Giannis Antetokounmpo is two wins away from appearing in his first ever NBA Finals, and it’s possible that he’ll look to make the final push to get through the Eastern Conference Finals in a new look.
On Tuesday, hours before Antetokounmpo takes the floor for Game 4 in Atlanta, Nike unveiled the Zoom Freak 3, the third in his line of signature sneakers with the brand. Gone is the oversized Swoosh that dominated the visual of the first (facing backwards) and second sneaker, with the addition of a forefoot strap and a new cushioning system designed to withstand the stopping and leaping force of Giannis’ downhill game.
Nike
It’s a different look than the first two Zoom Freaks but is a familiar silhouette for fans of other Nike signatures. The forefoot strap is reminiscent of the one on the Kyrie 6 (or, going further back, the KD 7), and it keeps with the lowcut design that Giannis has always preferred, dating back to when he used to wear Kobes.
As for the performance aspect of the shoe, the biggest change is having two Zoom Air units supporting the ball of the foot (one shown clearly in the midfoot with the exposed Air in the midsole) in an effort to provide additional cushioning for a player who pushes downhill as much as Giannis, with aggressive stops, starts, and trying to explode to the hoop. The strap is meant to help secure the forefoot in place for additional stability to balance the cushioning in that area.
The first two colorways of the Zoom Freak 3 (black/purple and orange) will release in August in North America (July 1 globally).
It’s weird to watch Black Widow, certainly one of the more grounded MCU offerings in recent years – which finally gives Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) her first standalone movie, now two years after the character’s death – and be offered Black Widow’s gritty backstory and then remember: oh, right, this is the character who died on the space planet where the ghost Nazi lives. The juxtaposition of this movie and Black Widow’s eventual fate is bizarre.
Set right after the events of Captain America: Civil War, watching Black Widow kind of feels like watching that MCU movie you just never got around to seeing. Like, “Oh, you know, I never did see Thor: The Dark World, I have a couple of hours to kill, I should get caught up.” And then you watch it and the movie contains all these threads of storylines that are now all wrapped up. One thing the MCU does so well, that people respond to, is continue to move the story forward. Every entry unlocks more plot points that drive things forward and people really seem to respond to that. Even a movie set in the past, Captain Marvel, still managed to do this because we knew nothing about Captain Marvel at the time. Black Widow isn’t really some great mystery of a character. Black Widow marks the eighth time we’ve seen her in a movie.
Black Widow just might be the most self-contained MCU movie since way back in Phase 1. And, look, being a self-contained movie and being a movie that doesn’t move the greater story forward aren’t necessarily bad things. It’s just, at this point, unusual. And the thing I kept thinking about was a movie like Logan. And how Black Widow misses an opportunity to be more like Logan. And not to be “rated R” and get to use cuss words, or whatever. But to allow an actor who has played a character for over a decade to have one last go at it and have a triumphant death scene in his or her own movie. Hugh Jackman got that in Logan. Scarlett Johansson’s character died on a space planet in front of a ghost Nazi two movies and three streaming television shows ago. So Black Widow doesn’t even feel like any kind of final sendoff. Or a way to complete her story arc. It just literally feels like a movie that should now be retroactively inserted between Captain America: Civil War and Doctor Strange.
Again, set right after the events of Captain America: Civil War, Black Widow is on the run from the US government and finds herself in Norway, living in a trailer, drinking some beers and watching Moonraker. (Black Widow, the movie, does seem somewhat obsessed with Moonraker and I do appreciate that aspect of things. Moonraker begins with a parachute stunt, with evil henchman Jaws fighting James Bond as they both plummet through the sky. Black Widow has a similar set-piece, only now its Taskmaster and Black Widow fighting as they fall through the sky.) I kind of wish there were more moments like this. We’ve seen Black Widow fight before, but what does she do in her spare time? I found this so much more fascinating than any kind of action of a fight scene.
What Black Widow does do is introduce us to Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, who Natasha grew up with (living in a The Americans-style spy family, though no actual relation) and was produced by the same Russian agency Natasha was that turns young women into deadly fighting machines. So what this movie does is make Pugh’s Yelena a new player in the MCU without it seeming “phony.” In that she gets a whole movie with Natasha, instead of just telling us how she knew Natasha.
To the point that the rest of the movie feels a little bit like filler. Just something for Natasha and Yelana to do together, alongside their fake “parents” from their spying days, David Harbour and Rachel Weisz. You see, it’s finally time to take down the evil scientist who is producing armies of Black Widow women, who live on a floating fortress in the sky. (Yes, I realize earlier I called this movie “grounded.”)
Look, there hasn’t been an MCU movie in two years. I honestly can’t decide if this is a good movie to kind of “reset” with or not. The fact it is a kind of back to basics plot makes me feel that it is. And that it introduced Pugh’s character, who will obviously have a lot to do in further adventures. But this is not one of those movies where people will say, “The MCU like you’ve never seen it before!” It’s not an ambitious MCU movie. And we haven’t had movies in two years, but we have had WandaVision, and that was pretty ambitious. And all that is fine and dandy. My biggest disappointment, like I mentioned earlier, is that we didn’t get to close out Natasha’s arc with this movie. Instead, that was closed out on the space planet in front of the Nazi ghost two years ago. It feels like what’s missing from this movie. There’s even a flashforward to present time in this movie that shows Natasha’s grave. If you only watch this movie, yeah her “off-screen “ death is probably going to be pretty confusing. In a way, it feels like this movie just kind of skips over the main character’s death, which seems like kind of a big deal.
‘Black Widow’ opens in theaters and streams via Disney+ on July 9th. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.
WARNING: Spoilers for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: A Novel will be found below.
As promised, Quentin Tarantino‘s novelization of his 2019 film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, delves deep into the backstory of Cliff Booth, the swaggering stuntman played by Brad Pitt, and arguably the film’s main star. (Sorry, Leo.) More importantly, the novel finally answers the nagging question of what really happened to Booth’s wife on that boat.
In the film, Booth is followed almost everywhere by the persistent rumor that he killed his wife and got away with it. While that’s certainly implied in a flashback scene, it’s never definitively answered, and Pitt and Rebecca Gayheart, who played Booth’s wife, have teased fans that they know the whole story.
Well, now, Pitt and Gayheart aren’t the only ones who know what happened to Cliff and his wife on that boat, and it turns out she wasn’t his first kill, as detailed by Tarantino’s novelization. Via IndieWire:
A fellow stuntman, Buster, owed Cliff money and decided to pay Cliff not in cash but in him becoming co-owner of the pitbull, who he was entering into bloody dogfighting bouts. When Buster decided that they should let Brandy die in the ring and make money by betting on her opponent instead, Cliff was so enraged that he killed the guy with his bare hands.
“This wasn’t the first time Cliff committed murder and got away with it,” Tarantino writes. “The first time was in Cleveland in the fifties. The second time was when Cliff killed his wife two years earlier. This was the third time, and Cliff got away with this one too.”
Condolences to all the Cliff Booth fans out there who hoped that the handsome rogue with his ripped abs would end up not being a wife murderer. Although, after the film’s bloody ending, it really shouldn’t come as a surprise that Pitt’s character is not the most stable guy.
Yesterday marked the start of Ed Sheeran’s week-long residency on The Late Late Show. On last night’s episode, he performed “Bad Habits” for the first time and also sat down for a chat with James Corden. During that conversation, he revealed that he has an unusual tradition with friend and Friend Courteney Cox.
Sheeran explained that when performing in Los Angeles in 2013, he got connected with Cox and ended up staying at her house. Cox gave Sheeran an open invitation to crash at her place whenever he finds himself in LA, so since 2013, that is just what he’s done. After establishing that context, he continued:
“She has this Alexa thing in her house and she goes, ‘Ed, isn’t this wonderful? This is my Alexa. I can just order whatever on this.’ She walks out the room, and… do you know what a gimp mask is? You know, like an S&M leather gimp mask. So she walks out the room and I go, ‘Alexa! Order me a gimp mask.’ And it goes, ‘OK Courteney, I’ll order you a gimp…’ And anyway, so unbeknownst to me, Courteney’s assistant found it. She opened the post and she finds this mask and instantly goes, ‘Oh! I don’t think I was meant to see that,’ and leaves it on Courteney’s bed. And Courteney comes up and she’s like, ‘Where did this come from?’
Anyway, she found out the story, and now every time I go back there, I order her another gimp mask and she has maybe like 12. I hide them in people’s bedrooms, so they’ll go in the drawer and they’ll just find this leather S&M mask. She had two people come and look at her piano to try and buy it, two absolute strangers going into her house. I found out about it, so I left a couple masks on the piano.”
He then gave Corden a mask of his own, so check out the whole thing above.
Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Everybody knows how much Currensy loves his cars, weed, and how much he loves to deliver good music to his legion of loyal fans. He’s managed to turn that love into his Jet Life brand, which keeps growing and growing since its birth in 2011.
As one of the more consistent rappers in the game, known for flooding the streets with fly tunes, what he’s built with Jet Life is a reflection of the many labels he’s had the opportunity to be part of with legends right out of his hometown of New Orleans, such as Lil Wayne’s Young Money label and Master P’s No Limit label under his brother C-Murder’s imprint.
From 2006’s “Where da Cash At” to the re-released collaborative mixtape Covert Coup with The Alchemist to 2021’s Welcome To Jet Life Recordings 2, which is a collection of songs by Jet Life Recordings artists which include Fendi P and T.Y., Currensy has proven to be as resilient as he is industrious. Over the phone, he took Uproxx on a cerebral journey of how his mind works and how he’s adapted to the ever-changing technology of the music industry.
What are you up to?
Watching some new cartoon I found on Amazon, but I think it’s just a pilot and I think that it’s called…it’s called The New VIPs and it’s not a full season, it’s just one episode. I think they’re trying to see what people think of it.
What do you think of it?
I think this is good. This sh*t is good. It’s just one episode. When we get done with this interview, I’m going to take the survey and I’m going to let them know that this is a f*cking good show and it should have went into production or whatever you call that. You should watch this when you get done.
What’s your favorite Adult Swim or just any cartoon show?
Home Movies. I don’t know if you remember that because it was four seasons. The voice from Bob’s Burgers and Archer, you know that guy? [Editor’s Note: It’s H. Jon Benjamin] He’s one of the voices on there. It’s a good f*cking show, man.
It’s so well written though. It’s like how The Office still works whenever you put it on.
Well, I guess if I ever need any TV recommendations, I’ll just hit you up.
Yeah, I’m the one.
Let’s talk Covert Coup. How long had you and Alchemist been talking about re-releasing it?
Oh man, you’re going to love this story. We didn’t know that it wasn’t on streaming sites. We didn’t even know. When we went to San Francisco recently for this Nautica and Diamond Supply photo shoot, we were like, “Damn, it’s been 10 years since Covert Coup came out.” And I was like, “Yeah, that’s crazy. We should probably jam it.” Then I was like, “Is it on iTunes?” He’s like, “I don’t know.” I was like, “F*ck, I don’t know either.” So I asked my manager and he checked, and he’s like, “No.” I was like, “Oh, what is it on, Tidal or something?” It wasn’t on anything. We missed 4/20. That would have been ideal because that would have been the exact 10 year anniversary, so we just put it out in May.
People were and still are reacting to it like it’s a new project. That’s a whole different generation of people. Some people outright did not know about it. Some motherf*ckers are jamming it like it just dropped.
A lot of artists are re-releasing projects that were on DatPiff. I look at DatPiff as a historical music archive. There are so many legendary debut mixtapes on DatPiff.
Yup. That was the avenue right there. To me, that was major distribution because it’s like, everybody go right here and anybody can get on it. They didn’t have they picks and choosers. The homies from down the street was like, “Yo, I’m uploading my tape to DatPiff tonight, bro.” It was giving everybody a shot and it still do. That’s why I always put sh*t out so much because it was just cool to go on different sites and sh*t and see and just download stuff.
It’s so dope to see a lot of those tapes on there like Wiz Khalifa and Meek Mill.
That was an opportunity for people. It was just real listeners and people who respected the game, and curators of the whole vibe of what we do. They were shining a light on artists who they felt like deserved one because, at that time, all we had was MTV jams. We wasn’t on that motherf*cker. If the people saying your sh*t is dope, then dope people will give it a chance. If it’s what it’s supposed to be, then they’ll share it with other people. That put a lot of us in position, and it weeded out a lot of the bull. A lot of sucker sh*t couldn’t really advance at that time.
What’s the biggest difference between releasing music back then to today as a label owner of Jet Life Recordings?
I’m more focusing on the rollout of the next few projects that we putting out from Jet Life because I’m putting out a Welcome To Jet Life Recordings Vol. 2 and the first one that I did, a lot of the solo songs was for me and then a few from the artist. This time, everybody is on every song. There’s different artists on every record. I’m on all of them, but people from the label are on all of them too. Now, it’s about a rollout. How you going to promote this music outside of just putting up clips of you rapping?
What I would do before is put out one record from the tape or a snippet on Instagram, 30 seconds, just bars from the record. Maybe seven records I would damn near play the whole record — just putting up clips to get motherf*ckers ready for it and then drop it.
Now, I roll it out more like the way they do movies, where it’s just sh*t around it as opposed to the actual dish. You’re not really giving them that much in the promo, you’re just promoting the idea of what’s going on instead of playing the records and giving away so much of the project before you drop it. The physical aspect of purchasing music being removed. Everybody’s just getting it right from the phone and so you don’t have the thrill of picking up the CD and having to take the shrink wrapping off, so we have to save as much of that as we can for them so that the music is fresh to them once they download the project.
If I put so much of it up the way I used to, when they download it, it’s like, “Oh, I heard this one. I know this one, I know this one.” F*ck that. So now it’s like, Nah, I’m not going to do it that way. I’m going to roll the project out like a movie and let you see the process of us working. Maybe what car I drove to the studio and what we wore, what we was drinking. But, you’re not going to hear this sh*t until the sh*t drop. Until you actually sitting in the theater to watch the movie.
Tell us more about the compilation tape.
Welcome To Jet Life Recordings Vol. 2. features the entire label and some affiliates like Jay Worthy and Scotty ATL. Outside of that, it’s everybody on my label and a lot of rising stars from my city out of New Orleans: A lot of the people who I know are about to pop anyway with or without me. These people are going to blow anyway. I had better had got in front of that sh*t and fcking helped to usher them into the industry if I wanted to stay alive.
I saw also you tried that Jay-Z weed. I don’t really see Jay-Z as a weed smoker, but curious to know how it was from someone like yourself.
Well, they had different strains, but they weren’t labeled how you would think. It wasn’t jars just saying, “Oh, this is OG Kush.” They were all numbered and named little slick sh*t like Heavy. With anything associated with Jay-Z, if it was something that he not really in the know of, he’s going to do the research and then put the best people on the team to make it happen. Clearly, he’s got some good growers because the bottles marked Heavy are f*cking heavy. Those were the ones to smoke when I was at that shoot.
I also saw that you got into NFT. I’m still a little lost on that, what exactly it is.
Well, you know what? It’s because you live in the physical world, as do I. But do you remember when Dwight was playing Second Life on The Office? Okay, now Dwight Schrute was playing Second Life so much so that his character on Second Life had started an account on Second Life himself and it was second Second Life. His video game character was playing a video game of himself in the video game.
There are people who live, heavily immerse themselves, in the cyber world and cyber real estate. All of this is real because they live in a digital space. When they hang out with their friends and people are in these avatars on these computers, they need worlds and sh*t to live in, and in those worlds, you’re going to need dwellings, cars.
I’m involved in some NFT low riders right now and car parks for these f*cking digital cars because people want to upgrade them. People sit in front of they computer and live like that more than they step outside of the house because it’s hot outside, people are shooting. They’ll just rather just sit there and do that. You going to need all that s*it, so you better figure out what you going to sell them. When we get off the line, you better figure it out. You better come up with something. They need some digital mirrors, haircare supplies… They got NFT shoes, all that. NFT weed, lighters… all of that sh*t is already in the market.
I haven’t seen a NFT fish tank yet, so I don’t know. Cook that one up.
I’m thinking about all the games I play. I buy stuff for Call Of Duty all the time.
Dude, you’re fu*king buying NFTs then because where can you use those guns? Can you protect your house with that sh*t that you bought? With your money that you’re working for? Alright, you bought a NFT.
Okay, so what made you decide to hop in on the wave?
Because that digital money transfer to real money. It’s the same reason I’m telling you if those people believe you sold them a fish tank, you need to make them a fish tank and sell them the fish and sh*t.
Welcome To Jet Life Recordings 2 is out now. Check it out above.
Even though Tennessee is home to the most popular whiskey in the world, the state doesn’t get anywhere near the exposure Kentucky receives. Lynchburg’s Jack Daniel’s, Tullahoma’s George Dickel, Nashville’s Nelson Green Brier, and Shelbyville’s Uncle Nearest are only a few of the great whiskey makers working in the Volunteer State today. Add the smaller outfits and craft distilleries into the mix, and it’s clear that Tennessee is cranking out some impressive juice.
Before we continue, we need to explain something about “Tennessee whiskey.” The style of whiskey that Chris Stapleton lovingly sings about is technically a straight bourbon whiskey that’s produced in Tennessee. That seems simple, right? But the difference between “Tennessee bourbon” and “Tennessee whiskey” is a little more detailed. Tennessee law states “Tennessee whiskey” must be produced in the state and filtered through charcoal made from sugar maple — a method developed by “Uncle” Nearest Green, mentor to Jack Daniels, and referred to as the Lincoln County Process — before the spirit even hits the barrel.
When you get down to it, all Tennessee whiskey is technically bourbon but not all bourbon is Tennessee whiskey, thanks to the Lincoln County Process and state trade laws. Moreover, Tennessee also produces plenty of American blends, single malts, ryes, and standard bourbon whiskeys, just like every other whiskey region. Those expressions allow a bit more experimentation with mash bills and barrelling, opening the door for innovation.
You’ll find eight of our favorite slow-sipping whiskeys that are actually produced in Tennessee, below. All are in the $40 to $60 range and all are perfect for your whiskey summer. Click on the price if you think you’d like to give one of these bottles a shot.
Celebrity booze brands can sometimes be more gimmick than substance. This isn’t the case with Heaven’s Door, co-created by living-legend Bob Dylan. While its range is full of bangers, its flagship Heaven’s Door Straight Bourbon is not to be missed. The Tennessee sourced juice is non-chill filtered, has a fairly high rye content (30 percent), and is aged to perfection for eight years.
Tasting Notes:
Take a moment to breathe in the aromas of candied orange peels, clover honey, toasted wood, and vanilla beans before your first sip. On the palate, you’ll find flavors of almond cookies, dried fruits, more vanilla, buttery caramel, and just a hint of subtle spice at the very end. All in all, there’s a tremendous mix of sweetness and rich, charred oak on display here.
Bottom Line:
If you’re not afraid to venture outside of Kentucky to try a new bourbon but not sure which bottle to grab, Heaven’s Door Straight Bourbon is perfect for you. Sip it while you relax and listen to the song it’s named for.
Nobody will fault you if you purchase a bottle of classic Jack Daniel’s to sip this summer. But if you really want to up your whiskey game, grab a bottle of Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Rye. Made with a mash bill of 70 percent rye, 18 percent corn, and 12 percent malted barley, this rich, robust whiskey is known for its combination of sweet mellowness and spicy heat.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find scents of caramel corn, a gentle, nutty sweetness, and a slight, peppery backbone. The palate is swirling with more sweet corn notes as well as wood char, sweet toffee, orange peels, and more cracked black pepper. It all ends with a nice, warming, sweet, peppery finish.
Bottom Line:
If you’re a bourbon or Tennessee whiskey fan and you’d like to find a way to get into the world of rye whiskey, this is the bottle for you. The spicy rye warmth is tempered well by the sweet corn flavors.
Nathan “Nearest” Green was a former slave who taught Jack Daniel how to distill whiskey. Uncle Nearest became the first-ever master distiller at Jack Daniel Distillery (as well as the first African-American master distiller on record). He’s a legend in distilling.
Uncle Nearest Whiskey was launched to pay tribute to a man who helped create an entire sector of the whiskey industry. One of its best is the 1856 expression. This award-winning Tennessee-sourced whiskey is made in small batches, maple charcoal filtered, and aged in charred American oak barrels.
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with the aromas of sweet corn, vanilla beans, wood char, and dried fruits. The palate reveals notes of buttery caramel, sticky toffee, candied orange peels, vanilla beans, and just a hint of spice at the very end. It’s mellow, sweet, and easy to sip even with its high proof.
Bottom Line:
If you only grab one Tennessee-made whiskey, make it Uncle Nearest 1856. You’ll be happy you did. We’re also looking forward to the juice coming off their own stills in the near future.
While it doesn’t have the name recognition of some of the other whiskeys on this list, you definitely shouldn’t sleep on Collier and McKeel Tennessee Whiskey. Made with a mash bill of 70 percent corn, 15 percent malted barley, and 15 percent rye, all of the ingredients are sourced from local farms. After the prerequisite filtering through sugar maple charcoal, it’s then aged charred, American oak barrels.
The result is smooth, sweet, easy sipping whiskey perfect for summer nights.
Tasting Notes:
Draw in aromas of wood char, caramel corn, and just a wisp of spicy smoke. Take a sip and you’ll find hints of oak, fresh hay, vanilla beans, sweet honey, and a final kick of peppery spice. It all ends in a crescendo of sweet corn and subtle spices.
Bottom Line:
If you’re on board with trying something different, by a lesser-known brand, give Collier and McKeel Tennessee Whiskey a try. It’s mellow, rich, and well-suited for summer drinking.
When it comes to Tennessee-based whiskeys, George Dickel is the biggest name after Jack Daniel’s. It’s a brand that makes some excellent, award-winning whiskeys. If you’re looking for the brand’s best summer sipping option, try George Dickel Barrel Select Tennessee Whiskey. Made with a mash bill of 84 percent corn, eight percent rye, and eight percent malted barley, it’s aged for a minimum of nine years resulting in a smooth, sippable whiskey loaded with vanilla and subtle spices.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is filled with scents of vanilla, toffee, subtle chocolate, and a nice oak-charred background. Notable flavors of wood, dried cherries, vanilla beans, and just a hint of peppery rye are prevalent on the palate. The finish is dry, warming, and exceptionally sweet.
Bottom Line:
If you prefer your whiskey to be so filled with corn that it tastes almost like drinking caramel corn, this is the whiskey for you. But while this dram has a ton of corn flavor, it’s balanced with spices, fruit, and hints of cocoa.
Bib & Tucker has made a name for itself in the last few years. Bottled in Columbia, Tennessee, this small-batch Tennessee-sourced bourbon (some say from George Dickel’s Cascade Hollow stills) is made with a mash bill of 70 percent corn, 26 percent rye, and four percent malted barley. It’s distilled two times before maturing in very lightly charred, American oak casks for at least six-year (although the brand says that most batches will be closer to seven-plus years old).
Tasting Notes:
Take a moment to give this whiskey a proper nosing. You’ll be met with scents of pipe tobacco, wet grass, wood char, and vanilla beans. The palate is full of dried cherries, raisins, treacle, sugar cookies, and a nice hit of spice at the very end. It’s well-balanced with a nutty sweetness that pairs well with buttery caramel notes.
Bottom Line:
If you’ve never tried this surprisingly well-priced bourbon, now is the time. This Tennessee-made whiskey is mellow, sweet, and well suited for slow summer sipping.
This pot-still distilled whiskey isn’t a bourbon or a “Tennessee whiskey,” it’s an American single malt. This 100 percent barley-based whiskey gets its flavor because of three separately smoked malts. The barley is smoked with local cherrywood, beechwood, and peat imported from Scotland. The result is a smoky, flavorful whiskey that will make you rethink your idea of single malts.
Tasting Notes:
When you nose this whiskey, you get a ton of smoke. The robust peat is countered by sweet cherries and slight vanilla. The flavor is on par with some of the best whiskies of Islay. It’s filled with caramelized sugar, subtle cinnamon, sweet cherries, and a lot of smoke.
Sweet, smoky, and not to be missed.
Bottom Line:
Fans of smoky single malt Scotch whiskies should definitely check out this bold, rich, very unique expression. The mix of three different smoked malts gives this a nuanced, highly memorable flavor profile.
Editor’s Pick: Nelson’s Green Brier Tennessee Whiskey
This whiskey is a throwback to one of the biggest whiskeys ever made in Tennessee. The Nelson brothers stumbled into their family’s distilling history while driving the backroads of Tennessee and it changed the course of their lives. This is their first whiskey (their Belle Meade bourbons are sourced from MGP Indiana). The juice is a wheated bourbon that’s filtered according to Tennessee law. It’s then aged for two to five years before the barrels are vatted, proofed, and bottled in a throwback bottle.
Tasting Notes:
You’re met on the nose with still-warm cinnamon apple fritter fresh from the fryer that has just been drizzled with a salted caramel and vanilla syrup. The taste leans into the cinnamon-apple vibe with a thick and buttery southern biscuit underneath while the mid-palate luxuriates in a salted caramel apple. The finish holds onto the orchard fruitiness and dark bark spices as a final hint of dark and powdery cocoa arrive next to a ripe and sweet Bing cherry. The fade is slow but distinct and leaves you with all that fruit, caramel, spice, and cherry/chocolate lingering through your senses.
Bottom Line:
This is a bargain bottle of whiskey that over-delivers on every sip. The beauty of this bottle is that it’s a true workhorse in that it’s a great cocktail base while also being 100 percent sippable over a little ice on a hot day.
As a Drizly affiliate, Uproxx may receive a commission pursuant to certain items on this list.
The first thing that everyone must recall about Clifford The Big Red Dog (of the original animated series that aired on PBS and BBC Two) is that “love” is the reason why he’s so big. Yep, it’s all the fault of his owner, Emily, for having such a massive heart that, somehow, Clifford exponentially increased in size overnight. Ultimately, this is a sweet premise, but still, there was bound to be a “WTF” factor when Paramount Pictures released the trailer for the upcoming live-action/CGI hybrid film. This, of course, is not the studio’s first rodeo with a potential uncanny valley. Back in 2019, people freaked out over the initial Sonic the Hedgehog rendering with prominent teeth before a new design appeased the masses. So, Clifford was bound to stir some controversy in this trailer, too.
My first reaction? I’m warped, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the Venom tongue-reveal after spotting this “cute” tail wagging from underneath a blanket.
Paramount Pictures
From there, the trailer’s a whole lot of this:
Paramount Pictures
At that point, the action devolves into sheer, glorious chaos. Clifford sprints into Central Park, where he tries to “play” with a giant plastic hamster ball with a human inside.
— (ᴄᴀᴘᴛᴀɪɴ ᴍᴀʀᴠᴇʟ) (ᴍʏ ʜᴇʀᴏ ᴀᴄᴀᴅᴇᴍɪᴀ) (@Court_z013) June 29, 2021
This stunt could have swiftly caused bloodshed, but presumably, the movie will play it PG-safe in theaters. To encourage that vibe, BTS’ “Dynamite” plays throughout, but the action takes a dark turn near the end of this trailer, when Clifford attempts to eat another dog. This puts another spin on a dog-eat-dog world. People did not know what to think of these “unexpected horrors.”
Clifford was swiftly labeled a “Hell Hound,” despite his innocent and playful reactions to the world around him. Mayhem is sure to follow.
Saw the Clifford The Big Red Dog trailer… Very quickly it becomes apparent, I think because its live action, that this playful Hell Hound would have accidently and innocently eviscerated scores of children running from him.
— Dillen Danger! #BlackLiveMatter #ProtectBlackLives (@DillenDanger) June 29, 2021
All of this, however, should be a good thing, because Paramount declared, “For every Red heart or share the #CliffordMovie trailer gets, we’re donating $1 to Best Friends Animal Society, up to $20,000.”
This fall, heroes don’t get any bigger. Check out the new trailer for Clifford the Big Red Dog, coming to the BIG screen September 17. Help us to #LoveBIG! For every or share the #CliffordMovie trailer gets, we’re donating $1 to Best Friends Animal Society, up to $20,000. pic.twitter.com/JIwQxuqKYf
I’M SO EXCITED JAJDJDKD I USED TO WATCH THE CARTOON AND I LOVED IT SOOO MUCH THIS IS GOING TO BE SO FUN ANS CUTE I’M READY #CliffordMoviepic.twitter.com/uM1ISeWe0E
Last week, Blink-182 leader Mark Hoppus revealed that for the past three months, he has been undergoing chemotherapy to treat cancer. The singer hasn’t said what type of cancer he has, but he did say in his statement that while it “sucks” and he’s “scared,” he’s “trying to remain hopeful and positive.” Now he has spoken a bit more about how things are going.
Over the weekend, Hoppus hosted a Bingo game on his Twitch channel (as Billboard and Absolute Radio note), and while chatting with viewers, he said, “How am I feeling today? I feel much better than yesterday. Yesterday was hellish for me and I woke up today feeling better — I went for a walk, and I had a decent breakfast, and I haven’t felt like I was going to throw up today, so we’ll take it as a win.”
He later spoke about what his life is like right now, noting that he’s limited in what he’s able to do:
“On good days, I go do stuff. I went on a walk outside today and it was the first time I’d left my house in like… 5 days, pretty much. But this round of chemo, I wasn’t totally stuck on the couch, miserable. I’ve actually watched movies and walked around and cleaned the house and hung out with my dogs. I didn’t just feel like a poisoned electrified zombie leaning up against an electric fence like I did the past couple of rounds. […] I can’t go anywhere right now. I wanted to go to the Dodgers last night — I can’t. I want to go hang out with friends and go to a restaurant — I can’t. My white blood cell count is way too low for me to go out so I am stuck trying to get better. That’s alright, I’ll take it.”
Hoppus’ full 40-minute Twitch broadcast can be re-watched here.
Blink-182 is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The theme of Ski Mask The Slump God‘s “Admit It” video makes perfect sense in light of his new mixtape, Sin City. Taking inspiration from the 1990s neo-noir crime comics by Frank Miller — or perhaps the 2005 film based on them — the video is a desaturated, gory revenge tale that sees Ski Mask come back after being left for dead to execute violent retribution on his foes. As with the Sin City movie, Ski Mask’s video is washed of almost all color save a few bright splashes that accentuate the action, whether through the gold glinting on his teeth or the blood splashing on the walls.
Sin City: The Mixtape is Ski Mask’s first full-length project since 2018’s Stokeley, which highlighted the South Florida rapper’s impressive technical skill and hedonistic outlook and featured appearances from a then-emerging Juice WRLD, Lil Baby, and Lil Yachty. However, he seemingly took a hiatus in the wake of his friends Juice WRLD‘s and XXXTentacion’s deaths, with the pandemic delaying the comeback he teased in 2020 with his protest anthem, “Burn The Hoods.” While he did provide a guest feature on DJ Scheme’s “Soda” with Cordae, 2020 was a relatively quiet year for the Slump God.
However, earlier this year, he expressed excitement for a spate of new videos and dropped Sin City amid a crowded New Music Friday that included new Tyler The Creator and Doja Cat albums. The nine-track album is spare and straightforward, but with such a tight concept and sharp execution, it’s not one to be overlooked.
Watch Ski Mask The God’s “Admit It” video above.
Sin City The Mixtape is out now on Victor Victor Worldwide and Republic. Get it here.
Netflix has food shows on lock. They helped kick off the modern era of prestige food TV with Chef’s Table, back in 2015. They made the genre funny again with Nailed It. They even found a sort of “Bourdain with more anxieties” in longtime friend-of-Uproxx Phil Rosenthal’s show, Somebody Feed Phil.
Today, there’s a very long list of food shows to choose from on the streaming giant. They range from fast-paced cooking competitions to low-and-slow tales of the world’s greatest chefs. To help you sift through these wide-ranging options, we’re ranking our 20 favorites, below. The food shows featured represent a healthy mix of pure food porn, cooking competitions, and educational food docuseries.
The throughline here is that delicious food is front and center. Hopefully, these shows will inspire you to get in the kitchen and cook a little or travel to whatever corner of the world the food you crave is being cooked. Let’s dive in!
This show should probably come with a complimentary blood pressure cuff. Host Daym Drops — the insanely popular YouTube food reviewer — is traveling America and eating some of the most ridiculous fried foods. While the show leans into deep-fried Oreos and state fair foods, it also trends towards traditional cuisines throughout America.
Plus, Daym Drops’ energy and deep love for these foods are both hard to deny and easy to enjoy.
Can’t Miss Episode:
Each episode is only 25 minutes, making this a super easy weekend binge. It’s also kind of like Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives in that you can have it on in the background while you cook dinner. Otherwise, check out the Birmingham episode. It’s full of deep-fried pork and soul food that’ll leave you starving.
Restaurants on the Edge is one part food reality show, one part travel show, and one part fixer-upper show. The main thrust is a crew of restauranteurs hit up a failing restaurant with an amazing location or view in a high-touristed area and try to save it from oblivion.
It’s fun, fascinating, and full of beautiful locations and food.
Can’t Miss Episode:
This is another great “have on in the background” show. Each episode is in a unique location around the world. So maybe just pick somewhere that sounds cool to you and go from there. Though, the season 2 opener in Slovenia is a great intro episode.
This cooking competition is a breezy binge. It’s also a mouthwatering watch with piles of smoked meats and sides filling the screen from start to finish on every single episode. Judges Melissa Cookston (Memphis BBQ) and Compton’s own Kevin Bludso judge the smoked meats and sides while offering some serious education along the way. That’s what’s so nice about this show: You’re going to learn about smoking food while also getting into the drama of the cooking competition.
Can’t Miss Episode:
You really need to start with episode one and watch it the whole way through.
This is Netflix’s second swing at a cannabis cooking show and it hits more often than not. The conceit is simple, cannabis chefs step into the studio kitchen and make the best THC or CBD-infused plates they can. It’s fairly fast-paced and the food is legitimately repeatable in your own kitchen (for the most part).
Each episode is just over half an hour and there are only six total, so this is a really easy binge if you’re stoned and couch-locked.
Can’t Miss Episode:
With only six episodes, just start at the beginning. Though, episode five, High Holidays, is a particularly fun episode with a “Danksgiving” theme.
This British show is equal parts fascinating and entertaining. Burgeoning cooks gather to do a pop-up for the public and a group of judges, who are also restaurant investors. Meaning there’s are some serious stakes at play here. Pop-up chefs, home cooks, and food truck chefs are cooking for their professional futures.
The show doesn’t flinch as it takes you into what it’s really like to create a fully realized concept for a restaurant and then actually make that business function in the real world, in front of people willing to give you sometimes millions of dollars (well, millions of pounds, in this case) to turn your dreams into reality.
Can’t Miss Episode:
Episode five from season one is a great place to start. The episode covers two concepts: A small plate Korean restaurant and a reimagining of the British dish bubble & squeak into a whole menu. While it’s clear early on which of these two will get funded, it’s still a fun and hunger-inducing watch.
More than anything, this show is beautiful to look at the Chef’s Table aesthetic is on full display as the camera and narrator take us around two Chinese provinces with a laser focus on the food.
Farms, markets, hawker stalls, family dinner tables, and professional kitchens blend to create a clear sense of the place through the food the people grow, prepare, and eat. The episodes are also about 12 minutes each, making this a really easy binge.
Can’t Miss Episode:
Season two (Chaoshan Cuisine) episode two about Hu Tieu is a great place to start. The thick rice noodle takes on many forms over the 13-minute runtime and will have you craving noodles immediately.
This was a huge step up for Netflix when it came to fast-paced cooking competitions. Real-deal chefs gather in-studio to cook food based around a different nation’s food culture each week, creating a truly global feel.
While the show punts on their American episode, the rest of the series moves at a break-neck pace and features some truly inspired cooking.
Can’t Miss Episode:
Start with episode one based around Mexican cuisine. It’s an hour-long episode but will give you a great introduction to the show overall.
Chef David Chang’s first Netflix show has a lot to offer. The show follows the chef around as he does his best to fill the shoes of Anthony Bourdain. There’s a clear travel element that’s focused on a food theme for each place. The second season focuses even more, with Chang taking you into his family’s home as he has his first child and ponders food for kids before heading off to India and Australia.
Once you get through Ugly Delicious, check out Chang’s other food and travel show, Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, especially the episode in Cambodia with Kate McKinnon.
Can’t Miss Episode:
Season one, episode six (about fried chicken) is really when Chang hits a stride. The episode travels from Nashville’s hot chicken scene to a Chinese KFC to a Japanese home kitchen by the end. Plus, it’s all about fried chicken. That’s an easy subject to watch for an hour.
There’s something very infectious about Phil Rosenthal’s wide-eyed wonder at all the beautiful food in the world. While this show is just as much about travel as it is food, it’s really Rosenthal’s affability that carries the hour-long episodes. You really want to be at the table with him as he dives into amazing-looking dishes found all over the world.
Can’t Miss Episode:
Episode five of season one, New Orleans, is a great place to start. From there, jump around to whatever episode piques your interest. Don’t skip Tel Aviv or Saigon though.
High on the Hog is based on the seminal work of Dr. Jessica Harris and her breaking down of how African food cultures mingled with Indigenous American foods and European techniques to help define what American food is today. The show is a sort of short-hand for Dr. Harris’ work and book, with chef and writer Stephen Satterfield trekking around America and West Africa looking back at the origins of African American cuisines, where those foods are today, and profiling the people keeping those traditions alive.
Can’t Miss Episode:
Satterfield told us the Texas episode with Black cowboys moving their cattle was the moment that moved him the most. So we’d recommend watching that episode first, which is actually the last episode. Still, there are only four episodes in total, making this an easy binge.
Taco Chronicles comes from Netflix’s Latin American division but feels like a spiritual successor to Chef’s Table. The look and feel of the show are outstanding. Each 30-minute episode takes you into a sub-culture of tacos across Mexico.
This is taco culture at every level from the farms to the streets and everywhere in between. Just make sure to have taco plans before you finish your binge. You’re going to want to feed a serious taco fix. Trust us.
Can’t Miss Episode:
This is a really easy six-episode binge from the beginning. Still, if we had to pick just one episode, it’d probably be barbacoa. The episode covers how the ancient traditions of this dish are still used today.
Steven Rinella has devoted his life to conservation, the celebration of wild foods, and educating the public on those subjects. MeatEater follows Rinella and other hunters as they travel the Americas to hunt, fish, and cook.
This show is unflinching and deeply informational, especially if you’re looking into sourcing your own foods. Each episode ends with a cook, often in nature, of what the crew has recently hunted.
Can’t Miss Episode:
Start with season seven, episode 16. This 22-minute episode takes Rinella out of the field and into his kitchen to demonstrate various techniques for cooking game, fish, and foraged foods. It’s a great entry-level episode.
There’s probably little left to be said about this massive hit from the U.K. Home bakers assemble to, well, bake the British butts off. The show has it all — from catty judges to ridiculous recipes to all the drama as the ovens heat up and flour flies.
All in all, this is a very easy and fun watch, especially if you have the time to binge.
Can’t Miss Episode:
Collection One is the place to start. Ten episodes ensue as 12 home bakers fight for the championship.
Journalist and author Michael Pollan’s Cooked takes a look at food from a scientific and often personal POV. Each episode looks at how fire, water, air, and the earth help us create the food and flavors we know and love. This is the sort of show for food lovers who want to have a better understanding of what it is that makes food cultures worldwide/ through history so incredibly unique.
Can’t Miss Episode:
Episode one, Fire, is a great place to start. The episode looks at how cooking the food we eat changed us as a species and what we owe the animals we choose to eat. It’s heady stuff but worthwhile.
Street Food Asia and Street Food Latin America are kind of like Chef’s Table lite. The shows focus on street chefs around Asia and Latin America with short personal stories woven into the dramatic and delicious-looking street food they cook. The look of Chef’s Table is still present but the stories aren’t about inaccessible cuisines. Instead, it’s all about people feeding people literally on the streets.
The beauty of this show is that each chef and food represented is 100 percent accessible to you. You just have to visit.
Can’t Miss Episode:
The Lima, Peru episode in the Latin America season is pretty spectacular. It follows Indigenous cooks grilling meats as they’ve done for millennia next to Japanese migrants making ceviche with their own traditions melding with local ones. After that, check out the Oaxaca episode for some of the best-looking blue corn tortillas ever filmed.
Chef Samin Nosrat travels the world, digging into how salt, fat, acid, and heat change food and all the ways those elements differ across cultures. Nosrat’s infectious love of all things food really draws you in, with the beautiful dishes and locales adding a layer of wanderlust to the whole affair. It’ll be really hard not to binge this series in one sitting, is what we’re saying.
Can’t Miss Episode:
The first episode, Fat, is a great place to start. Again, just binge this one. It’s only four hours of beautiful TV at the end of the day.
Comedian Nicole Byer and star baker Jacques Torres come together to offer home bakers the chance at winning $10,000 for recreating a ridiculous cake or confectionary. Celebrity guest judges drop in for judging (and zinger) duties. The 30-minute format and one-and-out nature of the competition make this a very addictive show that feels new with every episode.
Can’t Miss Episode:
Pop over to the “Holiday” version of the show. Season one, episode six has Jason Mantzoukas guest judging a New Year’s Eve bake-off and it’s an absolute blast.
This is a crucial watch. The series is a journalist-forward documentary series covering our food supply chains. There are some harrowing aspects to how we get the food we eat every day and they’re revealed here in sobering detail. Over two seasons, the show covers everything from chocolate and big chicken to bottled water and French wine.
Can’t Miss Episode:
The season two opener, The Avocado Wars, is an eye-opening look at how Mexican cartels are shifting to avocados to fill in the gap left by losing part of the cannabis market.
Jon Favreau and chef Roy Choi created a great cooking show based on Favreau’s hit movie, Chef. The show takes elements from food and travel TV and stand-and-stir cooking shows and blends them into a micro-talk show format with big-name guests.
This show has it all but still feels small and personal. Plus, the easy back-and-forth between Favreau and Choi as they cook is wonderfully familiar.
Can’t Miss Episode:
The fourth episode of Volume Two where Choi and Favreau head to Hog Island Oysters is a great place to start, especially if you’re looking for a little bit more of a travel element. The episode ends with a massive oyster cook right on the beach that’ll leave you salivating.
Chef’s Table is the gold standard of the Netflix food series. The show has even spun off into a Street Food series that we’d highly recommend watching after this one.
The thrust of the series is a look at a chef, baker, butcher, or cook who has devoted their lives to food. There’s a travel element at play here, but it’s really the single personality at the center of each story that drives this series. From a visual standpoint, this show is also just amazing to look at.
Can’t Miss Episode:
The Volume Six opener with The Grey’s chef Mashama Bailey is the perfect place to start. The show goes deep into Georgia and Savannah’s food scene with one of the region’s most important chefs. It’s a part history lesson, part culinary education, and 100 percent entertaining.
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