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As a Jew from New York, I have attended my fair share of bar mitzvahs, but I never had one myself. It wasn’t out of religious defiance, or whatever. It’s because I was lazy. Still am! I didn’t feel like studying the Torah, and to this day, the only Hebrew I know is the basic prayer for Hanukkah. But the nice thing about bar/bat mitzvahs is you can have them at any age, not only the traditional 13 years old. I could get mitzvah’d later this year if I felt like it, but instead, I’ll watch Eric Andre turn the Bodega Boys into Bodega Men.

On Thursday’s episode of Desus and Mero, the Bad Trip star took comedians Desus Nice and The Kid Mero to a synagogue to meet his rabbi, Rabbi Diana Fersko. They learned the basics of the coming-of-age ritual and that there’s “nothing against cocaine in the Torah,” according to Andre. He quickly course corrected, saying that he has no idea whether that’s true, but “there is nothing against weed. Genesis is pro-weed.”

The rabbi looked very uncomfortable:

Later, following the religious ceremony, Desus, Mero, and Andre celebrated with Manischewitz and Hennessy, which sounds like a Talking Dead-style aftershow to Desus and Mero. You can watch the clip above.

WARNING: Spoilers for The Suicide Squad below.
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With The Suicide Squad now in theaters and streaming on HBO Max, writer/director James Gunn has opened up his upcoming HBO Max spinoff series starring John Cena’s Peacemaker. Admittedly created out of sheer boredom during last year’s quarantine, Gunn has been vague about the timeline for Peacemaker, which makes sense given that part of The Suicide Squad‘s thrill is that literally any character could be killed at any time — including Harley Quinn. In fact, Cena’s character seemingly bites it in the film’s final battle until the end credits reveal that he’s a tough “douchebag” to kill.

In a wide-ranging interview, Gunn confirms that the Peacemaker series will continue the events of the end credits scene, which sees Steve Agee and Jennifer Holland’s characters saddled with the task of handling Cena’s liberty-obsessed anti-hero. Gunn also confirmed that the series will have a similar tone to The Suicide Squad, but also deviate as needed for the story. Via The Hollywood Reporter:

It’s very specifically about a different group of people, so it’s a little bit more about society. One of the leads is Peacemaker and one of the leads is Danielle Brooks, who plays Leota Adebayo. And she has a very different political view of the world than Peacemaker does. So it’s just a little bit about what’s going on in the world, but also being a TV show, you really do have more time to delve much deeper into these characters and much more deeply into the drama and comedy of them. So it has a lot of similarities, but it’s even more grounded, more natural and more real. But it’s still within a big science-fiction storyline that lasts for one season.

While Peacemaker will wrap up its “main storyline” in the first season, Gunn teases that the show could potentially have more seasons. He also dropped an interesting tidbit about the DC Extended Universe, or DCEU, as its better known. While Warner Bros. and DC Comics have attempted to lean away from that label and the concept of a shared cinematic universe, Gunn said that’s not the case anymore.

According to Gunn, DC Films is “really just trying to make everything fit together much better,” and that applies to Peacemaker as well, “which is definitely connected to The Suicide Squad and it ends up being connected to other DC properties.”

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

For such a short clip, AMC really packed a lot of drama, fire, knives, and tension in the latest teaser for The Walking Dead‘s eleventh and final season. While we see a lot of the Commonwealth and the Reapers — as well as Judith training the next generation of young zombie slayers — what’s most compelling is what seems to be in store for all the show’s fan favorites. In addition to Daryl’s situation looking pretty grim as a building burns behind him and he is enclosed by figures, the teaser ends with Maggie presumably falling from a height that would leave even the most badass of badasses severely injured or worse. We’d say there’s no way they could do it, but then again… we’ve seen enough prestige television to no longer utter those words.

If like so many of us you’re wondering just how the showrunners are going to tie up every loose thread and tragic storyline in The Walking Dead‘s final season, rest assured it’s going to be quite a bit bigger than any of the show’s previous seasons. Whereas former seasons of the AMC show run 16 episodes long — excluding the first and much shorter couple seasons, of course — The Walking Dead‘s final season will contain 24 episodes. However, before you get too excited, we’ll also be waiting a whole lot longer to watch them all. While season 11 premieres August 22, only the first 8 episodes are scheduled for release. The other 16 won’t come until sometime in 2022, so here’s hoping whatever cliffhanger we end on won’t be too brutal.

The Walking Dead‘s final season premieres August 22 on AMC. However, if you’re an AMC+ subscriber, you can watch each episode of the final season a week earlier via streaming. Regardless of when you watch, final seasons tend to have countless twists, turns, and spoilable-moments, meaning avoid the internet and your chattier friends like they’re a hoard of the undead themselves until you do.

The Call of Duty franchise has never been afraid of trying something new or following a trend. We saw this when Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare added an incredibly popular multiplayer mode and we saw it again when Call of Duty: Black Ops III added a battle royale mode. They might not invent the wheel, but they definitely take a popular concept and try to improve on it.

We may see that once again with Call of Duty entering a space we’re not used to seeing: party games. One of the most popular party games ever, Among Us, blew up in 2020 when everyone needed something to do with their friends online amid the pandemic. Call of Duty is clearly trying to emulate the success of Among Us with its new “Double Agent” mode. The trailer showcases players trying to capture other players that want to sabotage from within. A lot of the game seems based on communication among the group, which was a key to the success of Among Us and makes it such a fun party game.

Where Among Us and Double Agents might differ, however, is there appears to be more roles than just regular players and those looking to sabotage everything in the latter. The trailer features the “investigator” role that can assist players and give hints on who is trying to sabotage the group. If anything, this seems more reminiscent of the popular “Trouble in Terrorist Town” from Garry’s Mod than Among Us, but it’s hard to not feel like this wouldn’t exist if Among Us hadn’t gotten so popular in 2020.

How fun Double Agents will be is going to be like any other party game in that it depends on the group playing it. Any game can be fun with the right group of people, but even the best games can be boring if nobody is into it. Anyone with an old Among Us squad that also enjoys Call of Duty may want to give this a try when the new game mode launches on August 12.

The hip-hop landscape is as crowded as ever, but what has helped Tom The Mail Man (real name Sean Brown) stand out is the fact that hip-hop isn’t his only terrain. The artist is fresh off the release of his 2021 album Sometimes Sorry Isn’t Enough, and the project features everything from contemporary rap to straight-up ’90s rock tunes like “Last Night.” Tom has established himself as an essential artist worth paying attention to, and the latest Magnum Scenes video is an opportunity to learn more about him, the scene where he found his comfort zone, and how it has influenced him.

Inspired by musicians who resist the urge to play within a select genre, Tom went outside the box experimenting with his sound and eventually found Airwaves in Atlanta, a hive of other self-described “weird kids” like Sam Levine and Daniel Hartzog. Together, they formed a kind of second family that helps each other navigate loss and the process of making music, allowing Tom The Mail Man to approach his dream of being a legend who can bring people together with his sound.

Take a look at the above video to find out more about Tom’s rise, the story behind his name, and his ambition to be bold, authentic, and a “long-lasting character in the game.”

The MyPillow Guy needs an intervention — or a nap. For months, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has been peddling election fraud conspiracies and swearing up and down that he’s got a mountain of evidence to prove the bizarre tales he’s telling. Yet not one person — expert or regular old sane person — who has been shown any part of this alleged smoking gun has been able to make heads or tails of what Lindell is showing them, or talking about. As Raw Story reports, CNN reporter Drew Griffin is Lindell’s latest victim.

On Thursday night, CNN aired Griffin’s recent interview with Lindell, which went off the rails faster than you can say “That’s a mighty big crucifix necklace you’re wearing, Mr. Lindell.” Describing Lindell’s claims as “complete nonsense,” Griffin went on to explain:

“Despite every piece of so-called ‘evidence’ that Lindell has presented so far — three videos, a lawsuit, [and] screenshots he sent to CNN, there’s still no proof that the election was hacked. And that’s according to two dozen cyber experts and election officials contacted by CNN.”

Annoyed that no one’s buying The Matrix-like screenshots he’s selling as proof that the 2020 election was hacked, Lindell is now changing his story a bit. And claiming that he’ll be sharing the real evidence at the cyber symposium he is putting together which, according to Griffin, “will be streamed live, with MyPillow discounts throughout.”

Last Friday, Lindell attempted to whet CNN’s appetite for helping him expose the truth about the election by sending him six screenshots that looked like this:

Griffin’s question to Lindell about this particular piece of information was simple and pointed: “What is this?”

Lindell stumbled through some nonsensical answer that was really just a string of words that didn’t really make sense when put together, which is when Griffin dropped the bomb that CNN had sent the “proof” to their own experts, who concluded that it was “proof of nothing.”

Lindell’s response? “So he said that’s nothing, huh? Well, he’s wrong. Then you didn’t hire a cyber expert.”

Big words from a man who believes that starring in his own commercials, and showing up in people’s medicine cabinets like goddamn Candyman, is the best way to sell… pillows?

Let’s just say that the interview only went downhill from there — CNN’s experts described Lindell’s screenshots as everything from “extremely rudimentary metadata” to “completely ridiculous.” But it’s truly worth a few minutes of your own time to witness it all firsthand, as it devolves into what seems more like an SNL sketch for Chris Farley. Also: Air quotes are used.

You can watch the full interview above.

(Via Raw Story)

Reggie Jackson was one of the biggest breakout stars of the 2021 NBA Playoffs, as he was a major reason why the Clippers were able to make it to the Western Conference Finals despite the absence of Kawhi Leonard. Jackson, who averaged 10.7 points, 3.1 assists, and 2.9 rebounds per game in the regular season, pushed those to 17.8 points, 3.4 assists, and 3.2 rebounds in the playoffs on tremendous efficiency (48.4/40.8/87.8 shooting splits).

Jackson’s performance on a minimum deal was exactly what the Clippers needed in that moment, and set him up as one of the point guards set to cash in this summer once the top names signed their new contracts. Whether he would stay in Los Angeles was a significant question, as the Clippers could offer him a deal worth an average of $10.5 million per year to stay in a place he loved, but there was potentially much more out there for him to get on the open market.

In the end, Jackson chose to return to the Clippers. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Jackson and Los Angeles came to terms on a two-year contract worth $22 million.

One of his teammates couldn’t be happier.

As of this writing, the Clippers are still waiting to figure out Leonard’s next move. But in the meantime, they made it a point to bring back someone who played a crucial role to their success last season.

The Golden State Warriors are bringing back a crucial piece from their much-ballyhooed death lineup. As he explained to Jonathan Abrams of the New York Times, Andre Iguodala’s time as an unrestricted free agent will come to an end, as he’s decided to head back to the Bay Area to reunite with one of his old squads.

Iguodala laid out his decision to return to the Warriors and made clear that relationships were at the center of his decision.

“Who would have thought I’d have the opportunity to go back to the place where I was able to have, whatever you want to call it, legacy years, in terms of the accomplishments, winning multiple championships, the relationships that I was able to build with some of my closest friends and teammates?” Iguodala told the Times. “The relationship with the fans, the relationship with the Bay, the opportunity to end it here, was just something special.”

Shams Charania of The Athletic added that Iguodala will suit up alongside Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, and co. on a minimum contract.

Iguodala most recently played for the Miami Heat, but from 2013-19, he was an integral part to the Warriors’ run atop the league. Golden State won three rings and made it to the NBA Finals five years in a row with Iguodala on the roster. Most notably, he was named the 2015 NBA Finals MVP en route to the team’s 4-2 series win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Leo Scott was working on Val Kilmer’s one-man play about Mark Twain – as an editor and filming behind the scenes – when Kilmer asked Scott if he’d help him digitize hours and hours of video recordings that Kilmer had made over the years, going back as far when Kilmer was still at Julliard. Joined by Scott’s now co-director, Ting Poo, they came up with the idea that all these recordings could be a film. Something that juxtaposes Kilmer’s then-current process of stepping into the shoes of Mark Twain with all this footage of Kilmer’s process from past films like Top Gun and The Doors.

Again, that was the original idea. Then Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer and his time as Mark Twain was over. And so was this project, until it morphed into what it is today: a portrait of Kilmer today, still living life to the fullest, but just not quite the Kilmer we remember, for a few different reasons. This is a reflective, yet still playful, Kilmer. He’s lost a few pounds, his voice isn’t the same, but he can still speak volumes. (Speaking of his voice, Kilmer’s son, Jack, does the narration and it’s downright eerie how similar he sounds to his father. Both Scott and Poo said they considered not revealing who the voice was until the end of the film, but thought it might be too big of a distraction.)

As Kilmer looks back on his film career, yes, he’s aware we have probably heard the stories of some of his, let’s say, eccentricities on set. Kilmer’s mantra today, looking back, is that he was a passionate actor (this is true) who had a unique way of approaching a role and anything he did to get there only helped the character (this is debatable).

There’s one scene in particular that is truly uncomfortable. Now, to Kilmer’s defense, as he tells us in the documentary, during the filming of The Island of Dr. Moreau he was going through a divorce. Not only that, he was served divorce papers on the set of the film. So Kilmer is obviously going through something at this point in his life. By all accounts, filming of The Island of Dr. Moreau was not a good experience. When Kilmer signed on to the film (replacing Bruce Willis), Richard Stanley was the director. Kilmer and Stanley did not get along and Stanley was then replaced by John Frankenheimer. These two also did not get along and there is a scene in Val in which we see and hear a long argument between Kilmer and Frankenheimer. The source of their conflict at this moment seems to be Kilmer’s insistance of keeping his camera running as the actors prepare to rehearse. Frankenheimer wants Kilmer to turn off the camera. Kilmer does not want to turn off the camera. Things get … tense.

“When we cut first cut together that Moreau sequence, it was twice as long as it is now and just as much tension throughout,” says Poo. She continues, “What we really tried to do with each scene was represent what it was like for him in those situations. And so, in that respect, we didn’t avoid difficult situations, but we showed them as he experienced them and leave space for the audience to experience them as well. And so, we weren’t trying to editorialize so much on what’s right, or what’s wrong in this situation so much as like, this is this how this happened.”

Both Poo and Scott reject the idea they had to strike a balance with incidents like this. In that the main focus on the film is how Kilmer is still living his life well today and his own views of his past, not rehashing old feuds. “I don’t think we were thinking in terms of balance of, like, how much do we want of that stuff in there,” says Poo.

Though, this particular scene went on for 14 minutes. And Poo and Scott say they were nervous about showing it to Kilmer. “Well, yeah, I mean, what’s funny about that,” says Poo, “I think we did tell this film out from a perspective of looking back, and his perspective of looking back, and he didn’t try and veer us away from showing difficult situations, but he also doesn’t get hung up on them.”

So what happened when they showed this scene to Kilmer? In true Val Kilmer fashion, he didn’t think it was a big deal. Poo continues, “We were nervous to show it to him, because it’s just a very tense and hard situation for everybody involved to see. And so, we were all processing it and being like, ‘Okay, we’re going to show you something,’ trying to prepare him. And he could tell we were nervous about it. We did the whole thing. And then he looks over and he was like, ‘That’s what you’re so worried about?’ He was like, ‘I don’t know if it needs to be 14 minutes long, but that’s what happens.’”

So, no, we don’t get to see all 14 minutes of Val Kilmer and John Frankenheimer arguing on the set of The Island of Dr. Moreau, but the portion we do see goes a long way.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

LeBron James is on a winning streak. Then again, it’s probably safe to say that LeBron James is usually on a winning streak. In addition to being the most popular basketball player in the NBA — at least if we’re going by the number of jerseys sold with his name on the back — he’s also blazing a trail at the summer box office as the star and producer of Space Jam: A New Legacy. And while fans are already wondering and waiting if there will be a Space Jam 3 — former NBA star Baron Davis told The New York Times that he was ready to offer his services as director — The Hollywood Reporter writes that LeBron has already chosen his next cinematic endeavor: Rez Ball, a basketball drama set around a Native American reservation, for Netflix.

According to THR:

Rez Ball is described as Friday Night Lights meets Hoosiers. The story, according to the project’s description, “follows the Chuska Warriors, a Native American high school basketball team from Chuska, New Mexico, that must band together after losing their star player if they want to keep their quest for a state championship alive. It’s an all-American underdog story about Navajo kids and coaches told from the inside-out.”

Award-winning director Sydney Freeland (Drunktown’s Finest) will helm the project, which she’ll also co-write with Sterlin Harjo—co-creator, with Taika Waititi, of the new FX series Reservation Dogs. The script will be based on sports columnist’s article-turned-book Canyon Dreams, which is a unique exploration of the world of “reservation basketball.”

“Basketball on the Rez is like high school football in West Texas,” says Freeland, who was raised on a Navajo reservation in New Mexico. “It has a fanatical following that few sports can rival. This is a story that’s commonplace on Indian reservations all over the U.S., but most people aren’t even aware it exists. What we want to do is bring people into our world, to tell a story about the people and places we know, and what better way to do that than through a sports movie?”

James and Maverick Carter will produce for Netflix through their SpringHill Company. No release date has been announced.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)