GoneTrending

It happens every Friday around 5 pm: Someone posts a gif of Daniel Craig introducing The Weeknd on the March 7, 2020 episode of SNL. It might even be the most-watched thing the actor has ever done, outperforming even TNT reruns of Casino Royale. Not even Craig himself knew it would be a popular meme; in fact, he only recently found about its online ubiquity. But there was one person who foresaw it becoming a social media staple: His No Time to Die adversary Rami Malek.

Entertainment Weekly recently did a group interview with stars Craig, Malek, Léa Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, and director Cary Fukunaga. In it, Malek informed his colleagues that Craig’s introduction — in which he simply says, “Ladies and gentlemen: The Weeknd” — is internet famous.

“You don’t know about this,” Malek told them. “It’s gone viral, his announcement of the Weeknd on that show, and it’s done so flawlessly that people pick it up because it’s unusual in the best way. It’s so unique. I was there that night in the audience watching it. I thought to myself at that moment, I looked over to my partner, and I said, ‘I think that’s the best introduction of a band I’ve ever heard on SNL and apparently…’”

“You were right,” Craig interrupted.

They also discussed one of Craig’s already well-known habits, in which he kisses his male costars after scenes. “I kiss lots of people,” Craig told them. “It’s like, I’m a very friendly guy, and I wouldn’t rank anybody. That would be a terrible, terrible thing to do, to rank the best kissers. I would just… how many people could I offend? Terrible. Thousands, thousands of people.”

Craig also said he used to kiss Malek at the end of every scene. But Malek says he did more than not mind: “I would just rush through scenes just to get to that moment that you would get kissed. ‘Cary, Cary, two takes, we’re good?’

(Via EW)

Bad Sport: Season 1 (Netflix series) — Sports and crime intersect in this show, which dives into personal accounts from athletes, coaches, and law enforcement. Expect to see the 2002 figure skating scandal (out of Salt Lake City), a weed-smuggling scandal surrounding an Indycar driver, a horse hitman committing insurance fraud, a basketball point-shaving scheme, and more bad boys who fell from grace.

Among The Stars: Season 1 (Disney+ series) — This show takes space fans behind the a vital NASA mission of fixing the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), a tool that hopes to reveal the universe’s origins, although the job comes with a $2 billion price tag.

Baking Impossible: Season 1 (Netflix series) — Here’s the latest food competition series, and this one arrives with creative and innovative bakers who team up with engineers to build truly wild culinary creations. The judging criteria is tough, too, and it includes not only taste tests but also engineering stress tests. Yes, there’s an edible skyscraper involved.

The Wonder Years (ABC, 8:30pm) — This reimagining adopts a different perspective (from the Fred Savage-starring original show) with the focus on an African-American family and their home base in 1960s Montgomery, Alabama. Don Cheadle narrates the usual tween ordeals and also the experience of being part of a Southern Black family. This week, Dean finds some, uh, adult literature and takes it to school. Not good!

Riverdale (CW, 8:00pm) — A rough Riverdale year has led to a whole lot of pieces to pick up, and they’re looking toward even more local chaos after an incident at Pop’s.

Archer (FXX, 10:00pm) — Barry finds himself trapped (where else?) within Other Barry, all while Archer’s trapped elsewhere.

American Horror Story: Double Feature (FXX, 10:00pm) — A morally dubious deal troubles the president, and decisions must be made.

Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens (Comedy Central, 10:00pm) — Awkwafina’s semi-autobiographical series is deep into its second season, in which she gazes into the future with starry eyes. This week, life is anything but simple.

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Anthony Anderson, Charli XCX

Late Night With Seth Meyers — Blake Shelton, Brett Goldstein, Cuco, Barrett Martin

In case you missed these streaming picks from last Wednesday:

The Chestnut Man (Netflix series) — This Danish psychological-thriller series (from The Killing‘s creator) finds its roots in Nordic noir. The story follows police (within a Copenhagen suburb) who discover a brutal murder, which is accompanies by (bizarrely enough) a small figure rendered with chestnuts. That accessory leads to the possibility of a serial killer at hand, which all might be tied to a politician’s daughter’s fate.

No One Gets Out Alive (Netflix film) — A young immigrant woman takes up residence in an American boarding house, which turns out to be a much more terrible deal than it seems. The low price arrives with disturbed tenants and nightmares for all and echoes from the basement, and soon enough, she realizes that the house is evil and a living nightmare, all where screams go unnoticed, including her own.

In a new interview with Complex, Tinashe addresses her new 333 Tour and fighting an ‘uphill battle’ for recognition for the past decade. One part of that battle was being put into a box by music journalists, labels, and fans. When asked about the labels that have been applied to her over her career, Tinashe explained why she “hated” being known as an R&B artist.

“I hated being called an R&B star,” she said. “I really, really had a strong aversion to that. I felt that created a ceiling to my art and my artistry that really turned me off in the early days. I didn’t want to be in that box that I felt had some type of inevitable lid on it. I’ve always honestly classified myself as a pop star. That’s always been what I see for myself, and then I think people’s interpretation of what that means is maybe where it gets convoluted because some people think pop means mainstream. Like, I don’t know, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, or something. But I think that’s not what that really means. To me, it’s more like what you embody more so than, I think, what it sonically sounds like.”

While she doesn’t explain whether her outlook has changed, she has continued to dabble in multiple sounds on her new album, 333. You can read Uproxx’s review here.

While promoting his new film, Cmon Cmon, Joaquin Phoenix responded to rumors about a possible Joker sequel now that the film is both a box office and award-winning success. Among those rumors has been speculation that Phoenix is not interested in a sequel, but that didn’t seem to be the case when he sat down with The Playlist. Granted, Phoenix didn’t have much in the way of information, he did seem game for another turn as Arthur Fleck:

Asked if there was any movement on the film to his knowledge or whether they’d ever make a sequel, Phoenix seemed to be very open to a sequel still — as he was at the time of the film’s original release—but appeared to be in the dark on any updates or whether the sequel will actually come to pass. “I mean, I dunno. From when we were shooting, we started to —you know, uhh, this is an interesting guy. There are some things we could do with this guy and could [explore] further. But as to whether we actually will? I don’t know.”

So, that settles that.

As director Todd Phillips revealed shortly after the film brought in a boatload of cash for Warner Bros., obviously, the studio is very interested in getting a second movie off the ground. So the question isn’t whether the studio is ready, but whether Phillips and Phoenix can arrive at a story that won’t make a return to the Joker well seem like your run-of-the-mill comic book movie sequel.

After all, Joaquin is correct. If nothing else, the Joker is certainly “an interesting guy.”

(Via The Playlist)

In Dave Chappelle’s new Netflix special The Closer, the veteran standup comic gives his perspective on the backlash against Charlotte rapper DaBaby in the wake of his homophobic comments at Rolling Loud. In one bit, Chappelle compares the reaction to DaBaby’s comments to a relatively muted after DaBaby allegedly shot and killed another man in a Walmart in self-defense: “In our country, you can shoot and kill a n***a but you better not hurt a gay person’s feelings,” he summarizes.

While Chappelle’s bit elicited varied reactions from fans on social media, one notable person who approved of the bit is 50 Cent, who shared a clip on Instagram and offered some context from his unique perspective. “Dave Chappelle is a funny mother f*cker,” he wrote in the caption. “That was flawless. Hip hop loves things that are damaged, that’s the beauty of the culture. @dababy is on a new path. Music has changed everything. LOL” It seems in 50’s eyes rap provided a net positive for someone like DaBaby because although DaBaby has come under scrutiny, at least he’s not being assaulted in public (usually, he’s doing the assaulting, but that’s a different post).

Of course, 50 has been one of DaBaby’s staunchest supporters, even after the backlash. In an August interview, 50 compared DaBaby’s situation to that of Chris Brown, inadvertently highlighting the position that cancel culture doesn’t exist. Naturally, he says, as long as DaBaby keeps making hits, he should be able to bounce back from the awkwardly-worded call-to-action. History shows he might be right.

If you’ve been on TikTok at all in the past year, chances are you’ve heard one of PinkPantheress’ songs, even if you don’t know her name. PinkPantheress started making music in her college dorm at 3 a.m., in between work and classes as a creative outlet. After uploading some clips of her songs on TikTok, PinkPantheress absolutely blew up: Her song “Just For Me” has been used in over 2 million TikTok videos. After signing a record label deal, the 20-year-old UK musician is gearing up for her debut mixtape, To Hell With It.

After sharing a full-length version of her viral “Just For Me” track, PinkPantheress now delivers the sparkling new track “I Must Apologise.” Much like her other tracks, the instrumentals are built around a sample of a classic house track, Crystal Waters’ 1991 track “Gypsy Woman.” With her honeyed vocals, PinkPantheress urgently delivers lyrics about her relationship woes over cascading synths.

In a statement about the inspiration behind her new track, PinkPantheress said, “‘I Must Apologise’ is a fast-paced, upbeat track about someone telling lies all the time. It is a song that tells a niche tale underneath the synths of Crystal Waters’ track ‘Gypsy Woman.’”

Listen to “I Must Apologise” above.

To Hell With It is out 10/15 via Elektra Records/Parlophone Records. Pre-order it here.

PinkPantheress is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Xbox likes to partner up with other major brands to create special items, like that time they made a fridge for the Xbox Series X. This leads us perfectly into Xbox’s latest themed piece of apparel.

Adidas and Xbox teamed up together to create some awesome Xbox-themed shoes. They’re celebrating 20 years of the Xbox, and according to a recent blog post, this won’t be the only shoe that comes out of this partnership.

This is just the beginning of our partnership with adidas, and over the next few months we’ll continue to mark our 20th anniversary by launching additional sneakers inspired by past and present Xbox console generations, including the first-ever sneaker available for purchase by our fans later this year.

This collaboration kicks off the global launch of the “Always Played In. Never Played Out” program, which celebrates popular eras of play over the last two decades, across sport, gaming, and lifestyle and the magic that happens when we all take time to play. As games are meant to be played, shoes are meant to be played in — from the concrete to the couch and beyond.

As for the shoes themselves, called the Xbox 20th Forum Tech, the iconic green that is associated with the brand is highlighted. The release says that the “translucent green details” are “inspired by the special edition release of the original Xbox console for the launch of Halo: Combat Evolved in 2001.” Hopefully this partnership leads to Xbox 360 and Xbox One sneakers, too. If this first set is anything to go by, then we’d expect Adidas to knock them out of the park.

Cyrano, which boldly calls itself “the greatest love story ever told,” is coming to the big screen on December 31st. Bryce and Aaron Dessner of The National wrote the music for the Erica Schmidt’s 2018 stage musical on which the film is based, and now they’re doing the same for the film adaptation. The movie stars Game Of Thrones favorite Peter Dinklage in the title role and also features Hillbilly Elegy’s Haley Bennett, as well as Kelvin Harrison Jr., who starred in recent flicks Luce and Waves.

The National lead singer Matt Berninger and songwriter Carin Besser wrote the lyrics for the music. The full soundtrack — which includes a new song from The National called “Somebody Desperate” — arrives on December 10th. The soundtrack’s first single, “Someone To Say,” drops this Friday, October 8th.

The film is directed by Joe Wright, who is no stranger to working with stars. He directed the 2005 Keira Knightley-starring Pride & Prejudice, as well as 2015’s Peter Pan origin film Pan with Hugh Jackman and Amanda Seyfried.

Coming off of a 2021 Album Of The Year Grammy Award for their work on Taylor Swift’s Folklore, this isn’t the first time that Aaron and Bryce Dessner have scored a film. They composed the music for the 2016 thriller Transpecos (which won the 2016 South By Southwest Audience Prize) and for the 2013 Jack Kerouac adaptation Big Sur.

Watch the Cyrano trailer above.

Cyrano (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is out 12/10 via Decca Records. Pre-order it here.

Turns out that just as seamlessly as legendary Andrew Lloyd Webber can create a hit musical, he can dole out some harsh (but incredibly valid) criticism. In a recent interview with Variety, the mastermind composer behind Broadway musicals such as Evita, The Phantom of the Opera, and Jesus Christ Superstar came down hard on the 2019 film adaptation of his musical Cats, ultimately calling the production “off-the-scale-wrong” and director Tom Hooper’s approach to the material “ridiculous” — an opinion many shared. In fact, Webber claims the film was so bad, it ultimately caused him to adopt a dog, a first for the 73-year-old.

“Cats was off-the-scale all wrong. There wasn’t really any understanding of why the music ticked at all. I saw it and I just thought, ‘Oh, God, no.’ It was the first time in my 70-odd years on this planet that I went out and bought a dog. So the one good thing to come out of it is my little Havanese puppy.”

According to Webber, the Cats disaster began when the source material — which was sold to Amblin with the intent of the studio turning it into a Steven Spielberg-directed animated feature — was eventually given to Hooper, the director behind critically-acclaimed films such as Les Misérables and The Kings Speech. While the choice seemed a safe one at the time, Webber says the decision was ultimately “disastrous.”

However, Webber’s new furry companion has proven to be quite the silver lining throughout the whole ordeal. The composer says the puppy has been a “constant companion” to him throughout the pandemic, ultimately going so far as to register the pup as an emotional support animal to ensure he would be able to bring the dog with him on trips to New York. Webber then offered a short and mercilessly hilarious anecdote on that process, joking that Cats was so terrible it left him “emotionally damaged” enough to need a support animal.

“I wrote off and said I needed him with me at all times because I’m emotionally damaged and I must have this therapy dog,” says Lloyd Webber. “The airline wrote back and said, ‘Can you prove that you really need him?’ And I said ‘Yes, just see what Hollywood did to my musical “Cats.”’ Then the approval came back with a note saying, ‘No doctor’s report required.’”

As one of the most-followed K-pop groups on social media, BTS have an incredibly wide reach. They recently teamed up with the United Nations to put their massive following to good use: combating bullying.

BTS and the UN children’s agency UNICEF recently teamed up for the “Love Myself” campaign, a nod to their 2019 hit track “Love Yourself.” The campaign aimed to fight violence, abuse, and bullying, as well as promote self-esteem in young people. It consisted of promotional videos, hashtags, and exclusive merch. UNICEF also set up booths at BTS concerts across the globe and members of the K-pop group repeatedly spoke at the UN and even filmed a video there. According to a report from Billboard, the campaign kicked off in 2017 and was able to generate millions of tweets and raised a hefty $3.6 million to date.

“We as a team and as individuals grew, as well,” the K-pop group said about their experience with the “Love Yourself” campaign. “We hope that many people felt how the love received from others can become the power that allows them to love themselves.” The group continued that they hope to keep the campaign going “so we can help people find happiness and love.”

UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore echoed the band’s statement about the success of the campaign. “The groundbreaking way in which BTS has helped spark a positive message with its ARMY is simply unmatched and incredibly invaluable,” Fore said in a statement.