Month: December 2020

Superman 64 is an infamously bad video game. Some argue it is the worst video game ever made. Coming out on the Nintendo 64 in 1999, it quickly became infamous for its rough controls, horrible graphics, and multiple stages that forced you to fly through rings like it was some kind of tutorial level.

Turns out, that wasn’t really how the game was supposed to go. Like many stories in video games that involve giant licenses, the Superman name got in the way of the development of the game, and the developer at the time, “Titus Interactive” was forced to deal with a lot of red tape from Warner Brothers and DC Comics, owners of the Superman IP. What this resulted in was the infamously terrible game we know today, but what about what the game could have been?

A version of that game does exist and it was meant to come out for the PlayStation, but before it could be finished Titus lost the license to Superman and the game never saw the light of day. Over the years prototypes of Superman have leaked out on the internet and as of Monday, we’ve gotten another. This one to Deviant Art of all places.

So what’s so special about this one? Well, it’s 8 months in development later than any other prototype to leak online so far and that means it is far more developed. This means it gives fans a better look into what the intended game was going to look like. It includes missing boss fights and unlike previous versions this prototype doesn’t require a debug mode.

The story of how Superman 64 came into existence is actually pretty fascinating. There are interviews out there with developers such as producer Eric Caen that go a little bit more in depth in to what made Superman 64 such a busted game.

Knowing about all the meddling Warner Brothers and DC Comics had with Superman 64 and the eventual cancellation of Superman for the PlayStation 1, we just can’t help but wonder what could have been if the game had been able to release as the developers intended. It likely wouldn’t have been perfect, as no games from that era of consoles were, but maybe we would have had a passable Superman game. We also could have had a forgettable one. Superman 64 is infamous for being terrible. Would anyone really care if it had released and was just mediocre?

It would be great to see video games, with how far they’ve come, get another shot at a Superman game but the last time rumors surfaced of one it was reportedly passed on by Warner Bros. Perhaps the success Marvel has had in the video game space with Spider-Man and Avengers will make WB and DC Comics change their tune, but for now there just doesn’t seem to be much interest in giving Superman his own game again.

On Monday, Rudy Giuliani and what remains of the Trump campaign’s legal “strike” force held some sort of Hyatt-based “hearing” about their voter-fraud conspiracy. No hair dye meltdown took place, sadly, but it was still a hot mess. In the middle of it all, Arizona certified its election results, further cementing Joe Biden’s POTUS victory. As one might imagine, this hasn’t deterred President Trump from tweeting that he doesn’t want to go anywhere. In fact, he’s still suggesting — for the “legal fund” money, perhaps? those campaign emails are still going strong — that he will not leave the White House.

Will Trump be forcibly dragged out by the Secret Service? That’s entirely possible, or Trump might simply be trolling for dollars. Whatever the case, he responded to a Twitter user who called him “the most popular Republican in history” by tweeting, “Thank you! A lot of Senators and House Members are very happy that I came along. Think I’ll stick around for awhile!”

Whether he actually meant that he’ll barricade himself in the White House, or that he’ll simply maintain a high-profile, who knows? Regardless, it’s dangerous stuff. Trump continued to tweet into oblivion, including a retweet of the far-right’s Mike Cernovich, who can’t accept that Trump lost. Will, Trump won’t accept the truth either. He declared, “Not statistically possible. Rigged Election!” Twitter, of course, added the “this claim about election fraud is disputed” warning.

The most telling part of the evening, though, arrived when the president of the United States retweeted an account with a “catturd2” handle. This person believes that Rudy Giuliani has unveiled a “mountain of evidence” of voter fraud. The handle says it all.

2020, it’s time for you to get outta here.

In 2019, Phoebe Bridgers took to Twitter to declare, “phoebe waller-bridge is the best phoebe bridge.” Bridgers has praised Waller-Bridge on multiple occasions, and now she has had the opportunity to work with the similarly named actor/writer/producer on her video for “Savior Complex,” which is out now on Facebook.

The black-and-white, Waller-Bridge-directed video stars Normal People‘s Paul Mescal. In it, a ragged-looking and injured Mescal steals a car and realizes as he’s driving away that there’s a dog inside. Bridgers makes an appearance as well by delivering some justice.

In an interview from this summer, Bridgers said of Waller-Bridge and Fleabag, “When I finally got around to [watching Fleabag], it destroyed me. It’s so f*cking humanizing in a way that I didn’t even know was allowed. […] The show affected me very deeply. I haven’t gotten around to watching it a second time. It was psychologically taxing for me, like a really hard therapy session. Dirtbag dudes have Larry David and I have Phoebe Waller-Bridge. She strikes a f*cking chord in me. I read an interview with her where she was like, ‘Every time I’m like, ‘Should I tell the truth?’, the answer is yes.’ The best writing is just telling the truth. I feel the same way about Twitter as I do about songs, the only interesting thing you have to share is your own experience.”

Watch the “Savior Complex” video here.

Now that controversial rapper Tekashi 69 is (mostly) back on the streets, the fervor surrounding his case and the other members of the Nine Trey set has died down. However, the cases for many of the members were still ongoing as recently as this morning, when 69 associate Kooda B was sentenced to 54 months in prison, as reported by Complex. After his release, Kooda will be on probation for another three years.

Kooda pled guilty last year to assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering as the trigger man in an attempted shooting of Chicago rapper Chief Keef in New York in June 2018. During the trial, court documents revealed that Tekashi allegedly offered Kooda — real name Kintea McKenzie — $20,000 to shoot Keef outside the Times Square W Hotel. Kooda reportedly settled for just half of that. Tekashi implicated himself in the shooting by allowing himself to be filmed threatening Keef’s cousin Tadoe on FaceTime, saying “I swear to God I got a 30 pack.”

Complex quotes Judge Paul Engelmayer’s comments, in which the judge censured Kooda for his participation in gang activity. “[A] number of the videos you made prior to your arrest in this case seemed to glorify and promote gangs,” he said. “You often held a red bandana, a common symbol of the Bloods, and you made hand gestures believed to be gang symbols. The government’s sentencing letter reproduces your lyrics, which affirmatively promote violence as you rap about shootings and kidnappings and other violence, and guns. And these videos were made through the summer of 2019, long after you had been charged in this case. I found that disappointing. So let me be blunt: you need to grow up and get a more mature perspective on gang activity. If you continue to pursue a career involving rapping and public performances, I hope you will stop romanticizing gang violence. I hope you have learned from this experience that gang violence is not something to celebrate.”

For his part, Kooda expressed his remorse, “That was an extremely foolish choice I made. I allowed myself to look up to and listen to someone with more success and fame. That was not the right thing to do. I regret it and it won’t happen again. I thought he was a good friend. I was excited that he named a song after me.”

Keeping track of all the new albums coming out in a given month is a big job, but we’re up for it: Below is a comprehensive list of the major releases you can look forward to in December. If you’re not trying to potentially miss out on anything, it might be a good idea to keep reading.

Friday, December 4

• Alex Maas — Luca (Innovative Leisure)
• Amy Winehouse — The Collection (Island Records)
• Arctic Monkeys — Live At The Royal Albert Hall (Domino)
• Beck — Hyperspace (Capitol Records)
• Brady Cohan — Studies, Vol. 1 EP (Phantom Limb)
• Calexico — Seasonal Shift (ANTI‐)
• Can’t Swim — Someone Who Isn’t Me EP (Pure Noise Records)
• Canyon City — Circling The Sun EP (Nettwerk)
• Carly Johnson — Carly Johnson (Lhpromotion)
• Clifton Anderson — Been Down This Road Before (Ropeadope)
• Cryptodira — The Angel Of History (Good Fight Music)
• Daniel Docherty — Only Time Can Help Us EP ([PIAS])
• Dark Mark — Dark Mark Does Christmas 2020 (Rough Trade Records)
• Dave Vettraino — Exercise (Fire Talk)
• Deafheaven — 10 Years Gone (Sargent House)
• The Decemberists — Live Home Library Vol. I At Royal Oak Music Theatre, Royal Oak, MI August 11, 2009 (YABB Records)
• Dezron Douglas & Brandee Younger — Force Majeure (International Anthem)
• DJ Scheme — Family (Scheme Records)
• Duncan Sheik — Live At The Cafe Carlyle (Sneaky Records)
• Gama Bomb — Sea Savage (Prosthetic Records)
• Garrett Kato — Hemispheres (Nettwerk)
• Geographer — Down And Out In The Garden Of Earthly Delights (Roll Call Records)
• Goldfinger — Never Look Back (Big Noise)
• Grey Skies — YEAR (FWF Records)
• Harrison Storm — Be Slow EP (Nettwerk Records)
• Harry Jay-Steele — Boundaries (Naim Records)
• Hiiro Issiki — 1000 Plateaux (Bedouin Records)
• Joan Of Arc — Tim Melina Theo Bobby (Joyful Noise Recordings)
• Jordana — …To You EP (Grand Jury Music)
• Jordana — Something To Say To You (Grand Jury Music)
• Kass Richards — The Language Shadow (Good Cry Records)
• Khruangbin — Late Night Tales (LateNightTales)
• Kutiman — Wachaga In Dub (Siyal)
• Landon Cube — Sapphire (Republic Records)
• The Late Ones — Lately EP (Easy Star Records)
• Laura Carbone — Laura Carbone — Live At Rockpalast (Aporia/Future Shock)
• Laura Groves — A Private Road EP (Bella Union)
• Lavender Diamond — Now Is The Time (Petaluma)
• Lee Paradise — The Fink (Telephone Explosion)
• Lespecial — Ancient Homies (Ropeadope)
• Lost Horizons — In Quiet Moments Part 1 (Bella Union)
• Luke Dick — Music From The Documentary Red Dog (Ingrooves)
• Magic Dance — Remnants (Frontiers)
• The Mary Veils — Slacker Paint (PNKSLM Recordings)
• Meilir — In Tune (Gwdihŵ Records)
• Monty Alexander — Love You Madly: Live At Bubba’s (Resonance Records)
• The Moore Family Band — Yelling Out Of Tune (Asian Man Records)
• Neil Young And Crazy Horse — Way Down In The Rust Bucket (Neil Young Archives)
• Nicholas Lens & Nick Cave — L.I.T.A.N.I.E.S (Deutsche Grammophon)
• Opal Onyx — Vessel (Tin Angel Records)
• Oscar Lang — Antidote To Being Bored EP (Dirty Hit)
• Red City Radio — Paradise (Pure Noise Records)
• Rico Nasty — Nightmare Vacation (Sugar Trap)
• Russell Dickerson — Southern Symphony (Triple Tigers)
• Sigur Rós — Odin’s Raven Magic (Krunk/Warner Classics)
• Son Lux — Tomorrow II (City Slang)
• Steve Kilbey — Eleven Women (Foghorn)
• Steve Perry — Traces (Alternate Versions And Sketches) (Fantasy Records)
• Stupid Young — From Here On Out (Empire)
• SUSS — Promise (Northern Spy Records)
• Symba — Don’t Run From R.A.P. (Atlantic Records)
• Tankus The Henge — Luna Park! (Music For Nations)
• These New Puritans — Hidden [MMXX] (Domino)
• This Daze — This Daze EP (Sub Pop)
• Tommy Emmanuel — Live! Christmas Time (CGP Sounds)
• Tom Sanders — Only Magic (Moshi Moshi)
• Tori Amos — Christmastide EP (Decca)
• Valerie Orth — Rabbit Hole (Lost Sox Productions)
• Various Artists — LA Originals (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Universal Music)
• Various Artists — Promising Young Woman: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack ( Capitol)
• The White Stripes — The White Stripes Greatest Hits (Third Man Records)
• Winston C.W. — Good Guess (Whatever’s Clever Records)
• Yella Beezy — Blank Checc (HITCO)
• YFN Lucci — Wish Me Well 3 (Think It’s A Game Records/Warner Records)
• Your Old Droog– Dump Yod: Krutoy Edition (Mongoloid Banks)
• Yumi And The Weather — Some Days EP (Small Pond Records)

Friday, December 11

• Alaska Reid — Big Bunny EP (Terrible Records)
• Alia Lene — Christmas Miracle EP (Contra)
• Andy Cooper — L.I.S.T.E.N. (Unique Records)
• The Apocalypse Blues Revival — The Apocalypse Blues Revival (Provogue Records)
• The Avalanches — We Will Always Love You (Universal Music Australia)
• Bayside — Acoustic Volume 3 EP (Hopeless Records)
• Belle And Sebastian — What To Look For In Summer (Matador Records)
• Black Paisley — Rambler (Frontiers)
• BOYO — Alone Together In Los Angeles (Park the Van)
• Call Me Spinster — Call Me Spinster EP (Strolling Bones Records)
• Chris Lake And Armand Van Helden — The Answer EP (Astralwerks)
• Contradash — All-Star (Interscope)
• Delaney Jane — Somewhere Else EP (Dirty Pretty Things)
• Double Tiger — The Journey (Easy Star Records)
• Doug Carn, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad — Doug Carn JID005 (Jazz Is Dead)
• The Fallen Prophets — No End In Sight EP (MMD Records)
• Fana Hues — Hues (Westminster Recordings)
• Foster The People — In The Darkest Of Nights, Let The Birds Sing EP (Startime International)
• Foxy Shazam — Burn (Sire)
• French Cassettes — Rolodex (Tender Loving Empire)
• Guided By Voices — Styles We Paid For (Rockathon Records)
• Hodge — Remixes In Blue (Houndstooth)
• Holiday87 — Holiday87 (Black Clay)
• James Blake — Covers EP (Republic)
• Jason Lancaster — Say I’m What You Want EP (We Are Triumphant/The Orchard)
• John J Presley — The Albany Sessions (Music For Heroes)
• Kacy & Clayton And Marlon Williams — Plastic Bouquet (New West Records)
• KAS:ST — A Magic World (Afterlife)
• Kid Dakota — Age Of Roaches (Graveface)
• The Kills — Little Bastards (Domino)
• Late Night Final — A Wonderful Hope (PIAS)
• Less Than Jake — Silver Linings (Pure Noise Records)
• Locean — Top Ten Zen Meditations (Artificial Head Records)
• Lodet — Many Days EP (Allen Road Music)
• The Magik Way — II Rinato (My Kingdom Music()
• M. Ward — Think Of Spring (ANTI‐)
• New Age Doom — Himalayan Dream Techno (We Are Busy Bodies)
• Nilüfer Yanya — Feeling Lucky? EP (ATO Records)
• OSees — Panther Rotate (Castle Face Records)
• Other Lives — Siciliy Sessions (PIAS)
• Paul McCartney — McCartney III (Capitol)
• Peter Bjorn And John — Endless Play EP (Ingrid)
• Pete Rock — PeteStrumentals 3 (Tru Soul Records)
• Reuben — Racecar Is Very Fast (Xtra Mile Recordings)
• Rosie Carney — The Bends (Ultra Music)
• Shanghai Restoration Project — Brave New World Symphony (Undercover Culture Music)
• Six Foot Six — End Of All (Scarlet Records)
• Spacette — Spacette EP (Big Takeover)
• Various Artists — Cyberpunk 2077 Radio Vol. 1 (Lakeshore)
• Yashira — Fail To Be (Deathwish Inc)
• Yo-Yo Ma & Kathryn Stott — Songs Of Comfort And Hope (Sony Classical)

Friday, December 18

• APRE — Always In My Mind (Polydor Records)
• Boulevards — Brother! EP (Normaltown Records)
• Glenn Morrow’s Cry For Help — 2 (Rhyme & Reason)
• Hayley Williams — Petals For Armor: Self-Serenades EP (Atlantic Records)
• I Am Oak — Odd Seeds (Snowstar Records)
• Kult Of The Wizard — Gold (self-released)
• Mac Miller — Swimming In Circles (Warner Records)
• Maggie Rogers — Notes From The Archive: Recordings 2011 — 2016 (Debay Sounds via Caroline)
• Matt Dorrein — My Christmas Plea EP (Mama Bird Recording Co.)
• Royal Hunt — Dystopia (NorthPoint Productions)
• Stuck Out — Lie Through Your Teeth EP (SharpTone Records)
• Tycho — Weather Remixes (Mom + Pop)
• Various Artists — Cyberpunk 2077 Radio Vol. 2 (Lakeshore)

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

When it comes to politics and Christopher Nolan’s Batman masterpiece The Dark Knight, the obvious reference is the George W. Bush administration thanks to the film’s themes of abusing civil liberties to ultimately catch Heath Ledger’s Joker, who’s in essence a terrorist. However, in new interview, Aaron Eckhart praises the Nolan sequel for continuing to draw real world parallels over 12 years after its release.

While promoting his new movie Wander, the Harvey Dent/Two-Face actor reminisced about his time on The Dark Knight, and how its script still blows away him. Not only does he describe it as a “novel” that he had to quickly read while a guy waited outside in his driveway, but Eckhart couldn’t believe how many characters it balanced. He expected to have a very small part in the film because “You can’t have room for that many main players, right?” More importantly, Eckhart is surprised at how much of The Dark Knight is relevant to life under Trump. Via The Hollywood Reporter:

“It was like reading literature. And there’s something about Gotham City too. You have a city that’s oppressed and being run by a criminal gang. People can’t go out during the day, everybody’s scared for their safety, and the people that are paid to protect them are corrupted. They’re part of the gang and nobody can trust anybody. Sound like anything that’s familiar? And then people are looking to a superhero for their liberty and their freedom. Not only is it a great story and a great movie, but this is what cinema and art are all about. It’s a reflection of our times.”

Of course, Eckhart is sure to mention “the performance of Heath,” which took The Dark Knight to whole other level, and it’s been an experience he hasn’t soon forgotten. “I was happy to be a part of it.”

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

Now that we’re through with Thanksgiving, it’s time to start looking forward to the December holidays. That makes now a good time for a cautionary tale, via Lil Uzi Vert; When opening presents this holiday season, be careful with sharp objects. Uzi learned that lesson the hard way last night, when he revealed that he accidentally stabbed himself in the face with a knife while trying to cut a zip tie.

Uzi shared a video showing off the aftermath of the incident, a not-insignificant gash above his upper lip. He says in the video, “That ain’t no… just no slit, this sh*t is open.” Somebody off-camera chimed in, “That’s a gash, bro,” and Uzi continued, “A real gash.”

After sharing the video, Uzi wrote, “Don’t open stuff up with a knife it’s not safe.” Somebody asked how the accident happened and Uzi explained, “I was pulling the knife back on a zip tie and stab my face … I just missed my lip.” Grimes saw the video and expressed concern for Uzi, writing, “U need stitches !” Uzi seemingly took her thoughts under consideration, responding, “You think it’s that deep ?”

Thankfully, it seems like Uzi is doing just fine, which is fortunate given how bad an accident like this could have been.

On Sunday, Donald Trump took part in his first televised interview since losing the election to President-elect Joe Biden. He told Sunday Morning Futures host Maria Bartiromo that he’s had leaders from other countries tell him that’s “the most messed-up election we have ever seen,” that the “biggest people” wished him “congratulations, sir” on Election Night at 10 p.m. EST, and of course, the “massive dumps.” The whole interview was a massive dump, actually, as Bartiromo refused to question any of Trump’s false claims. Jimmy Kimmel jokingly offered an explanation for their chumminess.

Bartiromo used to be a respected journalist (“She won a number of awards for her work on these [CNBC] programs, including a pair of Emmy Awards. In 2013, she joined the two Fox channels” is a telling portion of her Wikipedia), but, as the Jimmy Kimmel Live! host pointed out, “I don’t know what happened to her, but she appears to be auditioning for the position of Donald Trump’s next wife because that was some interview.”

Kimmel also mocked the president’s tiny desk press conference. “This is how the lame duck chose to spend his final Thanksgiving at the White House: He threw a world class Trumper-tantrum from behind a tiny little desk,” he said. “Sitting at a little baby desk, screaming ‘You can’t talk to the president that way,’ this is how I want to remember him.”

You can watch the clip above.

Fox News personality Sean Hannity claims to always call it like he sees it, and his latest call, well, doesn’t look so good for him! It must be noted that I did describe him as a “personality” because Hannity’s always been a grey-area type of talking head. He famously argued in 2016 that he’s “not a journalist, I’m a talk show host.” Then in 2017, he changed his tune and decided that, yes, he is a journalist, which more than suggests that he should be held to the barest of journalistic principles, including the verification of information before reporting it. This all makes things very confusing as 2020 rolls to a close, and Hannity has committed his greatest self-own yet.

On Monday night, Hannity clearly had an axe to grind after news that all states had now certified their POTUS election results (further confirming Joe Biden as victorious). He continued to push election-fraud conspiracies, and in the process, he made this amazing admission: “I don’t vet the information on this program.”

For a little more context, here’s how that played out. He appeared to be arguing that the media is “a mob,” but he is an independent thinker, not one of the “sheeple,” but yeah, this probably came out looking much worse than intended:

“This show, we in this hour, I am not told what to say. I don’t vet the information on this program that I give out. We have always been independent, follow our own path on this show. That’s not gonna change for me, ever.”

He did, however, tell his audience that he did vet “the Biden family’s international pay for play schemes,” but “the media mob ignored it all. And by the way, we’ll continue to investigate.” In other words, he’s still not gonna leave Hunter Biden alone, even after his colleague, Tucker Carlson, declared that it’s time to leave Hunter Biden alone.

So here’s what we’re left with in the end: Hannity doesn’t vet information; therefore he is a propagandist? It seems like his admission on not doing so should stand, and people agree.

If asked to quickly name the top music video of 2020, music fans might blurt out “WAP” by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion, since it has been more discussed than perhaps any other video this year. Indeed, that visual is on YouTube’s new list of the year’s ten top-trending music videos, but it’s not at No. 1. Instead, that honor belongs to Future and Drake’s “Life Is Good” video.

“WAP” comes in at No. 5 on the list, which contains only hip-hop and also features videos from Tekashi 69, NLE Choppa, DaBaby, Lil Durk, and Youngboy Never Broke Again. The only artists to make multiple appearances on the list are Drake, Lil Baby, and Roddy Ricch.

This isn’t a straight-up list of the most-viewed videos, though, as Variety notes that YouTube compiled these rankings using “a proprietary algorithm that factors in total views, likes, comments, and searches.” Of the videos on the list, “Life Is Good” is the most viewed with 1.3 billion watches, which is aided by the fact that it was released in early January. It is followed by “Gooba” (which came out in May) and “WAP” (which premiered in August).

Check out the full list below, as well as YouTube’s other top-trending lists.

Top Music Videos
1. Future – Life Is Good Feat. Drake
2. Tekashi 69 – Gooba
3. Lil Baby x 42 Dugg – We Paid
4. NLE Choppa – Walk Em Down Feat. Roddy Ricch
5. Cardi B – WAP feat. Megan Thee Stallion
6. DaBaby – Rockstar Feat. Roddy Ricch
7. Roddy Ricch – The Box
8. Drake – Laugh Now Cry Later Feat. Lil Durk
9. YoungBoy Never Broke Again – Lil Top
10. Lil Baby – The Bigger Picture

Top Trending Videos
1. 8:46 – Dave Chappelle – Netflix Is a Joke
2. Building the Perfect Squirrel Proof Bird Feeder – Mark Rober
3. First Debate Cold Open – Saturday Night Live
4. We Broke Up – jeffrreestar
5. I Bought the World’s Largest Firework ($600,000) – MrBeast
6. I’m Coming Out – NikkieTutorials
7. Minecraft Speedrunner VS 3 Hunters Grand Finale – Dream
8. Ricky Gervais’ Monologue – 2020 Golden Globes – NBC
9. Quarantine Stereotypes – Dude Perfect
10. Some Good News with John Krasinski Ep. 1 – SomeGoodNews

Top Creators
1. MrBeast
2. Dream
3. ZHC
4. SSSniperwolf
5. Tiko
6. Chloe Ting
7. JoshDub
8. The Royalty Family
9. LazarBeam
10. James Charles

Top Breakout Creators
1. Dream
2. Tiko
3. Chloe Ting
4. EddieVR
5. Charli D’Amelio
6. GeorgeNotFound
7. Dixie D’Amelio
8. Corpse Husband
9. Some Good News
10. Hyram

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.