THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS play "Birdhouse In Your Soul" with the Doc Severenson Orchestra.

NEW RELEASES: Paste will point you to Dolly Parton, Kurt Vile, MJ Lenderman,and more.

BILL'S INDIE BASEMENT has Vince Clarke, Madness, and more.

PULP debuts a new song called “Background Noise.”

CAR COLORS: Charlie Bissell's new joint has "Old Death."

GRAM PARSONS: The Last Roundup.

BLONDIE: Chris Stein has said that it’s “doubtful” he will play with the band again due to ongoing health issues.

MARNIE STERN, still shredding.

GEORGE "FUNKY" BROWN, who as the drummer of the group Kool & the Gang played on funk, disco and pop hits that featured prominently in movies and have been sampled numerous times, died on Thursday in Long Beach, Calif. He was 74.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes tops the chart with 44MM, at the low end of projections, though at least it was budgeted and financed such that probably makes it profitable.  Trolls Band Together places with 32MM (including previews), which is a post-pandemic resurgence with good poll numbers/grades to boot.  The Marvelsshows with 10.2M, a 78 percent drop and the biggest second weekend drop ever for an MCU title. Ouch, ouch, ouch.  Below the fold, Eli Roth's cheapo Thanksgiving did about as well as The Marvels.

SEAN COMBS & CASSIE reached a settlement in the singer's lawsuit against Combs, in which she accused him of rape, sex trafficking and physical abuse.

SACHA BARON COHEN accused TikTok of creating “the biggest antisemitic movement since the Nazis.”

RUSSELL BRAND has reportedly been questioned by police over alleged assault allegations.

AARDMAN, the studio behind films like Chicken Run and Wallace and Gromit, is running out of clay.

RIDLEY SCOTT, responding to critics.

LEONARDO DiCAPRIO, on Sharon Stone paying his salary on The Quick and the Dead.

IS NETFLIX in danger of losing its first-mover advantage?

GLENN GORDON CARON, on discovering Bruce Willis, working with Orson Welles, and finally bringing Moonlighting to streaming.

SUZANNE SHEPHERD, an actor known for her roles in “The Sopranos” and “Goodfellas,” died Friday morning in her home in New York City. She was 89.

PIZZA RATS battle on the NYC subway tracks.

TEACHING A TRICK to the younger pup.

CATS & DOGS, living together.