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Ever since Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced what has become known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, those who live and work in the state have not sat quietly. Employees of Disney, one of the state’s largest corporations, have pushed back, not only against DeSantis but against Bob Chapek, the company’s CEO. Chapek has attempted to mollify the situation, but it clearly hasn’t worked.

As per Variety, a group of employees called “Disney Walkout” posted a message announcing a week of in-person and virtual walkouts. “The LGBTQIA+ workers and allies at The Walt Disney Company are standing in solidarity together over the coming weeks,” the statement read. It went on:

“The recent statements by The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) leadership regarding the Florida legislature’s recent ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill have utterly failed to match the magnitude of the threat to LGBTQIA+ safety represented by this legislation … Primarily, those statements have indicated that leadership still does not truly understand the impact this legislation is having not only on cast members in the state of Florida, but on all members of the LGBTQIA+ community in the company and beyond. While we certainly appreciate Bob Chapek’s apology note, there is still more work to be done.”

The group hopes that Chapek will take steps “to regain the trust of the LGBTQIA+ community and employees.” They added, “As a community, we have been forced into an impossible and unsustainable position. We must now take action to convince TWDC to protect employees and their families in the face of such open and unapologetic bigotry.”

The walkouts are scheduled to begin on Tuesday, March 15. They’ll start as 15-minute walkouts during a break period, from 3 to 3:15pm, every day up to and including Monday, March 21. On Tuesday, March 22, organizers have planned a “full-scale walkout.” Organziers warned those who participate that, while the break-time walk-outs are “protected,” the full-scale one “is not a legally protected action,” and that people should take their “own situation into account before choosing to participate.”

The controversial bill, vaguely called the “Parental Rights in Education” bill, seeks to prohibit the teaching of “sexual orientation or gender identity” in kindergarten through the third grade. Critics charge that it will allow parents to prosecute anyone who mentions LGBTQIA+ issues, even teachers who are queer or students who have queer parents or relatives. DeSantis, who was recently caught on video bullying students, has refused to cow to pressure, even going so far as mocking the company — which has long peddled “traditional” and often problematic values — as “Woke Disney.”

(Via Variety)

Elden Ring is the game that everyone is talking about right now. Plenty of folks have remarked on the game’s extreme difficulty, but generally, fans of the game cannot get over how much fun it is to explore the world. What makes that exploration so fun is how many interesting sites and creatures there are to discover.

Around any corner in Elden Ring could be a new enemy to face, a gigantic dungeon, or maybe one of the many creatures who inhabit the different lands. Some of these creatures are docile, such as these goats that, when you approach them, will curl into a ball and roll away. Some of the others aren’t quite as nice, though. Bears, wolves, and dogs will attack you on sight and the player can usually choose to run away or fight back.

Unsurprisingly, since animals were involved, PETA had thoughts on how players can choose to interact with the animals in Elden Ring. It does not quite fit the spirit of the game, though.

While the tweet was sent out earlier in March, it has recently been getting a lot of attention across Twitter. Most of the tweets are choosing to dunk on PETA, but there was also begrudging respect for the original post, because it managed to teach many players a game mechanic they didn’t know about. Apparently, parrying enemies on horseback leads to an automatic dismount. The more ya know!

A handful of people were also surprised upon seeing the tweet and discovering that it was from PETA and not from a satire account, especially the section about walking the dogs as they chase the player down.

The general consensus though? The tweet is actually kinda funny, and if you didn’t know about the game mechanic, very helpful.

Scream queen Maika Monroe is returning to the screen in IFC Midnight’s thriller Watcher. Monroe stars as Julia, a young American woman who moves abroad with her boyfriend Francis, played by Karl Glusman.

Julia stays inside and isolates herself at Francis goes to work, and she learns of a serial killer that has been plotting in the area. While she is inside, she discovers a man has been watching her through her abnormally large windows and begins to feel that she is being stalked. The trailer begs the question: Is she really being watched? Or is it another Woman In The Window situation? Or is she actually witnessing something, but is being told to calm down, a la Gaslight? Who is to say. It does, however, sound a bit like The Watcher, starring Keanu Reeves, though from a different perspective. The movies seem unrelated, though one can hope Reeves will show up for a cameo.

Watcher will be the first feature film directed by Chloe Okuno, who directed a part of Shudder’s anthology film V/H/S /94 (hail Raatma!). Monroe was the breakout star of 2015’s hit horror movie It Follows. She has starred in several thrillers since then, including The Guest, Greta, and Tau.

The film will hit theaters on June 3rd. Check out the trailer above.

ASAP Rocky’s AWGE creative agency/label is shrouded in mystique by design. The “About” page of its website only has two “rules” listed: “#1 Never reveal what AWGE Means” and “#2 When in doubt always refer to rule #1.” Most of their rare product drops in the past have included trucker hats collaborations with brands like Rolling Loud and Mercedes-Benz (the latter, is currently going on eBay for $500.) Now, as ASAP Rocky prepares to welcome his baby with Rihanna into the world, he has also announced a new collaboration series with Mercedes-Benz and this one features much more than just a trucker hat.

Just before noon today, ASAP Rocky posted a short video teaser to his Instagram page along with photos of the drop. The photos were quickly purged, but the internet has done its thing and image captures are everywhere. There’s an orange hoodie with a Mercedes-Benz logo on the back and an AWGE logo across the black hood, a muted salmon bomber jacket, sleek pants, and what looks like a belt buckle shaped like the Mercedes-Benz logo.

ASAP Rocky has been building with Mercedes-Benz for quite some time. In 2017, he was featured in the German car company’s “Grow up. Get a job” commercial campaign:

Meanwhile, he’s was just announced as a headliner for Canada’s Osheaga Festival and will appear at the UK’s Wireless Festival. He’ll also be in LA at the end of April to headline the Smoker’s Club Festival.

As Ukraine continues to fight off Russia’s military invasion, we see more and more heartbreaking images of suffering and destruction from the war. Apartment buildings where people went about their lives less than three weeks ago devastated by bombs, rubble and missiles in streets and playgrounds where families walked and children played, hoards of people fleeing with what they could carry, leaving everything they’ve known behind.

The loss and waste and inhumanity of it all are unfathomable, as is the case in every war.

And yet, just like in every war, we see glimpses of beauty and connection, of the very things that make us human and provide hope that we as a species are not doomed by the worst of us. We see love, we see laughter, we see compassion—and we see music.

One of the most remarkable things about humans is how we make art, no matter what. You’d think when our basic survival is immediately threatened, we wouldn’t bother with creating beauty or expressing ourselves artistically, but we do. Every time. Art is not an add-on to life; it’s inextricably wrapped up in life itself.

Art is also a way for us to express solidarity, especially when we feel helpless to stop inhumanity from happening. It’s a way for us to say, “I see you. I am with you. I acknowledge your suffering even if I can’t make it stop. Let’s let this beauty remind us of what humans are capable of on the other side of violence and conquest.”

That’s what makes this viral video of violinists around the world playing with a Ukrainian violinist so beautiful.

In the video, Ukrainian violinist Illia Bondarenko plays a gorgeous and haunting Ukrainian folk song on his violin from a bomb shelter in Kyiv. At first, it’s just him playing solo, but soon he is joined by nine other young Ukrainian violinists who are also sheltering. Then more violinists join from different countries, then more and more, all playing along in harmony.

In all, 94 violinists from 29 countries—whose flags are depicted in the corners of their screens—contribute to what British violinist and organizer Kerenza Peacock called “an international violin choir of support.” They include world-class violinists from the London Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, the Hollywood studios and renowned violinists who play various styles of violin from Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Belgium, Georgia, Poland, South Korea, South Africa, Moldova, Denmark, India, Germany, the U.S. and more.

Watch and listen:

According to Classic FM, Bondarenko had to record his part between bombings so he could hear himself play. That detail alone is just heartwrenching. But musicians play wherever they are, whatever is happening.

Bondarenko had shared a video on Instagram on February 25, the day after Russia invaded, explaining what was happening and how the international music world had already been lending its support. He wrote:

“Today, when my whole country is fighting for its freedom, for its territory, for the right to BE…, I cannot keep silent, but I cannot make a video and record for you right now on the Internet because I spent almost all night with my grandmother in the basement of the house, helping the elderly neighbors, helping in any way I could. My parents are in another city now. But we musicians are always there for our people in sorrow and joy! That’s how my soul, my country, my Kyiv sounds today. Thank you to everyone who writes to me and supports me! From Germany, America, France, Italy, Argentina, Switzerland, Poland, Japan, Turkey, Austria and other countries. I am convinced once again that music is the most understandable language in the world for all people! Glory to Ukraine!”

Violinist Kerenza Peacock, who organized the collaboration—and pulled it together in 48 hours—shared what made this collaboration so moving: “Never before have violinists gathered together from so many countries. Or collaborated across so many different styles of violin playing. Violinists are a fellowship who all have rosin and broken E strings in common, but sadly some are currently having to think about how to arm themselves, and hiding in bomb shelters instead of playing Beethoven or bluegrass. Some more Ukrainians wanted to take part, but now have guns in their hands instead of violins.”

Here’s to those who insist on the beauty and humanity of creative expression even in the face of inhumane atrocities, reminding us of who we are and what we are capable of when we focus our energies on creation instead of destruction.

Time can sometimes feel like a flat circle. It may not seem that long ago that there was a splashy, big screen version of The Time Traveler’s Wife, based on Audrey Niffenegger’s best seller. It starred Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana. It grossed just over a $100 million worldwide, a large chunk of that from the U.S. It may seem too soon for a splashy HBO version… except that the film came out in well over a decade ago. Talk about feeling unstuck in time!

This version, which hits HBO this May, stars Game of Thrones alum Rose Leslie as a Claire, whose husband (Theo James, of Divergent and the forthcoming Sundance hit Dual) just happens to be a time traveler. (In real life, Leslie seems very happily married to her old coworker, Kit Harington.) No, he doesn’t have a time machine. For complicated reasons, he can’t control when he suddenly jumps forward or backwards in time. And yet he’s in love, with a very patient — but very anguished — woman who struggles with the fact that sometimes her spouse abruptly disappears, sometimes without turning off a running sink.

The movie version, released in 2009, banged this out in 107 minutes. This is a six-part miniseries, complete with video diaries Leslie’s character records in which she vents about her inadvertently errant husband. There’s a number of arresting ideas in the new teaser trailer, among them a bit where James’ time-hopper winds up meeting his wife when she’s a young child. It looks less soapy than the movie and more about living with a less-than-preferable situation, which surely we can all relate to nowadays.

The new The Time Traveler’s Wife debuts on HBO at an as-yet-unspecified time in May. You can watch the teaser above.

(Via Gizmodo)

There’s plenty to worry about in today’s world. You know this already, so surely, we don’t need to discuss all of the things to fear these days. However, there is a bright spot of hope out there, which is that the Senate unanimously came together to do something. No one disagreed, not a one, as every lawmaker in the room voted to end biannual time changes associated with switching back and forth from Daylight Savings Time.

Here’s the video evidence that proves as much. Marco Rubio (who co-introduced the bill, the Sunshine Protection Act) can be seen speaking, and Kyrsten Sinema can be witnessed appearing more excited than she’s ever been (in public, at least).

Of course, Sinema’s state (Arizona) doesn’t change time at all, and she’s probably weirded out by the whole concept anyway. Yet not a villain appeared to destroy this dream, not even Cancun Dreamer Ted Cruz, but hey, this is a pretty big deal for all of us who are somehow still exhausted by losing an hour of sleep over the weekend. It matters! Daylight Savings Time could somehow become a permanent thing.

Now, though, the bill goes to the House before reaching Biden’s desk. Will there be opposition from Lauren Boebert (who maybe wants an extra hour of nightfall to clean her guns) or even Madison Cawthorn (who likes to be contrary all the time, and maybe thinks Daylight Savings Time is too “woke”)? Please no. We could always use a little more sunshine in our lives.

After vanishing from Fox News for comparing Dr. Anthony Fauci to Nazi doctor Josef Melenge, “award-winning journalist” Lara Logan resurfaced on the Real America’s Voice network on Tuesday and trotted out a brand new conspiracy theory accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of having ties to the occult. In yet another unhinged rant, Logan accused Zelensky of being a “puppet” as well as pushing pro-Putin talking points that Ukraine has a Nazi problem.

At the heart of Logan’s argument is that Zelensky made a parody video mocking a Satanic group, and therefore he was somehow “selected” to take over the country. It was all very Q-Anon-ish. Via Media Matters:

I don’t like being lied to. And we’re being lied to on an epic scale. When we’re told your only choices, you have to be a hundred percent with Zelensky, who’s a puppet who you can find on the internet in black stilletos and leather pants, you know, shirtless, doing a spoof Dancing With The Stars kind of entertainment video that’s a mock of a Ukrainian group that does this kind of satanic, occult type of music video.

And I mean, Zelensky was selected, like so many of our leaders. And honestly, with big tech and with election fraud these days, we don’t know how many leaders all around the world have been selected for us and weren’t actually voted in.

Keep in mind, Logan has not been invited back onto Fox News after pushing her Fauci conspiracy theories, and she was also dropped by her agent. Her latest Zelensky rant probably isn’t going to improve things.

(Via Media Matters)

As the rap world continues to reel after the tragic shooting of Memphis rapper Young Dolph this past November, an autopsy report was just released and indicated that Dolph was shot 22 times.

According to the autopsy report obtained by Fox 13 Memphis report, Young Dolph was shot in the “forehead, temple, face, right back, center back, left-back, right arm, left arm, left chest, left abdomen, right chin, right neck, right wrist, and right shoulder.” The report from the West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center indicated that the deadly wounds were, “to the head, neck, and torso.”

These details just add to the grim and senseless incident that took Young Dolph’s life in his hometown. On November 17, the rapper walked into a favorite local haunt, Makeda’s Cookies. Shortly after making his purchase, a Mercedes with alleged shooters Justin Johnson and Cornelius “Straight Dropp” Smith pulled up and unloaded on the rapper using a Draco AK-47 assault-style machine pistol.

Both Smith and Johnson are in custody, while a warrant for Shundale Barnett is out for his involvement in the murder. Two other men, Devin Burns and Joshua Taylor are considered persons of interest in the case.

Meanwhile, Young Dolph’s label, Paper Route Empire, release the Long Live Dolph tribute album in January, featuring appearances from Key Glock, Big Moochie Grape, Kenny Muney, Snupe Bandz, and others. A memorial in front of the Makeda’s was taken down last week when the business shuttered and the building went back up for lease.

A fire has broken out in the enchanted Snow White forest, though luckily no humans or enchanted animals were harmed. The fire happened at Pinewood Studios in the U.K., where the set was being constructed. Variety reports that a prop tree caught fire, which led to the blaze on set, though filming had not yet begun on the film.

Sources told The Sun that the studio was in the midst of creating a forest when the blaze started. “A set made up of a lot of wood, and trees etc was currently being built in the Richard Attenborough stage,” the unnamed source confirmed. “Rumor is a piece of set has caught alight and spread across the rest of the set. Some crew in the studio were shaken but evacuated without injury.”

Surprisingly, this isn’t the first time a set at Pinewood studios caught fire, with the most recent being during the filming of Casino Royale in 2006. Disney inked a deal with the studio back in 2020 to film more of their movies at the studios.

Snow White will star West Side Story’s Rachel Zegler as the titular Disney princess, alongside Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot as the evil queen who is looking to relive her youth. While Zegler wasn’t reportedly on set, she was in London over the weekend at the BAFTAs, where she met her idol, Lady Gaga.