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It’s been a tough year for some of the nation’s most beloved venues. The onset of the pandemic and subsequent quarantine meant staying away from massive gatherings like crowds at The Forum or the Staples Center was the safe choice, with plenty of canceled tours in the wake, and seeing those musical monuments sit empty has been hard on everyone. Now, there’s light on the horizon, as one of LA’s biggest and best arenas is ready to re-open its doors.

That’s right, the Hollywood Bowl has officially announced their 2021 lineup, and it includes some surprising and unexpected names. For instance, I highly doubt most Stripped diehards had not one but two nights of Christina Aguilera headlining the bowl on their 2021 bingo card, but that’s what we’ve got coming up in July. There’s also big appearances from Kamasi Washington, Earl Sweatshirt, H.E.R., Brittany Howard, Jamila Woods, Herbie Hancock, and a whole lot more.

The entire summer calendar announcement is included below, even the LA Phil dates, so please check out the venue’s website for more information on those bookings. Normally we don’t cover a lot of the classical music performances, but after a year of no concerts, I have a feeling those nights will be more populated than ever.

Check out the full listing below:

05/15 —Dudamel and the LA Phil
05/17 — Pink: All I Know So Far screening
05/22 — Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev with Dudamel (LA Phil)
06/12 — Thundercat + Flying Lotus
06/26 — La Santa Cecilia
07/03 — July 4th Fireworks Spectacular + Kool & The Gang
07/04 — July 4th Fireworks Spectacular + Kool & The Gang
07/15 — Peter And The Wolf with Viola Davis & Dudamel (LA Phil)
07/16 — Christina Aguilera (LA Phil)
07/17 — Christina Aguilera (LA Phil)
07/18 — KCRW’s World Festival: Kamasi Washington + Earl Sweatshirt
07/20 — Tianyi Lu Conducts Pictures At An Exhibition (LA Phil)
07/22 — Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky (LA Phil)
07/24 — Ledisi Sings Nina Simone (LA Phil)
07/27 — Mozart and Mendelssohn with Ruth Reinhardt (LA Phil)
07/30 — Cynthia Erivo (LA Phil)
07/31 — The Princess Bride in Concert (LA Phil)
08/01 — KCRW’s World Festival: Reggae Night XIX, Ziggy Marley, Wailing Souls
08/05 — Schumann & Schumann (LA Phil)
08/06 — Tchaikovsky Spectacular with Fireworks (LA Phil, USC Trojan Marching Band)
08/07 — Tchaikovsky Spectacular with Fireworks (LA Phil, USC Trojan Marching Band)
08/08 — Dave Koz & Friends Summer Horns Tower of Power
08/10 — Dudamel Conducts Gershwin (LA Phil)
08/12 — Dudamel Conducts the “New World” (LA Phil)
08/13 — H.E.R. With The LA Phil
08/14 — H.E.R. With The LA Phil
08/15 — Blame It On Rio! with Sergio Mendes and carnival dancers
08/17 — Dudamel Leads Elgar and Grieg (LA Phil)
08/19 — Dudamel Conducts Beethoven & Falla (LA Phil)
08/21 — Sing-A-Long Sound Of Music
08/24 — Dudamel Leads Márquez and Tchaikovsky (LA Phil)
08/26 — Piazzolla & Tchaikovsky with Dudamel (LA Phil)
08/27 — Carlos Vives (LA Phil)
08/28 — Carlos Vives (LA Phil)
08/31 — Ray Chen Plays Mendelssohn
09/02 — Gershwin and Bonds (LA Phil)
09/03 — Maestro of the Movies: John Williams + David Newman conduct the LA Phil)
09/04 — Maestro of the Movies: John Williams + David Newman conduct the LA Phil)
09/05 — Maestro of the Movies: John Williams + David Newman conduct the LA Phil)
09/09 — Beethoven & Schumann (LA Phil)
09/10 — Black Panther in Concert (LA Phil)
09/11 — Black Panther in Concert (LA Phil)
09/12 — Black Panther in Concert (LA Phil)
09/14 — Yo-Yo Ma | The Bach Project
09/17 — Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince In Concert
09/18 — KCRW’s World Festival: Brittany Howard, Jamila Woods, Georgia Anne Muldrow
09/25 — James Blake (Hollywood Bowl Orchestra)
09/26 — Herbie Hancock
09/28 — Mozart Under The Stars With Dudamel (LA Phil)

Following up on this year’s album A Billion Little Lights, which Uproxx’s Steve Hyden called his “most ambitious and overall best work,” Wild Pink shared the 6-track EP 6 Songs. But he didn’t stop there. Now, Wild Pink is gearing up for another EP, titled 3 Songs, which he previews with the song “Ohio.”

The single was made in collaboration with songwriter Samia, who recently burst onto the indie scene with her 2020 debut LP The Baby. “Ohio” shows a jazzier side to Wild Pink’s music, detailing the euphoria of connection over a burst of synths. About the track, Wild Pink said it was inspired by the relief of seeing friends and family members after a long period of isolation:

“This song is about feeling isolated but then the relief that comes from seeing family/friends. It’s about getting some comfort from some of the mundane things I took for granted growing up, like daily summer storms and the hum from an oscillating fan at night. I wrote a lot of it during soundchecks on a tour with Adam Torres in 2018.”

Listen to “Ohio” above and check out Wild Pink’s 3 Songs cover art and tracklist below.

1. “Ohio” Feat. Samia
2. “Leferever”
3. “A Scene From The Eau Gallie Causeway”

3 Songs is out 6/25 via Royal Mountain Records. Pre-order it here.

For many people, seeing any animal in captivity is a tragic sight. But when an animal cannot safely be released into the wild, a captive-but-comfortable space is the next best thing.

That’s the situation for a dozen female pachyderms who have joined the Yulee refuge at the White Oak Conservation Center north of Jacksonville, Florida. The Asian elephants, who are endangered in the wild, are former circus animals that were retired from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in 2016. The group includes two sets of full sisters and several half-sisters. Elephants tend to live together in multi-generational family groups led by a matriarch.

Philanthropists Mark and Kimbra Walter, who fund the refuge for rare species, say they are “thrilled to give these elephants a place to wander and explore.”

“We are working to protect wild animals in their native habitats,” the Walters said in a statement. “But for these elephants that can’t be released, we are pleased to give them a place where they can live comfortably for the rest of their lives.”

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Up to 20 more elephants are expected to come live at the refuge in the near future.

According to the AP, Nick Newby leads the team that cares for the elephants and has spent the past few years getting to know each elephant and their habits.

“Watching the elephants go out into the habitat was an incredible moment,” Newby said in a statement. “I was so happy to see them come out together and reassure and comfort each other, just like wild elephants do, and then head out to explore their new environment. Seeing the elephants swim for the first time was amazing.”

The refuge covers about 17,000 acres and will eventually include nine interlinked areas that boast a variety of habitat types, including wetlands, meadows, and woods. the center is also constructing 11 waterholes and three barns that will hold veterinary equipment. As of now, the elephants have plenty of space to roam, whether they want to stay near the barn and their caregivers, wander through the woods, play in the mud, or swim in the pond.

It’s already home to several endangered and threatened species, including rhinos, okapi, bongos, zebras, condors, dama gazelles and cheetahs.

“In the last few years, everything has changed for these elephants for the better — from their retirement to the way they interact with humans and the space they have to roam,” said Steve Shurter, White Oak’s executive director, in a statement. “For the first time in their lives, these elephants can choose where and how they want to spend their days.”

Ever since J. Cole closed his 2018 album KOD with a song title “1985 (Intro To The Fall Off),” fans have looked forward to the album of that title with both anticipation and apprehension. For one thing, lyrics, interviews, and social media posts he’s made since then have all seemed to imply plans to retire from rap once the album drops. However, in a new cover story in Slam magazine, of all places, Cole denies that he has any such plans, explaining that while he’s at peace with never making another album, he has too much love for the game to simply declare he’s done.

“I’m super comfortable with the potential of being done with this sh*t,” he tells Slam. “But I’m never going to say, ‘Oh, this is my last album.’… Because I never know how I’m going to feel two years, three years, four years down the line, 10 years down the line, but please believe, I’m doing all this work for a reason. I’m doing all this work to be at peace with, ‘If I never did another album, I’m cool.’”

If it seems a little out-of-place for a rapper to be doing cover stories for a basketball magazine, Cole made sure to legitimize that as well; yesterday, it was announced that he’d signed a contract to play in the newly created Basketball Africa League as part of Rwanda’s Patriots team ahead of the release of his next album, The Off-Season, which is decidedly not the same as The Fall Off.

With only one week remaining in the 2020-21 regular season, playoff positioning is top of mind for most observers. The top three in the East have separated themselves from the pack, but there is an intriguing battle happening for the No. 4 seed and a similar scuffle being waged to avoid the play-in entirely. In the West, the top two is assured (in some order), but there is fluidity below that and a lot of attention paid to one particular contender (cough, Lakers, cough) as they navigate an injury-plagued stretch run. Still, there is another war happening, and it is occurring at the bottom of the standings.

There isn’t quite as much incentive to tank to the bottom these days after the NBA implemented a flattened lottery system for the 2019 NBA Draft. Still, there are a handful of teams entering the final week with absolutely nothing to play for, and they are bunched together with draft odds at the forefront.

The Houston Rockets are going to finish the season with the worst record and, as such, be tied for the best odds to secure the No. 1 pick as, at this moment, they are basically in their own category. Not only does Houston have the fewest wins (16) by a comfortable margin, but the Rockets are an impossibly poor 5-43 since starting the campaign with an 11-10 record. While visions of Cade Cunningham likely dance in Houston’s head, they only have a 14.0 percent chance to land in the top spot and, because of a trade obligation, the Rockets have only a 52.1 percent chance to keep the pick, as it must land in the top four or the selection will be heading to Oklahoma City.

With the Rockets accounted for, there are five (yes, five) teams with either 20 or 21 wins. Detroit has “the lead” at 20-49 and, if they lose their final three contests, the Pistons will likewise secure a 14 percent shot at the top pick. From there, Oklahoma City, Cleveland, Orlando and Minnesota all have 21 wins at the time of this post, and none have incentive to add to that total in the next six days.

As an example, the Thunder have been exceptionally bad lately and there are no signs of that changing.

There is also at least one must-see contest that will have direct impact on the lottery race.

The Wolves and Pistons face off on Tuesday evening in Detroit and somebody has to win. That is the only head-to-head matchup between the five teams in question and, well, that could be an all-timer if things break in a certain direction. That isn’t to say that other teams couldn’t pick up a win somewhere along the way but, in the race to the bottom, anything goes.

Adding more intrigue to the proceedings is Minnesota’s pick protection quandary. In similar fashion to the aforementioned Rockets pick that is protected 1-4, the Wolves have a pick with top-three protection that is owed to the Golden State Warriors. If Minnesota can sneak into the top three of the lottery at the end of the season, the Wolves would have a 40.1 percent chance to keep that pick. If they don’t, the odds only decrease and, given the stakes and the other team involved, the fate of that pick has the attention of the league.

At any rate, there could be some unsightly basketball in the next few days, but there are real stakes. In a draft that has a consensus top-five, every slot counts, and while we know the general area of where these bottom-six teams will land this week, it’s time to unveil our DIME power rankings.

1. Philadelphia 76ers (47-21, Last week — 2nd)

Admittedly, it hasn’t been the toughest schedule for the 76ers down the stretch. With that out of the way, they are completely dominating on the defensive end on the way to the NBA’s longest active winning streak (eight), and that can’t be ignored. Barring an unforeseen collapse, Philadelphia will be the No. 1 seed in the East, and they are playing like it.

2. Utah Jazz (50-19, Last week — 3rd)

Utah may have been No. 1 without a loss on Monday. The Jazz won the previous five games in a row and they hold a 1.5-game lead over the Phoenix Suns for the best record in the NBA. Because of that, Utah could withstand a narrow loss to Golden State and remain in the top two.

3. Phoenix Suns (48-20, Last week — 1st)

It wasn’t the best week for Phoenix, even if a 2-2 mark undersells it. The Suns were annihilated in Atlanta and they suffered a double-digit loss in Los Angeles. The loss to the Hawks, albeit by a far-too-wide margin, could be attributed to schedule challenges, but the Suns couldn’t stay in the top two. Fear not, they are in a great overall situation.

4. Milwaukee Bucks (43-25, Last week — 4th)

We’ll touch on Milwaukee’s ugly showing on Monday in the Spurs section, but the Bucks got walloped by San Antonio. Before that, the Bucks won five in a row, and we’ll attribute that hiccup to 2021 weirdness. Milwaukee also has a relatively friendly schedule and a puncher’s chance at the No. 2 seed.

5. Brooklyn Nets (44-24, Last week — 5th)

Brooklyn could be lower after losing four straight games recently, but they picked up a big win over Denver on the road in their last outing. Moreover, the Nets are easy to trust on offense and, presumably, James Harden will be returning in the near future. No one wants to fool with Brooklyn.

6. L.A. Clippers (45-23, Last week — 7th)

If you want to be pessimistic, the Clippers are 2-4 in the last six and lost a home game in their last outing. If you want to be optimistic, they are healthier at this stage and 30-11 when both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George play. The Clippers also finish with a four-game road trip this week, so it will be interesting to see how they respond.

7. Dallas Mavericks (40-28, Last week — 11th)

Dallas is riding a four-game winning streak and they are 10-2 in the last 12 tilts. That is the best 12-game mark in the league, and they boast a +9.9 net rating with a 119.2 offensive rating in that stretch. Two blowout wins over a bad Cleveland team certainly help, but the Mavs are playing well.

8. Portland Trail Blazers (40-29, Last week — 15th)

Like Dallas, Portland is red-hot. They’ve also won four in a row and eight of the last nine, scoring almost 1.25 points per possession in that sample. The Blazers can’t sustain that level of efficiency, but this closing kick has been impressive. They are now a favorite to snag at least the No. 6 seed and avoid the play-in.

9. Denver Nuggets (44-24, Last week — 6th)

It was a 1-3 week for the Nuggets, but they are only dropping because of how good Dallas and Portland have been. The Nuggets lost (by single digits) to the Lakers, Jazz and Nets. There is no great shame in that.

10. New York Knicks (38-30, Last week — 8th)

New York finishes up a six-game road trip against the Lakers on Tuesday, but they’ve already guaranteed at least a .500 mark on that journey. The Knicks continue to surprise, and their latest salvo was an impressive road win over the Clippers.

11. Atlanta Hawks (38-31, Last week — 9th)

The Hawks haven’t lost a home game in almost a month, but they’ve had a few hiccups on the road. That makes the push for the No. 4 seed all the more important, and Atlanta has a (very) soft schedule this week. They can easily finish with 41 wins and put pressure on the Knicks to close strong.

12. Los Angeles Lakers (38-30, Last week — 12th)

With Portland and Dallas both surging, the Lakers might end up in the play-in. If they are the No. 7 seed, though, some of the risk is removed, with two chances to secure a path to the playoffs. Regardless, everything hinges on LeBron’s pending return, which could come as soon as Tuesday.

13. Miami Heat (37-31, Last week — 10th)

The Heat are playing well, especially when Jimmy Butler is on the floor. For the full season, Miami has a +4.7 net rating when Butler is on the floor and a -6.2 net rating when he sits. They are also 31-19 in games when Butler suits up and just 6-12 without him. That basically paints the picture of Miami’s season and why they are scratching and clawing in the middle of the East.

14. Golden State Warriors (36-33, Last week — 13th)

Steph Curry is preposterous. He’s led the Warriors to five wins in the last six games, and the numbers are just staggering. Curry is averaging 37.2 points per game in the last 22 contests, shooting 45 percent from three on 14.6 attempts per game. There is no precedent for that, not even from Curry himself.

15. Memphis Grizzlies (35-33, Last week — 17th)

Memphis clinched a play-in spot on Monday, and that is a testament to their resilience this season. The Grizzlies haven’t had their full complement for much of the year and, while that could be said for many teams, they’ve navigated things quite well.

16. Washington Wizards (32-37, Last week — 14th)

Washington played four games this week and they were decided by five points combined. Yes, you’re reading that right. The Wizards split those four contests, and they almost pulled off a miracle comeback from 19 points down in the fourth quarter in Atlanta on Monday. The headliner there was Russell Westbrook making NBA history, but the Wizards also played relatively well, even without Bradley Beal.

17. Boston Celtics (35-33, Last week — 16th)

Jaylen Brown is out for the season, and that is brutal. The Celtics already disappointed this season, but they certainly couldn’t afford this kind of injury and they will be even bigger underdogs in a playoff setting at this stage. What were the odds of Boston needing to navigate the play-in tournament this season?

18. San Antonio Spurs (33-35, Last week — 21st)

If you’re in search of a reminder of the wild variance from this season, the first half of Monday’s Spurs-Bucks game is something to circle. San Antonio scored a franchise-record 87 points before halftime, using that to throttle the previously hot Bucks. That doesn’t suddenly mean that San Antonio is good and Milwaukee is bad, but it was a win the Spurs needed.

19. Charlotte Hornets (33-35, Last week — 18th)

Charlotte will be playing postseason basketball, but they aren’t inspiring with recent play. The Hornets had an opportunity to make a run this week, but they promptly lost home games to Chicago and New Orleans. Charlotte is 24-20 with Gordon Hayward and 9-15 without him, which tells the story, at least in part.

20. New Orleans Pelicans (31-38, Last week — 20th)

There isn’t much to take from a Monday night loss without key pieces, but it wasn’t a good result for the team’s fledgling play-in hopes. With Zion out indefinitely, it’s basically on to 2021-22 for New Orleans, but Basketball-Reference does give the Pels a 1.3 percent chance to reach the No. 10 spot.

21. Chicago Bulls (29-39, Last week — 25th)

It’s likely going to be a “too little, too late” situation for the Bulls, but they’ve won three in a row. It isn’t a coincidence that the uptick began when Zach LaVine returned, and Chicago has been very unlucky since their massive trade deadline acquisition of Nikola Vucevic.

22. Indiana Pacers (32-36, Last week — 24th)

To their credit, the Pacers have won two of the last three games, including a nice home win over Atlanta. That doesn’t paper over the issues, though, and Indiana has been jarringly bad defensively without Myles Turner. We’ll see if they can hold off the Wizards for home-court in the first play-in game.

23. Sacramento Kings (30-38, Last week — 23rd)

Sacramento should potentially be higher on this list after winning five of the last six games. That’s just what they do, though, as the Kings have been the streakiest imaginable team in 2020-21. They’re also doing this in weird fashion, with road straight road wins behind a short-handed roster.

24. Minnesota Timberwolves (21-47, Last week — 22nd)

The Wolves are 7-5 in the last 12 games with a top-10 offense during that run. They obviously had a long way to go to climb up the pecking order after a hideous start but, if nothing else, Minnesota’s been highly competitive and shown flashes. That’s all they could ask for down the stretch of a lost season.

25. Toronto Raptors (27-41, Last week — 19th)

There was a brief moment when the Raptors were kind of alive in the play-in chase. On cue, they lost all three games this week (without Kyle Lowry playing) and Toronto is just 2-7 in the last nine games. Even skeptics didn’t predict 27-41 for the Raptors, but the season from hell is almost over.

26. Detroit Pistons (20-49, Last week — 27th)

Detroit’s win over Memphis this week was enough to push them out of the bottom four. The aforementioned showdown between Detroit and Minnesota will decide some things, but the Pistons… really need to lose the rest of these games. They probably know that, so look out.

27. Orlando Magic (21-47, Last week — 26th)

After a bizarre 3-1 showing prior to this week, the Magic remembered what they needed to do. Orlando lost three games by a combined 78 points, and they are now 29th in the NBA in net rating. Yikes.

28. Houston Rockets (16-53, Last week — 29th)

Houston was oddly competitive in road losses to Milwaukee and Utah this week, falling by single digits on both occasions. That might mask their overall horror, as the Rockets have the worst record in the league over the last three months. It’s taken a good bit of effort to have the driver’s seat for the top spot in the lottery, but Houston has done it.

29. Cleveland Cavaliers (21-48, Last week — 28th)

The bottom has fallen out for the Cavs, who are on an 11-game losing streak. In those 11 games, Cleveland has a defensive rating well above 120, and they are being outscored by 17.1 points per 100 possessions. Somehow, that isn’t the worst net rating in the league over that team (see below), but the Cavaliers are just ready for Cancun.

30. Oklahoma City Thunder (21-48, Last week — 30th)

The Thunder don’t have the league’s worst record or the league’s longest active winning streak, but it doesn’t matter. As noted above, it can be argued Oklahoma City just had the worst 25-game stretch in the history of the NBA, and they are essentially functioning as a G League team down the stretch. Is that probably good for their future? Yes. Has it been entertaining at times? Yes. Are they dreadful right now? Also yes.

After more than a year without touring and solo albums from members Adrianne Lenker and Buck Meek, prolific indie folk rockers Big Thief are once again gearing up to hit the road. The band has officially unveiled their month-long fall 2021 North American tour dates alongside an EP of live recordings.

On Tuesday, the four-piece group shared the EP Big Thief – Live At The Bunker Studio, a collection of songs from their recent albums Two Hands and U.F.O.F. they performed in 2019. Each song on the project is accompanied by a video of the performance, like their jaunty track “Shoulder.” The EP arrived in conjunction with details about their their 17-stop tour, which kicks off in Louisville in early September and comes to a close a month later in Philadelphia.

Watch Big Thief perform “Shoulders” live at The Bunker Studio above and find their fall 2021 North American tour dates below.

09/07 — Louisville, KY @ Headliners Music Hall
09/08 — Indianapolis, IN @ HI-FI
09/11 — St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
09/12 — Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall
09/14 — Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
09/15 — Austin, TX @ ACL Live at the Moody Theater
09/17 — Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall Downstairs
09/18 — New Orleans, LA @ Civic Theatre
09/20 — Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
09/21 — Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern
09/22 — Raleigh, NC @ North Caroline Museum of Art
09/24 — Richmond, VA @ The National
09/25 — Queens, NY @ The Governors Ball Music Festival
09/27 — Buffalo, NY @ Asbury Hall
09/28 — South Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground
09/30 — Northampton, MA @ Pines Theatre
10/01 — Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer

Tickets to Big Thief’s fall 2021 North American tour go on sale 5/14 at 10 a.m. local time. Get them here.

Big Thief – Live At The Bunker Studio is out now via 4AD. Get it here.

Cordae may only be a few years into his rap career proper, but he’s already racked up an impressive list of accomplishments and is clearly focused on making the right moves. His next step is ownership and advocacy for fellow rising artists, as he has launched his own label, Hi-Level Productions. Although he’s revealed little about the venture — how it affects his current deal with Atlantic or whose music it’ll be releasing first — it’s clear its aim is to function differently than a corporately controlled major, with its Instagram touting it as “a family, way of life, and Record Label, 100% owned by @cordae.”

The announcement comes just weeks after Cordae released the four-song EP, Just Until, his first compilation of new material since his 2019 debut The Lost Boy. The project included features from Q-Tip and Young Thug, and so far, Cordae’s released videos for two tracks, “More Life” and “Dream In Color.” The project was also his first since his name change from YBN Cordae signified a split from the YBN crew. The creation of his own label continues to highlight the level of creative control he wants to maintain over his work — and possibly, an intention to start signing and developing his own artists.

Check out the logo for Hi-Level above and more info here.

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

With the new Venom: Let There Be Carnage trailer out in the wild, director Andy Serkis has been a surprisingly open book when it comes to breaking down the highly-anticipated sequel to 2018’s Venom that will be the first film to finally showcase the symbiote antihero’s rivalry with his greatest adversary, Carnage. The two have been battling it out in the comics since the ’90s and quickly became fan-favorites, and even after thirty years, they never fail to draw in readers whenever their paths cross.

However, when Carnage makes his big screen debut, he’ll be arriving with a new power that’s been added just for the movie. According to Serkis, Woody Harrelson‘s version of the character will have the ability to transform into a mist allowing him to fit into tight spaces and avoid detection. Via IGN:

“He can turn to mist. He can turn to all manner of tendrils. He can take different forms. He can weaponize, he can do all of these different things,” Serkis says. “With all symbiotes, they reflect the person who is their host. So the darkness of Carnage, the playfulness, the wit, the strangeness because Cletus… has a real intelligence and in the way that he uses violence as a bizarre, twisted, crazy wit about what he does and he has a real sense of humor, and we wanted to reflect that in the symbiote that is linked to him.”

While Venom’s fighting style will continue to rely on brute strength “like a quarterback,” Serkis says Carnage’s attacks will be all over the place, physically and psychologically, to keep his opponents off-kilter. “It would be like trying to have a fight with an octopus basically.”

(Via IGN)

David Weil, the creator and showrunner behind Amazon’s Jordan Peele-produced series Hunters—about an unassuming team of Jewish Nazi hunters who are on the loose with Al Pacino as their leader—is back with a brand-new limited series. This time it’s Solos, a sci-fi anthology series that has proven, yet again, that Weil is a master of assembling an all-star cast. Oscar winners Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, and Anne Hathaway are joined by the equally talented Uzo Aduba, Dan Stevens, Nicole Beharie, Constance Wu, and Anthony Mackie (Times two! There are two of him!) as the show’s main cast members.

As for what the series is about? Well… don’t expect the first trailer—which you can watch in full above—to give too much away. Or to really tell you much of anything. And don’t look to Amazon’s official summary to fill in the blanks either:

“Solos is a dramatic and thought-provoking seven-part anthology series that explores the deeper meaning of human connection, as explored through the lens of the individual. Solos will tell unique character-driven stories, each from a different perspective and moment in time, that illuminate that even during our most seemingly isolated moments, in the most disparate of circumstances, we are all connected through the human experience.”

You got that? Nope? Same here. That’s fine. All will (hopefully) be explained soon enough when Solos drops on Prime Video on May 21, 2021.

When Medina Spirit won the Kentucky Derby two weekends ago, it was yet another feather in the cap of trainer Bob Baffert, but the week since has been anything but a normal Derby winner media tour, as Baffert has had to answer for the horse testing positive for a banned substance.

What ensued was an incredibly surreal timeline that included Donald Trump calling the horse “a junky,” which is an objectively hilarious thing to call a horse, Baffert blaming “cancel culture” for his horse testing positive for a banned substance, and then later coming up with the excuse that a groom at the stable took cough syrup and then peed in the horse’s hay, which he ate and then caused him to test positive — which, stunningly, is an excuse he’s used before.

Unsurprisingly, none of that really flew with people in the horse racing space and on Tuesday, Baffert issued a statement through his attorney admitting that they gave the horse an anti-fungal ointment for weeks that contained the banned substance found in the positive test.

Nothing helps your claim that you accidentally and unknowingly gave your horse a banned substance for almost a full month like going on Fox News to blame cancel culture and then lying about someone peeing in the horse’s hay. Even if its true, your job as a horse trainer is to know all the things you’re giving your horse and what is in them, so if the vet recommends an ointment one of the first questions you should look into is, “does this have anything on the banned substance list?”

Alas, this should be the end of the Bob Baffert media tour as its going to be hard to rail against cancel culture or Robitussin’d up stable workers when it was a cream you gave the horse daily for weeks that had the banned substance in it. In short: