This Week in Pop Culture: May 4 - 10, 2019

It was announced this week that Janelle Monae will contribute some new music to the live-action version of Disney’s Lady and The Tramp which is in the planning stages. Some of the music from that cartoon has been decried as racist, and Monae will be replacing those songs. Disney is remaking its classic animated films as live action movies. Aladdin, starring Will Smith as the Genie, will be released May 24, and the live action Lion King will follow on July 19.

The big news at the box office this week was of course about the continued dominance of Avengers: Endgame but other movies opened as well, including Long Shot, the Seth Rogen/Charlize Theron comedy. For this movie, months of good will brought about by an auspicious festival screening could be undone by audience disappointment when they actually see the movie.

Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle finally gave birth this week to a baby boy. Prince Harry held a brief press conference in which he was touchingly amazed about how women can bring life into the world, something he can barely comprehend. No name for the baby has been announced as of yet, and it is said that the couple is still “weighing their options.”

Prince Harry’s sister-in-law, Kate Middleton gave some kind words for the new royal parents soon after the birth via a public statement. Something daunting is scary because it is a task that is incredibly big , to the point where it seems impossible.

21 Savage, the rapper who recently revealed he was born in London after being arrested on suspicion of being in this country illegally, will stage his biggest concert tour ever this summer. The tour will consist of twenty concerts, all across the country, with rapper DaBaby opening on most of the dates.

Madonna, who recently performed at the Billboard Music Awards, announced the release of her album and tour dates this week. Her new album Madame X will be released on June 14. Madonna is doing something different with her tour this time out- instead of playing big arenas for one or two nights, she is playing smaller theaters for three or four nights in a row.

Disney released a long term schedule of planned Star Wars films and Avatar sequels. The first Avatar sequel will be released in 2021. After a break, or hiatus between 2019 and 2022, the next Star Wars will premiere. After that the two franchises will alternate Christmas release dates until 2027. This will make for three new Star Wars installments and four Avatar sequels.

Justin Bieber and Ed Sheeran are releasing a single together, entitled I Don’t Care. After a few years in and out of the spotlight, Bieber has been a little more visible these days, making headlines because of his marriage to Hailey Baldwin and his recent performance at Coachella. Something impromptu Is unplanned and happens at the spur-of-the-moment.

Sharp-eyed Game of Thrones fans noticed a cardboard coffee cup on a table in one scene on this week’s episode. This is, of course an incongruity or anachronism- something that doesn’t fit the time period- as there are no Starbucks in the Thrones universe. HBO at first tried to laugh at the mistake along with everyone else, but later released footage of the scene with the cup digitally removed. No doubt the original footage will live on the internet forever.

Mortal Kombat 11 was released recently and the fighting franchise is as popular as ever. The game offers the opportunity to play as new characters, use new moves and its graphics are quite advanced, but some aspects of the production couldn’t be more run-of-the-mill or mundane. Many of the sound effects of crushed body parts and such are made by violently squeezing fruit, and many of the noises on the soundtrack are made by repurposing household items.

The nominees for the 2019 CMT Music Awards were announced this week. Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris, The Zac Brown Band, Eric Church and 18-time winner Carrie Underwood are among the nominees. The CMT awards are voted on by the country music fans. Little Big Town will host the show, which will be broadcast from Nashville on June 5.