No one need worry about a hit AI band — except Justin Bieber
Elsewhere the Velvet Sundown sound quite a lot like Kings of Leon, another American band who embraced the unremarkable for commercial rewards. It helps to explain why the Velvet Sundown have attracted one million undiscerning listeners on Spotify. There is, however, a difference. They don't exist.
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Daily Mail
5 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Original Naked Gun creator gives brutal verdict on reboot as he criticizes Liam Neeson casting and takes aim at Seth McFarlane
The creator of the Naked Gun franchise has no plans to watch the reboot starring Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson … and not just because he was unimpressed by the film's trailer. Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail, David Zucker – who also directed the original 1980s police comedy – revealed that he did not decline to participate in the reboot, but was excluded from the project altogether after Paramount Pictures rejected his script in favor of working with producer Seth MacFarlane. 'I wrote a whole script for Naked Gun 4 on spec for Paramount,' Zucker told the Daily Mail. 'I understand the studio's thinking to go with Seth MacFarlane. He's a proven commodity and Liam Neeson is a big star, but it's not a fresh idea.' When it first hit theaters in 1988, The Naked Gun – starring Leslie Nielson, Priscilla Presley, Ricardo Montalban and O.J. Simpson – was a box office success. The spoof-comedy was followed by two sequels in the 1990s. Zucker, along with his brother Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams (otherwise known as comedy trio ZAZ), was also the creative force behind the 1980 cult classic Airplane!, and he went on to direct films in the Scary Movie franchise. In the early stages of the reboot's development, Zucker said he was approached by MacFarlane – best known as the creator of the long-running animated series Family Guy – who praised his work and told Zucker he 'idolized' the original Naked Gun films. 'I had a conversation with Seth and he spent 10 minutes just telling me how he idolized Naked Gun, Airplane, Top Secret,' he said. 'How can you be mad at anybody who tells you how great you are? But it's not enough to be a fan…The guy at my dry cleaners is a big fan, but it doesn't mean he can do Naked Gun.' The original Naked Gun movie, based on the short-lived ABC series Police Squad!, starred Nielsen as police detective Frank Drebin, as his character directly spoofed the widely popular crime dramas of the era. Following its release in December 1988, the film raked in $152.4 million on a budget of $12 million. In 1991, the sequel The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear was released followed by Naked Gun 33+1⁄3: The Final Insult in 1994. In the reboot released this Friday, Neeson portrays bumbling cop Frank Drebin Jr. – who has followed his father's footsteps into law enforcement – while Anderson stars as femme fatale Beth Davenport. Former Saturday Night Live writer and The Lonely Island member Akiva Schaffer directed the remake, and also served as co-writer alongside Dan Gregor and Doug Mand. Zucker criticized the 2025 version for sticking to the same old formula, with similar gags as the first instalment. He highlighted one particular joke in the film, when Anderson's Beth is instructed to 'take a chair' when she arrives in Drebin's office, to which she replies: 'No thank you, I have plenty of chairs at home.' 'We gave up doing those jokes 40 years ago in Police Squad,' Zucker quipped before questioning Neeson's casting. 'OJ… he didn't need to be funny,' he said. 'And even Leslie Nielsen doesn't need to be funny. He just had to be a B movie actor. That's what we did... We didn't pretend to cast Lawrence Olivier or even Al Pacino, but Liam Neeson, for example, he's like Oscar quality. I think he may have won for Schindler's List. So I mean, what's he making fun of?' Unfortunately, this isn't the first time Zucker has been tossed aside by Paramount Pictures in the early stages of the company developing one of his films for a reboot; he also had no involvement in the 1982 sequel Airplane II, which was written and directed by Ken Finkleman. The sequel was critically panned and earned only $27.2 million in the United States and Canada, compared to the original's $83 million box office total. Much like how Zucker never watched Airplane II, he intends to do the same for the Naked Gun reboot. 'I don't plan on seeing it because, why would I?' he said. Zucker then recalled his late creative partner Abrahams's response to critics who questioned why he never watched the Airplane sequel. Abrahams died in November last year following a long battle with leukemia. 'People ask Jim, "Why didn't you go to see Airplane II?" And Jim said, "Well, if your daughter became a prostitute, would you go watch her work?" That was his way.' Of course, that's not to say that he doesn't wish well for MacFarlane, Schaffer, and the creative team behind the new Naked Gun film. In fact, the reboot has been released to early rave reviews. The Daily Mail's Brian Viner gave the movie four out of five stars, dubbing it 'hilarious' and praising Neeson as 'perfection.' 'I hope people go to see it, as miffed as I am at the whole thing,' Zucker admitted. 'Seth thought he knew best and it may actually do well, which is crazy in itself.' These days, Zucker is focused on his own original projects, such as a script for a 'Naked Gun take on the Mission Impossible and Bond film series' called Counter Intelijence, and film noir parody, The Star of Malta. Zucker is also launching a spoof comedy course on August 4, called MasterCrash: A Crash Course in Spoof Comedy, which will break down the 15 essential rules he uses to write, direct, and edit effective comedy. MasterCrash is a nine-hour course delivered through 18 separate videos, giving students hands-on opportunities to learn ZAZ's method of spoof writing, collaborate with other students, learn from surprise guest lecturers, and work closely with Zucker himself. 'As f***ing old as I am, I have the fresh ideas, not these young guys,' he said. 'I want to do something new.'
Daily Mail
8 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Former Playboy model's jaw-dropping revelation about the magazine and her secret feud with fellow cover girl
Former WWE superstars Torrie Wilson and Sable are two of the biggest sex symbols to ever step into the ring. Sable made history when she covered Playboy magazine in 1999, breaking the record for the highest-selling issue in the publication's history at the time. Torrie followed suit in 2003 with her own cover shoot, before the pair teamed up together to become the first WWE stars to share a Playboy cover in 2004. Despite being one of the top female stars in WWE at the time, Torrie told that she made more money doing Playboy than she did in an entire year of wrestling. The blonde bombshell, now 50, also said that she and Sable initially got along with each other and that it was their idea to do Playboy together, despite being locked in an on-screen feud about who the sexiest WWE star in the company was. However, it didn't take long for their scripted storyline to spill over into real life. 'It's really funny to look back on because there was a hint of realness to that [feud],' she explained. 'We were on location in Mexico doing one of those WWE Divas shoots, and she and I started chit-chatting and we were like, "We should take some photos together and then go to Vince [McMahon] and give him this idea,"' she continued. 'And then somewhere along the way we started having a little cattiness go on between us,' she added. Torrie said that she and Sable 'had so much fun' shooting the cover together, but the claws came out when it was time to promote the issue. 'I just feel like she had a completely skewed version of who I was as a person,' Torrie shared. 'She thought that I was trying to like steal the spotlight or something,' she continued. 'I'm just a super people pleaser and will do anything you ask of me, you know?' Torrie also said that she believes the wrestling business can breed competition between women. 'I think that the wrestling industry kind of creates this insecurity because there's always somebody coming up and you're always one show away from losing your job,' she explained. 'And you're under a microscope and people are judging you for every inch of your body, especially back then - it was very much about our looks,' she continued. 'I definitely think it rubbed a lot of people the wrong way when Stacy [Keibler] and I came in and we didn't know how to wrestle and we got a lot of TV time. But what do you expect us to do?' Torrie also insists that she has no regrets about stripping down for the magazine, despite the behind-the-scenes drama she experienced thanks to Sable. 'I don't regret it one bit. Playboy was "it" when I was growing up and I just loved my experience,' she gushed. 'There was a short time, like maybe towards the end where I felt like people judged me for doing it, but I've totally let that go. I don't care and I definitely don't shy away from being sexy.' Wrestling fans can see more of Torrie's sexy side on her Passes page. The WWE Hall of Famer recently joined the subscription-based app, which has been billed as a PG-rated alternative to OnlyFans. 'What I love about Passes is that it gives me a chance to get to know my subscribers or fans better than on social media, where you have so much noise coming at you,' she said. 'I've had people come up to me and say, "You'd make so much money on OnlyFans!" But I don't wanna do anything nude and I feel like people expect [OnlyFans] to go there,' she continued. 'I love that Passes is a cleaner platform so people aren't gonna come on there expecting [nudity],' she added. Torrie started out in wrestling in WCW, before joining to WWE in 2001 after the company bought out both WCW and ECW. During her time at WWE, she become one of wrestling's biggest sex symbols and covered FHM magazine, as well as Playboy magazine twice.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Nepo baby with surprising connection to Sex and the City stuns viewers with And Just Like That guest role
Ella Stiller, daughter of actors Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor, made a surprise guest appearance on the new episode of Sex and the City sequel, And Just Like That. In the episode, titled 'Better Than Sex,' Ella, 23, plays Mia, the girl who Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Steve's (David Eigenberg) son, Brady (Niall Cunningham), gets pregnant after a hookup. Miranda later sets out to find Mia to confirm if Brady is the father, with the two having a fiery confrontation. Ella's guest role on the show is particularly special because of her family's connection to the Sex and the City universe: her paternal grandmother, Anne Meara — who passed away in 2015 — played Steve's mother, Mary, in four episodes of the original series. The show follows friends Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda, and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) as they navigate their complicated lives in New York City. Elsewhere on the episode Carrie moves on from her recent breakup with Aidan Shaw (John Corbett) by hooking up with her handsome British neighbor Duncan Reeves (Jonathan Cake). At the start of the episode Miranda is taken aback as she finds out that Brady and Mia barely know each other and that she doesn't want to be with him or have him involved with the baby. Brady tells his parents Mia is 'this girl I've hooked up with maybe twice,' and admits he doesn't know her last name. He says he found out about the pregnancy when he bumped into Mia because she was 'clearly pregnant.' 'She said that's the only reason she told me, 'cause it was so obvious,' he states. Miranda wants to know if Mia is going to keep the baby or give it up for adoption, but Brady doesn't know. Meanwhile Steve is furious by the news. 'You were just getting your life together, and now you have f****d it up so bad!' he yells. Brady reassures them that nothing has changed because Mia doesn't want him involved. Ella's guest role on the show is particularly special because of her family's connection to the Sex and the City universe This infuriates Steve further, and he threatens to hit Brady if he shrugs his shoulders one more time. Upset by his father's words, Brady flees the apartment. Miranda quickly tells her friends the news. Charlotte calls it her 'worst nightmare' before quickly apologizing for saying it. Meanwhile Miranda says she is going to be a grandma, prompting Carrie to ask, 'Are you?' 'If she doesn't want to be involved with Brady, that kind of means you, too,' Carrie tells her. Miranda decides to go talk to Brady's fling after finding out she works at a hair salon. She brings Charlotte with her as backup. While there, Miranda does not introduce herself. As Mia is washing Miranda's hair, she begins passing gas. 'I'm sorry. It's so mortifying. I'm still getting used to all this gas since I'm pregnant,' she explains. Miranda congratulates her, but Mia replies, 'Well, honestly, I was gonna get an abortion 'til I realized the baby would be a double Libra. It's gonna be such a f*****g vibe.' Miranda starts questioning her about the father. Steve is furious by the news. 'You were just getting your life together, and now you have f****d it up so bad!' he yells Miranda quickly tells her friends the news. Charlotte (Kristin Davis) calls it her 'worst nightmare' before quickly apologizing for saying it 'You have to be a Taurus,' Mia concludes. Miranda apologizes, sharing, she was simply seeking 'some kind of a connection so our family can get to know this little boy or girl' 'He's cool, I guess. It's not like we're gonna raise the kid together. F**k buddy status, you know?' she tells her. Miranda then decides to question Mia about the child's paternity, asking if she truly knows who the father is. Mia gets upset when Miranda tells her she is the 'f**k buddy's mother', and sprays her in the face with water, calling what she did 'gross and inappropriate.' 'You have to be a Taurus,' Mia concludes. Miranda apologizes, sharing, she was simply seeking 'some kind of a connection so our family can get to know this little boy or girl.' Mia is not pleased with this response, as she sarcastically replies, 'Little boy or girl? You're so binary.' She then walked away while passing more gas. Ella — who graduated from the Juilliard School with a BFA in acting in June 2024 — has followed in her famous parents' footsteps as an actress. In February it was announced that she has joined the cast of Before This New Year, a play by Liana Sonenclar. The two later walk back home together. At the door, he asks her whether she would like to come downstairs with him to his apartment. However, she slowly shakes her head no The next scene shows them in bed, after having sex, where Duncan makes it clear they cannot be anything more than a fling He also tells her, 'I may have missed a deadline, but you've given me a new lifeline.' Carrie laughs at the cringe line, as they go on to talk about their writing leaving Carrie feeling inspired She has already acted in the 2018 limited series Escape at Dannemora (directed by her dad), Adam Sandler's 2020 hit Hubie Halloween, an uncredited appearance in 2014's Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb and as a voice actor in 2010's Megamind. Her grandpa is the late Jerry Stiller. Together with his wife Anne they were a comedy team in the 1960s called Stiller and Meara. Meanwhile elsewhere in the episode Carrie struggles trying to figure out if she wants to explore a romantic spark with Duncan. She feels guilty after she was previously defensive when Miranda suggested there was something more going on between the two of them, as she was still dating Aidan at the time. Carrie debates whether she should attend a party Duncan invited her to, but in the end decides to make an appearance. The two later walk back home together. At the door, he asks her whether she would like to come downstairs with him to his apartment. However, she slowly shakes her head no. They start walking away, but Carrie ends up running down the stairs to give him a passionate kiss. The next scene shows them in bed, after having sex, where Duncan makes it clear they cannot be anything more than a fling. He tells Carrie, 'You understand that I won't be returning?' And Just Like That... airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO Max 'Yes, I got the subtext,' she replies. 'As I think I mentioned when we first met, you are a distraction. And, as we now know, when it comes to anything but writing, I'm a mess.' He also tells her, 'I may have missed a deadline, but you've given me a new lifeline.' Carrie laughs at the cringe line, as they go on to talk about their writing. In the end of the episode, Carrie appears inspired as she reads from her book in voiceover, 'The woman sat in her garden. Even though summer had come and now gone, she could feel the warmth of its lingering touch on her face and body. How wonderful. How wonderful. How wonderful.' Nicole Ari Parker and Sarita Choudhury returned as the group's new besties Lisa and Seema this season. The show picks up 11 years after the events of the 2010 film Sex and the City 2, and follows three of the four original main characters. Following the success of Kim Cattrall 's cameo in the second season, it's been widely reported that her character Samantha will return for at least part of the third season. Sara Ramirez will not be returning as controversial non-binary comedian Che Diaz. Since starting in December 2021, the Sex And The City spin-off has seen Carrie, Samantha and Charlotte grapple with sexuality, gender identity, death, grief, divorce, drug use, and pretty much every other hot issue in Western society. The original Sex and the City ran for six seasons, airing on HBO from 1998 until 2004. The story continued with two feature films: Sex and the City (2008) and Sex and the City 2 (2010). And Just Like That... premiered its first season in 2021. The third season will feature 12 episodes, with the finale airing on August 14.
