Month: February 2021

We don’t see much of Jodie Foster these days. Maybe it’s too much to claim that’s by design, but if you look at the massive amount of movies and television Foster has done in her career, she makes it clear she’s, let’s say, picky about how she chooses to spend her time. In other words, at this point in her career (which includes two Academy Awards), she’s not someone who is going to do a movie just for the sake of doing a movie. And that shows, since in the last eight years, going back to 2013’s Elysium, we’ve only seen her in three films.

Foster is back in Kevin Macdonald’s The Mauritanian, a harrowing true story about Mohamedou Ould Salahi (played by Tahar Rahim), who was arrested without charges and kept at Guantanamo Bay for 14 years. Foster plays Nancy Hollander, Salahi’s attorney who, herself, doesn’t always believe in his innocence.

Ahead, we talk to Foster about why this role intrigued her enough to make a movie. Also, we asked her about her directorial debut, an episode of Tales From the Darkside. Foster also tells us if she is going to watch the new CBS show about the character she made famous, Clarice. And she tells us, maybe, why we are still waiting for that illusive Panic Room Blu-ray (to this day Panic Room has only had a DVD release) of David Fincher’s 2002 thriller.

You were in one of the first four or five movies I ever saw, Freaky Friday…

That’s cool.

Anytime it’s on cable it’s always the Jamie Lee Curtis version.

I don’t think I’ve seen it in about 40 years, so I’m not even sure what happens in the movie.

This is only your third movie in the last eight years, since Elysium. Why don’t you do more movies? Selfishly, I always want to see you in more.

Well, I did slow down. I made a lot of movies when I was young, and after 55 years in the film business, I think that I get to slow down if I want to and I really just take movies that move me. And as you get older, you’ll see, the things that obsess you and interest you suddenly become fewer and far between. So, the good news is, that when you do see that I’m in a movie, I think it’s always worth seeing the film because there will be an interesting discussion that happens around the movie. It doesn’t mean the movie will be great, but it does mean that they’ll at least be an interesting discussion around them. I’m not one of those people who just wants to work all the time and not have a life and just wants to act, and do anything — it doesn’t matter what the film is and how silly it might be. That’s just not my personality. I like to really focus on something and give everything.

Well, that’s why I say, “selfishly.” But if I’m in your situation I’d only do things that made me happy.

Well, this does make me happy. It’s an extraordinary movie, an extraordinary story. Mohamedou’s story, especially, is amazing.

How much did you know about this story?

I vaguely knew that Guantanamo was there and there were detainees there, and I knew that Obama wanted to close it, but I just didn’t know anything about the subject. And, so, I was really blown away when I read it.

Speaking of Obama, he said on Colbert recently his biggest regret was not closing Guantanamo, but this movie tells us his administration still wouldn’t release Mohamedou.

Now, look, he may have wanted to close Guantanamo Bay, but the judges said that he needed to release Mohamedou, and they kept him anyway for another five years.

It’s just a surprising moment. Because all we heard is how he wanted to close it. How do you square that?

But, look, 9/11 is a very complicated thing that happened to us. And we will be living with ramifications of that for the rest of our history. The generations will live with that. And it probably takes 20 years past it in order to be able to even go back and take a look at what we did and why it happened. What the film says, 9/11 was this moment of fear and terror. And the American government took those emotions and used that as an opportunity to throw the rule of law out the window. And the Constitution out the window. And to go against their laws, and their foundations, and everything that we believed in, in democracy, so that they could seek revenge. And maybe, and also, so that they could make sure they didn’t have a second attack because that’s really what they were worried about. And that’s understandable. It’s all very human, but people’s lives were lost. And Mohamedou suffered because of that. And his story is worth telling.

Did you see Mohamedou wrote an open letter to Biden to close Guantanamo?

Did he? Oh, good. I love that.

You thread a needle with this performance because for a good portion of the movie your character doesn’t fully believe his story.

Look, there was circumstantial evidence that pointed towards Mohamedou. Very circumstantial evidence that, had the military prosecutors spent the 15 minutes that the HCLU spent debunking them, they would have understood that they were totally debunked. But because the suspicions were high, because we were afraid, because we thought every Muslim was a terrorist, and because we had that kind of Islamophobic that was part of our white supremacy system, we couldn’t see past it. Now, look, Nancy will tell you, one of the first things she’ll say to you, that she’s very proud of is, “Look, I don’t care whether my clients are guilty or innocent. In fact, it’s easier for me, if they’re guilty.” If you have a mission, your mission is to uphold the Constitution and to challenge the government, to defend everybody. You’re going to defend a lot of guilty people and that’s hard. That took a toll on her. So, I really wanted to show that. I wanted to show that she was a damaged person, in some ways, and that it was very difficult for her to open to him, and to love him, and to care about him. But she did. And they are like mother and son, the two of them.

Is that aspect what jumped out at you? Why you chose this film?

I like big ideas that are really provocative, have provocative conversations, and that are emotionally touching. And I like to get obsessed by them. I like to talk about them, and think about them, and work through them. And to me, that’s a real gift. And that’s what gets me in front of the cameras. That’s why I do it.

I’ve been thinking about the last movie you directed, Money Monster, because of the GameStop situation.

Yeah! People are calling me, asking me to explain hedges to them. How does a hedge work?

It’s about someone manipulating a stock price. You were ahead of your time on that one.

Well, I don’t know if I was ahead of my time. Because, also, it was right before the election, and I came out right before the election. That character saying, “Look, it’s all rigged. It’s all rigged against us. And it’s a fixed system.” And all that was that populist movement of people saying, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.” And that’s certainly was what the story of the zeitgeist happening at the time.

I also think it came out right before a lot of movies like that, with big movie stars and aren’t part of a franchise, started movie to streaming. George Clooney didn’t star in another movie until Midnight Sky just recently on Netflix.

It’s very easy to look back and go, what could we have done better? As a director, you do that all the time. There were a lot of choices that I made that I’m not sure I would make now.

Like what?

There was a different way to go. That movie is about a TV show.

Right.

So, it would have been very easy to make it an event on streaming because it is about live television. So, it would have been natural if we wanted to go that route, but we didn’t.

I have a deep cut for you, because I went back and watched your first directorial effort…

Oh?

An episode of Tales from the Darkside.

Oh! Okay….

I liked it. You don’t like it?

Well, I just came in because my friend, Bob Balaban, really directed it. And he said, “Listen, I know that you want to direct, and I’d love for you to come be a co-director. You’re not DGA (Directors Guild of America), so that helps us. You can be a co-director and not DGA. We do this as a team, and you’ll be able to participate in everything, the edit and all that.” And it was really helpful. It was really helpful to me, as a director.

What’s billed as someone’s first time directing, and you’re around 25 and directing Eileen Heckart, an Oscar-winner. That sounds intimidating.

It wasn’t intimidating. It was really fun. And yeah, when you’ve been working for such a long time, you get scared of the idea of directing, and thinking, “Oh my gosh, I have so much to learn.” But then, you realize that you’ve gone to the best film school in the world. And in fact, actually, sometimes, you have to lose some of your preconceptions from all the experience that you’ve had. You have to go, no, it doesn’t have to cut that way. Or you don’t have to have it over shoulder at this point. Or, sometimes, you have to lose some of your education.

Are you going to watch Clarice?

I probably…. I don’t know. I’m really happy that Clarice has a whole new life. That character keeps coming to life over and over again. It’s a testament to the original book by Thomas Harris. Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon, they’re really wonderful texts, and he’s an incredible writer. So, I’m glad that she continues to have a life moving forward.

So you’re flipping through channels, and there it is. And it’s like, oh, okay, I’ll give this a shot. Is that how you feel about it?

I guess. I’m always going to be partial to our movie.

Well, yes. I imagine so.

Like, it was this something to aspire to, and it has been 30 years since Silence of the Lambs. So, yeah, it’s time for it to evolve, I guess.

I have no idea if you’d know anything about this, but when is Panic Room finally going to get a Blu-ray or 4K? It’s never even been on Blu-ray…

Well… really?

Yeah, it’s kind of infamous for never having a Blu-ray release. That and True Lies are always the first two mentioned.

I don’t know, but I have a feeling that David Fincher has something to do with that because he really cares about all that stuff. There must be a reason.

That seems to be people’s guess. But I didn’t know if you ever ran into him and said, “Hey, when’s this Blu-ray coming?”

The only thing that, maybe, may have something to do with it is we shot that movie in the dark. We didn’t have to. We could have shot it in a little bit lighter circumstances, and then brought the lighting down in the lab. But Fincher was adamant that we basically shoot the movie in the dark. So, I’m not sure what happens and if it holds up.

Oh, that’s interesting.

That may have something to do with it, because of the blacks in the film.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

A week after giving fans a blurry glimpse of Jared Leto’s new Joker look for the Justice League director’s cut, Zack Snyder is back with even more details about Leto’s return, and why his version of the Joker is in a very different place than the last time we saw him in Suicide Squad. According to Snyder, Leto’s Joker will appear in a “Knightmare” sequence similar to the one in Batman V Superman where Ben Affleck’s Batman navigates a post-apocalyptic world that’s been ravaged by Darkseid. Only this time, instead of encountering an evil version of Henry Cavill’s Superman, Batman will find a long-haired, “road weary” Joker who will act as a motivational warning of what’s to come. Via Vanity Fair (which also has exclusive photos of Leto’s new look):

“The cool thing about the scene is that it’s Joker talking directly to Batman about Batman,” Snyder said. “It’s Joker analyzing Batman about who he is and what he is. That’s the thing I also felt like fans deserved from the DC Universe. That is to say, the Jared Leto Joker and the Ben Affleck Batman, they never really got together. It seemed uncool to me that we would make it all the way through this incarnation of Batman and Joker without seeing them come together.”

Part of that discussion will involve how the Joker gave Batman “the most significant personal injury to his life” by murdering Robin, which Snyder had hoped to explore in future films. The director has previously confirmed that the dead Robin is Dick Grayson (as opposed to Jason Todd in the comics), and he had a whole story planned out where Carrie Kelley from The Dark Knight Returns would’ve became the new Robin in his films. Realizing that he’s probably done with the DC Extended Universe, Snyder should use the Knightmare scene in Justice League to at least give fans a taste of the backstory he’s been sitting on for Affleck’s Batman and Leto’s Joker.

(Via Vanity Fair)

Lil Uzi Vert set the internet abuzz when he debuted his new facial piercing last week. As it’s a thumb-sized pink diamond jammed in the middle of his forehead, that’s understandable. Also understandable: Fans have questions. So many questions. Fortunately, Rolling Stone got in contact with Eliantte & Co., the New York-based jewelers responsible for the implant, to clear things up. The story sounds a lot like Uncut Gems: Uzi saw the diamond, fell in love, and decided he just had to have it.

Of course, the tale departs with the gem’s use. Whereas Kevin Garnett believed the opal in Uncut Gems would grant him unfathomable good luck in games, Uzi just likes to set trends and freak people out. Since everyone seems to be used to him shopping in the women’s section (after freaking out about it early in his tenure), this was just the drastic step he needed to continue to draw attention. He’s since played up fans’ fears, claiming that he could die from removing the implant, but an Eliantte spokesman shot down that idea.

“It’s as safe as any other piercing,” said Simon Babaev. “As long as you maintain it well and have good upkeep, it’s perfectly fine. We made sure that prior to getting anything done that Uzi brought someone in to consult on everything. We didn’t just do this randomly.”

He also explained how they got the diamond to stay in place, elaborating that “We engineered a specific mounting that clips and locks in place. There’s a whole mechanism involved, it’s not a standard piercing. A specific piece and part were both engineered with millimeter precision to get this put on him.” He compared the piercing to one the company did for Young Thug once — unfortunately, Thugger lost his (in case you were wondering why you never see it anymore). Something tells me it’ll be a lot harder for Uzi to lose this one.

Lil Uzi Vert is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

At first glance, Ben Rekhi’s new documentary The Reunited States is an optimistic, love-letter with a message about hope, unity and piecing back together our tattered political landscape. But underneath that feel-good surface is a hard truth: Our dysfunctional politics is only a reflection of the culture it represents. And if we want to fix it, we have to fix ourselves first. Achieving any sense of unity means letting go of our own prejudices, and most challenging of all, actually listening to those we disagree with.

“The political divisiveness started as a grassroots movement that became reflected in the actions and positions of elected officials,” Rekhi told Upworthy in a phone interview. “Not only do you have rights as citizens you have responsibilities.”

THE REUNITED STATES – Trailer

www.youtube.com

Rekhi chose four real life stories to help make his point in the film:

Susan Bro, whose daughter Heather Heyer was murdered in the Charlottesville protests against white supremacy, picks up her daughter’s mantle of advocacy to explore the roots of racism, all while processing her grief in the lead up to trial of her daughter’s killer.

Erin and David Leaverton leave behind their comfortable suburban lives to travel with their young children in an RV across America to have sometimes uncomfortable dinners with people who are different from them politically, racially and culturally to find out what’s really driving a wedge between us. Part of that answer stems from David himself, a former Republican political operative who says he decided to get out of politics after seeing how his own work was explicitly designed to push Americans further apart in the pursuit of power.

Greg Orman, a political independent who runs for governor and the U.S. Senate in Kansas, fighting against the pressures of a two-party system.

Steven Olikara, founder and president of the Millennial Action Project. MAP’s stated goal is to bring together young leaders from across the political spectrum in order to “transcending the tribalism” that has created a seemingly insurmountable divide in our modern politics.

“We really wanted to spotlight the everyday heroes who are doing this work,” Rekhi said. “This is a citizens’ movement and those of us taking responsibility for our thoughts, words and actions. That kind of self-awareness is something we hope comes of that.”

The film was inspired by the book The Reunited States of America, written by Mark Gerzon, who also appears in the film.

Greg Orman campaigns during The Reunited States

To its credit, one of the major obstacles the film challenges head on is the idea that what divides us can be cured by something as simple as a conversation and a hug. It’s not that there are “two Americas” as the political cliche goes: there are seemingly countless Americas, separated by economics, race, religion, age and, of course, geography. Technology has been further dividing that split by pushing us into echo chambers that reinforce our own prejudices and create a digital divide amongst those with the most social media savvy and access to the high-speed internet and devices required to have a voice online.

One of the most surprisingly emotional moments in the film occurs when Bro sits down to have dinner with the Leaverton family. We’ve grown to admire all three of them over the course of the documentary but their worlds collide in a way that shows just how difficult reconciliation can be, even for people who have made it their mission to heal our political and cultural wounds.

Erin Leaverton is a scene from The Reunited States

Promoting the film itself has resulted in some unexpected controversy. It turns out that the only thing political pundits hate more than the “other side” are those willing to cross the divide. One of the film’s producers, Van Jones, found himself unexpectedly under attack while promoting the film on “The View” last week. Jones, a former Obama official, have been criticized by the Left for working with members of the Trump Administration on prison reform. Jones, a vocal critic of Trump, defended his work, saying it has resulted in the release of an estimated 50,000 individuals from prison. Work, he points out, that can be measured in actual lives changes, as opposed to points scored from attacking someone on social media or cable television.

A clip of View co-host Sonny Hostin telling Jones “Black people don’t trust you anymore,” because of his work with Trump quickly went viral after the segment. Jones said he felt “ambushed” by the attack from Hostin and her view co-host Ana Navarro, ironically, herself a longtime Republican strategist.

“The business model is geared toward the most inflammatory voices,” Rekhi said when asked about “The View” segment and some of the reactions on social media. “Ten percent of the people on social media are getting 90 percent of the air-time. Negative news is being amplified because of our instincts to pay attention to danger. It can also be part of what brings us back together. To work through these divides is not easy. A lot of this is directed toward friends and family, the people closest to us. It’s not sustainable.”

The Reunited States tells a powerful story about America but it’s not an easy one. We’ve all read a book or seen a movie that we absolutely had to share with others. The truth is, when we’re do that we’re almost always proselytizing, either insisting that others come around to our long held views, or playing the role of enchanted neophyte, spreading the word of some new slogan we’re convinced is a magic bullet to all that ails us (and them).

That’s not the kind of film The Reunited States is. It’s honestly the kind of movie you might want to watch by yourself, or with your family. Which is perfect in quarantine time. There are many vital conversations to be had with others and many voices that deserve to be heard. The film does an excellent job of exploring that theme, even if it’s one we’ve probably heard in some form or another. Where the film really excels is in its message to challenge ourselves, explore our own biases and be open to moving past them. In other words, be the kind of American you want other Americans to be.

2020 was undoubtedly a big year for K-pop supergroup BTS. Not only did they smash streaming records, become the first Korean act to go No. 1, and have basically all of the most popular tweets of the year, but the South Korean government even revised their military service laws to allow the group to keep making music. BTS may have made a name for themselves with their maximalist approach to music and videos, but they’re now starting off the year on a more toned-down note.

The group just announced that they’ve booked a spot on the iconic series MTV Unplugged. The show first aired in the late 1980’s and is a way for legendary acts like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Lauryn Hill, and Paul McCartney to showcase their music in a more intimate, stripped-down setting. For their own performance, BTS will bring fans some acoustic versions of their hit songs off of their latest album Be live from their Seoul, South Korea hometown.

BTS’ Be was released last November and peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. It’s songs like “Life Goes On” and “Dynamite” garnered a particularly amount of success. “Dynamite,” in particular, topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for three weeks and the groups’ outfits from the song’s video are currently being sold at an auction for $40,000.

MTV Unplugged Presents: BTS airs 2/23 at 9 pm EST on MTV. Watch it here.

Tierra Whack is officially on a tear. On Wednesday last week, she demolished Ludacris’ Kanye West-produced “Stand Up” beat in a seemingly random freestyle on her Instagram. Then, on Saturday, she piqued fans’ interest with yet another freestyle, this time obliterating Onyx’s 1995 classic “Last Dayz.” Something was clearly afoot. Then, yesterday, she took a hard left turn into a much more modern-sounding lane, hijacking burgeoning Staten Island drill upstart CJ’s hit single “Whoopty” and joyriding like a Monaco champion to show off her ability to snap over pretty much any beat in existence.

Fans are now convinced Whack is planning a drop sometime in the near future because these lyrical exercises very strongly resemble a project rollout (Kota The Friend did something similar for the first Lyrics To Go tape). However, considering Whack’s unconventional tendency to go so hard against the grain, it might be best to just enjoy these potential one-off freestyles as just that.

The anticipation is understandable though. When Whack released her debut EP, Whack World, in 2018, the world was forced to stand at attention. Clocking in at 15 tracks and 15 minutes and accompanied by a visual album that combined Salvador Dali and Missy Elliott, Whack World presented something so different from the norm that Tierra became an instant superstar, popping up on the 2019 XXL Freshman Class. Since then, she’s released more wacky videos for tracks like “Unemployed” and “Dora,” but what fans really want is to see how she follows up her unique debut. One thing these freestyles do show is if she opts for a more straightforward, rap-focused approach, we still won’t be disappointed.

Watch Tierra Whack’s freestyle above.

The Sacramento Kings enjoyed a positive start to the 2020-21 season, winning three of their first four games. The Kings toppled playoff-caliber teams in all three victories but, especially in the case of two wins over the Denver Nuggets, the national focus seemed to be more on the hiccup of the opponent rather than the success of the Kings. From there, Sacramento went into something of a tailspin, losing 9 of the next 11 games.

During that 11-game swoon, the Kings were the worst team in the NBA statistically, with opponents out-scoring Sacramento by a whopping 13.2 points per 100 possessions. Much of that came on the defensive end, with Sacramento yielding an unsightly 123.7 points per 100 possessions to their opponents. To that end, it isn’t too much of a surprise that, as of Feb. 9, the Kings still carry the NBA’s worst defensive rating, allowing nearly 1.17 points per possession through 23 contests. However, Sacramento’s recent play is turning heads and, despite the modest full season numbers, there is a lot to like in Sacramento.

The Kings are 7-1 in their last eight games, including an active four-game winning streak with victories over the Pelicans, Celtics, Nuggets and Clippers. During that run, the team’s defense has improved (110.8 points allowed per 100) and, while that isn’t fantastic, the Kings are scoring efficiently and doing just enough to win. In fact, Sacramento currently leads the NBA with 11 victories in what NBA.com defines as “clutch” situations and, with the game on the line, the Kings have been able to pull victories out of the fire.

In fact, Sacramento’s last five victories arrived by single digits, with only two double-digit wins all season. In the grand scheme, that isn’t a “good” thing in that there is usually some noise associated with a poor net rating and a record that is now above the .500 mark at 12-11 overall. Still, the Kings have banked those 12 victories, and their recent play leads them into the playoff discussion, at least with regard to a potential berth in the play-in tournament.

Individually, De’Aaron Fox is playing fantastic basketball, averaging 27.0 points and 7.8 assists per game during the 7-1 stretch. In that span, Fox ranks second in the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring (10.0 points on 53.7 percent shooting), and he is the catalyst for the Kings in “winning time.” Fox’s play is also backed up by a major accolade, as he was named the Western Conference Player of the Week on Monday. Elsewhere, Harrison Barnes has been fantastic, shooting 51.5 percent from the floor, 44.0 percent from three-point range and 92.1 percent from the free throw line in the last eight games, and it is now fashionable (and accurate) to suggest he is an underrated player in a league-wide context.

On top of Fox, Barnes, Richaun Holmes and other productive veterans, the Kings are also receiving high-end contributions from No. 12 pick Tyrese Haliburton. In fact, NBA observers are already yelling from the rooftops about Haliburton and the events that led him to fall all the way to No. 12, but the Kings are the beneficiary, with Haliburton producing a 62.4 percent true shooting mark with 114 assists (5.4 per game) to only 32 turnovers. The Iowa State product isn’t perfect at this stage, especially on the defensive end, but Haliburton is backing up the widespread assumption that his game would translate quickly, and his play often does not resemble that of a typical rookie guard.

The coming days will be interesting for the Kings with a five-game homestand beginning on Tuesday evening. If Sacramento can continue to defend at a passable level, they could hang around the playoff race for quite some time. If they regress on that end, the team’s performance could more closely resemble its net rating (bottom eight in the NBA), and it would be difficult to maintain a .500 record through that lens. Regardless, the Kings are entertaining to watch and, in the recent past, playing at a high level.

Where does Sacramento land in this week’s DIME power rankings? Let’s break it all down.

1. Los Angeles Lakers (19-6, Last week — 1st)

Monday night got a little bit dicey for the Lakers, needing overtime (again) to beat the Thunder. Anthony Davis missed that game, to be fair, and Los Angeles is riding a five-game winning streak. The champs don’t have the NBA’s best record or net rating, but they have an elite profile. I’m not dropping them from the top spot without a reason to do so.

2. Utah Jazz (19-5, Last week — 6th)

The Jazz are unbelievable right now. They’ve won 15 of the last 16 games. They are a top-four team on both ends of the floor. They are well-coached. They are talented. They will cool off at some point but they have a very good case to be No. 1 right now if not for the Lakers continuing to find ways to win.

3. Milwaukee Bucks (16-8, Last week — 4th)

Milwaukee is (still) very good. The Bucks just won five games in a row, including the last three on the road, and they walloped the Nuggets in Denver on Monday evening. After a slow start by their standards, the Bucks are rounding into form defensively (seventh in the NBA) and the offense is firing on all cylinders.

4. L.A. Clippers (17-8, Last week — 2nd)

The Clippers ended the week with two losses in a row, and both came at home. That’s not what you want, but Paul George didn’t appear in either game and the losses came by seven points combined. Everything’s alright.

5. Philadelphia 76ers (17-7, Last week — 3rd)

Not that anyone needs to hear this, but Joel Embiid is out of his mind. He leads the entire league in a few advanced stats, and Embiid is putting up 29.3 points and 10.7 rebounds per game while maintaining efficiency. Oh, and he’s tremendous on the defensive end. Philly had a weird home loss to Portland this week, which explains the minor drop, but the Sixers are playing great and Embiid is the biggest reason.

6. Phoenix Suns (14-9, Last week — 10th)

Phoenix is looking more like the team that was a trendy sleeper in the West. The Suns are 6-1 in the last seven with wins over Golden State, Dallas (twice) and Boston. It hasn’t been the absolute toughest gauntlet from a schedule perspective, but they are top-eight in the league in net rating and top-five in defense while still figuring things out offensively — which is the area most anticipated them to excel.

7. Brooklyn Nets (14-11, Last week — 7th)

It was a weird week for Kevin Durant and the Nets, and no one should be “worried” about Brooklyn in a regular season sense. They did lose three of the last four games, though, and the Nets are 27th in defense.

8. San Antonio Spurs (14-10, Last week — 16th)

Only eight teams in the NBA have at least 14 wins and the Spurs are one of them. Granted, San Antonio has been out-scored for the season (which is a red flag), but Gregg Popovich’s team is 6-2 in the last eight games. This is probably too high, but somebody has to rise as other teams fall.

9. Boston Celtics (12-10, Last week — 11th)

Did you know Boston is just 4-7 in the last 11 games? Injuries are a big part of that, but the Celtics just aren’t lighting the world on fire on either end of the floor. To play devil’s advocate, Boston is still above-average on both ends, and the duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown really helps raise their floor when those two are healthy. They’d like to be better than they’ve been to this point, though, even considering Brown’s recent absence.

10. Sacramento Kings (12-11, Last week — 20th)

Sacramento probably isn’t going to keep winning this incredible share of close games but, hey, wins are wins and they’re incredibly fun.

11. Denver Nuggets (12-11, Last week — 5th)

One step forward, two steps back. The Nuggets just went 0-3 this week with a defense rating of 122.2 points per 100 possessions. Jamal Murray hasn’t looked like himself as he deals with a lingering knee injury, and Denver lost a game when Nikola Jokic had 50 points and 12 assists. Woof.

12. Charlotte Hornets (12-13, Last week — 18th)

This is a little bit high for Charlotte, but they are really fun. Part of that is LaMelo Ball, who should’ve been the No. 1 pick in the draft. Part of that is Gordon Hayward, who is playing at a career-best level. Part of that is the energy with a young, vibrant team. Part of that is a terrific coaching job by James Borrego. Put all together, and they are 5-2 in the last seven and having a ton of fun doing it.

13. Atlanta Hawks (11-12, Last week — 13th)

The Hawks haven’t been hit by widespread absences due to health and safety protocols, but Atlanta is battered by injuries. Kris Dunn hasn’t played yet, Bogdan Bogdanovic has been out for a long while and, just as Danilo Gallinari and Onyeka Okongwu are being integrated, breakout forward De’Andre Hunter is now on the shelf for several weeks. It’s a testament to Trae Young, John Collins, Clint Capela and others that the Hawks are hanging around .500, but they (still) don’t have the team they paid a lot of money to assemble.

14. Toronto Raptors (11-13, Last week — 14th)

Toronto is playing better basketball. They’ve won four of the last five, and the only loss was on the second night of a road back-to-back in Atlanta over the weekend. The defense still isn’t what it is “supposed” to be, but Toronto’s offense is clicking at the moment.

15. Golden State Warriors (12-12, Last week — 15th)

Golden State went 1-3 this week, but the three losses came by 11 combined points — and featured one hilarious Draymond Green moment. It is tough to figure out what Kelly Oubre Jr. and some of the Warriors’ other role players will provide on a nightly basis, but Stephen Curry is brilliant.

16. Portland Trail Blazers (12-10, Last week — 17th)

Somehow, Damian Lillard has the Blazers at 12-10. That’s really all there is to say. This is not an available roster that should be above .500 right now.
17. Indiana Pacers (12-12, Last week — 12th)

Is it time for a bit of panic for the Pacers? They are 1-5 in the last six, including three home losses, and the absences of TJ Warren and Caris LeVert definitely hurt. It’s fair to think Indiana was just regressing back to their .500-ish profile, but time will tell on that.

18. New Orleans Pelicans (10-12, Last week — 23rd)

What a week for New Orleans. They were fading from the consciousness before rattling off three wins, and the victories came against solid competition in Phoenix, Indiana and Memphis. Defense is still a problem, but the Pelicans are playing like the equivalent of a 39-or-40 win team over an 82-game season. That isn’t too brutal.

19. Dallas Mavericks (11-14, Last week — 28th)

It was a strange, yet encouraging week for Dallas. The Mavericks won in Atlanta in a bounce-back effort, then got absolutely annihilated by the Warriors. From there, Dallas won the next two games, including a memorable victory over Golden State on national TV, and the biggest point of optimism was the offense rounding into form. That’s necessary for the Mavericks to even approach their preseason expectations.

20. Miami Heat (9-14, Last week — 22nd)

Miami has been frustratingly bad this season, in part due to health and safety protocol absences, though back-to-back wins help the team’s overall profile as this week begins. In the near future, the Heat begin a six-game road trip that will likely reveal quite a bit about where the team’s actual baseline is, provided they have a full-ish roster when they hit the road.

21. Houston Rockets (11-12, Last week — 9th)

We were glowingly positive about the Rockets last week, and they earned it. Since then, however, Houston is 1-3 and they scored less than a point per possession this week. Injuries played a part, but it wasn’t pretty. Put simply, this is a good team when John Wall plays and a not very good one when he doesn’t, which isn’t a huge surprise when you look at the rest of their point guard rotation.

22. Memphis Grizzlies (9-10, Last week — 8th)

After winning five in a row across a long period of time due to a COVID-related hiatus, the Grizzlies just completed an 0-4 week. They gave up almost 1.25 points per possession defensively and, even against some quality opponents, it was a reminder that Memphis was probably playing over their heads previously.

23. New York Knicks (11-14, Last week — 24th)

New York is hanging around but, on Super Bowl Sunday, they pulled off a trade for Derrick Rose. On cue, the consternation began on how things will work in the Knicks’ backcourt with regard to Immanuel Quickley. The Knicks really do have a lot of guards, but um, they are still 11-14, so that’s something.

24. Oklahoma City Thunder (10-13, Last week — 26th)

There are nights when the Thunder look like the worst team in the league. On those nights, the roster issues really come to the surface, and it is easy to see this is a team in rebuild mode. Then, there are nights like Monday, when they nearly beat the Lakers, and OKC looks very competitive. It’s quite odd, but 10-13 is better than they should be. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is really good, and that helps a lot.

25. Washington Wizards (6-15, Last week — 25th)

Washington probably would have dropped, even from No. 25, if not for a win over the Bulls. It’s not going well but, hey, speaking of the Bulls…

26. Chicago Bulls (9-14, Last week — 21st)

Chicago is in the doldrums with a 2-6 record in the last eight games. Furthermore, the Bulls are without both Wendell Carter Jr. and Lauri Markkanen, leaving the cupboard virtually empty and forcing Billy Donovan into some rotations that are not filled with rotation-caliber players.

27. Cleveland Cavaliers (10-15, Last week — 19th)

The early-season optimism is fading for the Cavs after a 2-8 mark in the last ten games and four losses in a row. Larry Nance being on the shelf with injury badly hurts Cleveland’s defense, and the Cavs allowed a defensive rating of 124.8 during the four-game skid.

28. Orlando Magic (9-15, Last week — 27th)

With all due respect to Steve Clifford, who is good at his job, the Magic are pretty rough. Orlando is 3-13 in the last 16 games, and they’ve been out-scored by a mind-numbing 13.2 points per 100 possessions during that stretch. The Magic got a win over Chicago this week, only to lose the rematch by 26 points at home. Nikola Vucevic deserves credit for playing well, but he doesn’t have a ton of help as the Magic have been absolutely ravaged by injuries.

29. Detroit Pistons (5-18, Last week — 29th)

Detroit has the worst record in the league and the NBA’s longest losing streak. That’s not a combination any team wants. To their credit, the Pistons gave the Lakers a real run in their last game, and Detroit’s net rating (-4.9) is only pretty bad, not abysmal.

30. Minnesota Timberwolves (6-18, Last week — 30th)

The Wolves did pick up a road win this week, toppling the Thunder in Oklahoma City. Minnesota lost to OKC the very next night, though, and the win came in a game that did not feature Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. One could argue the Wolves have been a little bit better lately, but they haven’t done anything to climb out of the basement.

Spoilers for Netflix’s Malcolm & Marie will be found below.

It’s safe to say that a lot of people watched Netflix’s Malcolm & Marie, starring Zendaya and John David Washington, over the weekend. We may never know exactly how many people, since Netflix kind-of reveals their own numbers at will, but it’s been sitting at the top of the Most Popular list for days. A lot of critics aren’t wild about the movie because it bashes critics, but I didn’t mind that aspect too much. Sure, I turned down the volume during Malcolm’s longest tirade about how misunderstood he feels by one writer, and he takes himself way too seriously, but in a way, this is also a movie that roasts self-important artists. And the biggest roaster of Malcolm turned out to be Marie. Granted, he dealt a lot of harsh verbal blows to her as well, and the movie felt like one enormously overwrought argument (because that’s what it was) that was exhausting. Yet it also felt slightly therapeutic to watch the knife twist, so to speak.

Yes, that knife scene was great, but more to the point: who among us hasn’t had a circular, hours-long argument with a significant other that goes nowhere, but obviously, someone won the thing? The film doesn’t make the winner explicit, but while speaking with Zendaya for Interview Magazine, director and writer Sam Levinson (who’s also the Euphoria creator) answered the question:

“Who wins? I think Marie wins. Who’s right? I think Marie’s right. I think that’s evident in the final scene and that 20-minute monologue. It essentially grounds the entire movie in her perspective. But I think at the same time, the film is this Socratic dialogue between these two characters — about relationships, about filmmaking, about art, about partnership, about acknowledgement. And my hope is that people leave with whatever interpretation makes sense to their life. Whatever they see in the relationship that they want to take away from it, they will. Is the relationship healthy or toxic? I have no idea. I go back and forth on it.”

Damn straight, she won. Marie would have won even harder if she’d left in the middle of the night, but Malcolm thought (for at least a few minutes) that she left, so that might be good enough. And maybe he’ll give her a writing credit on that film of his after lifting her life story and forgetting to thank her at the premiere. It’s the least he could do!

(Via Interview Magazine)

Mary Wilson, founding member of The Supremes and its longest-serving original member, has died at 76 in her Las Vegas home, according to Billboard. Formed in 1959 as the Primettes, The Supremes were one of music’s most iconic and influential R&B/pop groups of all time. Wilson remained with the group longer than any of the other founding members; Florence Ballard left in 1967 and Diana Ross departed in 1971. The group finally disbanded with Wilson’s departure in 1977.

Over the course of their near-twenty-year career, The Supremes became the most successful vocal group in American history, with 12 No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. They were also the most successful Motown act, beyond the Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and more. The group was called “the pride of Detroit” and the Tony Award-winning musical Dreamgirls is loosely based on their story. Among their numerous hits were radio staples like “Baby Love,” “Come See About Me,” “Stop! In The Name Of Love,” and “You Keep Me Hangin’ On.”

Wilson, who contributed lead vocals on post-Ross singles such as “Automatically Sunshine” and “Touch,” was integral to the group’s early success and was considered the main attraction after the departures of her co-founders and their replacements, Cindy Birdsong and Jean Terrell. Wilson’s 1986 memoir Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme became a national best-seller, prompting a follow-up and reviving her musical career. She appeared regularly on late-night television and in Las Vegas.

She reportedly passed away in her sleep, and as of yet, the causes are unknown.

Her contributions will not only be remembered, they’ll be indelible in the work of Supremes-inspired artists throughout the music industry — too many to name.

Not only has Dave Grohl been a member of two iconic bands, Nirvana and Foo Fighters, but he did so playing different instruments: While he was Nirvana’s drummer, he mostly sings and plays guitar for Foo Fighters. He discussed that during his stop by The Tonight Show yesterday and spoke about why he decided to not try to sing and play drums at the same time after Nirvana.

Jimmy Fallon asked Grohl if he ever considered playing drums and singing, like Don Henley did as part of the Eagles. He responded, “First of all, only Don Henley could do Don Henley. The hardest part is the mic stand, I gotta be honest. You either got the one that comes up and around like this [gestures over his head], you got the McDonald’s [headset] mic… it’s practically impossible. There aren’t too many people that can really pull that off.”

He continued by giving his reason for switching over to guitar as his primary focus for Foo Fighters, saying, “So I thought, one of the reasons why I wanted to do this is because I had never done it before, stand with a guitar. At first, I felt like I was in a Chuck E Cheese band, I was just like, ‘Oh God, how do I move, what do I do? How’s my hair?’ Over time, you just get used to it.”

Elsewhere during the chat, he told the story about getting rejected by David Bowie, a tale he has shared before.

Part of the reason Grohl was on the program last night was because Foo Fighters were on the show to perform “Waiting On A War,” so check that performance out below and watch the Grohl interview clips above.