Music

The anticipated film doesn’t officially open in theaters until Friday, but Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is already a hit with critics.

The first reviews of the film are in, with influential publications like Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Entertainment Weekly singing the praises of director and co-writer Ryan Coogler‘s film.

To that end, Rotten Tomatoes dropped its “Tomatometer” reveal for the film a short time ago. With 75 reviews in at the time, it scored a 93%.

With more than 100 reviews in and counting as of press time, the ratings aggregator has the film hovering around 91%.

By comparison, Marvel Studios’ May release, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, managed a 74% with critics; July’s Thor: Love and Thunder scored a 64%.

The Doctor Strange sequel had an Audience Score of 85% on Rotten Tomatoes; Love and Thunder came in at 77%. Time will tell how audiences react to the Black Panther sequel, but if early online feedback from screening audiences is any indication, it should easily best the previous films’ Audience Score.

Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.

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When it comes to their CMA Awards prep styles, Jason Aldean says he and his wife, Brittany, are very different.

“Brit always does [get dressed up], for sure. I don’t really feel like I get dressed up that much. It’s more just, like, shining up what I would normally wear onstage a little bit,” he tells ABC Audio ahead of Wednesday night’s CMAs.

In that regard, the couple’s 3-year-old daughter, Navy, just might be starting to take after her mom. Jason says that Navy and her 4-year-old brother, Memphis, are still a little too young to care about awards shows and other big televised industry events. But they’re not too far away from figuring out that what their dad does for a living is pretty different from a regular job.

“I’m sure it’s coming at some point. Especially my youngest daughter, Navy. She seems like a little bit of a diva,” Jason relates. “So she’ll be the one wanting to come to these things, getting dressed up in her own dress and all that stuff, here in the near future. I can kind of see that happening.”

But no matter what they’re wearing to the ceremony, the Aldeans all have one big goal in mind: celebrating the end of the year with a big party, along with Jason’s fellow country superstars.

“This really is the last thing of the year for most of us. I mean, it’s kind of the conclusion of the year, the CMA Awards,” he notes. “So it’s time to cut loose after the show’s over.” (AUDIO IS ABC 1-ON-1)

The 2022 CMA Awards air Wednesday night on ABC.

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Before he married Priyanka Chopra, Nick Jonas dated model Olivia Culpo. The two parted ways in 2015 after two years of dating — and Olivia is finally letting fans know what it was like.

People obtained clips of TLC’s The Culpo Sisters, which include Olivia begrudgingly speaking about her past romance.

“Do I have to talk about that?” she asked. She was seemingly egged on by producers and continued, “I did date Nick and that was a very formative experience for me.”

Olivia, who was crowned Miss Universe in 2012 — America’s first winner since 1997 — opened up about the effect that relationship had on her. “I moved to LA with him. I had no brand, no money and I was in love,” she reminisced. “That was great, right, but when he broke up with me, I was kind of left with no sense of identity.”

Olivia said her “whole identity was in him” and confessed her experience is “a very common story of a young person in love.”

“I thought we were going to get married,” she added. “I thought all the things, and I just remember night after night looking up at my ceiling in my apartment that I couldn’t afford thinking to myself, ‘How am I going to pay my rent?’ I couldn’t even afford my groceries.”

Olivia said of the breakup, “It was a serious, pivotal moment for me, but it was something that taught me that you can’t give up.”

She has since found love with Christian McCaffrey, a running back for the San Francisco 49ers.

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Miley Cyrus is heading back to Malibu after snatching up an $8 million mansion.

Dirt got the scoop on the purchase and found Miley’s new digs offer six bedrooms, six and a half bathrooms and nearly 5,570 square feet of living space. The $7.9 million sale comes shortly after the singer sold off her Nashville mansion for a cool $15 million.

As for Miley’s new property, the oceanfront home was constructed in 1999 and underwent some rehabbing in recent years. The residence sits on a 1.5-acre lot and is located in a gated community.

As for the more luxurious perks, the mansion has a heated swimming pool, raised spa, billiard room with a pool table, three entertaining rooms, en suite bathrooms for each bedroom and a kitchen that comes with its own butler’s pantry.

She also picked up some new neighbors — Avril Lavigne and Lady Gaga.

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Greta Van Fleet has postponed four more upcoming tour dates as frontman Josh Kiszka continues to recover from a ruptured eardrum.

As previously reported, Kiszka suffered the injury during GVF’s concert in Bangor, Maine, on October 8. The “Highway Tune” rockers postponed multiple shows in October as Kiszka healed, then returned to the stage October 28. However, after playing several more shows, the most recent of which took place last Saturday in San Antonio, Texas, Kiszka found that performing still feels “rather painful.”

“Unfortunately, while the eardrum continues to heal, it also has continued to cause me a great deal of physical pain, which has made it very difficult to perform,” Kiszka says in a video posted Tuesday.

The newly postponed dates include shows in El Paso, Texas; Tucson, Arizona; and Anaheim and Sacramento, California. Previously purchased tickets will be valid at the rescheduled dates, which have yet to be announced. Refunds are also available.

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Lil Wayne is joining the roster of artists who have been tapped to take the Amazon Music Live stage. The New Orleans native will be headlining the new weekly concert series on November 17 after Thursday Night Football. He will also sit down with host 2 Chainz for an exclusive interview. 

Wayne’s performance will follow that of country star Kane Brown, who gets to shine on November 10, as well as headlining shows from Lil Baby and Megan Thee Stallion. Nearly a month later, on December 1, Latin superstar Anuel AA will have his turn.

“With performances from Lil Baby and Megan Thee Stallion—not to mention Kane Brown later this week—Amazon Music Live has turned Thursday nights into the place to turn up,” 2 Chainz said of the series. “And we’re just getting started. I can’t wait to welcome Lil Wayne and Anuel AA to our stage in the coming weeks.”

Amazon Music Live concerts are available to stream on Prime Video and on demand for a limited time.

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Will Taylor Swift make a ca-meow in the upcoming Deadpool movie? Ryan Reynolds has finally addressed the elephant in the room.

Fans who watched the second film know Reynolds wore a T-shirt with two of Taylor’s cats — Olivia and Meredith — on it. In addition, Taylor is very good friends with Reynolds and his wife, Blake Lively, and she revealed their daughters’ names on her Folklore album by naming characters after them.

It should also be noted Lively directed Taylor’s hilarious music video for “I Bet You Think About Me.” In that vein, eagle-eyed fans noted that the house used in Taylor’s new “All Too Well” music video was the same home featured in two Deadpool 3 teasers.

Fans felt these were all signs pointing to Taylor’s involvement in the third Deadpool movie — but Reynolds shot down those hopes when talking with Entertainment Tonight. He did, however, say he would “of course” welcome a cameo from Taylor.

“Are you kidding me? I would do anything for that woman. She’s a genius,” he raved.

Reynolds revealed he’s a massive fan of the singer and said he is “obsessed” with her new album, Midnights. “Oh my God, yes. All of us, whole house, I’m not kidding. I love it so much,” he explained. “I do, Blake does, my daughters. We love it.”

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Cole Swindell has never won a CMA Award, even though he’s been at the top of the country music game for so long some fans may find that hard to believe. 

“Oh yeah. It’s possible. I can tell you,” Cole tells ABC Audio with a chuckle.

The singer stresses that trophies and accolades aren’t the goal — what’s important, after all, is putting out music that resonates with your fans. But that doesn’t mean it’s not nice to get some industry recognition every once in a while, “especially for the people behind the scenes that you can share it with,” Cole adds.

But Cole might pick up his first couple of CMA trophies on Wednesday night: He’s nominated in the Music Video of the Year and Music Event of the Year categories, both for his hit duet with Lainey Wilson, “Never Say Never.”

“You know, I’ve only been nominated as a solo artist, but this year, to be nominated with a friend and somebody I’ve believed in for a while — Lainey Wilson, who is the most-nominated [artist at the show] — I just think it’s gonna be special … to watch her shine,” Cole continues.

“I hope she wins everything she’s nominated for. I know I’m a small part of that, but she’s so deserving,” he adds.

The 2022 CMA Awards air Wednesday night live from Nashville on ABC.

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