Netflix
EXCLUSIVE: Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges Talks Writing Bars For His New Netflix Animated Series ‘Karma’s World’ & More
Chris “Ludacris” Bridges has accomplished it all, whether it be his first love, music, or acting. Now, he’s looking to add creating a successful animated series to that list of accomplishments with his new Netflix show, Karma’s World. Chris Bridges, or as the world has come to know him by his stage name Ludacris has been able to stay relevant in a world where rappers seem to come and go thanks to his ability to adapt constantly. Bridges constantly says, “If you don’t evolve, you’ll evaporate,” and he stands by the phrase, and it shows with all the success he has not just inside the booth but outside of it as well. The multi-hyphenated star hopes that success will carry over with his new Netflix animated series Karma’s World inspired by the “Southern Hospitality” crafter’s oldest daughter K...
Netflix Acquires The Rights To ‘Cowboy Bebop’ Anime Series, Live-Action Version Coming Soon
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Nicola Dove / Netflix Netflix out here making moves to give people more reason to chill at home as they’ve expanded their Anime section by getting their hands on a beloved series. Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Netflix has just acquired the rights to stream all 26 episodes of Cowboy Bebop just weeks before they’re set to debut their live-action version of the 90’s Japanese cartoon series. Though it was popping overseas in the late 90’s, Cowboy Bebop didn’t make its stateside introduction until 2001 when Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim began airing episodes and building its fan base in the US. Directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, Cowboy Bebop is set in the year 2071, decades after a cataclysmic event forced humanity to colonize surrounding moons and ...
North Korea Says Squid Game Proves Life in South Korea Is “Brutal”
Squid Game has officially taken over the pop culture world with its gruesome series of children’s games, and now even North Korea is weighing in on the massive Netflix hit. According to North Korean propaganda site Arirang Meari (by way of NBC News), the (fictitious) series proves that life in South Korea is “infested by the rules of survival of the fittest, corruption and immorality.” “The audience feel sad about the reality of South Korean society, which is becoming a brutal situation where humanity is destroyed in the extreme competition,” the article continues, also adding that the show depicts an “unequal society where the strong exploit the weak.” Notably, the nine-episode series touches on relations between North and South Korea, with one of the main protagonists being Jung Ho-...
Netflix Acquires Rights to Original Cowboy Bebop Anime Series
Next month, Netflix will premiere their live-action adaptation of the massively popular space Western anime, Cowboy Bebop. Now, the streaming platform has officially acquired the rights to the original series, with all 26 episodes arriving on October 21st. Watch the announcement trailer below. Cowboy Bebop first came to the US via Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim in 2001, quickly becoming a favorite of anime junkies. Directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, it follows bounty hunters Spike Spiegel (Kôichi Yamadera), Faye Valentine (Megumi Hayashibara), and Jet Black (Unshô Ishizuka) as they track down criminals around the solar system in their spaceship, Bebop. Screenwriter Keiko Nobumoto, character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto, mechanical designer Kimitoshi Yamane, and composer Yoko Kanno also worked o...
Netflix Defends Dave Chappelle Doc & Suspends Protesting Staffers
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Lester Cohen / Courtesy of Netflix The furor over the latest comedy special from Dave Chappelle has induced Netflix to defend the comedian, even as it has suspended a few of its transgendered employees who protested the special. In an internal memo to employees after a quarterly meeting which was obtained by Variety, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos addressed the controversy, stating that “We don’t allow titles (on) Netflix that are designed to incite hate or violence, and we don’t believe The Closer crosses that line.” He continued: “I recognize, however, that distinguishing between commentary and harm is hard, especially with stand-up comedy which exists to push boundaries.” Sarandos did say that the company would not be pulling the special off the platform des...
Netflix CEO Says Dave Chappelle’s Special Doesn’t Cross “The Line on Hate” in Internal Memo
Last week, Dave Chappelle drew backlash for continuing his pattern of making derogatory jokes about transgender people in his Netflix special The Closer, but for now the streamer’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos is standing by his cash cow. In an internal memo obtained by Variety, Sarandos vowed not to pull the special from Netflix, citing creative freedom. He also stated that the stand-up special doesn’t cross the company’s “line on hate” and delineated the “different standard of speech” that applies to stand-up compared to what is allowed internally. “Chapelle is one of the most popular stand-up comedians today, and we have a long standing deal with him,” wrote Sarandos. “His last special Sticks & Stones, also controversial, is our most watched, stickiest, and most award winning stand-up s...
Bad Bunny Turns to Crime in Trailer for Narcos: Mexico’s Final Season: Watch
With the third and final season of Narcos: Mexico premiering next month, Netflix has released an explosive trailer highlighting the chaotic war that leads to a new generation of drug kingpins. Watch it below. The clip spotlights Juárez cartel leader Amado Carrillo Fuentes (a returning José María Yázpik) as “the most powerful trafficker this country’s ever seen,” but fans of rapper and singer Bad Bunny (aka Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio) can also spot the Puerto Rican superstar making his acting debut as Arturo “Kitty” Paez, a member of Ramon Arellano Felix’s gang called the “Narco Juniors.” With action set to Soundgarden’s classic “Black Hole Sun,” there are also plenty of shootouts, high-speed chases, and extravagant parties as the DEA tries to make their play against the narcos. Adverti...
Jay-Z Attends London Film Festival In Support of ‘The Harder They Fall’, Of Course Bey Was There
Source: David M. Benett / Getty Jay-Z has his hand in plenty of projects these days. One, in particular, that is getting his devoted attention is the forthcoming Netflix film The Harder They Fall, a Western with an all-star cast that merited the Brooklyn mogul taking a trip across the pond. Source: David M. Benett / Getty On Wednesday night (Oct. 7), the Roc-a-fella Records founder was on hand at the BFI London Film Festival at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall. The Evening Standard reports that it was a surprise appearance from Jigga and his accomplished wife Beyoncé as they made an appearance on the red carpet (Bey was AWOL for that part) for the premiere of the Western. The Jaymes Samuel-directed film stars Idris Elba and Regina King along with a litany of up and coming and tri...
5 Electronic Remixes of the “Squid Game” Theme Song That Will Make Your Blood Curdle
If you aren’t watching Squid Game by now, what are you doing? The runaway Netflix hit-slash-complete mindfuck has gripped the world since its debut, shocking viewers with its dystopian storyline and deranged imagery. And it’s shattering records for the streaming giant. The show has completely dominated pop culture. Memes are running roughshod through social media. Squid Game-inspired TikTok challenges are already sending boneheaded Gen Zers to the hospital. The characters’ signature green-and-white jumpsuits are selling like hotcakes on Amazon. Just wait until Halloween this year. The program’s chilling theme, dubbed “Pink Soldiers,” is a siren song. Whenever the haunting track plays, you know something unsettling is about the happen. Here are ...
Calls Mount For Netflix To Pull Dave Chappelle Special Over LGBTQ Jokes
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Lester Cohen / Courtesy of Netflix Dave Chappelle’s latest comedy special for Netflix has kicked up a hornet’s nest of outrage online and offline for his comments on the LGBTQ community and trans people in particular, with prominent activist groups now calling for it to be pulled from the streaming platform. In The Closer, the comedian zeroes in on the trans community and makes explicit jokes about them, at one point, saying “gender is a fact” and that “every human being on Earth had to pass through the legs of a woman to be on Earth,” before discussing that “trans women” genitalia is “not quite what it is.” Chappelle also exclaimed that he was “Team TERF” at one point in his stand-up routine. TERF stands for “trans-exclusionary radical feminist”, a term ...
Dave Chappelle Releases ‘The Closer’ & Twitter Shares Cheers & Jeers
HipHopWired Featured Video CLOSE Source: Stacy Revere / Getty Dave Chappelle signed one of the most lucrative deals with Netflix and has released a handful of comedy specials that have been both praised and blasted for their edgy and controversial content. The Washington, D.C. native released his sixth special, The Closer, to the streamer and fans have showered the standup performance with both cheers and jeers. The Closer was filmed in Detroit, Mich. and, according to Chappelle’s words, it will be his last standup special for an indefinite amount of time. As usual, Chappelle walked the edge as only he can and there was one particular segment that caught the eyes and ears of viewers on Twitter. Related Stories In a joke that referenced DaBaby’s homophobic rant at Rolling Loud in Miami over...
Seinfeld’s Aspect Ratio Not Fixed on Netflix, Still Crops Out Jokes
When Seinfeld launched on Netflix on October 1st, there was hope that the streamer’s upgrade to 4K resolution was used as an opportunity to restore the show to its original 4:3 aspect ratio. This would have meant avoiding similar cropping issues experienced by The Simpsons when it first arrived on Disney+ in late 2019, but alas that is not the case. Instead, Netflix stuck with the 16:9 ratio dating back to the original HD remaster made for the TBS syndicated reruns of Seinfeld, which was produced from newly made scans of the original film. As The Verge explains, this made it possible to add back wider frames not seen in the initial broadcast to make the show look better on modern TVs. An unfortunate byproduct of the move to 16:9 is the blocking of scenes. In order to include more foot...
