Month: November 2020

The Atlanta Hawks have, as expected, been one of the NBA’s most active teams during the free agency period as they entered the offseason with the most cap space in the league. To use that space, they’ve signed veterans Danilo Gallinari and Rajon Rondo, as well as taken a bit of a flier on Kris Dunn to beef up their defensive presence in the backcourt.

Still, after those moves, they had up to $19 million to use and the one big free agent left on the market was Bogdan Bogdanovic. There has been a ton of smoke surrounding the young shooting guard’s free agency, starting with the botched sign-and-trade with the Bucks and then reports of interest from the Hawks, Knicks (who also have gobs of space), Lakers, and Pacers, the latter of whom have been rumored to be interested in a sign-and-trade. However, much like how things went with the Bucks, everything was dependent on Bogdanovic’s interest in signing an offer sheet with a team — something he apparently didn’t sign off on with Milwaukee.

The Hawks have now placed their offer sheet on the table, per Sam Amick of The Athletic, which must be signed by Bogdanovic and agreed to in principle before returning to the Kings where they have the opportunity to match if they so choose. The deal is a reported 4-year, $72 million deal ($18 million annually), which would put the Hawks right at the cap.

As Amick relays in a later tweet, he doesn’t believe Atlanta would submit such an offer sheet if they didn’t feel good about their chances. The question now is whether Sacramento will match once (or if) Bogdanovic signs the offer sheet, and given their apparent willingness to do a sign-and-trade to move him elsewhere, it’d be a fairly surprising — but not completely unreasonable — if they were to match.

Earlier this month, Vogue debuted the cover for their December 2020 issue, featuring Harry Styles. On the cover, Harry is wearing a dress, a move that has elicited reactions in the likes of Candace Owens, Ben Shapiro, Logan Paul, and many others.

But this weekend, during an Instagram Q&A session, congressional AOC also weighed in, not just on Harry in the dress, but the multitude of reactions his fashion choices sparked. “What do you think abt Harry Styles wearing a dress on the cover of Vogue” one of her followers asked.

Here’s what she had to say: “It looks wonderful. The masculine and feminine elements are balanced beautifully — the hair and jacket styling give me James Dean vibes too. Some people are mad at it bc some folks are very sensitive to examining and exploring gender roles in society. Perhaps for some people it provokes some anger or insecurity masculinity/femininity/etc. Sit with that reaction and think about it, examine it, explore it, engage it, and grow with it. What’s the point of creating things if they don’t make people think? Or feel or reflect? Especially as an artist or creative? Who wants to see the same things all the time? And never explore their assumptions? Anyway it looks bombs (shrug emoji).”

In a later slide, she noted the historical implications of the gender fluid designer Harris Reed who is involved with the shoot after learning about them in a post from Alok. “Also, my context on this question had just been with seeing general right-wing critique of the image. I wasn’t aware of the historical context of the cover! With that, @alokvmenon has a thorough and nuanced perspective on this and the under recognized role of trans femmes of color worth reflecting on.”

Alok notes: “Harry is the first non-woman to appear solo on the cover of American Vogue… let alone wearing a dress!”

Read their full post below:

After Deiveson Figueiredo (20-1) dispatched Alex Perez within two minutes of the first round Saturday night at UFC 255, UFC president Dana White announced his intentions to turn the champ around just 21 days later at UFC 256. And that appears to be the case, with ESPN reporting Figueiredo will defend his flyweight title against Brandon Moreno (18-5-1), who also made quick work at UFC 255 with a first-round knockout of Brandon Royval.

“We’re going to keep (Figueiredo) here,” White said at the post-fight news conference, per MMA Junkie. “He’s not going back to Brazil. We’re going to turn him right around (in) December. That’s what we’re working on.”

Less than 24 hours later and Figueiredo and Moreno have verbally agreed to the fight, which makes UFC history as the quickest turnaround for a champion and/or challenger in a UFC title fight, per ESPN.

Moreno is 4-0-1 in his last five bouts with the knockout Saturday night, three decisions and a draw. Figueiredo has been dominant since losing the only fight of his career in March of last year to Jussier Formiga. After missing weight in his initial bout with Joseph Benavidez in February, Figueiredo submitted Benavidez to win the division crown in July. With the fight in December, that means he’ll fight four times in 2020, the most of his career.

Figueiredo-Moreno will likely serve as the co-main event of UFC 256 from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, which is currently slated to be headlined by Petr Yan vs. Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight title.

Because of when this season of Fear the Walking Dead was interrupted by the pandemic, tonight’s seventh episode will be the midseason finale (the midpoint is usually episode 8). Without spoiling anything, the end of this week’s episode works well as a midseason finale, even if it was unintentional. I find myself incredibly excited for the back half of the season in 2021, the seventh season, and beyond.

It’s a strange thing to say given how well The Walking Dead has rebounded under new showrunner Angela Kang, even after the loss of Andrew Lincoln, but this season of Fear is every bit as good as any seven-episode stretch of The Walking Dead. That is not hyperbole. Check any of the fan forums, where viewers of Fear the Walking Dead were absolutely brutal to the series last year, and you’ll see how truly excited fans are about this series again.

Lennie James has been with The Walking Dead universe since the very first episode, and he’s never been as good as he is now, and there are a few characters on Fear that now rival Carol, Daryl, and Maggie as the best of the TWD: Colman Domingo’s Strand, Garrett Dillahunt’s John Dorie, and Alycia Debnam-Carey’s Alicia. That’s not to mention Rubén Blades’ fan-favorite character Daniel Salazar, and a strong supporting cast that includes Austin Amelio’s Dwight (over from the parent series), Maggie Grace’s Althea, and even Jenna Elfman’s character, June, who — until this sixth season — had become one of the most disliked characters since Lori Grimes.

What’s so interesting about the drastic shift in the quality of the show from Season 5 to Season 6 is that there has not been a creative shakeup either behind the camera or in front of it. There have been a couple of new writers, but five of the seven episodes (so far) were written by the same people who wrote last year’s episodes, and the only additional director this season has been Lennie James himself, who directed the season’s third episode. It’s virtually the same cast, the same writers, and the same directors, and yet this season is dramatically better than last.

Why?

Entertainment Weekly interviewed showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg about that very question, and the two were very careful not to trash last season. They insist they are “proud” of all the episodes they have done, but they are glad that fans seem so much more receptive to season six. Ultimately, however, Andrew Chambliss attributes it to the fact that they are telling the kinds of stories they like to tell now:

I think the storytelling that we’re doing season 6 is kind of our favorite kind of storytelling to do, which is focusing on characters and taking them in a complete journey within each episode. And I think we’ve said this before, but our favorite episodes of The Walking Dead are the ones that do that.

And I think because we are telling these kinds of stories that we love to tell as we were looking at season 6, as it was all kind of coming together and we were getting cuts and we were getting scripts that we felt really good about it.

Meanwhile, they don’t quite come out and say it as such, but they do suggest that Season 6 wouldn’t have been as good as it has been if Season 5 hadn’t sucked, although they don’t say “sucked.” They say “a place of hope and triumph”:

Season 5 was an unusually bright and optimistic and kind of benevolent vibe… By the end of the [fifth] season, the goal was to sort of rip the rug out from under everybody. And that started to happen when we introduced Virginia and her group, and really kind of had a finer point on it in the finale when Morgan was shot and everyone was separated from each other.

So we kind of feel like we couldn’t have had the character shifts in season 6 and that reinvention and new tone and new journeys that people are grappling with, unless we brought them to a place of complete hope and triumph.

I believe that Chambliss, Goldberg, and the writers cracked the code on this kind of storytelling, which — as they say in the interview — is the opposite of what we hear so many other showrunners say about their shows these days. It’s very common for showrunners to say that their seasons are like very long, 8, 10, 13-hour movies. “I think we’re kind of doing the opposite,” Goldberg says, “where yes, that’s the case, but each episode is its own movie”:

The Walking Dead universe has been operating in 8-episode arcs for so long now that it may have forgotten the importance of a good, self-contained episode. Goldberg and Chambliss have managed to revive Fear the Walking Dead by going back to the basics of network television. It’s never been better, and if it can somehow keep this up, Fear may have a few seasons left in it after all.

Source: EW

It’s said one should never meet one’s heroes for they’ll always disappoint you. Thanks to Twitter, the great social leveler, you can meet them — or at least read what they really think. On Sunday, one of comedy’s most towering legends (and greatest eulogists), John Cleese, decided the world needed to know that he was one of those people who took a skeptical eye towards the trans community. And it didn’t go well.

It began when someone dug up a screenshot from less than two months ago, in which he signed a letter in support of J.K. Rowling, who over the summer also went on social media to out herself with transphobic comments. He responded with a joke that, too, was seen as transphobic.

“Deep down, I want to be a Cambodian police woman,” Cleese wrote. “Is that allowed, or am I being unrealistic ?” It’s a depressingly standard anti-trans comment, and it was met with an all-too-familiar combination of disappointment and disgust.

Others reminded Cleese of all the rights he’d lose were he to transition into a Cambodian police woman.

And some pointed out that he’s crossed over to the side he and his fellow Python-ers used to lampoon.

But this being 2020, when pushed, Cleese responded by doubling down. He tried a little clarification, saying, “I’m afraid I’m not that interested in trans folks,” adding that “I just hope they’re happy and that people treat them kindly.” He then said he was “more focused” on other threats, such as threats to American democracy, police brutality, COVID-19, etc. (Which is all well and good, but surely it’s not hard to add yet another pressing issue to add to the pile.)

Cleese then went on to mock progressive culture, accusing them of a “complete lack of perspective,” as well as a “complete lack of a sense of humor,” adding, “Heard a woke joke yet?”

He then attempted a “woke joke”:

Well, some jokes take some refining before they’re ready.

As with Rowling, Cleese’s tweets may find him some new friends on the far right, but they may take umbrage with many of his other beliefs. As he said, he cares about issues to which they’re hostile if not outright against. Still, every time Cleese tweets something progressive and smart, he may have this instance hanging over his head.

(Via Newsweek)

After big looks like an appearance in the oh-so-viral “WAP” music video, and her own debut album, Queen Of Da Souf, rising rapper Mulatto has been having a breakout year in 2020.

So much so, that she seems to have decided to continue performing live shows during the pandemic, a decision that some fans are dismayed by. The show don’t seem to include any social distancing measures, and flaunt guidelines like avoiding crowds, indoor spaces, and even mask guidelines are all being completely ignored in these settings. In social media clips and videos of last night’s performance at D’Truth Nightclub in Valdosta, Georgia, none of the attendees seem to be wearing masks, and there is definitely not a lot of space between them.

One clip seems to be showing the fire marshall coming in to shut the show down, with mixed results:

On their Facebook page, the club promoted the event as “Baddies Night Out” and also posted video of the performance from a different perspective, showing just how close crowd members are to each other:

People are sharing thoughts on Twitter about how these events could be risking the spread of COVID-19 and putting lives in danger:

The risk of the pandemic is exactly why the rest of the music industry has shut down live shows for now. Hopefully, these shows won’t continue and Mulatto will begin to understand the risks — she wasn’t wearing a mask, either.

Fans hoped that Drake would deliver his sixth album, Certified Lover Boy by the end of the year, but last month the Toronto native revealed in a promo video that they would have to wait until January 2021. But he won’t end the year without any new content. On Saturday, the rapper shared a brief promo video to Twitter on Saturday that teased his upcoming collaboration with Nike. It also confirmed that the collab will arrive on December 18.

Back in August, Drake shared a preview of to expect from the Nike collaboration. In a post to his Instagram story, the rapper shared an image of a white Nike baseball hat with a lipstick stain on the brim, plus Nike Air socks with a red heart around the brand’s iconic swoosh logo. Before that, he tried to secure a trademark for Certified Lover Boy, but he ran into some issues, one being the 1980s band Loverboy, best known for their hit “Working For The Weekend.”

In other news, Drake also said he believes Certified Lover Boy will receive some hate when it arrives. He made the comment after a fan told him “views be hittin different” in the comment section of an Instagram Live session Drake held with his dad. The rapper responded, saying, “they hated on views just like they will CLB but it’s music to evolve to.”

A lot of shows have been cancelled during the pandemic, and GLOW, improbably, was one of them. Luckily there’s been a trend for beloved shows that were unceremoniously axed: a movie to wrap things up. Deadwood — one of the all-time great short-sightedly killed programs — got one. Community may get one (though that one’s really taking its time). And now GLOW — Netflix’s beloved female wrestler show — may get one, too. It just may take a bit.

Alison Brie, one of its stars, recently appeared on The Playlist’s podcast The Fourth Wall, where was inevitably asked about doing just a bit more GLOW. Having been on this rodeo before — see: the perpetually stalled Community movie — she was a little resistant to optimism.

“I certainly think a movie could tie everything up,” Brie said. “I’m a little pessimistic about it actually happening just in light of everything that’s gone on this year and how difficult it is to get anything back into production with COVID. And I’m also part of the Community cast, who’s been trying to get a movie going for six years, so what I’m saying is don’t hold your breath because if it does happen, it might take a minute.”

Last month, another of its stars, Marc Maron, was a bit more cocksure than Brie. “I think what they should do is… let us make a movie,” he said. “I mean, let us wrap it up in a two-hour Netflix movie. They had the whole season laid out. We know where it’s gonna go. Why don’t you give the showrunners and the writers and the cast the opportunity to finish the story in a movie?”

Still, even if the GLOW movie never gets off the ground, they still got to do three seasons. “It’s definitely a bummer,” Brie said. “I’m going to miss playing with those incredible women and Marc Maron and Chris Lowell. But you know, we’re so lucky. We’re lucky that we got to make three, to me, perfect seasons of a show. I love it so much and it will live on Netflix forever. So people can still check it out.”

(Via Deadline)

Deiveson Figueiredo (20-1) submitted Alex Perez (24-6) to successfully defend the flyweight title at UFC 255 from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Perez and Figueiredo traded devastating kicks to open the bout. Figueiredo dropped down for the leg, Perez briefly took his back, but the champ turned right into the guillotine and earned the submission at 1:57 in the first round.

After missing weight in his initial bout with Joseph Benavidez, Figueiredo submitted Benavidez to win the division crown in July. At 19-1, Figueiredo’s lone loss came at the hands of Jussier Formiga by decision in March of last year. Cody Garbrandt is waiting in the wings, after missing out on the title fight against Figueiredo because he suffered a torn bicep in training during the lead up to UFC 255.

Brandon Moreno steps into the No. 1 contender spot with a first-round knockout over Brandon Royal earlier in the night. Figueiredo added during his post-fight press conference that’s the next title defense he wants next.

Perez earned his shot at the flyweight belt with a first-round knockout of Formiga in June, and was riding a three-win streak ahead of his bout.

Coming into the fight, Figueiredo was ranked No. 14 in the pound-for-pound rankings, and could very well be jumping into the top 10 after such an impressive showing.

Valentina Shevchenko (20-3) successfully defended the flyweight title against Jennifer Maia (18-7-1), earning a unanimous decision victory at UFC 255 from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Shevchenko opened the first round strong, attacking Maia out of the gate before taking her to the ground. Maia maintained guard from the bottom, holding Shevchenko close, but really not making any progress from underneath for the final four minutes or so of the first.

About 15 seconds into the second and Shevchenko yet again took Maia to the ground, but the challenger was able to explode back to her feet and maintain control in the clinch against the cage. Maia reversed the takedown attempt from Shevchenko, landing on top on the ground and controlling her position flush against the cage with a body lock. Shevchenko nearly escaped with a triangle choke, but Maia slipped her head out in the last moment before closing out the round.

https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1330381575742218240

Shevchenko landed a few more heavy shots early in the third, but Maia was again able to control the champ against the Octagon wall. Back in the center of the mat, Shevchenko started to let her shots fly, landing a head kick and unloading a few combinations. She stunned Maia with a huge left hand, caught her around the waist and took her to the ground, where she held side control. Maia utilized the underhook and made her way to her feet, again pushing the champ back against the cage. Shevchenko succeeded into yet another key takedown as the round expired.

In the fourth, Shevchenko connected on another huge straight left, but Maia stayed in to exchange. Shevchenko followed her left hand into the body lock, and again, scored points with a big takedown.

Maia opened the final round needing a finish to overcome Shevchenko’s likely two-round lead and immediately went for a takedown. Shevechenko fought her off and continued to work with her back against the cage. The champ and challenger traded shots for the final minutes of the round, sending the bout to the judges and keeping the belt with Shevchenko.

https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1330383639633403904

Since earning a unanimous decision victory over Joanna Jedrejczyk back in 2018, Shevchenko has been dominant in the flyweight division, knocking out Jessica Eye before earning a unanimous decision win over Liz Carmouche in August 2019 and running through Katlyn Chookagian in February.

Who knows what’s next for Shevchenko, but it shouldn’t be ruled out for a potential return bout with the bantamweight and featherweight champion Amanda Nunes.

Maia earned a title shot after submitting Joanne Calderwood in August. She came into Saturday night’s bout with Shevchenko a +2000 underdog.