Victor Wembanyama recently revealed that one of his favorite things to do while not playing basketball is reading fantasy novels. “I actually wondered how many books I have read. I think I read even more than before, with all the traveling,” Wembanyama told the San Antonio Express-News. Spurs teammates corroborated the story, saying Wembanyama is usually seen on team flights with his nose buried in a thick book. At a recent press conference, Wembanyama named fantasy as his favorite genre. He named Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series as one of his favorites and also recently finished the fantasy juggernaut, The Wheel of Time.
Reading is a big part of Spurs team culture, with coach Gregg Popovich encouraging his players to read and remain up to date with current events. “He gives us a book every month or every couple of weeks. It’s like a little book club,” Tre Jones explained. Popovich has been spotted in recent years at famous bookstores like New York’s Strand Bookstore and Portland’s Powell’s Books.
After developing a passion for reading at an early age, the #Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama has read countless books and ranks fantasy writer @brandsanderson as his favorite author.
“It’s just something I love to do,” Wemby said of one of his favorite hobbies.https://t.co/zTl8BrGkht
Elsewhere, the jersey from Wembanyama’s NBA debut recently fetched a massive price at auction. The jersey sold for $762K, nearly eight times the estimated price. The auction, handled by Sotheby’s, ran through mid-to-late November with an anonymous bidder coming away with the one-of-a-kind item. Of course, the price tag is nowhere close to the record set by Michael Jordan‘s 1998 Finals jersey ($10.091M). However, it’s an amazing price for the jersey of a player who was less than 20 games into his NBA career at the time. Furthermore, it did set a new record for the sale of an NBA rookie debut jersey. The all-time record for a full rookie uniform was set in 2021 with the sale of Kobe’s rookie kit.
A major contributing factor to the auction, which reportedly drew 62 bids alone, is how Wembanyama has gone from strength to strength over the course of his young career. Of course, Wembanyama is no ordinary rookie. The Frenchman has been professionally in the well-regarded French league since 2019. While many European players come to the NBA with prior professional experience, few have that experience at the same level or hype as Wembanyama. By comparison, two-time MVP Nikola, who played three years in Serbia before the NBA, was a mid-second-round pick in 2014.
As a filmmaker, Tim Burton is renowned for his trailblazing style and techniques. Burton’s complex but distinct style can be described as whimsical with gothic overtones. This unique approach to filmmaking has made him one of the most iconic and influential directors in the industry. Moreover, he’s also become a box office titan, with several commercially successful movies under his belt. As a result, he has been recognized and awarded with numerous honors.
At the core of his 35-plus-year career are films with surreal and darkly imaginative themes. Tim Burton is also notable for creating unconventional and eccentric characters. Furthermore, his visual aesthetics are often striking, wildly colorful, or starkly contrasted. His characters are often misfits, antiheroes or outcasts who exist on the fringes of society. This visual storytelling is cinematic artistry at its finest, earning him a dedicated fan base. Of the bulk of his impressive works, these seven films dominated at the box office.
7. Batman Returns (1992)
Tim Burton’s sequel to Batman (1989) remains a cult favorite of those devoted to the franchise. Starring Michael Keaton as the iconic Batman, it had a mixed reception from critics who found it overly violent and depressing. However, many people admired the dark and psychologically nuanced take on the famous superhero, as well as its distinctive visuals. Batman Returns is also known for its iconic cast: Michelle Pfeiffer stars as Catwoman, and Danny DeVito’s portrayal of the Penguin. Overall, the movie had a worldwide box office gross of $266,824,29.
6. Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children (2016)
Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children is one of Tim Burton’s most recent successes in the Box Office. The film, based on the book series of the same name authored by Ransom Riggs, received mixed critical reviews. However, both critics and book fans lauded Eva Green’s portrayal of Miss Peregrine and the film’s dark fantasy aspects. While keeping to the family-friendly tone of the book, Tim Burton went above and beyond the visual aesthetics of the film. As a result, it was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects.
The visuals endeared even more fans of the book to the movie and were a clear reminder of Burton’s penchant for the strange and magical. The film tells the story of Jake Portman (Asa Butterfield). Following the mysterious death of his grandfather, Jake finds strange clues that lead him to a secret home for children with strange abilities. Overall, Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children earned $295,986,876 at the box office.
5. Dumbo (2019)
The live-action adaptation of Disney’s Dumbo is the most recent of Burton’s works. While he took certain liberties with the original storyline, what struck many viewers was its emotional resonance and direction. After the movie’s release, Tim Burton commented on how the movie felt “autobiographical” at multiple points. Dumbo won the 2019 Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film and had a box office gross of over $350 million. The eponymous film tells the story of Dumbo, a baby elephant who gets separated from his mother at the circus. He discovers he is able to fly, thanks to his large, floppy ears and so, embarks on a journey to reunite with his mother.
4. Planet Of The Apes (2001)
Planet Of The Apes was a remake of the 1981 film adaptation of a sci-fi novel of the same name. Directed by Tim Burton, the movie follows the story of Captain Leo Davidson. On a routine space mission to search for a missing colleague, Davidson encounters an electromagnetic storm. He then crashes into a world run by sentient apes who have enslaved a primitive human race and try to hunt him down. The reception to Planet Of The Apes was mixed, particularly the film’s confusing plot. However, the movie had some amazing makeup effects, and it was the Oscar winner for Best Makeup. It was also quite commercially successful, earning $362,211,740 at the box office.
3. Batman (1989)
Batman (1989) is perhaps the most pivotal movie in the Batman franchise. With the film’s genius direction and cinematography, Tim Burton is credited by many to have revolutionized the superhero genre. It was well-received by critics for its darker and more nuanced spin on the classic superhero. Particularly well-liked, were Michael Keaton’s portrayal of Batman, and Jack Nicholson’s Joker. Naturally, the movie was a box office blockbuster with a worldwide gross of $411,348,924. The movie also won an Academy Award for Best Art Direction and helped pave the way for future comic book adaptations.
2. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (2005)
Employing sheer talent and imagination, Burton made Roald Dahl’s classic story into a classic Tim Burton movie. The film had a dark and whimsical touch, while it delved into the fantasy world of a chocolate factory, starring Johnny Depp as the eccentric confectioner, Willy Wonka. Although there were criticisms that the film lost the original story’s quaint allure, the film’s fantastical production design was well received. It also received positive reviews for Johnny Depp’s performance. Tim Burton’s Charlie And The Chocolate Factory earned over $475 million at the box office. An adaptation of the titular character, titled Wonka, will be released on Dec. 15, starring Timothée Chalamet as Willy Wonka.
Tim Burton brought a unique spin on the already whimsical children’s classic by Lewis Carroll. The movie follows Alice’s return to Wonderland after her first visit. This time around, she’s not a little girl, but a young woman. Burton then utilizes his characters and their CGI co-stars to embark on a long and treacherous, but fantastical journey. Alice In Wonderland received the Academy Awards for Art Direction and Costume Design. The film was also a box office blockbuster, crossing the billion-dollar mark at the box office.
On the evening of November 10, Meek Mill told social media about one of his deepest fantasies. “I want an older rich freaky bad cougar…it’s my fantasy,” the 36-year-old rapper wrote. While X users were initially stunned, they quickly rallied to turn the post into one of the weekend’s biggest talking points. Several people took it as an opportunity to shoot their shot. “I’m 58 [heart eyes emoji],” one user replied.
However, the majority of replies fell into two distinct categories. First, there were people clowning on Meek for his horny posting. “Meek back in his insane tweeting bag,” one account wrote. Furthermore, many people replied with various highlighting their discomfort at the post. The second set of replies, other than people simply agreeing with Meek, were those making suggestions of “cougars” that Meek could pursue. Oprah, Kris Jenner, and even Hilary Clinton could all be found as recommendations for the rapper in the replies.
However, horny posting isn’t the only thing that Meek has been up to lately. Rick Ross and Meek recently sat down with Complex to discuss many things, including conspiracies. Specifically, the two rap icons discussed what the “GOAT” conspiracy was. “I signed up for TikTok…I’ve being going down a rabbit hole every night before I go to sleep. I can’t tell you if its Nikola Telsa…How the Pyramids were built…The Alaskan ice wall…I’m all over the place y’all,” Meek began. “The aliens…the Greys…I’m on a journey at nighttime.” However, Ross hit him with an old classic in response. “The GOAT conspiracy theory…Everybody been on my DMs the last two months about being on Star Isle. So it’s the Illuminati.” The pair then joked about both being in the Illuminati.
Now everyone knows about the Illuminati but what f-ck is Meek on about? By “Nikola Telsa”, he’s like referring to free energy suppression. This is a theory that Telsa invented a source of free perpetual energy that was then suppressed by Thomas Edison and the US government. Meanwhile, many people believe that the Pyramids were built by aliens or a forgotten mega-civilization that lived at the end of the age of the last ice age. Finally, “Alaskan ice wall” is a sub-conspiracy of the Flat Earth that states that the flat earth is ringed by a giant, impassable wall of ice. Stay wild, Meek.
The Weeknd is making sure that people are aware and excited about his upcoming single with Future, “Double Fantasy.” Moreover, he just took to Instagram to announce the song’s official music video dropping on Friday (April 21) along with the track itself. His tease involved a short clip of presumably the music video on his Instagram page, which gives fans a lot with a little. Furthermore, it features Lily Rose-Depp as the star of their upcoming TV show “The Idol” from HBO. With an accompanying album based on the show on the way from Abel as well, it’s shaping up to be quite the event.
In fact, the entire rollout for this show has been quite the rollercoaster, from beef with Rolling Stone to its provocative and controversially hedonistic subject matter. However, The Weeknd is excited to explore those themes in a compelling way, per his cover story with Interview Magazine. “What drew me to play him was just getting to pretend to be someone else,” the After Hours star said of his on-screen, cult-leader-like character. “It was a challenge, because The Weeknd, obviously, isn’t me. But I drew a lot from myself to create that character. Tedros is nothing like me… Vulnerability is key in the characters you play, no matter how evil they are. If you can find the vulnerability in them, somehow they become likable.”
The Weeknd’s Small Glimpse Into “Double Fantasy” MV
Furthermore, The Weeknd revealed this single to listeners’ ears during his appearance at Metro Boomin’s Coachella set last weekend. Also during his interview with Interview, he spoke on how his work has always carried that somewhat mysterious, controversial aura. “I’ve been judged since the beginning. My stuff’s always kind of been provocative,” Abel Tesfaye remarked. “As an artist, you have to know that you can’t please everybody. You have to accept that it comes with the job.”
In addition, he revealed some of his inspirations for “The Idol,” specifically its accompanying soundtrack and original material. “I’ve been inspired by The Wall and Purple Rain and when Bowie was doing it,” the 33-year-old stated. “But even films like Shaft, the music is literally telling the story of the film. But I want to take it to the next level. I want to challenge myself and I feel like, as a musician, I’m the best I’ve ever been.” Let us know if you’re excited for “The Idol” down below and return to HNHH for the latest on The Weeknd.
