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The first trailer for Netflix’s The Old Guard made it clear that Charlize Theron was in serious butt-kicking mode as the leader of an immortal mercenary group. On Thursday, the streaming giant dropped another trailer, which contains a lot of the same moments, but it also adds something that was missing from its predecessor: one-liners that could rival those from a 1980s Arnold Schwarzenegger flick. That might be the necessary ingredient that allows us to get lost in a blockbuster-style action flick at home, as though we’ve been transported back to the height of Cinemax summer reruns. That’s comforting in a time when not even the movies can go to the movies.

I’m getting the same vibes from Charlize’s exasperated reaction (“Can you please not do that again”) to being stabbed by KiKi Layne’s new recruit as I did from Arnold’s immortal Commando line (“Remember, Sully, when I promised to kill you last? I lied). Add the group’s casual reference to going way back to The Crusades, and yeah, this movie will probably hit the spot. It’s comic-book based as well, sourcing from Greg Rucka’s acclaimed graphic novel of the same name. From the synopsis:

Led by a warrior named Andy (Charlize Theron), a covert group of tight-knit mercenaries with a mysterious inability to die have fought to protect the mortal world for centuries. But when the team is recruited to take on an emergency mission and their extraordinary abilities are suddenly exposed, it’s up to Andy and Nile (KiKi Layne), the newest soldier to join their ranks, to help the group eliminate the threat of those who seek to replicate and monetize their power by any means necessary… THE OLD GUARD is a gritty, grounded, action-packed story that shows living forever is harder than it looks.

Netflix’s The Old Guard — directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and also starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Matthias Schoenaerts, Luca Marinelli, and Marwan Kenzari — streams on July 10.

Despite recent spikes in new COVID-19 cases after the first phase of re-opening in multiple states, some artists, promoters, and venues really want to get back to business as well. It’s an understandable impulse, with some experts predicting that many promotions companies will be unable to recover from the lost profits of 2020. Country singer Chase Rice was censured by fans for holding a concert at a state penitentiary over the weekend, while Vanilla Ice is struggling to move tickets to an upcoming live show in Texas. Meanwhile, comedian DL Hughley collapsed during a live performance in Nashville and diagnosed with COVID-19.

That news hasn’t stopped artists from trying to get back to business as usual, though. Consequence Of Sound reports that North Carolina rapper DaBaby is booked for a 4th Of July concert in Decatur, Georgia this weekend at Cosmopolitan, a newly renovated venue. DaBaby is listed alongside Memphis rappers Blac Youngsta and MoneyBagg Yo as headliner of the “4th of July Bash” being promoted by J Hart Productions. While the show’s Eventbrite page urges attendees to “Bring your mask and be prepared for social distancing guidelines,” there’s little question that in the continuum of bad ideas, this one’s a little like crossing a busy street looking at your phone, especially as Georgia is one of those states that recently saw a spike in COVID activity.

DaBaby hasn’t mentioned the concert as yet on any of his social media, but that could just be reasonable reticence to tempt Twitter trolls and so-called “cancel culture” with which he had a recent run-in over social posts. We’ll see how things turn out but hopefully in the future, DaBaby sticks to virtual performances like his excellent one with Roddy Ricch at the 2020 BET Awards.

For more info on the 4th of July Bash, visit Eventbrite.

The first two cover athletes for the latest NBA 2K release were announced earlier this week. Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard will appear on the cover for games who have current generation consoles, while New Orleans Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson is the face of the game for those who will purchase next generation consoles a little later this year.

But in the announcement last week about cover athletes for NBA 2K21, 2K Sports revealed that a trio of basketball players will appear on the front of the game. The final name was announced on Thursday morning, and in a bit of news that may not come as a surprise, the late Kobe Bryant will get a pair of covers for this year’s version of the game.

NBA 2K announced on its official Twitter account that there will be a “Mamba Forever” edition of this year’s release. One cover, which will be released on current generation consoles, features Bryant wearing No. 8, while the version that will appear on next generation consoles will have Bryant wearing No. 24.

This is hardly the first time that Bryant has appeared on the cover of a game, as he was on the cover for NBA 2K10 and the Legend Edition of NBA 2K17, the latter of which being the first release in the series following his retirement. Preorders for NBA 2K21 began on Thursday morning, with the game slated to drop on Sept. 4. As for pricing, Lillard’s cover will cost $59.99, Williamson’s cover will run you $69.99, and Bryant’s cover — which includes an upgrade for next generation consoles — is $99.99.

Kenan Thompson has been a cast member on SNL since 2003, so he’s seen it all. The Ashlee Simpson hoedown dance, Donald Trump hosting twice, “musical guest Karmin.” But even with his sketch background, it took many years before the longest-tenured cast member in the show’s history stopped worrying about getting fired. In a Hollywood Reporter-hosted roundtable interview hosted with fellow comedians, including Ramy Youssef, Kumail Nanjiani, and Ricky Gervais, Thompson was asked how long it took him to feel comfortable on SNL. “After a couple of seasons, because you have to let that go and just do the job,” he responded. “If you’re so focused on getting fired every single show, you can’t focus on entertaining people. It just doesn’t work like that.”

Gervais had a different take than Thompson.

“No, you’ve got to try to get fired, that’s my advice,” the five-time Golden Globes host said. “Ricky, that’s terrible advice,” Nanjiani responded. “You can do that if you’re Ricky Gervais, but somebody else gets their first job, they take your advice and try to get fired and guess what?” Thompson answered for him: “They get fuckin’ fired.”

The interview is full of entertaining back-and-forths between Gervais and his fellow panelists, especially Youssef (you should really be watching Ramy). Here’s one:

Gervais: That’s the best time. When everyone’s on edge and sensitive, that’s the best time to be insensitive. My show was packed with jokes about AIDS, cancer, famine, the Holocaust. So, this is just going to top it off.

Youssef: I’m glad this helps Ricky’s brand.

And another:

Youssef: Ricky, what if God is real?

Get those two a The Trip-style movie ASAP.

(Via the Hollywood Reporter)

Last year’s What/If proved Netflix’s dedication to offering up addictively trashy fare (revolving around extra-marital drama) with a polished pedigree. Revenge‘s Mike Kelly engineered that anthologized hit in series form, and now, the streaming giant’s offering what can only be interpreted — what else can one gather from a title like Fatal Affair? — as a straight-up homage to 1987’s Fatal Attraction. That Glenn Close-starring classic, of course, has inspired films before, including the Beyonce-led Obsessed in 2009, and my goodness, what a cautionary tale this trailer weaves.

Nia Long stars as a wife (Ellie) with a “perfect marriage” to Stephen Bishop’s Marcus, but of course, temptation strikes because (I guess) she’s bored, and the passion has faded away. Enter David (portrayed by Omar Epps), who lures Ellie into a passionate encounter, and although her conscience strikes at the last possible moment, it’s far too late to get rid of David. Soon, he’s infiltrating her whole life, and this looks like pure melodrama that should get about 24 million views.

Let this be a lesson to all who consider grabbing a drink with that “old friend” from Facebook that you didn’t know all that well in the first place. David is “dangerous and unstable,” according to the synopsis, and I believe it. The film’s directed by Peter Sullivan, who previously directed 2018’s Secret Obsession starring Brenda Song, so it seems as though this project landed in the most appropriate hands possible.

Fatal Affair streams on July 16.

Given the current state of the world, performing live concerts isn’t a good idea. That’s not stopping Vanilla Ice, though: The “Ice Ice Baby” rapper is set to perform a show in Austin, Texas tomorrow, July 3. Virtually all concerts and live events have been canceled due to concerns about the pandemic, but social distancing could actually be easy to achieve at this show: The Texas Tribune reports that according to the venue’s organizer, as of Wednesday night (two days before the event), only 84 tickets for the performance have been sold.

This comes shortly after Texas governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order to shut down bars in the state. However, Emerald Point Bar & Grill on Lake Travis, where the show is set to take place, is classified as a restaurant, so it is able to operate at 50-percent capacity.

The order also bans outdoor gatherings of over 100 people. Emerald Point owner Barret Brannam noted the capacity for the event is set at 450 people, saying, “We’re not trying to buck the system — we’re going within the guidelines we’ve been given. Music is part of Emerald Point — and it will always be part of us going forward. […] We reduced the capacity to 450 people because that’s what we thought we could space with tables. It’s really not as gross as people are making it out to be.”

He added, “[Vanilla Ice] has already been paid. If I cancel the show, […] I’m just flushing money down the toilet. […] If only a couple hundred people come out, at least those people got to see a cool show.”

A few days ago, Vanilla Ice posted concert footage and wrote on Instagram, “I can’t wait to get back to this. The 90s were the best. We didn’t have coronavirus, or cell phones, or computers. we had 5.0’s, blockbuster, Beavis and Butthead, Wayne’s world, Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan. And Mortal Kombat is still better than fortnight but we got out of the house, We danced, we invented house parties in the 90s. The last of the great decades.”

This morning, he shared a video of street performers and, seemingly in response to the backlash his upcoming performance has received, wrote, “Music makes the world go around. It makes people happy. I think we could all use some happiness With all this corona mess Happening.”

Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s The Walking Dead character, Negan, continues to live on in the AMC television show. There is no reason to believe he will not continue to survive, especially as Jeffrey Dean Morgan is increasingly the face of the most popular television franchise on cable. However, had Negan been killed off in Robert Kirkman’s comic-book, his open-ended existence on the television show may not have been as logical. If Maggie had killed Negan in the comics — as Robert Kirkman had originally envisioned — fans of the series, and especially of the comics, might have had a harder time swallowing Negan’s redemption arc.

It very nearly came to pass, too, that Maggie would shoot and kill Negan, finally avenging her husband Glenn’s murder at the hands of Negan and his baseball bat, Lucille. In “Negan Lives,” a special stand-alone issue of Robert Kirkman’s comic arriving a year after he ended the comic series, Kirkman explains why he did not kill off Negan after he wrote the issue and sent it off to his illustrator, Charlie Adlard.

Adlard responded the Negan’s death with an email that convinced Kirkman to change his mind. At the end of the “Negan Lives” issue, Kirkman reveals the contents of the email. In the email, Adlard tells Kirkman him that he felt “unconvinced” by Maggie’s decision to shoot and kill Negan, that it “feels a bit forced”:

As I said, the more I got to know Negan — especially over these last few years — the more I wished he’d stayed around till the end. I wish redemption would’ve worked for him. This is absolutely no criticism of you at all, but more a criticism of western [at least] literature/entertainment, where, because the majority of us find the death penalty — therefore an eye for an eye adage — abhorrent, we carry it out in fantasy. Hardly any western villain gets away with not dying at the end. We, as an audience, always demand the ultimate punishment for our fantasy bad guys. It’s a shame we didn’t break the mould with Negan… the baddest of bad guys, but very far down the road to redemption and forgiveness, who pays the usual ultimate price — death. Imagine, if he lived, what we could say about our society?

That’s interesting, and it tracks some of what Carl said before his death, words that inspired Rick to spare Negan’s life. In a scene that mirrors the comics, Maggie also nearly had an opportunity to kill Negan in jail, but then Rick “died” and all hell broke loose. With Maggie coming back next season (whenever that is), it will be very interesting to see how well she and Negan play together.

In the meantime, “Negan Lives” is on comic-book stores now — and only in comic-book stores, because Kirkman wrote it and is given it away to comic-book store to kickstart their business in the wake of the pandemic. The issue covers Negan’s whereabouts in the comics between the moment Maggie decided to spare his life in Issue #174 and the final issue, #193. Because Kirkman had originally planned to kill him off, and because he had already mapped out the comic to the end by then, he didn’t want to introduce any more Negan stories. This covers that period for Negan, and while it does not advance Negan’s story beyond Issue #193, Kirkman is not completely ruling out that possibility.

“I’ll never say never,” Kirkman said.

In the meantime, The Walking Dead season finale is expected to air sometime this fall, along with the new spin-off series The World Beyond.

Source: The Insider

In multiple ways, this ongoing pandemic is bad news for the music industry. There are some immediately obvious signs of that, like all the concerts and festivals that have been canceled or postponed over the past few months. Overall, the industry is in danger, and a collection of over 1,500 artists recognize that. So, they’ve signed an open letter to the UK government an an effort to get them to take immediate action.

The letter is addressed to Oliver Dowden — Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport — and it insists that “government support will be crucial to prevent mass insolvencies, and the end of this great world-leading industry,” noting that “with no end to social distancing in sight or financial support from government yet agreed, the future for concerts and festivals and the hundreds of thousands of people who work in them looks bleak.”

In support of the letter, artists, festivals, venues, and other entities will posts photos and/or videos of their last live performances with the hashtag #LetTheMusicPlay on social media today (July 2). The list of artists who have attached their names to this endeavor is a long one, and it includes Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa, Paul McCartney, Coldplay, The 1975, The Rolling Stones, Lewis Capaldi, Radiohead, Florence And The Machine, Mumford & Sons, Jamie xx, The xx, FKA Twigs, Christine And The Queens, Queens Of The Stone Age, Sting, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Idles, Alt-J, and so many others.

Read the full letter below, find the complete list of artists who have signed here, and learn more about #LetTheMusicPlay here.

“Dear Secretary of State,

UK live music has been one of the UK’s biggest social, cultural, and economic successes of the past decade. From world-famous festivals to ground-breaking concerts, the live music industry showcases, supports, and develops some of the best talent in the world – on and off-stage.

As important as it is, our national and regional contribution isn’t purely cultural. Our economic impact is also significant, with live music adding £4.5billion to the British economy and supporting 210,000 jobs across the country in 2019.

Like every part of the entertainment industry, live music has been proud to play our part in the national effort to reduce the spread of Coronavirus and keep people safe. But, with no end to social distancing in sight or financial support from government yet agreed, the future for concerts and festivals and the hundreds of thousands of people who work in them looks bleak.

This sector doesn’t want to ask for government help. The promoters, festival organisers, and other employers want to be self-sufficient, as they were before lockdown. But, until these businesses can operate again, which is likely to be 2021 at the earliest, government support will be crucial to prevent mass insolvencies, and the end of this great world-leading industry.

Government has addressed two important British pastimes – football and pubs – and it’s now crucial that it focuses on a third, live music. For the good of the economy, the careers of emerging British artists, and the UK’s global music standing, we must ensure that a live music industry remains when the pandemic has finally passed.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

It’s hard to imagine the sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse being better than the Oscar-winning original, which we named the best comic book movie of the 2010s. I probably said the same thing about Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, though, and then Alfred Molina was cast as Doctor Octopus for Spider-Man 2. Little is known about the still-untitled Spider-Verse follow-up, other than it’s scheduled to come out on October 7, 2022, and Shameik Moore and Hailee Steinfeld are returning as Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy, respectively, but producer Chris Miller claims it will be “groundbreaking.”

On Thursday, Miller, one-half of the team behind Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and The Lego Movie, tweeted, “The development of new groundbreaking art techniques being done for the next Spider-Verse movie are already blowing me away. It’s going to make the first movie look quaint.” Considering Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is one of the most visually striking animated movies ever, that’s an exciting update.

Spider-Ham is going to look amazing.

If you can’t wait until October 2022 for more Spidey, there’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, the sequel to the fantastic Spider-Man, on PlayStation 5 to look forward to. It’s out later this year, while Tom Holland’s MCU Spider-Man returns in November 2021 (for now).

Or just listen to this Weird Al song.

(Via Twitter/Chris Miller)

Since the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, earlier this year, protesters have taken to the streets across the country to demand equal justice and police reform, as the Black Lives Matter Movement has captured the national attention in a way it never has before.

The hiatus from professional sports amid the COVID-19 pandemic has offered many athletes an opportunity to engage in the movement in a way they never have before, as stars from the NBA, WNBA, NFL, and other leagues have joined protesters in their home cities and used their influence and their celebrity status to help spread awareness.

Some athletes have been entrenched in the battle for equal rights long before this year’s nationwide mobilization. WNBA star Maya Moore, for instance, sat out last season and the upcoming season in order to focus on the fight for criminal justice reform, and in March, she was able to help a man get his 50-year prison sentence overturned.

Jonathan Irons, who is now 40, has maintained his innocence on a burglary conviction that has imprisoned him since he was 18, and when he was finally released on Wednesday, Moore was there to greet him. Via Kurt Streeter of The New York Times:

Irons, 40, an African-American man convicted at age 18, was met by Moore and her family outside the Jefferson City Correctional Center, a maximum-security prison off a countryside thruway called No More Victims Road. Then Irons took his first steps into liberty as an adult.

It was the culmination of a yearslong effort by his supporters to win his freedom, a campaign that factored in a decision by Moore last year to forego playing in the W.N.B.A. at the peak of her success.

WNBA star Maya Moore sat out the entire season last year and helped overturn the conviction of Jonathan Irons, who was serving a 50-year prison sentence.

He was finally released today.

(via @MooreMaya) pic.twitter.com/fUWEEFP1nz

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 2, 2020

Irons was convicted by an all-white jury, with testimony from only a single eyewitness — the victim — who didn’t initially identify him from a lineup, and no DNA, fingerprint, or blood analysis evidence. Irons’ conviction was overturned back in March, but he wasn’t freed from jail until Wednesday due to the lengthy appeals process to his sentence being overturned.

Moore, who met Irons prior to beginning her UConn career, first began to concentrate her efforts on the criminal justice reform in 2016, following the murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO. She’s now missed two straight WNBA seasons, while still arguably in the prime of her career, and says she has no immediate plans to return to basketball.

(The New York Times)