Month: February 2022

Last month, it was reported that the version of Fight Club, the rabidly anti-capitalist Brad Pitt starrer from 1999, streaming in China had a bafflingly censored ending. No longer did the buildings get blown up in a terrorist strike; instead, our newly cured hero (Edward Norton) and his crew got rounded up by the cops and jailed. The furor (plus some requisite Ted Cruz dunking) was such that the nation un-censored the ending, restoring it to its original glory. But now we’re learning that China’s censors have struck again.

As per Entertainment Weekly, they’ve now come for Friends. Censors have extensively (and, let’s presume, awkwardly) excised any and all references to Carol (Anita Barone) leaving Ross (David Schwimmer) for another woman, namely Jessica Hecht’s Susan. It’s not a major subplot, but nor is it minor. Carol leaving Ross is a big part of the pilot, upending his domestic bliss and thrusting him back into mid-‘90s New York City single life — and into the arms of five buds, one of whom is his sister.

And yet all bits featuring or alluding to Carol leaving him for another woman have been removed, as have all her scenes in the second episode. It’s unclear how extensive the censors were. Carol and Susan pop up repeatedly, in large party because when Carol leaves Ross, she’s pregnant with his child, which she delivers, with Ross and Susan as sometimes dueling co-parents. Eventually Carol and Susan wed (by Newt Gingrich’s half-sister, no less) in American prime time television’s first gay wedding, in an episode called, of course, “The One with the Lesbian Wedding.”

Carol and Susan weren’t the only ones surgically removed from Friends. A scene where Chandler (Matthew Perry) and Joey (Matt LeBlanc) kiss on New Year’s Eve was omitted, while a line where female characters discuss “multiple orgasms” was changed in the subtitles to “women have multiple gossips.”

(Via EW)

When I first heard the title of Sandra Bullock’s The Lost City, I immediately thought of David Grann’s very serious work of narrative non-fiction, The Lost City Of Z. This ain’t that. Rather, Channing Tatum joined Sandra for a very Romancing The Stone like adventure through jungles. This Super Bowl spot retraces a lot of the same beats as last year’s trailer, but this movie looks so fun that you won’t mind watching ’em again. She’s a wildly successful adventure-romance novelist, he’s the beefcake cover model with a Fabio wig, and an also-bewigged Brad Pitt plays a pivotal role. Daniel Radcliffe is doing billionaire-ish, villainous things. Looks great. Enjoy!

It must be noted, though, that Channing Tatum let everyone know that he’s as disappointed as everyone else that the movie, which was originally titled The Lost City Of D, lost the D. Here’s what he told Variety last week:

Tatum admits that he prefers the film’s original title — the racier “The Lost City of D,” which has been abridged. “I wished they wouldn’t have dropped the ‘D,’” Tatum says. “You never drop the ‘D.’”

And in case you were wondering, those leaches aren’t real, but as Channing revealed (to Variety), “We had a man gluing rubber leeches to my butt. That was my second day on set, and I had to be buck naked. I was like, ‘Hi, my name is Chan. I’ll be naked today.’ Everyone is trying to look up and away.’”

Something to look forward to, right? Here’s the official plot summary:

Brilliant, but reclusive author Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock) has spent her career writing about exotic places in her popular romance-adventure novels featuring handsome cover model Alan (Channing Tatum), who has dedicated his life to embodying the hero character, “Dash.” While on tour promoting her new book with Alan, Loretta is kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire (Daniel Radcliffe) who hopes that she can lead him to the ancient lost city’s treasure from her latest story. Wanting to prove that he can be a hero in real life and not just on the pages of her books, Alan sets off to rescue her.

The Lost City arrives in theaters on March 25, 2022.

Jordan Peele’s third feature Nope, after Get Out (which earned him Best Picture and Best Director nominations and a Best Original Screenplay win) and Us, has been shrouded in mystery, other than it apparently involves creepy clouds and Steven Yeun wearing a cowboy hat. But ahead of the Super Bowl, Universal has released the full-length trailer, and while it’s still cryptic as hell, it looks good as hell, too.

“Did you know that the very first assembly of photographs to create a motion picture was a two second clip of a Black man on a horse?” the trailer above (set to “Finger Tips” by “Little” Stevie Wonder) begins. From there, we see Daniel Kaluuya as a ranch hand inquiring about “bad miracles,” something weird happening in the sky, horses freaking out, Keke Palmer wearing a Lovesexy-era Prince shirt, Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm-Flailing Tubemen not doing their job, and all sorts of haunting images (including whatever is happening at 1:30) that will be the talk of your Super Bowl party.

Here’s the official plot summary:

Oscar winner Jordan Peele disrupted and redefined modern horror with Get Out and then Us. Now, he reimagines the summer movie with a new pop nightmare: the expansive horror epic, Nope. The film reunites Peele with Oscar winner Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Judas and the Black Messiah), who is joined by Keke Palmer (Hustlers, Alice) and Oscar nominee Steven Yeun (Minari, Okja) as residents in a lonely gulch of inland California who bear witness to an uncanny and chilling discovery.

Nope opens on July 22.

Three years after earning the Middleweight crown with a second-round knockout of Robert Whittaker, Israel Adesanya did just enough to earn a decision victory to retain his crown at UFC 271 from Houston.

Throughout the first, Adesanya was oozing confidence in everything he threw. He tossed little chip leg kicks, counter strikes, and really leaned on his seven-inch reach advantage. In the second, Whittaker showed a much more aggressive game plan, running down Adesanya, striking first and eventually landing his first successful takedown of the fight. Adesanya calmly escaped from the mat and maintained his confidence as the two continued to exchange strikes.

The third was much of the same, with the two evenly matched in strike attempts. Whittaker earned a narrow takedown when he countered a kick attempt, but yet again, Adesanya was able to pop right back to his feet.

Whittaker opened the fourth with a much more focused gameplan, with repeated sideways kicks at Adesanya’s lead leg. The champ had no problem responding, countering with big leg kicks of his own to continue wearing Whittaker’s lead leg. Whittaker took Adesanya to the ground again, this time taking his back, but Adesanya was able to rise to his feet almost immediately to escape the danger and the round.

In the fifth, Whittaker’s gameplan remained the same: look for opportunities to strike and shoot for takedowns. Whittaker earned yet another takedown, but Adesanya got back to his feet with no damage done on the ground and was able to withstand the final minute or so of the round.

Aside from Adesanya’s failed attempt at claiming two-division gold in a decision loss to light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz, he’s been nearly unstoppable in rise to superstardom. Adesanya was meticulous in his wins, earning decision victories over Yoel Romero and Marvin Vittori, and a technical knockout win over Paulo Costa.

Whittaker’s path back to an opportunity at UFC gold was just as grueling, earning decision wins over Darren Till, Jared Cannonier and Kelvin Gastelum before facing off with Adesanya.

For Adesanya, it appears Jared Cannonier, who earned a knockout victory over Derek Brunson earlier in the evening, is next in line for a title shot.

The Denver Nuggets beat the Toronto Raptors, 110-109, on Saturday night thanks to — who else? — Nikola Jokic. As is oftentimes the case when the Nuggets take the floor, Jokic stuffed the stat sheet, but his biggest moment of the night came in the game’s final second, when he prevented OG Anunoby from scoring a game-winning bucket.

Jokic missed a pair of free throws with a little more than 10 seconds remaining in the game, opening the door for the Raptors to steal a win on their home court. After a timeout, the team was able to get a very good look for All-Star guard Fred VanVleet, who pulled up from three and missed.

Fortunately for the Raptors, their backup plan looked like it was going to work. Anunoby overpowered Jeff Green and secured the rebound, and he had a pretty straightforward layup attempt to win the game. The issue he ran into was that Jokic saw this from the moment Anunoby secure the rebound, so he flew over to the other block, met Anunoby at the summit, and secured the win for Denver.

One of Jokic’s teammates could only say one thing in the aftermath.

On the night, Jokic scored 26 points on 10-for-16 shooting with 15 rebounds, six assists, and two blocks.

Joel Embiid only has a little bit longer to wait before he has his newest running mate. The Philadelphia 76ers made a highly-publicized move at the NBA trade deadline to turn a package headlined by Ben Simmons into James Harden and Paul Millsap. Neither dude was available on Saturday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers, though, so the Sixers had to go into a matchup with one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference a little shorthanded.

The good news for Philly is they still have Embiid, who is capable of doing some pretty spectacular stuff, even though the Cavs have one of the most menacing frontcourts in the league. An example came in the second quarter of action, as Embiid stepped up to the free throw line and missed.

While Jarrett Allen was able to reel in the rebound, Furkan Korkmaz was able to poke it away, secure the ball, and dish it back to his big man. Embiid then had a clear lane other than Allen and the opportunity to pick up a head of steam, and goodness gracious, did he throw down — literally, I don’t think his hand touched the rim and he threw this in, instead.

Allen is among the league’s premier rim protectors, so it would take something special to finish over him. It’s safe to say that this classifies as “something special.”

It’s a weekend of firsts for Odell Beckham Jr. On Sunday, the veteran wide receiver will participate in the Super Bowl for the first time in his career, as the Los Angeles Rams — which he joined earlier this season following his tenure with the Cleveland Browns coming to an unceremonious end — will take on the Cincinnati Bengals with the Lombardi Trophy on the line.

At some other point in the next few days, Beckham will become a father for the first time, as his partner, Lauren Wood, is expected to give birth sometime soon.

“Literally my phone is right here just in case, so I’m on call,” Beckham said on Friday, according to the AP. “I’m on watch. I’m on standby.”

Beckham went on to explain that is in a bit of a pickle, as he understandably wants to be there for the birth of his child.

“I don’t need you to put that energy in the air about the Saturday night or the Sunday thing,’’ Beckham said, per the New York Post. “I think God has a different plan. I don’t need it during the Super Bowl. I want to see my child being born, so I’m on watch.”

As for what happens if Beckham does, indeed, get rung up sometime before the game, the former Pro Bowl receiver has a plan.

Here’s hoping it does not come to this.

Now that the NBA trade deadline is in the rear-view mirror, the primary way for teams to add talent is to the buyout market. While we’ll have to wait and see exactly which players are going to become available through that medium, one name that is presumed to hit the market soon is Goran Dragic.

After spending the start of this season with the Toronto Raptors, Dragic was traded to the San Antonio Spurs at the deadline. Immediately, word began spreading that he was headed for a buyout, and according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, that should get all sorted out within the next week.

This raises the question of which team will win the race to bring the veteran guard on board. Every team could use the backcourt reinforcements that Dragic offers, and Wojnarowski reports that both the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors are in the mix to sign him. They are not, of course, the only teams eager to acquire him.

The Lakers and Warriors are planning to join several rivals, including the LA Clippers, Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls and Brooklyn Nets, in aggressive pursuit of Dragic, sources said.

After being acquired by the Raptors in the sign-and-trade that sent Kyle Lowry to Miami, Dragic appeared in five games before leaving the team to tend to a personal matter. In exchange for Dragic and a future second-round pick, Toronto acquired Thaddeus Young, Drew Eubanks (who has since been waived), and a first-round pick.

Kanye West’s eleventh album, Donda 2, is slated to arrive on February 22. It remains to be seen if the album will be released on that day, as the rapper has a chronic history of failing to stick to release dates. We’ve yet to receive an official list of collaborators for the album, but names like Future and Marilyn Manson have come up. One person we won’t hear on Donda 2 is Kid Cudi. The two have worked together numerous times, but according to a recent Instagram post from Kanye, he won’t be putting Cudi on his upcoming album.

In the post, Kanye shared an image of a handwritten note that read, “Just so everyone knows Cudi will not be on Donda because he’s friends with you know who.” He added, “We all speak Billie language now.” While Kanye didn’t specify who “you know who” refers to, many have concluded that it’s Pete Davidson, who’s with Cudi. Additionally, Kanye tagged Kim Kardashian and Michael Che from SNL, which Davidson also appears on, thus making it quite obvious that Kanye was indeed referring to Davidson.

Shortly after the message was shared, Cudi responded to Kanye’s words in the comment section of the post. “Too bad I dont wanna be on ur album u f*ckin dinosaur hahaha,” he wrote with a laughing emoji. “Everyone knows ive been the best thing about ur albums since i met u. Ima pray [for u] brother [peace out emoji].”

Early Saturday morning, TMZ reported that Kodak Black was involved in a fight that resulted in four injuries, three from gunshot wounds and one in an as-yet-unrevealed way. The incident occurred outside of The Nice Guy in Los Angeles, where Justin Bieber was hosting an after party that had a guest list including Drake, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Kendall Jenner, and Khloe Kardashian. Now, in a new update, it’s been reported that Kodak Black himself was one of the three people who suffered gunshot wounds as a result of the fight.

TMZ says Kodak was hit in the leg during the scuffle and that he’s in stable condition at an area hospital. The publication reports that Kodak attended Bieber’s after party with no issues, but it’s when he left that things took a turn. While he and his team were leaving, someone in Kodak’s crew was allegedly jumped which caused Kodak himself to hop in the mess to defend his associate. In a video provided by TMZ, Kodak can be seen throwing punches, and not too long after that, gunshots can be heard.

Law enforcement says ten rounds of gunshots were fired during the fight. Officials have yet to identify any suspect(s) in the incident and the gunman remains at large.

Kodak Black is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.