GoneTrending

Back in 2014, Chris Rock debuted Top Five at the Toronto International Film Festival. He directed, wrote, and starred in the movie, which undeniably felt more personal than most of his previous roles. This was a comedy (with romantic elements) that included occasionally dramatic moments, but more importantly, it was a semi-autobiographical story about a stand-up comedian (Andre Allen) who was attempting to be a so-called serious actor (and it wasn’t going well for Mr. Allen). Rock’s film debuted to critical acclaim at TIFF, and a surprised Rock told Deadline that he’d had trouble getting the movie listed in the festival. This wasn’t a totally serious movie, but clearly, he was having a hard time being taken seriously. As a result, Rock felt gratified by the reception, and he suggested that perhaps more heavily dramatic moments were coming.

“As a comedian, if you’re going to do a drama you’ve got to really do a f*cking drama,” Rock declared at the time while discussing the difficulty of moving outside his comedic box. “Like, some sh*t has to happen for people to accept that you’re not making them laugh.” He further remarked that he’d love to be like Matt Damon, who can be funny or “just pop up in Interstellar and be great.” Yet to play a role like Andre Allen, Rock had to create it himself. Otherwise, he’s content to still be working as an entertainer, and yes, he has always been entertaining, even as a zebra in those blasted Madagascar movies.

Look, I loved Top Five. It wasn’t a perfect movie, but Rock infused wit with vulnerability and laced the film with sharp social commentary (while semi-unloading on himself). Many years after 1991’s New Jack City, in which Rock embodied a tragic drug addict named Pookie, I hoped that his launching of an unexpected “hot TIFF buy” was a stepping stone for him to tiptoe into deeper waters. Well, a lot has happened to Rock since Top Five, and he’s told everyone about it, as anyone who’s watched his 2018 Netflix stand-up special, Tamborine, can attest. That special, part of a national, sold-out tour, actually felt like a public self-therapy session. It felt seemed as if he was channeling his Top Five protagonist, albeit a more brutal version. He grew confessional, announcing his divorce and taking the blame for his infidelity and porn addiction.

Heavy stuff. Yet Rock kept his audience laughing throughout the set.

Fast forward a few more years, and Rock has circled away from comedy again. He’s about to debut in an unmistakably dramatic role with FX’s Fargo, in which he plays a 1950s crime boss named Loy Cannon. As he told Hollywood Reporter, it’s “the best role I’ve ever had.” Having screened the season, I can say that yes, that’s objectively correct. Even though I still prefer seeing Rock’s vulnerable (and emotional, if not outright dramatic) side in Top Five, he gives an understated yet menacing performance in Fargo‘s fourth season. What’s also very clear is that this is the first time in a long time that someone (who is not Chris Rock) hired Chris Rock to play something other than — let’s face it — straight-up-funny-voiced Chris Rock.

Since landing the Fargo gig, Rock created another “different” type of role for himself: producing and starring in a Saw reboot, which looks like a bloody and bleak take on buddy-cop tropes. Like Fargo, Spiral: From The Book Of Saw was intended for a spring 2020 release. So, we have to wait, but there’s more: Rock recently disclosed that he’s spending seven hours per week in therapy, digging through his childhood trauma and his recently diagnosed nonverbal learning disorder — meaning that he misses the 80-ish% of communication that is nonverbal (“And all I understand are the words”).

Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Rock wrote and pulled off Top Five (which, if you haven’t gathered, I think you should watch if you have not) and performed in the aforementioned New Jack City role (also very good) long before his diagnosis. He’s now getting a renewed taste of dramatic acting in Fargo, so there’s every reason to believe that he could go on to more roles of this caliber. (Or not! Look at whatever Adam Sandler is doing after Uncut Gems.) What I’m saying is this: there’s potential for Rock’s Fargo role to not be the last time he gets serious onscreen, especially if he’s working hard on understanding nonverbal cues. This endeavor will benefit him in his everyday personal life, yes, but it’s also a hell of a way to hone one’s acting skills.

I’m trying to armchair-psychology anyone. I’m simply suspecting, after watching Rock’s surprisingly restrained performance (a rarity for him, no matter how you paint it) in Fargo, that Chris Rock has really caught the acting bug now. If that’s the case, may we all reap the benefits of such a career transition. He could very well break people’s hearts again like he did as the doomed, desperately-addicted Pookie. He’s not tied into any future Fargo seasons, so who knows where he’ll go from here. I hope he mixes it up. In other words, watch out because it could happen.

Underneath it all, Rock will remain bitingly funny. He’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but no one can deny that he’s done everything to mine laughs on the big screen, including a nude sky-fall in Kevin Smith’s Dogma. Even doing voice work, no one can accuse him of being less than enthusiastic with his effort. Speaking of which, one of the funniest (and most accurate) things that Chris Rock has ever done is to freely call himself (and his Hollywood peers) out at the 2012 Oscars for accepting so much money for standing in a booth and uttering a few lines, which he called “the easiest job in the world.” He’s ready for more, and Fargo‘s fourth season is here to that effect.

FX’s ‘Fargo’ returns for Season 4 on Sunday, September 27.

Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals was, fittingly, both teams throwing haymakers in the form of various runs throughout the game.

It started with Miami jumping out to a sizable lead, only for the Celtics to cut it to two at the half. The Heat would again jump in front in the third quarter, only for the Celtics to erase that lead with a 22-8 run that saw them go in front by as many as six. From there, however, it was all Miami, who went on a 26-6 run of their own in the fourth quarter to take a lead they would, this time, not relinquish.

The end result was a 125-113 win for the Heat, who punch their ticket to the NBA Finals to face an old friend in LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. Here are our takeaways from an excellent Game 6 that sets us up with a very intriguing Finals matchup.

1. Bam Adebayo needs to impose his will

The Heat have gotten to the Finals by way of a varied approach to who will lead them offensively on any given night. Sometimes that’s Jimmy Butler, who started off hot in this one but was pretty quiet in the second half. Sometimes it’s Goran Dragic, who wasn’t even in the closing lineup for Miami in Game 6. Sometimes it’s Tyler Herro, the hero of Game 4. In this one, it was Bam Adebayo, who dominated on both ends and was the catalyst for their fourth quarter run.

Adebayo finished the game with 32 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists on 11-for-15 shooting (10-for-11 from the free throw line), as he simply dominated the Boston frontcourt and made seemingly every big play when the Heat needed it. As they shift their attention to the NBA Finals, Adebayo’s presence is going to need to be massive, given that Anthony Davis and a very big Lakers frontcourt are waiting. Adebayo is more than capable of putting forth this kind of performance regularly, but the Heat should make a point of involving him early and often because drawing attention inside to him can further open up opportunities for their shooters on the perimeter. How he fares against Davis and the Lakers frontcourt will be a key factor in the Finals, and his final showing in the conference finals more than proved he’s capable of dominating.

2. The Celtics had their opportunities

Boston had ample opportunity in this one as their offense seemed to figure out the Miami zone, but they just could not make enough of the good looks they created at the rim — or hit enough threes, as they were just 15-for-46 from deep. Boston will look back at this as a series they let slip away, from the late leads Miami erased in the first two games to a Game 6 that they took a 96-90 fourth quarter lead in. Instead, it’s a disappointing end to what was a tremendous season, with plenty to work out in the offseason.

Jayson Tatum still needs to find a bit more offensive consistency, as there were too many stretches in this series where his impact was minimal, if he’s to be their leading man. He was 9-for-26 from the field for 24 points in Game 6, playing well but, like many of his teammates, simply couldn’t find the net efficiently enough given the looks he and others created. Jaylen Brown led the way with 26 points, but likewise has some growth to show in impacting the game offensively on a nightly basis — something you could say about Kemba Walker as well.

There’s plenty of good to look back on for the Celtics this offseason, but the ending certainly stings. They’re well positioned to continue being a contender in the East, but the front office will surely be thinking of ways to upgrade the roster, particularly in the frontcourt, and their young star duo still has some work to do — but work they seem more than willing to put in.

3. The Heat keep getting role players to step up

Miami can lean on Goran Dragic, Jimmy Butler, and Bam Adebayo to provide a baseline of competitiveness every night, but what’s been incredible to watch this postseason has been how their role players have stepped up when their number has been called. Herro’s Game 4 is the most prolific example, but Duncan Robinson continues to do what’s asked of him — mostly shoot threes, but sometimes doing more. Jae Crowder has cooled off but his scalding shooting performance against the Bucks was hugely important, and on Sunday night it was Andre Iguodala who caught fire with a perfect 5-for-5 night, including 4-for-4 from three-point range, to give Miami a shooting lift off the bench.

Iguodala’s offensive contributions are always a bonus, but then again you could say the same about Crowder when he joined this Heat team and for Miami to get here they have needed those contributions. The Lakers series figures to bring Kelly Olynyk back into the fold, and his shooting has the opportunity to be a pivot point, as does the stress presented by Herro and Robinson running around the perimeter. We know Miami’s three All-Star caliber players are going to be important and have to find ways to matchup with the Lakers superstar duo, but Miami’s role players can out-duel the Lakers role guys and that is where this Finals could get very interesting.

The NBA Finals are set. In a matchup that no one saw coming — well, at least half of it, anyway — the Los Angeles Lakers emerged as the champions of the Western Conference, while the Miami Heat came out on top of the Eastern Conference. It’s a fascinating stylistic matchup, one that has the added subplot of LeBron James taking on the team he dramatically left in free agency back in 2014.

That, though, is in the past, and right now, the two teams have their collective eyes on winning the Larry O’Brien trophy. Picking up four wins in this series is going to be really, really hard, and thanks to the Heat taking care of business on Sunday evening in Game 6 against the Boston Celtics, we now know how the Finals schedule will look. (All times EST)

Game 1: Wednesday, Sept. 30, 9 p.m.
Game 2: Friday, Oct. 2, 9 p.m.
Game 3: Sunday, Oct. 4, 7:30 p.m.
Game 4: Tuesday, Oct. 6, 9 p.m.
Game 5: Friday, Oct. 9, 9 p.m.
Game 6: Sunday, Oct. 11, 7:30 p.m.
Game 7: Tuesday, Oct. 13, 9 p.m.

Of course, while it is everyone here at Dime’s strong preference that this series ends up being seven absolutely fantastic games, those final three tilts on the schedule will only be played if necessary. As for how you can watch, all games will be broadcast on ABC. The two teams played twice this season — once in November, once in December — with the Lakers picking up a pair of wins.

The coronavirus pandemic may have almost entirely shut down the movie industry, but only in America, whose leaders have struggled (or, in some cases, not struggled enough) to contain its spread. Good thing James Cameron was making his many Avatar sequels half a world away, off in far-flung New Zealand, which was able to get its numbers down to zero before just about everyone. And lo and behold, they did such a good job that Cameron and team are “100 percent complete” shooting Avatar 2, and “95 percent” done with Avatar 3.

As per Entertainment Weekly, the Oscar-winning filmmaker broke the news during a Zoom call with frequent star Arnold Schwarzenegger, as they spoke ahead of the 2020 Austrian World Summit.

“COVID hit us like it hit everybody,” Camerons said. “We lost about four and a half months of production.” He’d already announced that they pushed the release date back a year, to December 2022. “Now that doesn’t mean I have an extra year to finish the film because the day we deliver Avatar 2 we’ll just start working on finishing Avatar 3.”

He added, “So where we are right now, I’m down in New Zealand shooting. We’re shooting the remainder of the live-action. We’ve got about 10 percent left to go. We’re 100 percent complete on Avatar 2 and we’re sort of 95 percent complete on Avatar 3.”

While Hollywood productions have been put on hold and even numerous theatrical releases have been repeatedly delayed — and will no doubt continue to do so considering Tenet’s comparatively paltry box office numbers mid-COVID — Team Avatar Sequels have been dropping photos from the set, featuring stars like Sam Worthington, Zoë Saldana, Kate Winslet, and Cliff Curtis hard at work.

Of course, just because principal photography is done doesn’t mean you’ll be seeing it anytime soon. There’s a ton of effects work to be done, and Cameron has to deliver on next level tech that will advance the art in ways that will keep audiences coming back for a ream of sequels over the next handful of years. And just to remind you, when Avatar 2 does drop in two years and change, it will have been 13 years since the last time you feasted your 3-D eyes on Pandora, and maybe the last time you heard about “unobtanium.”

(Via EW)

TikTok — which has become of the most popular social media and video sharing apps — was supposed to be yanked from U.S. app stores this weekend, having drawn the ire of President Donald Trump. But those worried that that would bring an end to a program that’s only gained in popularity during the quarantine era can breathe a sigh of relief: A federal judge has put a stop to that, at last for now.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, U.S. District Court Judge Carl Nichols gave TikTok a temporary reprieve after its owner, ByteDance, successfully argued against Trump’s ruling. Back in August, the Trump administration had claimed the app was a national security threat, alleging that the Chinese-owned company was poaching users’ information. He’d ordered that it find a new American owner by mid-September. The company had been working with Oracle and Walmart, but the deadline passed without a finalized deal.

But TikTok was able to convince Nichols, who was appointed by Trump, to give them some more time. As per THR:

“The company argues that Trump’s ban exceeds presidential authority, violates users’ First Amendment rights, and because it’s arbitrary and capricious, also flouts the Administrative Procedures Act. TikTok adds that the ban amounts to impermissible regulation of users’ “personal communications” and was not “motivated by a genuine national security concern, but rather by political considerations relating to the upcoming general election.”

They also argued that there was no proof that the Chinese government was tapping into user data.

Had Trump’s ban gone into effect as planned, TikTok would vanish from app stores over the next six weeks, and current users would not receive updates. After that the app would have likely disappeared from the United States altogether. Current users, of course, would still have access to the app, but there would be no more updates. Ironically, argued TikTok lawyer John Hall, that would prove a threat, as updates often include security updates that protect users from predators.

So for now, TikTok is saved, ready to fight another day against a president who reportedly barely pays taxes because he can’t. Let’s celebrate with the latest TikTok blockbuster:
 

(Via THR)

On Sunday, The New York Times revealed they’d gotten their hands on President Donald Trump’s long-withheld tax returns, and surprise surprise, the news wasn’t great. The short version of the epic piece: His entire empire is a dense latticework of money-losing businesses propped up by tax grifts big and small, ready to crumble at any minute — say, as soon as he leaves the White House.

But there were a number of details that did come as a surprise. The one that got most people more than most was also the piece’s lede, which comprised these damning words: “Donald J. Trump paid $750 in federal income taxes the year he won the presidency. In his first year in the White House, he paid another $750.”

There was more — a lot more. There were detailed attempts to untangle his Christmas tree lights ball that were his finances. There were shady transpirings. There were salacious details, such as that he had his administration hire his daughter Ivanka as a private consultant when she was already a White House employee, to reduce his taxable income, then deducted the fee “as a cost of doing business.” There was them labeling one of their frequented homes as an “investment property” for tax savings, which they would have gotten away with had Eric Trump not blabbed the truth to Forbes back in 2014.

But it was hard to get past that lede — that damning opening intel. Upon learning a self-proclaimed billionaire was paying almost nothing in taxes — and had paid actually nothing for many years — was not well received online.

Some asked if anyone had paid more than a purported business wiz in taxes.

Some pointed out that Joe and Jill Biden paid quite a lot more than that, despite allegedly not being as wealthy as the Trumps.

Some pointed out that he’d paid more in taxes in other countries where he’s not president.

Others tried to reason with his ride-or-die supporters.

“Al Capone” started trending.

A reminder that Trump doesn’t know how to spell Al’s full name, “Alphonse,” despite weirdly trying to use it.

It’s enraging, upsetting news, but some tried to find gallows humor.

Or still make jokes.

One that was definitely both funny and angering was the $70,000 he pays for hair products. To maintain that.

Eventually #TrumpIsBroke started trending.

So maybe there’s a silver lining to all this. Sort of.

Anyway, election day is Tueday, November 3, and many states are already sending out absentee ballots and allowing early voting.

There were a few weeks when Taylor Swift’s eighth album Folklore did not sit atop the Billboard album charts. When it landed, it went straight to number one, selling a massive 846,000 units in first week. There it sat for the next six weeks, the most for any album since Drake’s 2016 album Views. But now, after surrendering the title to others over the last three weeks, Folklore is back to the top of the charts.

The album’s return to No. 1 is thanks to 87,000 equivalent album units, with 56,000 of those being albums sales and 30,000 being streaming equivalent album units. This gives her the most overall weeks at No. 1 in a career among female artists, which is to say 47. Earlier this month she tied Whitney Houston at 46 weeks, which she has now passed. It also gives her the fifth most weeks atop the charts for any artist behind only The Beatles (132), Elvis Presley (67), Garth Brooks (52), and Michael Jackson (51).

Elsewhere on the top five, Pop Smoke’s Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon came in at No. 2, with 75,000 units, Alicia Keys’ ALICIA placed No. 4, and Juice WRLD’s Legends Never Die scored No. 5.

The new entries into the top ten of are Moneybagg Yo and Blac Youngsta’s Code Red at No. 6, Keith Urban’s The Speed of Now, Part 1 at No. 7, and Lil Tecca’s Virgo World at No. 10.

(via Billboard)

Donald Trump’s tax returns have long been the Holy Grail of those who, well, want to hold the president accountable to the law. For years a man so unpopular he was booed at a public wake has blocked any and all attempts to access them, hoping that his supporters won’t smell anything fishy about his finances. But almost four years shy of his 2016 presidential win and just over a month until Election Day 2020, The New York Times has gone and belatedly obtained those long-elusive returns. And guess what? It’s not pretty.

Let’s start with perhaps the most shocking revelation, which is that the president — a purported billionaire and self-described business genius — only paid $750 in federal income taxes in 2016, the year he won the presidency. Ditto the following year, his first full year at the job. In other words, there’s a chance that you paid more in federal income taxes than a man whose name still remains on a number of buildings in New York City (and around the country).

But at least that was more than he had paid previously. According to The NYT, “He had paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years — largely because he reported losing much more money than he made.”

What’s more, it appears Trump’s financial worries are about to come home to roost. As per The NYT:

As the president wages a re-election campaign that polls say he is in danger of losing, his finances are under stress, beset by losses and hundreds of millions of dollars in debt coming due that he has personally guaranteed. Also hanging over him is a decade-long audit battle with the Internal Revenue Service over the legitimacy of a $72.9 million tax refund that he claimed, and received, after declaring huge losses. An adverse ruling could cost him more than $100 million.

But wait, there’s more! It turns out that a lot of the Trump empire’s businesses aren’t exactly money-winners, forcing him to create a dense latticework of schemes to stay afloat. From The NYT:

The picture that perhaps emerges most starkly from the mountain of figures and tax schedules prepared by Mr. Trump’s accountants is of a businessman-president in a tightening financial vise.

Most of Mr. Trump’s core enterprises — from his constellation of golf courses to his conservative-magnet hotel in Washington — report losing millions, if not tens of millions, of dollars year after year.

His revenue from “The Apprentice” and from licensing deals is drying up, and several years ago he sold nearly all the stocks that now might have helped him plug holes in his struggling properties.The tax audit looms.

And within the next four years, more than $300 million in loans — obligations for which he is personally responsible — will come due.

Trump this week is scheduled to make his first appearance on the debate stage with his rival, former vice president Joe Biden. There’s something else Biden can use, on top of the stuff about escalating COVID-19 deaths, astronomical unemployment, kids in cages, palling around with dictators, yada yada. If things get really rough, Biden can always just say Trump’s a horrible businessman and wreckless spender who’s drowning in debt.

(Via The NYT)

Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are used to weathering criticism, having endured plenty of it during a tumultuous final season of the HBO show. But recently inspired still more controversy, when word broke about their next project: a Netflix show about a world where slavery didn’t end in the United States. But it turns out that controversy has very little to do with Benioff and Weiss themselves.

Instead the culprit is really Liu Cixen, author of The Three-Body Problem, a series of novels Benioff and Weiss hoped to adapt. Cixen recently made controversial comments about Uyghur Muslims in an interview with The New Yorker, which drew criticism from a number of conservative voices and politicians in the United States, who called on Netflix to stop work on the project. Netflix responded to the criticism on Saturday, issuing a statement that distanced the streaming service from the author’s comments but defended the show in a statement, according to Variety.

The streamer has stood firm in a responding letter, repeatedly pointing to the fact that “Mr. Liu is the author of the books, not the creator of this series.”

“Mr. Liu’s comments are not reflective of the views of Netflix or of the show’s creators, nor are they part of the plot or themes of the show,” wrote Netflix vice president of public policy Dean Garfield in the letter.

Netflix made sure to not condone the statements and clearly stated the author isn’t involved in the show’s creation on Netflix, but it’s an inauspicious start for the series, to say the least.

D.K. Metcalf has emerged as a nearly unstoppable force in his second season in the NFL. The massive Seahawks receiver has a breathtaking combination of size and speed, and has become a favorite target of Russell Wilson as the recipient of Wilson’s phenomenal deep ball ability.

However, rookie Trevon Diggs of the Cowboys might’ve come up with a unique way to keep Metcalf out of the end zone, putting his new strategy to work on Sunday. Metcalf torched Diggs on a go route and Wilson put a perfect pass on him for what should’ve been a walk-in touchdown. Instead, it ended up as a Seahawks turnover because Metcalf pedaled off and, for some reason, decided to stroll into the end zone holding the ball like a loaf of bread.

As such, Diggs darted in from behind and punched the ball out of Metcalf’s hands and through the back of the end zone for a touchback to give Dallas the football at the 20 and keep the game tied at 9-9.

Wilson was, rightfully, upset at what transpired and Metcalf could only shake his head on the sidelines after the embarrassing end to what should’ve been his latest highlight reel touchdown. One can assume that Metcalf will learn from this play and hold the ball much more tightly, even when he’s dusted a DB on a go route in the future. For now, though, the Cowboys get a gift thanks to the effort of Diggs and carelessness of Metcalf.