Month: September 2021

After the internet nearly cracked in two reacting to the news that Chris Pratt will voice the classic Nintendo character Mario in an the animated film of the same name, the actor posted an Instagram video on Thursday night to officially confirm his casting and share his excitement at bringing the pixelated plumber to life.

In the odd video, Pratt shared an anecdote about playing the Super Mario Bros. arcade game at a laundromat near his house. According to Pratt, he never had a quarter on him, so he’d resort to stealing them from a nearby wishing well, which he now realizes may not have been the best move:

“That’s wild! It just dawned on me right now. The quarter I stole out of the wishing well to play Super Mario Bros. has come true that I get to be the voice of Mario. But I clearly stole someone else’s wish, so just waiting for that row of karma dominoes to come crashing down on me. But for now, it’s-a me, Mario.”

While dropping Mario’s classic catchphrase, Pratt notably did not use any sort of voice, which he says is still being worked on and fans will have to wait to hear it when it’s ready. He also did not respond to the thousands of internet reactions bouncing around, but just like the “Worst Chris” debacle, we’re sure he’ll jokingly acknowledge at some point down the… pipe. (Get it? Because he’s Mario.)

You can see Pratt’s full video below:

(Via Chris Pratt on Instagram)

Today, September 24th, marks 30 years since Nirvana released Nevermind. In the last three decades, people have already said pretty much everything there is to say about the Washington grunge outfit, but that isn’t going to stop Steve and Ian from reminiscing about one of the biggest rock albums of all time on this week’s episode of Indiecast.

Nevermind is an album that still holds up after thirty years, despite its oversaturation on rock radio and elsewhere. But it’s the rare breakthrough album that might have almost become underrated, overshadowed — at least in the critical sphere — by what came next for Nirvana. The band’s third album In Utero is now understood as a response to fame, while their Unplugged performance has evolved into a poignant, dramatic artistic statement that holds a whole new weight in the wake of Cobain’s death.

In this week’s Recommendation Corner, Ian is plugging the latest from One Step Closer, a new signing to esteemed indie label Run For Cover Records. Steve wants everyone to check out Wilds, the new LP from Andy Shauf out today.

New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 58 on Spotify below, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts here. You can submit questions for Steve and Ian at [email protected], and make sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter for all the latest news. We also recently launched a visualizer for our favorite Indiecast moments. Check those out here.

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WI), the daughter of former VP Dick Cheney and Lynne Cheney, reacted to the MAGA insurrection by showing that she was not willing to march to the same lemming beat as die-hard Trumpers. She urged her fellow party members to distance themselves from Trump’s ego and his refusal to heed the constitution, and that led the House GOP to voice-boot her from leadership. She’s continued to decline to bend the knee to Trump, and her efforts have earned the respect of former president George W. Bush, who has apparently peeved the heck out of Trump in the process.

What was Dubya’s grave offense? He will help Cheney fundraise during a Dallas event in mid October. He’s decided to do so (according to Bush spokesman Freddy Ford via CNBC) because he “is impressed by Liz Cheney’s strength and vision, and he’s proud to support her.” Ford also added that GWB “has historically helped a few key candidates and friends each cycle,” yet his support of Cheney appears to be a huge statement, given how the GOP has largely pounced upon her due to her Trump resistance.

And yeah, Trump is pretty upset. That’s no real surprise here, but the results are, well, bizarre. Mediaite first reported that a Thursday night Trump email to his subscriber list contained a heck of a petty move. The subject line of the email: “ICYMI: Must-See Photo.” The image itself is a spliced up photo of GWB with Cheney’s hair, glasses, and so on. This, obviously, caused some shock, as relayed by The Independent reporter Andrew Feinberg.

In case you were wondering whether this is real, yes, it is. Here’s a screencap of Trump’s website, where it’s been proudly posted.

So, “deranged” is one way this photoshop is being described. As for several others, they’re noting that this guy once held the nuclear codes.

Yet is it this move going over well with Trump’s audience? I was able to find one very excited tweeter out there.

(Via Mediaite & CNBC)

The Atlanta Hawks famously started the 2020-21 season with a 14-20 record, only to turn things around and make a Cinderella run to the Eastern Conference Finals. The team’s decision to swap Nate McMillan for Lloyd Pierce was a clear catalyst in the ascent, and one of the NBA’s deepest teams endured significant injury issues along the way. Trae Young enjoyed a national breakout with a playoff run and a heel turn, while Clint Capela landed on Defensive Player of the Year ballots and John Collins turned a fantastic season into an eight-figure free agent deal. While it was something of a bizarre, up-and-down campaign, the Hawks turned in their best-ever playoff performance since the franchise moved to Atlanta, and that creates buzz around the team that hasn’t existed since at least 2015.

Roster:

Bogdan Bogdanovic
Clint Capela
John Collins
Sharife Cooper (Two-Way)
Gorgui Dieng
Danilo Gallinari
Solomon Hill
Kevin Huerter
De’Andre Hunter
Jalen Johnson
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot
Skylar Mays (Two-Way)
Onyeka Okongwu
Jahlil Okafor
Cam Reddish
Lou Williams
Delon Wright
Trae Young

Projected Vegas Win Total: 46.5 wins

Biggest Addition: Delon Wright

It was largely a “run it back” offseason for the Hawks. However, Atlanta took their backup point guard issues seriously and invested heavily in the position with a trade for Delon Wright and the decision to re-sign Lou Williams. Since parting ways with Jeremy Lin via buyout in Feb. 2019, the Hawks have endured excruciating production behind Trae Young at backup point guard. In 2020-21, Rajon Rondo struggled mightily and, while Williams stepped in to provide stability, Wright is the best backup for Young to date. He isn’t a flashy acquisition, but the Hawks are incredibly deep and Wright’s versatility should help to create a high floor.

Biggest Loss: None

Only Tony Snell is gone from Atlanta’s rotation last season and, while backup guard Brandon Goodwin also played a role due to injuries, the Hawks upgraded their bench on paper. The only prominent player to reach free agency was John Collins, who the Hawks brought back on a lucrative five-year deal.

Biggest Question: What do the Hawks get out of De’Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish?

Atlanta has tremendous depth up and down the roster, including four wings that they are very comfortable with in Bogdan Bogdanovic, Kevin Hunter, De’Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish. Bogdanovic is the most proven of the bunch, and he exploded for 22 points per game while shooting nearly 50 percent from three down the stretch of the 2020-21 campaign. Huerter produced something of a breakout in the playoffs and was the healthiest, most consistent of the wings last season. In Hunter and Reddish, the Hawks have two young players with small forward size, and each was selected with the goal to build around Trae Young with defensively versatile pieces.

Hunter was in the midst of a breakout, averaging 17 points per game with 64 percent true shooting, in the early going of last season before being hobbled and sidelined by knee issues. The former No. 4 pick is the team’s projected starter at small forward, but he also missed most of the offseason after exiting Atlanta’s playoff run with injury, and Hunter is perhaps the team’s biggest swing piece in his third season. Reddish isn’t quite projected for the same role as Hunter, but he is a former lottery pick who flashed considerably in the Eastern Conference Finals against Milwaukee. In short, the Hawks were faced with the prospect of navigating most of the last season without either of their big, physical defensive wings, and that greatly hindered both Lloyd Pierce and Nate McMillan’s lineup flexibility.

What Makes This Season A Success: Winning at least one playoff series has to be the goal for the Hawks. It probably isn’t fair to Atlanta to say that a return to the Conference Finals is the baseline, but the Hawks can be a better regular season team while not quite making the same deep playoff run. Of course, there is the upside to return to the NBA’s Final Four, and that is almost certainly the internal goal after a memorable ride last season.

What Makes This Season A Failure: A first-round exit or missing the playoffs would feel rough. Atlanta wasn’t “supposed” to crash the Conference Finals party last season, but that still happened and expectations are considerably raised as a result. Given that the Hawks are better on paper now, both due to depth upgrades and internal growth from youthful pieces, anything but a considerable playoff run is probably in the failure column.

Janelle Monáe has long used her art to bring attention to issues the world faces, and that’s just what she does on her latest, the 17-minute “Say Her Name (Hell You Talmbout).” The song, released to coincide with International Daughter’s Day on September 26, features the names of women who died at the hands of police brutality: Rekia Boyd, Latasha Walton, Atatiana Jefferson, Kendra James, Priscilla Slater, and many others, over 60 in total.

Monáe recruited a healthy roster of artists to help out with the track: Featured on it are Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Chloe X Halle, Tierra Whack, Brittany Howard, Zoë Kravitz, Prof. Kimberlé Crenshaw, Isis V., Asiahn, Mj Rodriguez, Jovian Zayne, Angela Rye, Nikole Hannah-Jones, Brittany Packnett-Cunningham, and Alicia Garza.

Monáe wrote on Instagram of the song, “We will never forget our SISTERS who have lost their lives to police brutality. Join me, @AAPolicyForum + my sisters this Friday, September 24th in this rally cry as we #SayHerName in honor of #InternationalDaughtersDay.”

As the title suggests, the track is a follow-up to her 2015 single “Hell You Talmbout,” a similarly spirited protest anthem.

Proceeds from the new song will go to The African American Policy Forum (AAPF) and their #SayHerName campaign. On their website, AAPF describes the campaign, “The #SayHerName Campaign is so much more than a hashtag. It is a multi-dimensional campaign centered around the experiences and demonstrated needs of the #SayHerName Mothers Network — mothers, sisters, and families who have lost daughters to police violence.”

Listen to “Say Her Name (Hell You Talmbout)” above.

Congratulations to Joe Biden for winning the state of Arizona… again, and by even more votes than previously thought. Nearly a year after the 2020 presidential election, former president and sore loser at large Donald Trump is still doing his damndest to prove that the election was rigged and he indeed was the rightful winner. So how’s that working out for him? Errr… not so well.

For months, a group of Trump-y security experts called the Cyber Ninjas (yes, really—check out their website) has been engaged in a time-consuming hand recount of the votes of residents of Maricopa County, Arizona, a key district that Trump lost but swears he didn’t. So that #45 could give the country a big “I told you so,” a number of his supporters behind the “Stop the Steal” movement handed over millions of dollars to the Ninjas to dig in and show who really won the county’s vote for president. They did, and it turns out, yep, it was Biden. As we were told almost a year ago. But, as the Arizona Republic reports, the Ninjas’ work wasn’t a total waste of time, as they did uncover one important discrepancy: Trump actually received 45,469 fewer votes than Biden—not 45,109, as was officially reported.

While the Cyber Ninjas’ findings are scheduled to be presented to the Senate today at 1 p.m., Maricopa County Board Chairman Jack Sellers has already weighed in on the results, simply to reiterate that “the tabulation equipment counted the ballots as they were designed to do, and the results reflect the will of the voters.”

The best part? According to Raw Story, at just about the very same time copies of the report were being leaked to news outlets on Thursday, Trump was busy hounding Texas Governor Greg Abbott about having a group like the Cyber Ninjas do a recount in Texas as well… despite the fact that Trump won that particular state.

(Via Arizona Republic)

Rudy Giuliani’s leadership following the tragic events of September 11, 2001, gave him the nickname, “America’s Mayor.” He was named Time‘s “Person of the Year” for “taking on half a dozen critical roles and performing each masterfully. Improvising on the fly, he became America’s homeland-security boss, giving calm, informative briefings about the attacks and the extraordinary response,” the magazine’s glowing profile reads. “He was the consoler in chief, strong enough to let his voice brim with pain, compassion, and love.” Giuliani even appeared in an Adam Sandler movie, the greatest milestone of all.

Oh, how things have changed. Giuliani is now a sweaty ooze monster who shaves in public, lost his law license in New York, hustles cigars and coins on YouTube, and gives incoherent speeches (no wonder people think he’s hitting the sauce). As The Daily Show host Trevor Noah put it, “Only Rudy can spend the 9/11 anniversary talking about the time he hung out with Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged pedophile friend. You know your speech went off the rails when people watching it are like, ‘I wish this guy would talk more about 9/11.’ What is he doing?” Even Fox News has had enough of his shenanigans.

Politico reports that Giuliani “has been banned from Fox News for almost three months. As if the sting of that weren’t painful enough, the ‘9/11 mayor’ learned of his banishment… on the eve of Sept. 11.” To quote a circa 2001 joke, that’s gotta hurt!

Giuliani was slated to appear on “Fox & Friends” to mark the 20th anniversary of the attack. But the night before, host PETE HEGSETH called Giuliani to say he’d been cut from the show and apologize. The ban extends not just to GIULIANI, but also to his son ANDREW, who has not been on Fox News since he launched his campaign for governor of New York in May despite many requests to go on the network. His team has been frustrated that rival GOP gubernatorial candidate Rep. LEE ZELDIN is a frequent guest.

Giuliani is reportedly “really hurt” about the ban “because he did a big favor for Rupert [Murdoch]. He was instrumental in getting Fox on Time Warner so it could be watched in NYC.” Maybe Rudy, who’s being sued for $1.3 billion in a defamation lawsuit, can start his own news network to appear on. I know which journalist would be his first hire.

(Via Politico)

Rihanna is gearing up for her upcoming Savage X Fenty fashion show, and during the lead-up, she took time to indulge James Corden, who took over as her assistant for a Late Late Show segment. Corden didn’t do much actual assisting, as he was more focused on doing gags and kind of just being a nuisance.

He did manage to gather some insight on the show, though, like when Rihanna told him it takes months to put it together. She continued, “I’m really impressed by what my team and I have been able to put together, especially off a pandemic. So many restrictions, so many rules and boundaries.” Rihanna then trailed off as she noticed a Corden headshot had been added to a board of the show’s models and broke out into laughter.

Corden later asked Rihanna about the inclusivity of the show, and Rihanna said, “That’s all that I ride on. That’s my bottom line. My foundation is built on inclusivity, not just because it’s a thing. That’s a thing because people are making it a thing, right? But I only know my household, my childhood, my mom. She’s a Black woman with curves: I don’t know anything else. So when I make something, I’d be an idiot to want to exclude anyone. I don’t care what size you are, what race you are, what religion you come from: I want you to feel like you’re represented here.”

Ultimately, at the end of the segment, Rihanna understandably fired Corden given the poor job he had done throughout the day.

Check out the clip above.

Fall is upon us this week, and that means that various state fairs are open for business, too. That’s happening for better or worse, and if you’re (wisely) planning on avoiding large crowds again this year, then the good news is that Netflix has tons of TV options coming your way this week. Some new series and returning ones, and an inspiring film, are all onboard for your binging pleasure.

Among the many options? You’ll be able to binge the latest from the Haunting of Hill House creator, and that show includes the spookiest priest that you’ve seen in a long time, all before Halloween season officially arrives. Then a popular and punchy series returns, along with more of a ridiculously overwhelming baking franchise. You’ll also find the latest offbeat Netflix dating show and an unusual true crime series and a Melissa McCarthy movie. In other words, Netflix continues to make good on its promise to entertain us all the way through the pandemic and beyond.

Here’s everything else coming to (and leaving) the streaming platform this week.

Midnight Mass (Netflix series streaming 9/24)

Get ready, The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor addicts, because creator Mike Flanagan’s back to cause us more horror fits. This happens to be his favorite project so far and revolves around an isolated community that lives on spooky Crockett Island, which gets even spookier due to a charismatic priest’s arrival. Naturally, a whole lot of supernatural shenanigans are afoot, but human nature (as we are currently experiencing in-real-life these days) can often be scarier than the ghosts that people can dream up. It’s dark, real dark.

Dear White People: Volume 4 (Netflix series streaming 9/22)

Enjoy this version of a post-pandemic future while the characters take on senior year look back on their most pivotal year yet. This season’s a 90s-inspired musical event that’s also Afro-futuristic in its bent, all to prove that moving forward often involves the all-important act of looking towards the past.

Love on the Spectrum: Season 2 (Netflix series streaming 9/21)

More stories of people on the autism spectrum arrive to show how they meet the challenges of dating and relationships. Expect an even greater variety of personalities, which will illustrate exactly how much diversity arises on the easily misunderstood spectrum.

The Starling (Netflix film streaming 9/24)

Melissa McCarthy stars as as a grieving woman who goes battle with a territorial bird, all in interest of dominating a singular garden. Somehow, this leads her to renew her ability to love while gaining the courage to really grieve.

The Great British Baking Show: Collection Nine (BBC One series streaming 9/24)

John Oliver can’t be happy about this return, but let’s do this anyway. Here’s a new batch of amateur bakers engaging in absurd challenges, and week after week, contestants will fall by the wayside until (much like The Highlander) there can be only one.

Crime Stories: India Detectives! (Netflix series streaming 9/22)

An unexpected true-crime entry follows the Bengaluru City Police through every phase of the police process. Crimes will span murder and kidnap and extortion, all the way through what’s known as India’s Silicon Valley. It’s a journey like no other when it comes to law enforcement TV, and expect some truly shocking and compelling developments.

Here’s a full list of what’s been added in the last week:

Avail. 9/20
Grown Ups

Avail. 9/21
Go! Go! Cory Carson: Chrissy Takes the Wheel
Love on the Spectrum: Season 2

Avail. 9/22
Confessions of an Invisible Girl
Dear White People: Volume 4
Intrusion
Jaguar
Monsters Inside: The 24 Faces of Billy Milligan

Avail. 9/23
Je Suis Karl

Avail. 9/24
Blood & Water: Season 2
Ganglands (Braqueurs)
Jailbirds New Orleans
Midnight Mass
My Little Pony: A New Generation
The Starling
Vendetta: Truth, Lies and The Mafia

And here’s what’s leaving next week, so it’s your last chance:

Leaving 9/26
The Grandmaster

Leaving 9/30
Air Force One
Austin Powers in Goldmember
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Boogie Nights
Cradle 2 the Grave
Evil: Season 1
Fools Rush In
Insidious
The Karate Kid
The Karate Kid Part II
The Karate Kid Part II
Kung Fu Panda
Kung Fu Panda 2
No Strings Attached
The Pianist
Prom Night
The Queen
Star Trek
Star Trek: Enterprise: Seasons 1-4
Star Trek: Seasons 1-3
Star Trek: Voyager: Seasons 1-7
The Unicorn: Season 1
Why Do Fools Fall in Love

Donald Trump’s dream is to apparently have every state in the Union recount their election results and show him magically winning the 2020 presidential election he lost to Joe Biden. But perhaps he should be careful what he wishes for if the results of the bizarre Arizona recount are any indication.

This week Trump actually argued that states like Texas need to recount their votes despite him actually winning the state’s electoral college votes. But the much-talked-about recount of Maricopa County’s votes by Cyber Ninjas officially showed that he lost the state in 2020 despite the company conducting it having a significant interest in finding ways that Trump claims he got cheated.

As the New York Times reported early Friday, Trump managed to actually lose votes in the process while Biden officially gained nearly 100 more.

In fact, the draft report from the company Cyber Ninjas found just the opposite: It tallied 99 additional votes for President Biden and 261 fewer votes for Mr. Trump in Maricopa County, the fast-growing region that includes Phoenix.

The results are a huge blow to MAGA fans desperate to find any proof of the election fraud that Trump predicted before the election and rallied for months about afterward. For months, some of Trump’s biggest supporters claimed a domino effect would take place after massive fraud was uncovered in Arizona and led to other states finding similar issues. But despite the shady nature of Cyber Ninjas’ months-long, delay-plagued review, they ultimately didn’t turn up anything of interest.

For many loyalists, the investigation has been seen as the first in a string of state inquiries that would, domino-like, topple claims that Mr. Biden was legitimately in the White House.

State Senator Wendy Rogers, a Republican who is among Arizona’s most ardent advocates of the stolen-election canard, underscored that faith in a single sentence posted Thursday on Twitter: “Tomorrow we make history.”

Instead, election experts said, an inquiry run by Trump partisans that was granted unrestricted access to 2.1 million ballots and election equipment failed to make even a basic case that the November vote was badly flawed, much less rigged.

The full report is still forthcoming, and will certainly be scrutinized by those worried about the security of the Cyber Ninjas recall. But right now it’s even more clear that, much like last November, Trump didn’t get what he was looking for in Arizona.

[via NY Times]