejected from country radio playlists, while “I Had Some Help” was readily accepted (whether this was due to the inclusion of Morgan Wallen is impossible to determine, but sonically, there was just no argument for the reluctance to include “Texas Hold ‘Em”). For what it’s worth, Dolly popped up on Beyoncé’s album too, even granting her permission to remake her signature song, “Jolene,” so that’s not to say that Bey was entirely rejected by country’s gatekeepers.
But Beyoncé undoubtedly had a harder time being accepted into country music’s hallowed halls than Posty had in either hip-hop or country — and this despite not really being much of a rapper in the first place. We shouldn’t begrudge any artist expressing themselves how they see fit, whether that’s leaving the box we’ve designed for them or jumping into a new one. But maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to classify them in the first place. Beyoncé could just be a singer, not a pop one, not an R&B one, but a singer capable of creating in any genre. And maybe, if we’re going to let some rappers cross over more easily than others, we need more stringent standards on just what constitutes a rapper in the first place.
Frozen first taught us all how to let things go all the way back in 2013, but apparently Disney can’t take their own advice. Not only will they never let go of the Frozen universe, but they are going to keep expanding until Olaf succumbs to climate change.
Frozen follows two royal sisters, Ana and Elsa, who look after the kingdom of Arendelle. Elsa has her signature icy powers, and the two have a cute snowman sidekick, Olaf. Frozen 2 explored the extensive mythology, and fans are hoping for even more world-building in Frozen 3 like the possible introduction of Anna’s powers.
There will be not only one but two more Frozen installments on the docket, with Frozen 3 set to debut in 2027, a year that seems too far away to really exist. Writer and filmmaker Jennifer Lee said, “There were a lot of questions coming out of Frozen 2… it will take two films to answer them.”
While Lee won’t be directing the next two sequels, she did share some insight on the upcoming installment at this year’s D23. Here is what to know so far:
Plot
Much like other Disney movies, the details are under lock and key. At D23, Lee introduced some new concept art featuring the two magical sisters riding horseback. “It captures the scene of Anna and Else,” Lee explained. “Everyone at Disney animation is excited to be back at in this world.”
In Frozen 2, the two sisters learn more about their magical destiny. By the end of the film, Anna becomes Queen of Arendelle, while Elsa becomes the protector of the Enchanted Forest. In Frozen 3, we can expect some more world-building and might even get some more creatures inspired by Germanic mythology. Other than that, we don’t really know what the film has in store for us.
We do know that there will be a fourth movie afterward, so there might be a cliffhanger. Prepare yourself accordingly.
Cast
The cast has not yet been confirmed, but it’s likely that the main players will all return, including Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Josh Gad and Jonathan Groff.
Release Date
As per tradition, Frozen flicks tend to hit theaters around the holidays. Disney has announced that the threequel will hit theaters on November 24, 2027, which is Thanksgiving week, three years from now. Put it on the calendar.
Trailer
No trailer just yet, but there are plenty of fake AI-generated ones, so stay alert and don’t be fooled! Here is a sing along version of “Let It Go” so you can practice:
Kings Of Leon are fresh off of the release of their latest album, Can We Please Have Fun, and earlier this year, they announced a tour in support of the project. Well, the Can We Please Have Fun World Tour kicked off in Austin, Texas last night (August 14), and the setlist (via setlist.fm) is worth checking out if you’re thinking about hitting up a show later in the tour.
The setlist has a focus on Can We Please Have Fun, but favorite from throughout the band’s career are sprinkled throughout the show, including “On Call,” “Sex On Fire,” “Molly’s Chambers,” and more. Overall, all nine of the band’s albums were represented in the setlist, from the 2003 debut Youth & Young Manhood to their just-released project.
Check out the full setlist from last night’s Austin performance below.
Kings Of Leon’s Can We Please Have Fun World Tour Setlist
On Wednesday, August 14, Usher postponed his opening night. The tour was scheduled to open with three consecutive shows at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia on August 14, 16, and 17.
How Long Is Usher’s Past Present Future Tour Delayed?
“For my 30-plus year career, 100% of my blood, sweat and tears has gone into putting on the best performance and creating a memorable experience for my fans,” Usher posted across his social media accounts. “I have every intention of doing that for this tour as well, which is why I have to postpone tonight’s show and reschedule it for a later date to give my body a second to rest and heal.”
He continued, “You’re still going to get a bit of the past, some of the present, and a unique look into the future on the rescheduled date, but you’ll also be getting 100% of me. The last thing I want to ever do is disappoint you, the fans who have been eagerly waiting for this tour to start. However, I wouldn’t be the entertainer that I am if I can’t physically give you my best. My team will be sharing news of the rescheduled date soon. I can’t wait to celebrate this legacy with you. Usher.”
As of this writing, it’s unclear whether Usher will go on as scheduled on Friday, August 16. Usher has not said otherwise, so it would seem like opening night will happen on Friday. The rescheduled August 14 date has not yet been announced.
An unnamed representative for Usher confirmed to Variety that Usher “needs time to heal from an unspecified injury.”
See all of Usher’s Past Present Future dates here.
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