Month: May 2021

Korean-American singer Audrey Nuna teams up with Chicago rapper Saba on her newest single, “Top Again.” The video, which released concurrently with the new track, is a surreal affair that finds Nuna subtly commenting on the artifice of the entertainment industry, then wandering through an eerie hospital. Saba makes his appearance inside an ambulance, then roaming the hospital’s halls as he raps a serpentine verse picking up the threads laid down by Audrey’s introspective lyrics.

Nuna, who released her debut album A Liquid Breakfast today, has been an exciting voice in the pop-R&B realm over the past year thanks to singles “Damn Right” and “Comic Sans,” as well as the recently released “Blossom,” on which she displays a gift for rapping as well as singing. As a genre-bending experimentalist, Nuna’s rhymes are often personal but universal, with quirky non-sequiturs that give way to smart observations on the state of things in both her world and the world at large.

Meanwhile, Saba has been slowly poking his head above the surface as fans eagerly await the follow-up to his 2018 star vehicle Care For Me, putting out a vinyl version of the project with VMP and sharing videos for “Ziplock/Rich Don’t Stop” and “Lifetime” with Femdot earlier this year.

Watch Audrey Nuna’s “Top Again” video featuring Saba.

The New Jersey singer’s album, A Liquid Breakfast, is out now on Arista Records. Stream it here.

While the first day of play-in games did not provide crunch-time entertainment, Wednesday’s Western Conference slate repented for the Eastern Conference’s transgressions. As the Memphis Grizzlies and San Antonio Spurs gritted through a delightful defensive battle, I constantly found myself studying Ja Morant and his scoring approach.

By the game’s end, I considered it to be a fairly accurate synopsis of where he currently excels as a scorer and where he must improve to take the genuine star leap. He missed a couple more floaters than is typical of him, but generally speaking, his performance was a clear outline of his abilities and the steps ahead.

So, that is today’s agenda: breaking down what I saw, why it matters, and how I interpret it with regard to Morant’s future development.

The best component of Morant’s scoring arsenal at this stage is anywhere from around 10 feet and in. His explosiveness and poised cadence in ball-screens affords him consistent paint touches, he’s one of the most spry and flexible players in the league, and he’s bouncy with a head of steam. His craft and footwork to organize rim finishes or floaters belies his second-year status.

According to Cleaning The Glass, he shot 58 percent at the rim (51st percentile among point guards) as a rookie. This season, that ticked up to 61 percent (57th percentile). For a slender 20- and 21-year-old who self-creates most more than half of his looks at the bucket, those marks are quite good.

Against the Spurs, he shot 4-of-6 inside the restricted area. On a pair of finishes, he showcased his midair contortion, which allows him to audible based on how rim protectors react to his presence, as well as his feinting of body angles and footwork to bait defenders into assuming he’ll drive one way before zipping another direction.

Here’s an early example where his contortion and improvisational tendencies as a finisher are evident:

Midway through the first quarter, he bolts around a screen from Jonas Valanciunas. Although Patty Mills aptly fights over the top, Morant uses his off-hand to keep Mills at bay and establish a small but valuable advantage (a sneaky smart trick many guys employ, albeit not often at his age). DeMar DeRozan aggressively stunts at the nail, so Morant kills his dribble and prepares for a clash with Drew Eubanks.

Except, Eubanks never jumps to meet Morant at the tin. Morant expected it, which is partly why he lifts off from so far out. For most guards, that sly move from Eubanks would best them. You can even kind of see the gears turning internally for Morant. He’s been had, but it doesn’t matter, because he promptly reroutes himself, flips the ball into his left hand and scores, making this a prime example of his practical and distinguished midair contortion.

This next one, late in the fourth quarter of a close game, is special.

Oooooh, baby. This is splendid and conveys Morant’s wizardry in screening actions. Dejounte Murray does pretty well to wiggle over the pick. But Morant senses he’s still a step behind and hoodwinks the Spurs guard with wicked right-left crossover. Both defenders, Murray and DeRozan, anticipate that moment of hesitation may signal a pass to Dillon Brooks and open a lane to the paint.

However, Jakob Poeltl, a borderline elite rim protector, awaits Morant inside, and this is when the magic really unfolds. To disrupt Poeltl’s timing and rhythm, Morant angles himself perpendicular to the diving Valanciunas, suggesting a pass might be imminent. Look at him halfway through the drive. He is locked onto the big fella and has picked up his dribble with Poeltl directly in front of him. A shot seems almost improbable. And then, a second later, he’s glided past Poeltl and has a finish, albeit a tough one, available to him. His body is perpendicular to the basket and he’s staring down a passing outlet. Then, while still somewhat perpendicular, he turns his head, generates enough torque to slip beyond Poeltl and convert the basket in one fluid motion. It’s a bonkers exhibition of athleticism.

Intelligence — the setup and crossover two-piece, the body fake — and atypical athleticism coalesce for an absurd sequence. These sorts of plays are what make Morant so tantalizing, both in the interim and for the future. Appreciate this stuff from him.

When he cannot get all the way to the cup, he leans on a burgeoning floater. After taking just 32 floaters (eight percent of his shots in the half-court, per Synergy) and making 10 of them as a sophomore at Murray State, he entered the NBA equipped to torch deep drop pick-and-roll defense or stop short to rapidly rise for open runners.

Last year, floaters composed 26.1 percent of his half-court shot profile and his 50 percent clip ranked in the 81st percentile. This year, they composed 26.4 percent of his profile and he ranked in the 55th percentile (43.6 percent shooting). Only Trae Young has taken more floaters each season. It’s gone from a scarcely used, inefficient tool to a viable and preferred weapon for him.

Similar to some of his rim attempts, Morant is exceptional at the build-up to these shots. When necessary, he uses footwork and body fakes to create space in the paint. Look how he bluffs a drive to the right and rocks Poeltl onto his heels, drifting toward the baseline, before darting to the middle for a moderately open floater:

Poeltl is well-positioned in drop coverage… and then, boom, he’s been shook to another dimension:

This is advantage creation at its finest, right here. Poeltl has the upper hand, right up until he doesn’t. These still-shots perfectly encapsulate that evolution. Morant pairs budding comfort in his runner with unique lower body flexibility and change of direction to spark a good shot for himself. He is a remarkable downhill athlete, capable of elite acceleration/deceleration, change of direction and transitioning from the horizontal to vertical plane or vice versa.

While Morant is a good guard finisher and has developed a nifty floater since college, those are really the extent of his consistent scoring options. As such, it can lead to an over-reliance on the latter, a rather challenging place from which to craft efficiency.

Shooting 50 percent on runners, like he did in year one, is operable. Shooting 43.6 percent, like he did this year, is much less sustainable. Because of his spindly frame, confronting rim protectors in tight spaces can be difficult and he’ll opt for floaters instead, some of which are suboptimal decisions.

Consider a pair of shots from Wednesday’s game:

Morant is Memphis’ best perimeter creator, so he adopts a larger scoring burden than is ideal for him. But this shot, an off-balance floater with a defender attached at the hip and 14 seconds left on the possession, is avoidable. Not so much in that specific situation, but the drive itself did not have to result in a shot. Enough time remained on the clock to keep searching for something better. He could not get all the way to the rim and settled for a laborious floater. Expanding his off-the-bounce repertoire is paramount for his — and Memphis’ — future success.

On another possession, he attempted a rather audacious runner from just inside the foul line. It was not a prudent decision, largely because Desmond Bane, a 43.2 percent 3-point shooter, is unguarded on the wing.

Yet it’s also not a wise decision because of the degree of difficulty. A contested floater over Murray’s outstretched arm will almost always be achievable during a given possession. With 11 seconds left on the shot clock, at the very least, something better can be pursued. If nothing surfaces from dribbling out or kicking out to a teammate, you can fall back on this look late in the clock.

Note how Murray navigates that screen by immediately ducking under. An open pull-up, maybe even a couple of them, is there for Morant if he wants it. The problem, though, is he lacks comfort shooting off the bounce, particularly with forward momentum.

Through two regular seasons, he’s 127 of 311 (40.8 percent) on pull-up 2s and 73 of 238 on pull-up 3s (30.7 percent). Many of these reps are open. Opponents want him to take them, instinctively scooting under screens and offering him space. He is not equipped to exploit that tactic yet because of choppy footwork and underdeveloped core strength. A play from Wednesday illuminates these shortcomings.

This is the correct process from Morant. Mills, bracing for the screen, lends him a driving lane. Poeltl retreats toward the rim. The midrange pull-up is the proper scoring read (Jaren Jackson Jr. is open up top for 3, too).

But everything appears disorderly. His body doesn’t seem synchronized, as if his lower half is still trying to collect itself after decelerating while the upper half is ready to shoot. His feet are apart, though usually, he has a narrow base. His insufficient core strength prevents him from quickly stabilizing himself to ensure the entire body is aligned. This happens too frequently when he must shoot briskly. His best off-the-dribble clips come when he’s granted time to gather himself, like this pull-up 3 from late in the first half.

Juxtapose that with another pull-up 2 demanding a hasty delivery and check his feet (spoiler, it’s a wider base again).

Mechanical inconsistencies are not the lone factor in his struggles. He misses plenty of shots with routine footwork and a relatively stabilized core. But addressing the core strength deficiencies should alleviate some of the problems; repetition and a regimented process are pillars for successful shooters.

He is a brilliant ball-screen maestro and slasher. Teams will dash under most picks and give him the appropriate time to launch. Growing more adept as a pull-up shooter off of downhill drives, sharpening his intermediate game, and broadening his scoring avenues is vital as Memphis continues to ascend the West hierarchy with its youthful foundation.

The abbreviated offseason should also be baked into assessing Morant’s development curve. He drastically improved from high school to college, year one to year two of college, and between college and his rookie NBA season. Progress is not always linear, though, and a year three breakout is certainly possible.

Stretching the range of his steady scoring attack from that 10 foot range to 18 feet would do wonders. To see a recent example of a player who’s made such an addition and taken a leap, you just need to look across the Western Conference to De’Aaron Fox. Morant has displayed the baseline development of an elite floater and finishing combo, propelled by pick-and-roll sorcery, physical gifts, and auspicious feel for the game. Opponents know this. Now, comes incorporating counters, learning from his early career successes and hurdles, all of which were portrayed throughout Wednesday’s play-in duel. That’s life as a star in the NBA, constantly having to adjust and grow as teams take away strengths and force you to your weaknesses. There’s little reason to believe Morant won’t put the work in to do just that, and he’ll have plenty of examples to work of off from Memphis’ play-in run.

What I do have is a particular set of skills; skills that have no bearing whatsoever on the plot of this movie.

This was the modified Liam Neeson trailer line I had echoing around my head throughout my viewing of Those Who Wish Me Dead, the new Taylor Sheridan movie on HBO Max about a pair of hitmen, a scared boy, and a smoke jumper played by Angelina Jolie. It’s a film that seems to go to great pains describing the very specific niche that each character occupies, carefully crafted anecdotes defining attributes ultimately signifying nothing. Detailed information is given, then discarded. It’s almost an anti-movie.

The first characters we meet are the two hitmen, played by Aiden Gillen, formerly Little Finger from Game Of Thrones, and Nicolas Hoult, the one-time boy from About A Boy, now a fully-grown man. They pose as firemen investigating a gas leak in order to infiltrate a Florida mansion. They kill the residents, blow the whole thing up on the way out, and barely flinch while walking away from the massive explosion. The scene certainly makes an impression.

The house turns out to belong to a DA, and seeing the news of his death on TV, a forensic accountant played by Jake Weber takes it as his cue to flee, along with his curly-haired pre-teen son, played by Finn Little. Weber’s character explains that he discovered aberration in someone’s books, the implications of which go all the way to the top. The pair head to the woods of Montana, where the accountant’s brother, played by Jon Bernthal, works as a Sheriff. Meanwhile, Little Finger and About A Man are already hot on the accountant’s trail.

In these same woods lives Hannah, a daredevil smoke jumper played by Angelina Jolie, possibly the least-convincing casting choice imaginable. Angelina Jolie is one of the most elegant-looking humans alive but watching her run is like watching Elaine Benes dance. When we meet her, Hannah is getting drunk with her smoke-jumper pals, who fight fires by jumping out of planes, digging ditches, and swinging axes. This fun-loving (but ultimately serious) brotherhood of the uniformed is something we normally Peter Berg explore, in movies like Patriots Day and Lone Survivor. Those Who Wish Me Dead, which also has the shark-eyed criminals and frontier setting seen in Taylor Sheridan movies like Wind River and Hell Or High Water, feels a little like Berg and Sheridan tried to shout a movie at each other across a crowded bar.

Hannah pulls some stunt involving a pick-up truck and a parachute, and gets demoted down, or rather demoted up, to a remote fire tower in the woods. She’ll spend the entire summer all alone in this cinematic locale, scanning the horizon for smoke — the perfect place to reflect on the deadly fire she still blames herself for. When a thunderstorm arrives suddenly, it’s almost as if the lightning has it in for her, and she’s forced to flee the tower down a rope, her well-established parachute skills curiously moot. It’s one of two scenes in which lightning seems to attack Hannah with peculiar malice, as if when the accountant told his son that “this thing goes all the way to the top,” he actually meant upwards, towards the cumulonimbus clouds themselves.

With Hannah now on the ground, she meets the accountant’s boy and together they hatch a scheme to get to Sheriff Jon Bernthal’s house for safety, with the hitmen hot on their trail. The Sheriff’s wife, see, runs a survival school. The wife is pregnant and black (played by Medina Senghore), which felt like quick way for the movie to signal “it’s okay to root for these people” rather than assume that they belong to some kind of white separatist militia. Angelina Jolie’s character, meanwhile, is the Sheriff’s ex-girlfriend for some reason. Meanwhile, the hitmen have started a fire in the same forest, intended as some kind of distraction.

Thus we have an accountant’s boy, a smoke jumper looking for redemption, a long-suffering Sheriff, a survivalist, and two firemen-impersonating hitmen colliding in a burning forest. The rigorously explained personality attributes of all these separate characters seem like they should come into play in the story somehow, because that’s how stories generally work. Instead, everything we know about them gradually becomes irrelevant. The fake firemen start a fire that the real fire lady doesn’t put out (or even predict), the Sheriff solves no crimes, the survival lady spends no time in the wilderness, and the hitmen seem to constantly forget that they have guns. Even the lightning itself is divorced from what you’d imagine would be its true purpose. It shows up twice to try to kill Angelina Jolie (isn’t there an old saying about lightning striking twice?) but in the end the forest fire is ignited by a couple of road flares.

This all feels a bit like the dramatic equivalent of one of those anti-joke jokes that deliberately avoid the punchline. The only clue to who the hitmen work for or what they’re covering up is a brief appearance by some kind of higher-up functionary played by Tyler Perry, which is sort of like Keyser Soze being revealed as Larry The Cable Guy. Those Who Wish Me dead would be genius if this were deliberate. I’m not sure it is, but it is sort of fascinating.

Taylor Sheridan is an acclaimed screenwriter who even received an Oscar nomination, for his second produced screenplay, Hell Or High Water. This year he’s the credited screenwriter of two novel adaptations, this and last month’s Without Remorse, which both feel more like the scene of development crimes than coherent movies in their own right. The personalities that must’ve collided and clashed behind the scenes to produce this mess must be at least as interesting as the ones on screen.

‘Those Who Wish Me Dead’ is currently available on HBO Max. Vince Mancini is on Twitter. You can access his archive of reviews here.

2020 saw so many excellent artists release strong new album but then be left without a viable way to tour in support of them. That’s not part of Billie Eilish’s plans for Happier Than Ever, though: She announced today that she will be busy for much of 2022 with a world tour in support of the album.

Between February and April, Eilish will be hitting up major North American markets, including multiple performances at New York City’s Madison Square Garden and Los Angeles’ The Forum. Then, in June (and one date in July), Eilish will trek across Europe. Eilish made the announcement with a video that slowly zooms in on her sitting in an empty arena.

Tickets for the tour go on sale on May 28. Check out the full list of Eilish’s upcoming dates below and get tickets on her website.

02/03/2022 — New Orleans, LA @ Smoothie King Center
02/05/2022 — Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena
02/06/2022 — Charlotte, NC @ Spectrum Center
02/08/2022 — Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints Arena
02/09/2022 — Washington, DC @ Capital One Arena
02/10/2022 — University Park, PA @ Bryce Jordan Center
02/12/2022 — Buffalo, NY @ KeyBank Center
02/13/2022 — Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
02/15/2022 — Montreal, QC @ Centre Bell
02/16/2022 — Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
02/18/2022 — New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
02/19/2022 — New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
02/20/2022 — Boston, MA @ TD Garden
02/22/2022 — Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center
03/08/2022 — Birmingham, AL @ Legacy Arena
03/09/2022 — Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
03/11/2022 — Louisville, KY @ Yum! Center
03/12/2022 — Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena
03/14/2022 — Chicago, IL @ United Center
03/15/2022 — St. Paul, MN @ Xcel Center
03/16/2022 — Omaha, NE @ CHI Health Center
03/19/2022 — Denver, CO @ Ball Arena (formerly Pepsi Center)
03/21/2022 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Vivint Arena
03/24/2022 — Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
03/25/2022 — Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena
03/29/2022 — San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center
03/30/2022 — Sacramento, CA @ Golden 1 Center
04/01/2022 — Las Vegas, NV @ T-Mobile Arena
04/02/2022 — Glendale, AZ @ Gila River Arena
04/06/2022 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum
04/08/2022 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum
04/09/2022 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum
06/03/2022 — Belfast, UK @ SSE Arena
06/04/2022 — Dublin, IE @ 3Arena
06/05/2022 — Dublin, IE @ 3Arena
06/07/2022 — Manchester, UK @ AO Arena
06/08/2022 — Manchester, UK @ AO Arena
06/10/2022 — London, UK @ The O2
06/11/2022 — London, UK @ The O2
06/12/2022 — London, UK @ The O2
06/14/2022 — Glasgow, UK @ The SSE Hydro
06/15/2022 — Birmingham, UK @ Utilita Arena
06/16/2022 — London, UK @ The O2
06/18/2022 — Amsterdam, NL @ Ziggo Dome
06/19/2022 — Frankfurt, DE @ Festhalle
06/21/2022 — Cologne, DE @ Lanxess Arena
06/22/2022 — Paris, FR @ Accor Arena
06/28/2022 — Antwerp, BE @ Sportpaleis
06/30/2022 — Berlin, DE @ Mercedes-Benz Arena
07/02/2022 — Zurich, CH @ Hallenstadion

Bill Burr has been a frequent guest on Conan O’Brien’s talk show(s) over the years. With the final episode of Conan approaching (June 24), the comedian and The Mandalorian guest star dropped by for his final appearance on Thursday.

Conan set up Burr perfectly by mentioning how “a lot of people are upset about a lot of things these days,” including getting the COVID vaccine. Burr has been vaccinated, but he’s a fan of the easily-debunked conspiracy theories from the Marjorie Taylor Greenes of the country who refuse to get the shot. “I love a conspiracy that doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “That they’re secretly trying to kill all of us for population control?”

He continued, “No, because what they would do, they would be killing all what they call ‘the sheeple,’ so all the people that go, ‘What are we supposed to do?’ They’re going to kill us and just be left with all the Fonzies with their leather jackets who are too cool to listen to people?” Burr — a self-described “Ron Howard,” while the anti-vaxxers are the Fonzies — would buy a theory that involves “thinning the herd,” but the government “would never do a pointed attack on people that are going to do whatever they say.” They’re “eliminating the wrong group,” Conan added, nullifying the theory.

Burr doesn’t listen to anyone’s theory anymore, unless they got their information “at the library. If you got it at the library, I’ll listen to it because the library has the decency to break up information between non-fiction and fiction, meaning this happened and this is just some shit people made up. You go on the internet, everything is presented as non-fiction.” He later joked (shortly before the 4:00 minute mark) that he wishes the virus killed “a few more” people, so the traffic in Los Angeles wouldn’t be so bad. It was an “honest, selfish thought” that led to this reaction from Conan.

Conan’s going to miss him. Watch the interview above.

The Rock is currently filming Black Adam, his long awaited debut as the DC Comics anti-hero, but apparently, that doesn’t mean he can’t add another classic character from the comics giant to his plate. The actor, wrestler, tequila, and energy-drink magnate will be voicing Krypto the Superdog in the upcoming animated film DC League of Super Pets.

Based on the popular, kid-friendly book series of the same name, the League of Super Pets showcases the adventures of all different animals belonging to DC Comics’ stable of heroes (and villains), and The Rock is just the first big name attached to the project. It also marks a further collaboration between The Rock’s production team and Warner Bros. as the two delve deeper into DC Comics lore. Via Deadline:

The film, from Warner Bros and Warner Animation Group, is co-directed by Sam Levine and is the first-ever feature to star Superman’s best friend. A larger voice-over cast will be announced in the near future.

Patricia Hicks, Stern and, under their Seven Bucks Productions banner, Johnson, Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia, are producing the film.

The Rock’s casting as Superman’s best furry friend arrives on the heel of the actor offering fans a very tiny glimpse of his Black Adam costume on Instagram. The Rock slyly used the costume reveal to promote his new energy drink by posing for a photo while wearing his “black cloak of secrecy” that prevents wayward photos of his costume getting out while coming to and from the set.

DC League of Super Pets hits theaters on May 20, 2022.

(Via Deadline)

YG and Mozzy’s joint album Kommunity Service has arrived and with it, the video for “Gangsta,” the project’s intro and third single. Borrowing the loop from 50 Cent’s 2002 breakout hit “Wanksta,” the two West Coast native flash their hood passes and talk major cash, taunting phony gangbangers and reiterating their own credentials. YG steals the show with a double-time flow on the back half of his verse, showing off a newly polished flow that shows he’s been on the J. Cole rap writing workout plan.

Speaking of stealing things, the video is a tongue-in-cheek affair, as YG and Mozzy recruit a team of lingerie-clad honeypots to infiltrate a mark’s mansion, tying him down and opening the door for YG, Mozzy, and their goons to enjoy an illicit shopping spree at the rich man’s expense. It shouldn’t be funny, but with veteran actor De’Aundre Bonds (aka Stacey from The Wood and Dope and Skully from Snowfall) playing the victim, there’s plenty of humor imparted to the proceeds thanks to his portrayal as more annoyed than frightened.

“Gangsta” was preceded by videos for “Bompton To Oak Park,” which kicked off the rollout for Kommunity Service, and “Perfect Timing” with Blxst, which showed things wouldn’t be all gangbanging on the duo’s collaboration.

Watch YG & Mozzy’s “Gangsta” video above.

Kommunity Service is out now on Empire. Get it here.

The Rundown is a weekly column that highlights some of the biggest, weirdest, and most notable events of the week in entertainment. The number of items could vary, as could the subject matter. It will not always make a ton of sense. Some items might not even be about entertainment, to be honest, or from this week. The important thing is that it’s Friday, and we are here to have some fun.

ITEM NUMBER ONE — Listen to me

Here’s the problem: there are too many things. Entirely too many, in all shapes and sizes and styles, all available at our fingertips at any given second, only restrained by the speed of the WiFi in our homes. It’s daunting sometimes, causing our brains to freeze and overload and become incapable of making a decision because, like, how can we commit to this thing when there are all those other things we haven’t even discovered yet? And so, we continue to scroll. And scroll. And scroll.

You know this feeling. I’m sure you do. It happens to all of us, especially in the evening when we’re all spelunking through various streaming services looking for something to watch. The worst is when you spend so much time scrolling and hunting that you run out of time to actually watch anything. That is defeating and depressing and bad. It’s no way to live. That’s why I am coming to you with this suggestion: Just open HBO Max and watch the Harley Quinn animated series.

I have mentioned this show before, kind of a lot, at least once in a full-on article about it. There’s a simple reason for that: It is so good. It is so much better than you think it will be when you read “Harley Quinn animated series,” even if you’re the type of person who gets excited about phrases like that already. I don’t even love comics or comics-related projects that much. I was at best generally familiar with the idea of Harley Quinn — associate/lover of Joker, dresses like a clown, carries a bat, etc. — before I started watching the show and yet somehow I have become deeply invested in all of its characters. I did not even know Kite Man existed. Now I worry about him sometimes at 2 a.m. It’s a problem. A good problem, but still a problem.

The show is a perfect binge, too. I know because I’ve binged straight through its two seasons two times already and I just started a third. It is outrageously funny in ways that are both smart and stupid (more on this shortly), and it is sweet in parts that will make you all fuzzy inside, and it features maybe one of the best depictions of a complicated female friendship/relationship on television. Each episode is about 22-25 minutes. You can rip through two before bed, or accidentally stay up past midnight watching half a dozen. I’m not the boss of you.

The voice cast is loaded, too. You’ve got Kaley Cuoco as Harley and Lake Bell as Poison Ivy. You’ve got Alan Tudyk doing a bunch of voices. You’ve got Tony Hale and Jason Alexander and Ron Funches and J.B. Smoove and Andy Daly and Christopher Meloni and Jim Rash and Giancarlo Esposito and Wanda Sykes and whooooops now I’m just listing everyone on the IMDb page. I didn’t even get to Sanaa Latham and Alfred Molina yet. And none of these represent the best voiceover work in the series. That honor goes to James Adomanian as Bane. I mean, look at this.

This is how Bane is all the time on this show. He’s just a big dumb goofus who is always getting bullied by his fellow supervillains and pathetically threatening to blow up things that have wronged him. He has a mug that says “Caffeine Is My Reckoning.” There’s a whole arc at one point about the other supervillains in the Legion of Doom making him sit in a crappy little tiny chair while they all have luxurious ones, just because they find it funny. It is a hilarious take on a character who is best known as the humorless anarchy-loving goon played by Tom Hardy in The Dark Knight Rises. I get excited every time I see him on the screen. I can — and will, if you don’t escape literally any conversation with me fast enough — make an argument that he’s one of the ten best characters on television. Look at this highlight reel. Zero misses detected.

Almost all of the characters are turned about 40 degrees from their usual iterations like this, too. They’re all a bit stupider and more prone to screwing up because that makes for a better comedy, but they’re also a little sweeter. The show treats the Legion of Doom the way Parks and Recreation treated the, well, the Parks and Recreation department. There are moments where it’s more or less a workplace comedy about supervillains. And it’s not just the villains who get this treatment. Jim Gordon is frazzled beyond belief and desperate for Batman to be the friend he can talk to about his marriage. Robin is a little brat voiced by Jacob Trembley. Hell, even Batman gets goofed on pretty good.

It’s all just very good and fun. It is honestly one of my favorite shows of the past few years, one I discovered later than I should have because it started on the DC Universe streaming network before it moved to HBO Max. But it’s there now, on the same platform as The Sopranos, probably at most ten mouse clicks away from where you are right now. (Or even just one.) I apologize for the hard sell here but I promise I am trying to help. You need to stop scrolling. And I think you will like it. There has never been a better time to binge it, too, not because it’s suddenly extra relevant or because the recently greenlit third season in production, just because it is kind of always a good time to watch cool stuff. Get in there.

ITEM NUMBER TWO — Rest in peace, Nicky Holiday

Charles Grodin died this week, which stinks, because Charles Grodin was great. He was great in a lot of different things in a lot of different ways, too, which made the stream of tributes to him pretty cool. Some people remembered him for his role opposite Robert De Niro in Midnight Run. Some people remembered him for his performance opposite a deranged Martin Short in Clifford, or for his role in the Beethoven movies, or for his decades of borderline performance art talk show appearances, or for any other number of things he did in his 86 years on Earth. For me, though, he was always Nicky Holiday, the deliciously sleazy jewel thief who seduces Miss Piggy in The Great Muppet Caper.

Forgive me for blockquoting myself here, please, but I don’t think I can put my thoughts about his performance in that movie much better than I did in my piece on it last year. I stand by all of this, to the letter.

Speaking of things that no one does better, I promise all of you that you have never seen anyone enjoy playing a lecherous sleaze more than Charles Grodin does in this movie. As much as? Maybe. Possibly. But not more. He looks like he’s having so much fun. It reminds me a lot of Hugh Grant’s performance in Paddington 2, just the acknowledgment that this — playing a human villain opposite stuffed/animated beacons of light and joy — is all very silly and therefore there’s no reason to do one iota less than the absolute most in every single scene. Here is a GIF of him dancing away from a table before scurrying off. I promise you he brings this exact energy to every scene. It’s delightful.

The GIF I am referring to in there is at the top of this section. It’s beautiful. It somehow tells you everything you need to know about the character without a single decibel of sound, from the sleazy shimmying at the beginning to the duplicitous hustle at the end. Acting across from Muppets can’t be easy. There’s got to be a voice in your head that screams “YOU ARE TALKING TO A PUPPET, SOMEONE IS ON THE FLOOR HOLDING IT, THIS IS WEIRD” as you try to look them in the eye, and it has to be hard not to let some of that trickle out into your face while the camera is pointed at you. Grodin sold it so hard anyway. He really made me believe he wanted to run away with Miss Piggy. There was passion in his eyes when he spoke to her. Real fire. He looked like he was about to be overwhelmed with lust and kiss her at any moment. It was great. Almost a little disturbing if you think about it too much, which you should not, in large part because this is also a movie where Kermit and Fozzie play “identical” twin brothers even though one is a frog and the other is a bear. Just roll with it.

Speaking of things that are great: Look at this, which I now share with you while providing zero additional context or analysis.

The man lived a full and rich life and worked with the Muppets on multiple occasions. We should all be so lucky.

ITEM NUMBER THREE — Oh hell yes, it is, once again, Soderbergh time

This is the first teaser for Steven Soderbergh’s next movie, No Sudden Move. It looks very cool and features an absolutely stacked cast. This should not be a surprise. Most of Soderbergh’s projects look very cool and feature an absolutely stacked cast. He made Out of Sight. He made the Ocean’s trilogy. He made The Knick and Magic Mike and The Informant and Erin Brockovich and The Limey. The dude has a style and that style can be summed up as “cool shit Brian likes.” Or a better way. With… better… words.

Point being: I was probably going to watch this movie when it drops on HBO Max in July no matter what. But after reading this description, I super want to watch it.

Set in 1954 Detroit, No Sudden Move stars Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro and David Harbour, with Ray Liotta, Jon Hamm, Amy Seimetz, Brendan Fraser, Kieran Culkin, Noah Jupe, Craig muMs Grant, Julia Fox, Frankie Shaw and Bill Duke. The plot centers on a group of small-time criminals who are hired to steal what they think is a simple document. When their plan goes horribly wrong, their search for who hired them – and for what ultimate purpose – weaves them through all echelons of the race-torn, rapidly changing city.

So there’s all of that. But there’s also this: Have you seen Logan Lucky, the NASCAR heist movie he made with Channing Tatum and Adam Driver? You might not have. Not a lot of people did. It had a weird release and never got a great jump start and it’s just kind of been lingering on various streaming services ever since. But it is so good. It is so good. One day I am going to write 2500 words about it.

But, for now, I’ll just leave this clip here as a reminder that Knives Out was not the first major Hollywood project in which Daniel Craig did a cartoonish Southern accent. Watch a king do work.

Please watch Logan Lucky if you have not already watched Logan Lucky. Watch it tonight. Logan Lucky is an extremely good Friday night movie. I just said all of these things a few weeks ago in this very column. I do not care. I am saying them again. This is important.

ITEM NUMBER FOUR — Martha is fed up

Well, let’s check in with noted billionaire lifestyle icon and Snoop Dogg confidant Martha Stewart. What do you have going on, Martha?

Perfect. Everything about it. From the thing where Martha Stewart was upset that the Post shortchanged her peacock count to the thing where she bragged about the house they live in. I can’t decide what my favorite part is. Right now it’s a toss-up between “Martha Stewart got so angry about an incorrect article about her peacocks that she logged into Twitter to defend them” and “the thing where this is enough of an excuse to post her tweets about drones again.”

I’m very happy about this development.

I’ve been trying to speak this existence since she first tweeted the phrase almost seven years ago, but just once I’d like someone to say I am controversial but fabulous and do a good job. It’s all I’ve ever really wanted, really. Hits all the quadrants of the person I want to be.

ITEM NUMBER FIVE — More like, in my opinion, Jack(ed) Lasso

Ted Lasso is a good show about a handsome and charming American who is hired to coach a soccer team in England despite knowing very little about the sport. I bring this up partly to say it again just so no one forgets, but mostly because Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, also handsome and charming Americans who know very little about soccer, recently purchased a soccer team in England. This is… cool. It’s cool. And now the whole endeavor is going to be a reality show on FX. It might make me break my extended reality show hiatus. I… think I need this. Here, look.

In 2020, Rob McElhenney (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) and Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) teamed up to purchase the team in the hopes of turning the club into an underdog story the whole world could root for. The worry? Rob and Ryan have no experience in football or working with each other. That said, they are serious about their investment in Wrexham, improving the club and doing right by the townspeople.

This kind of rules. I love it. I hope it starts a trend where Americans and people from England start buying each other’s sports teams for entertainment purposes. I hope Helen Mirren buys a semi-professional baseball team and makes a show about it. I hope Guy Fieri buys a cricket team and makes a show about it. I hope they air all the shows on the same channel on the same night. You can come over and watch them with me. It’ll be a party. We can get pizza and make umbrella drinks.

Anyway, look at these two charming bastards.

I like this. I like when people I enjoy become friends with each other. I like that they’re kind of doing a real-life Ted Lasso. I can’t decide if it will be funnier if they win a championship or suck tremendously forever. I mean that last thing with no disrespect at all. I want nothing but the best for them. But it would make for a magnificent reality show if two handsome millionaires from Hollywood just get the hell kicked out of them by the English soccer establishment for 10 seasons. Don’t act like you wouldn’t enjoy this a little bit. But again, I wish them the best.

READER MAIL

If you have questions about television, movies, food, local news, weather, or whatever you want, shoot them to me on Twitter or at [email protected] (put “RUNDOWN” in the subject line). I am the first writer to ever answer reader mail in a column. Do not look up this last part.

From Justin:

I spent a week between graduating law school and starting bar prep by rewatching the Fast and Furious movies in anticipation of FF9, and I need to talk about Furious 7 with someone who gets it. Dom and the gang devise a detailed plan to sneak into this swanky birthday party and steal the God’s Eye hard drive out of a supercar, and a key component of the plan is that Dom just casually deadlifts a CAR while in a tux. This after Mr. Nobody praises Dom’s managerial prowess. I NEED to know what the conversation entailed that led Dom to just deadlift this car as a key step in the plan. I’ve been thinking about how hilarious that conversation must have been all week.

Well, first of all, this seems like an excellent use of your time. I’m not joking or being sarcastic. Sometimes your brain just needs a power washing to clear out the goop that builds up in there, and I can think of no better time for that than “between law school finals and bar exam prep” and no better way to do it than “watch all the Fast & Furious movies.” Terrific work here, buddy.

But yes, this is a wonderful scene from beginning to end, one that ends with Jason Statham shooting a bazooka out the window of an Abu Dhabi skyscraper at the million-dollar sports car Dom has just launched into the air toward a second Abu Dhabi skyscraper. It remains my position that you could make a pretty solid half-hour sitcom about a 24-hour news network that exists inside the Fast & Furious universe. Just a regular news day and people minding their business and then, like, this happens in the streets of Los Angeles.

I would watch this show. And if it makes you feel any better, Justin, I passed the bar exam a while back and I am, basically, an idiot. I suspect you will be fine.

AND NOW, THE NEWS

To Canada!

Nova Scotia RCMP is investigating an alleged lobster theft from a fishing boat in Eastern Passage.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are investigating a lobster heist.

Police say three crates of lobster, which had been attached to a fishing boat on Government Wharf Road, were removed from the water.

Wow, if these lobster thieves ever caught…

According to police, the three crates were removed sometime between 4:30 p.m. on May 17 and 11:30 a.m. on May 18.

… then I guess they’ll really be…

Anyone with information is asked to contact Halifax District RCMP or Crime Stoppers.

… in hot water.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) must have slept through the entirety of the failed MAGA insurrection on January 6, or he’s simply making things up in an attempt to rewrite recent history. The latter possibility is probably the correct one, since it’s unlikely that Johnson could doze through the mayhem at the U.S. Capitol, but he’s acting like everyone’s making a big deal about nothing. It’s, uh, not good, but Fox News’ Laura Ingraham was here for it. Here’s Johnson telling her that there was no insurrection to speak of, and “by and large it was a peaceful protest.”

Yep, he’s really going there, although Johnson did prefaced his conclusion by saying, “You know, I condemned the breach. I condemned the violence, but to say there were thousands of armed insurrectionists breaching the Capitol intent on overthrowing the government is just simply false narrative.” He conceded that “there were a number of people, basically agitators that whipped the crowd and breached the Capitol.” And he doesn’t seem to understand that no one has claimed that “thousands” of insurrectionists were armed, but some were, and many of the rest contributed to the dangerous physical momentum that crushed a police officer in a doorway.

In the end, five people died as a result of the January 6 violence, and Johnson’s silly “by and large” description got dragged, hard, with jokes that would have been too soon, had they not referenced events that are several decades old, like the John F. Kennedy assassination and the “cruise” known as the Titanic disaster. Oh, but the Fyre Festival got some airplay, too. That one might be too soon?

Some of the other replies did arguably get out of hand, but the point stands: Ron Johnson’s probably fooling someone, but he’s not fooling everyone.

Although J. Cole’s new album The Off-Season has now officially been out for over a week, the unusual rollout for the long-awaited album continues — and keeps to the established theme of “rap as basketball.” With a cover featuring a burning basketball hoop, a documentary detailing his “training” for the new album, a cover story in Slam magazine, and a professional basketball career in Rwanda, Cole’s been using The Off-Season to reinforce the long-held parallels between basketball and hip-hop.

Today, he and his Dreamville crew revealed the latest version of his Puma basketball sneaker, the RS-Dreamer 2, in a new colorway, fittingly titled the “Off-Season Reds.” The shoes are modeled in the campaign shots by the NBA’s Kyle Kuzma of the Los Angeles Lakers and the WNBA’s Skylar Diggins-Smith of the Phoenix Mercury.

In his debut game for the Rwanda Patriots of the Basketball Africa League against the Nigeria Rivers Hoopers, J. Cole put up a respectable rookie box score (3 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists) and played admirable defense, earning plenty of accolades from other pro hoopers who were simply impressed to see the 36-year-old pursue his hoop dreams and keep up with the best players the continent has to offer.

You can pick up the “Off-Season” red RS-Dreamer 2 here.