Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige recently got roasted for marveling at the beauty of shooting outdoors when it came to Oscar winning director Chloé Zhao’s approach to The Eternals. Now, it’s rather easy to see why Feige was taken aback after over a decade of green-screening movies: this movie looks unlike any other Marvel Cinematic Universe project that we’ve ever seen. This film shall be Phase Four’s third movie — following Black Widow and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings — but it will be the first in which we’ll not only see a ripped Kumail Nanjiani but another very important thing.
The Eternals, of course is the first MCU movie for which the director, in Feige’s words (to Variety), stood firm in “fighting for practical locations,” which he dubbed her “signature style.” Well, we’re finally getting a look at that style, and it’s remarkable to behold (those are honest-to-god beach shots, and that’s absurdly unusual in 2021) even in teaser form. Also, there’s a brand new (old) batch of immortal superheroes, who are (via the synopsis) “forced out of the shadows to reunite against mankind’s oldest enemy, The Deviants” in what ends up being a story that spans thousands of years.
The ensemble cast brings more A-list names into the MCU, too. There’s Richard Madden as the omnipotent Ikaris; Angelina Jolie as the intense warrior Thena; Kumail Nanjiani as cosmically-inclined Kingo; Salma Hayek as spiritual leader Ajak; Brian Tyree Henry as the innovative Phastos; and Kit Harington playing a guy named Dane Whitman (who’s also known as the Black Knight). The film also stars Gemma Chan, Lauren Ridloff, Lia McHugh, Don Lee, and Barry Keoghan.
When it comes to The Eternals, one interesting matter to note is that Thanos, the genocidal villain from the final two Infinity Saga movies, is actually linked in lineage to The Eternals. That might not mean much in the grand scheme of Phase Four, but it’s amusing that Thanos’ nickname, the Mad Titan, in fact refers to him belonging to the Titan species, which makes him, yeah, a relative. Will Thanos even get a mention in The Eternals? We’ve seen no clues yet in that direction, although Feige remains unparalleled at weaving mythology together in ways that make sense, years later (see WandaVision), so we’ll probably see some sort of dot-connecting, eventually.
The Eternals will arrive in theaters on November 5. Here’s a cosmos-filled poster, too.
SPOILERS for Fear The Walking Dead will be found below.
This week’s episode of Fear the Walking Dead is interesting on a number of levels. The title of the episode is “Mother,” which essentially refers to the mother of three characters: Teddy, Dakota, and most tellingly, Alicia. Alicia’s mother, of course, is Madison Clark, who was presumably killed off in the fourth mid-season finale, but that hasn’t prevented fans of the series from fueling rumors of her return, which is speculation that the showrunners have been happy to keep alive.
In this week’s episode, Teddy decides to take Alicia on a trip, ostensibly to pick up the corpse of his own mother, with whom Teddy seems to have a very deranged relationship. Teddy is also using the trip as an opportunity to try and convert Alicia to his cause, which is the destruction of everything and something that Teddy has long believed to be a requirement for a “new beginning.” In fact, in the episode’s cold open, we see Teddy in a prison cell, pre-apocalypse, hours away from his execution. However, the timing of the zombie apocalypse, which spares Teddy from death, only emboldens Teddy’s beliefs. As this episode further reveals, Teddy is a seriously mad man.
After picking up the corpse of what we are initially led to believe is his long-dead mother (and kissing it on the mouth), Teddy heads to another destination with Alicia and Dakota, who has joined Teddy’s cult in an effort to help Alicia escape. Later in the episode, however, Dakota actually turns on Alicia because she decides that she’s genuinely into the beliefs espoused by Teddy and his cult. Before then, however, the truck that Teddy is driving blows a tire, and Teddy, Alicia, and Dakota encounter Cole, an old friend from their Dell Diamond Stadium days. Even in the biggest state in the nation, it’s apparently a very small world because every week it seems, Fear characters somehow manage to randomly encounter someone new from their past.
Cole reiterates a number of times to Alicia how appreciative she is to her mother, Madison, for saving his life (and those of several other Dell Diamonders). However, Cole also soon reveals that he and the others have turned to the dark side, so to speak. They kill anyone they encounter and take all of their supplies. This is obviously hugely upsetting to Alicia, who now realizes that — at least as far as Cole and his people are concerned — Madison’s sacrifice was all for naught.
For the curious, it should also be noted that, though Madison’s name is mentioned several times in this episode, we are given no indication that she’s still alive. Then again, no one technically mentions that they saw her corpse, either. But if she were alive, one would imagine that Cole and the others from the stadium would know it. Still, the showrunners seem all too willing to allow that possibility to continue to dangle.
In either respect, Cole’s appearance — like Morales on The Walking Dead — ends up being something of a non-factor. They killed Cole and his people before they can kill Alicia, Dakota, and Teddy, which means that Fear brought Cole back only long enough to dispatch with him. The point, however, is to illustrate to Alicia that her mother’s sacrifice was meaningless.
However, the fact that Alicia isn’t completely dispirited by this revelation is the real crux of the episode. Teddy values Alicia’s hope for the future, despite what she learned about Cole. In fact, he values it so much that he essentially wants to bottle it up and use it to seed his “new beginning.” Teddy admits to Alicia that his plan is to drop a nuclear bomb on the area to destroy it and use Alicia’s hope to fuel his new world.
Teddy — who again is hilariously unhinged and depicted fabulously by John Glover — decides to lock Alicia in some kind of nuclear fall-out shelter, where she will remain for several years until it is safe to come out after he drops his bomb. “You are going to rebuild the world from within there,” Teddy tells Alicia. “Good luck.”
“You lock me in here, and I’m not going to make the world the way you want it to be!” Alicia screams.
“I know,” Teddy replies as he walks away. “That’s what I’m counting on.”
What’s interesting here, however, is what showrunner Ian Goldberg had to say in the behind-the-scenes featurette after the episode. “We’re going to have to see as we go into next season,” he says, “whether [Alicia] ends up doing what Teddy asks her to do or whether she forges a path entirely on her own.” The implication here is that Teddy will be successful in his plan to drop a bomb. Alicia will have to pick up the pieces in the seventh season after the destruction and, presumably, a big time-jump, one large enough to possibly align Fear the Walking Dead with the same timeline as the final season of The Walking Dead and possibly the Rick Grimes’ movie.
What we don’t know, however, is who else from this season of Fear the Walking Dead will also survive? Alicia may be Teddy’s choice to usher in the new beginning, but she won’t be able to do it on her own. She’ll need others to pass that hope onto. In the meantime, we may not see Alicia again in the final two episodes of this season.
Speaking of which, after a one-week hiatus, Fear will return in two weeks with the penultimate episode of the season, which might prove to be less about preventing the attack and more about finding safety from it.
Over the past month or so, Justin Bieber had been sporting a different hairstyle than usual, as he had put his hair in locs. Given that the hairstyle has cultural and historical significance for Black people, Bieber faced accusations of cultural appropriation. Bieber hasn’t addressed any of those allegations, but now he has offered the closest thing he has to a response: He got rid of the locs and buzzed his hair down to a much shorter style.
A TMZ video shows Bieber (debuting the buzz cut) and wife Hailey Bieber out in West Hollywood over the weekend. As they got into a car, the person behind the camera complimented Bieber on the cut, asked what inspired the change, and asked if it had anything to do with criticism he faced over his previous hairstyle. Bieber was silent and did not acknowledge the questioner before leaving.
Furthermore, Bieber also shared a photo of himself on Instagram with his new buzzed look. He also took to his Instagram Story and posted another photo of his fresh haircut.
Four years ago, Last Week Tonight warned viewers of the far-right empire, Sinclair Broadcast Group, that was taking over local news. That phenomenon resulted in trusted local news anchors being made to recite scripted right-wing rhetoric, and this is still happening at stations across the United States. Meanwhile, host John Oliver would like to inform everyone about more shenanigans that are possibly going down with your local news stations: sponsored content that can include fake-fake-fake medical products.
In order to explore how pervasive this content really is, Oliver invented a line of sexual wellness products, led foremost by the “world’s first sexual wellness blanket” (called the “Venus Veil”). It’s not a real product (and it kind-of looks like home insulation), but more details can be found at a real website (VenusInventions.com), and he did all of this to illustrate how easy (and relatively cheap) it is to buy time to advertise products like this on the local news while claiming that these are medical products. Yep, this happens with other products that are likely more dangerous than a sexy blanket, but he managed to buy airtime for $7,200 (total) on local stations in Denver, Austin, and Utah.
From there, Oliver hired an actress to make all kinds of wild claims about this sexy blanket, which promises to “fix erectile issues and improve vaginal lubrication” through “magnetogenetics” (apparently invented in Germany in the 1940s, so basically, this can be blamed on the Nazis) and even better (supposedly), this can be done “confidentially” by the blanket. It all sounds perfectly absurd, but yup, this rhetoric ended up on local news in multiple U.S. communities.
The danger here, of course is that, in the words of John Oliver, “the integrity of local news is crucially important. There is real harm for everyone if that integrity is damaged.” To that end, he would like to know (of these station owners), “The f*ck are you doing?” That’s a very fair question.
The Portland Trail Blazers were the first of three Western Conference road teams to pick up wins in Game 1 of the NBA Playoffs, as they went into Denver and pulled away late to a 123-109 victory.
The focus for the Blazers was pretty obvious: Let Nikola Jokic score all he wants, but don’t allow him to orchestrate the Denver offense to where everyone else gets in a rhythm. That’s when Denver is at their best and most dangerous, and the result was a monster 34-point, 16-rebound game from Jokic, but he had just one assist. Michael Porter Jr. did his best, pitching in 25 points and nine boards, but no one else really got involved to the point of making a major difference and the result was an inability to stay in touch with Portland’s offensive onslaught.
Damian Lillard had 34 points of his own to match Jokic, with CJ McCollum adding 21, Carmelo Anthony catching fire early to get to 18, and overall six Blazers finished the night in double figures. It’ll be interesting to see how Denver adjusts on both ends, as they struggled to contain the Portland backcourt and need to figure out how to better work as a team offensively, because as we saw in the opener, as great as Jokic and MPJ are, they can’t be effectively going it alone.
From a betting perspective, Game 1 went Over the total and Portland covered with the big win.
Game 2 TV Info
Tip Time: Monday, May 24; 10:00 p.m. ET TV Network: TNT
Game 2 Betting Lines (via DraftKings Sportsbook)
Series Prices: Blazers (-295), Nuggets (+230) Spread: Nuggets -1.5 (-113), Blazers +1.5 (-108) Total: Over 227 (-112), Under 227 (-109) Money Line: Nuggets (-122), Blazers (+102)
Game 1 of the Bucks-Heat series was an absolute thriller, as Milwaukee outlasted Miami in overtime. Miami’s stars struggled, although Jimmy Butler was able to hit a buzzer-beater to force OT when it mattered most, but they got tremendous shooting contributions from their role players. On the other side, Milwaukee got better play from its stars, but couldn’t buy a three-pointer, as the Heat hit an absurd 15 more threes than the Bucks did.
In the end, Khris Middleton was able to come up with the big shot in the big moment, hitting the game-winning bucket for the Bucks in the closing seconds, with Jrue Holiday blocking Butler’s effort from the corner on Miami’s final possession. It was the tight, thrilling game we all had hoped for and set the tone for what proved to be a tremendous weekend of Game 1 action across the NBA. On Monday, they’ll do it all over again in Game 2, with Milwaukee looking to open up a 2-0 series lead while the Heat will try to steal homecourt before the series shifts to Miami.
Game 1 saw Miami cover in the two-point loss and the game come in Under the total even though it went to overtime. Will Game 2 see another low-scoring, defensive struggle, or will the offenses adjust and find their rhythm? That’s the question posed to bettors entering Monday night when this game tips off a double-header of playoff action.
Game 2 TV Info
Tip Time: Monday, May 24; 7:30 p.m. ET TV Network: TNT
Game 2 Betting Lines (via DraftKings Sportsbook)
Series Prices: Bucks (-560), Heat (+400) Spread: Bucks -5 (-107), Heat +5 (-115) Total: Over 223 (-108), Under 223 (-113) Money Line: Bucks (-200), Heat (+163)
The Utah Jazz had a dreadful Game 1 performance against the Memphis Grizzlies, losing 112-109 in a game that ended up being much closer than it felt for most of the second half.
After a slow start, Memphis took it to Utah thanks to a sensational game from their backcourt stars in Ja Morant and Dillon Brooks, while Jonas Valanciunas did great work on the glass and in occupying Rudy Gobert. Late in the fourth quarter, Gobert fouled out battling for a rebound with Valanciunas, leaving the Jazz to complete a comeback down two of their top stars. However, that didn’t mean Gobert was done inserting himself into the action.
With 1:35 left in the game, Derrick Favors got an and-1 dunk and Gobert decided this was his chance to try and draw a frustration technical foul on the Grizzlies, so he strolled down the baseline to Kyle Anderson, who gently pushed him aside as he walked back to the floor. Gobert proceeded to try and earn an Oscar with an all-time shameless flop.
— Bally Sports: Grizzlies (@GrizzOnBally) May 24, 2021
Flopping in the NBA isn’t anything new, but this feels like Gobert is breaking some new ground by doing it while he’s not even in the game. The man is fouled out and still manages to flail to the ground.For a player who isn’t exactly well beloved around the country, Gobert’s not really helping his image with this incredible flop while not even playing. Happily the refs did not buy this acting job from Gobert and no technicals were assessed to Anderson, and if anything happens, one would think a fine may be coming Gobert’s way.
After beating the Spurs and Warriors in the play-in tournament to earn the 8-seed, the Grizzlies’ reward was a trip to Utah to take on the Jazz, who boasted the NBA’s best record in the regular season.
Utah was without Donovan Mitchell once again for Game 1, as the star guard missed his 17th straight game as he works his way back from a sprained ankle, but the Jazz came into the night still the strong favorites to win the game and the series. However, for anyone expecting Memphis’ young squad to be overwhelmed by the playoff stage, the Grizzlies provided a forceful rebuttal in the form of a sensational performance up and down the roster.
It started ugly for Memphis, who scored 17 in the first quarter and trailed by seven going into the second quarter, but once they found their footing, they never relented. Dillon Brooks, as he has so often in the stretch run for the Grizzlies, provided the early energy and scoring punch, finishing the night with 31 points to lead all scorers.
Down the stretch, as it was against Golden State in the play-in, it was the Ja Morant show, as he had 10 of his 26 points in the fourth, attacking downhill and showing his terrific abilities as a finisher at the rim and in the floater game.
For Utah, it was a game defined by their struggles to contain Memphis’ backcourt and their own inability to knock down threes. The Jazz were the fourth best shooting team in the regular season at 38.9 percent from deep, but were a woeful 12-of-47 in Game 1 (25.5 percent), unable to hit good looks, contested looks and anything in between all night. Still, they had a shot to tie the game at the end of regulation, but Memphis forced Bojan Bogdanovic, one of Utah’s few positive offensive contributors on the night with 29 points, into a contested three from the top of the key that missed wide left as Memphis escaped with a win despite some free throw woes late.
It was a rather stunning performance from the Jazz, who led by double digits early even amid some sloppy play and most figured they would eventually right the ship. Credit to the Grizzlies for making life uncomfortable for Utah, who could never find a rhythm offensively against Memphis’ pressure on defense. On the other end of the floor, the Grizzlies asserted themselves offensively, as they only hit 7-of-20 threes, but did a much better job getting to the basket and dominated the offensive glass with 17 offensive boards.
Game 2 will be very interesting to see how Utah responds, as Memphis’ gameplan is clear. They’re going to be physical and try to rattle the Jazz, who might need to look to bring Mitchell back sooner than they maybe hoped.
Nick Jonas was pulling double duty tonight at the Billboard Music Awards. Not only was he the host of the award show, but the JoBro also made time to join up with his brothers for a performance of “Leave Before You Love Me,” their collab with the masked DJ sensation, Marshmello. Fresh off the release of his own solo album, Spaceman, Nick is balancing his musical career with the band he has with his brothers Joe and Kevin, and clearly the three have the juggling act down pat now.
Even if things weren’t always as smooth as they are now between the trio, growing up in the spotlight and experiencing immense fame together, it’s clear from this performance that the brothers are going stronger than ever. Departing a bit from their more traditional pop sound, this song is a sweet and slow ballad, punctuated by an earworm chorus, with Marshmello rocking out on keys the whole time. Closing out the show with their performance of “Leave Before You Love Me,” with Marshmellow, that song lead into a mashup of “Sucker,” “Only Human,” “Remember This,” and “What A Man Gotta Do.” For their performance, the band was introduced by none other than Kelsea Ballerini, who is going on tour with them this summer for an epic country crossover. Check out the performance above and keep your eye on their upcoming tour dates.
One of this year’s most anticipated projects is set to come from Lil Baby and Lil Durk. The two rappers are joining forces for their upcoming album, Voice Of The Heroes. Back in March, Baby spoke about the project in an interview with MTV News. “When it comes to that street sh*t, that ‘hood sh*t, we like the heroes. The kids look at us as heroes,” he said. “We got songs with bars, we got songs with vibes. It’s gonna be one of the craziest albums to ever come out… We got more than one album recorded. We been locked in with each other. That sh*t easy.”
The project was originally locked in for a May 28 release date, but the duo opted to push it back out of respect for the late DMX as his posthumous album Exodus is set to arrive on the same day. Now, Voice Of The Heroes will arrive just a week later on June 4. Lil Baby shared the news in a post on Twitter. “Album finish,” he wrote. “June 4 V.O.H.”
The new effort will hopefully continue the streak of impressive projects that the rappers have delivered over the last year. Lil Baby dropped one of 2020’s most-streamed albums with My Turn, a project that was boosted by six additional songs that were added through a deluxe re-issue. Lil Durk, on the other hand, reached a new level of popularity in his career thanks to his 2020 projects, Just Cause Y’all Waited 2 and The Voice, which both received deluxe re-issues as well.
You can read Lil Baby’s announcement above.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
– Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) 
June 4 V.O.H