Entertainment Express: Wu Tang Clan, The Theory of Everything, Rihanna + Eminem, TMNT, James Cameron
Hello Weekend! Looking forward to celebrating the second week of Summer Streets in NYC…
* Fresh from reuniting and performing on the Daily Show, Wu Tang Clan have released their new single, Ron O’Neal from the forthcoming album A Better Tomorrow. The song, named after the actor from Super Fly, is the second single off the album, but it’s the first one that’s been released since RZA and Raekwon declared a truce of sorts in order to go ahead and get the album out. It’s due out in November, but the group is still working on that one-of-a-kind performance album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, too.
* Rihanna and Eminem kicked off their co-headlining tour, Monster, in Pasedena on Thursday night, during which the pair performed a mix of their own songs, the singles they’ve recorded together, and a cover of B.o.B and Hayley from Paramore’s Airplanes. I would have liked to have heard that track as done by the two of them. According to USA Today, Em delivered the more energetic set out of the two.
*It’s hard not to get choked up watching the trailer for the Stephen Hawking movie, The Theory of Everything. Eddie Redmayne plays the respected scientist, who developed motor neuron disease, and Felicity Jones plays his committed and steadfast wife, Jane. The film is out in November. (And while we’re at it, the trailer for the hopefully heartwarming sequel The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, featuring Richard Gere, is also out.)
* Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles releases on the big screen in the US this weekend. Directed by South African born, LA-based Jonathan Liebesman, the film has been getting some rather scathing reviews, but it’s still expected to bring in a decent amount of mula for its opening weekend. Such is the summer blockbuster.
* On a much smaller scale, James Cameron‘s latest project is also out this weekend. The Oscar-winning director is the subject of DeepSea Challenge, which chronicles his expedition to become the first solo man to reach the deepest part of the ocean. His passion for the subject is contagious, and it’s great to see how his passion for the sea has developed alongside his movie-making career.