Month: May 2022

The breakout star of Hubie Halloween, Adam Sandler, is finally releasing his passion project, a movie about basketball (not that one) called Hustle. Sandler stars as basketball scout Stanley Sugarman who brings an underdog player from Spain to Philly to play for the 76ers.

In the trailer, Sandler proudly exclaims, “You come to Philly, your whole world is gonna change overnight.” Hopefully, he gets the true Philadelphia experience (eating a cheesesteak and getting a parking ticket). This is how he wins!

The movie also stars Queen Latifah, Ben Foster, and Robert Duvall, as well as actual NBA players Anthony Edwards, Tobias Harris, Seth Curry, Matisse Thybulle, and Tyrese Maxey. As per the official Netflix description:

After discovering a once-in-a-lifetime player with a rocky past abroad, a down on his luck basketball scout (Adam Sandler) takes it upon himself to bring the phenom to the States without his team’s approval. Against the odds, they have one final shot to prove they have what it takes to make it in the NBA.

Those who live in South Philly will be delighted to know that the movie that caused the world-famous Melrose Diner to be closed for several days while they filmed in the parking lot is finally hitting Netflix on June 8th. Check out the trailer above.

David Cronenberg’s Crimes Of The Future is gearing up to be the most Cronenberg-esque movie of all time, and he knows it! The director is known for his mix of body horror and social commentary, all with some messed-up practical effects thrown in there. Crimes Of The Future is no exception, and with the tagline “surgery is the new sex,” what can we expect?

The director knows that his outlandish concepts don’t land with all viewers, and he expects a number of walkouts when the film premieres at Cannes Film Festival later this month. Cronenberg told Deadline that he is looking forward to the feedback–whether it’s good or bad.

“I do expect walkouts in Cannes, and that’s a very special thing. There are some very strong scenes,” Cronenberg told the site. “I mean, I’m sure that we will have walkouts within the first five minutes of the movie. I’m sure of that.” This is to be expected from a trailer that shows a man with his eyes sewn shut and ears on his forehead.

Obviously, Cronenberg doesn’t seem to mind freaking out his fans–he’s been doing it for decades. “Some people who have seen the film have said that they think the last 20 minutes will be very hard on people and that there’ll be a lot of walkouts. Some guy said that he almost had a panic attack,” he added. “People always walk out, and the seats notoriously clack as you get up, because the seats fold back and hit the back of the seat. So, you hear clack, clack, clack.”

Crimes Of The Future stars Viggo Mortensen and Léa Seydoux as “surgical performance artists” who alter their bodies in, uh, slightly disturbing ways. Kristen Stewart stars as a government agent who is investigating the “performances.”

“They might be revulsed to the point that they want to leave, but that’s not the same as being outraged” Cronenberg adds. “However, I have no idea really what’s going to happen. I guess that is the description of this movie: It’s going to either attract or repel people.” That can be said about most Cronenberg movies. Crimes Of The Future is expected to be released in the US in June.

Indie music has grown to include so much. It’s not just music that is released on independent labels, but speaks to an aesthetic that deviates from the norm and follows its own weirdo heart. It can come in the form of rock music, pop, or folk. In a sense, it says as much about the people that are drawn to it as it does about the people that make it.

Every week, Uproxx is rounding up the best new indie music from the past seven days. This week we got new music by Arcade Fire, Sharon Van Etten, Tim Heidecker, Beach Bunny, and more.

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Arcade Fire — We

With their latest album We, Arcade Fire delivered a return to form by creating danceable music with a message. The succinct 10-track effort comments on the idea of impending doom while shifting between freeing, full-band ballads like “Apocalypse I, II” which call back to their early catalog, and shimmering, synth-forward tunes like the Peter Gabriel-featuring number “Unconditional II (Race And Religion).”

Sharon Van Etten — We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong

Sharon Van Etten didn’t release any singles ahead of her album We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong, but the monumental effort was worth the wait. Departing from her rocking 2019 album Remind Me Tomorrow, Van Etten’s latest effort is far less guitar-driven and revolves around themes of coexistence and care.

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever — Endless Rooms

Following their 2018 album Hope Downs, Australian band Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever delivers the slow-burning project Endless Rooms, balancing euphoria and despair throughout 12 laid-back tracks. Featuring the band’s signature jaunty guitars and washed-out tones, Endless Rooms is the band’s first self-produced effort and, in their own words, is their version of an “anti-concept album.”

Warpaint — Radiate Like This

Nearly 12 years since Warpaint first debuted, the band return from their busy lives and side projects (which include producing an album for Courtney Barnett and playing with Kurt Vile) to share their fourth LP, Radiate Like This. Brimming with confidence, the dynamic release displays the band’s tangible chemistry, flowing effortlessly between swirling melodies and danceable tunes.

Sunflower Bean — Headful Of Sugar

NYC trio Sunflower Bean remain upbeat while navigating the torment and ecstasy of modernity on their third LP Headful Of Sugar. Filled with both cathartic ballads and cutting commentaries on society, the album is a response to realizing nothing in this life is promised. “Why not make what you want to make on your own terms?” vocalist Julia Cumming said about the album. “Why not make a record that makes you want to dance? Why not make a record that makes you want to scream?”

Beach Bunny — “Karaoke”

After winning over hearts with their earnest power-pop, Chicago-based group Beach Bunny previewed their upcoming sophomore album Emotional Creature with the catchy, sun-soaked single “Karaoke.” Actor Bob Odenkirk makes a cameo in the song’s video after meeting Beach Bunny in 2019 and calling them his “fav new Chicago band.”

Tim Heidecker — “Punch In The Gut”

Following his 2020 album Fear Of Death, comedian-turned-musician Tim Heidecker drops the twangy tune “Punch In The Gut” to herald his forthcoming album High School. Produced by Mac DeMarco, the song is a rollicking chronicle of youth. “This one started while thinking about how Warren Zevon might approach a high school parking lot, high noon style showdown,” Heidecker said about the track. “But as I worked it, I recalled an incident where a friend of mine was visiting my school and was falsely accused of stealing. He was Black and it felt like profiling to me. There’s a lot of him in the song ‘Buddy’ too.”

Charlie Hickey — “Gold Line”

Ahead of his debut album Nervous At Night, out via Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory record label, Charlie Hickey showcased his relatable songwriting with the shimmering ballad “Gold Line.” The single is a fitting start to Mental Health Awareness Month as it gives insight into how Hickey copes with OCD and anxiety. “This is a song about being overtaken by a feeling that you know is bigger than you,” Hickey said about the track. “It’s scary, but also really exciting and joyous.”

Hovvdy — “Hide”

Prolific duo Hovvdy are just on the heels of last year’s album True Love and already looking toward their next project. Releasing the compelling track “Hide” this week, Hovvdy share details for their upcoming EP Billboard For My Feelings, which is out later this month. Featuring relaxed chords and mellow vocals, “Hide” points to what is expected to be another laid-back and contemplative effort.

Florist — “Spring In Hours”

Four-piece band Florist are gearing up for their anticipated debut album Spring In Hours with a handful of singles, the latest being the project’s title track. It’s a gentle and tender love song that celebrates “cycles, seasons, growth, bugs, flowers, friendship, all the atoms in the universe, the chaos that created us, and the void which everything returns to,” according to vocalist Emily Sprague.

Porridge Radio — “End Of Last Year”

After quickly proving themselves ones to watch with their first two albums and a few recent propulsive singles, Porridge Radio take things in a softer direction with “End Of Last Year.” The glowing song is injected with real emotion born out of a painful period for the band. “‘End Of Last Year’ is a love song for my bandmates and for myself,” vocalist Dana Margolin said. “It’s about not trusting my intuition, not trusting my body to heal itself, not trusting the people closest to me, but it is also an ode to all those people, and to difficult platonic love.”

The tragedy of Travis Scott’s Astroworld still remains largely unresolved. While the rapper has made problematic attempts to redeem himself and has already started taking the stage again, today, Rolling Stone reported that there are, in total, almost 5,000 claims of injuries from the festival, according to a new court filing.

Attorneys reported 732 claims of injuries requiring extensive medical treatment. There were also 1,649 claims of injuries requiring less extensive treatment, and 2,540 claims for injuries with severity still under review. This adds up to a total of over 4,900 claims for deaths and injuries. The difference between extensive medical treatment and less extensive treatment is unclear.

A documentary about the Astroworld tragedy recently came out, titled Concert Crush: The Travis Scott Festival Tragedy. That filmmaker, named Charlie Minn, did an interview with Page Six claiming Scott is a “criminal” and because of the presence of an ambulance and Scott stopping when he saw people passed out, the rapper should’ve known people had died.

Scott’s team has since fired back, calling the documentary a “propaganda piece” and is a “farce financed by and containing content from members of the plaintiff’s legal teams, who, weeks after a tragedy, sought to exploit and benefit financially from it, with the clear goals of making money and swaying future juries and public opinion.”

Harry Styles’ hit single “As It Was” may seem like it’s been around for forever with how quickly and intensely it has dominated the music world. The song has actually been out for barely over a month, though, as it was only just released on April 1. Despite its short life, it has already hit a major achievement: The RIAA (Recording Industry Association Of America) announced today the song is now certified Platinum, indicating over 1 million units. (The RIAA website notes the song was certified on May 9.) That makes it the first song released in 2022 to go Platinum.

There were certainly indications the song was doing well commercially: It spent multiple weeks at No. 1 and broke some big Spotify records. “As It Was” is Styles’ fifth Platinum song, after “Lights Up,” “Sweet Creature,” “Golden,” and “Kiwi.”

Styles previously said of the song, “This was the last song that was written for the album. It was written in my friend’s front room in England’s country side. It started off much slower, as it was being written, it was a lot slower, the kind of piano line was being played on piano and it kind of turned into a synth, and it just kind of took on a new life. But I’m a fan of it, it’s one of my favorite songs on the album, so I hope people are liking it.”

(Spoilers for Ozark will be found below.)

The Jason Bateman and Julia Garner Netflix juggernaut, Ozark careened into a savage and shattering ending, for which not everyone was destined to come out alive. Shockingly enough, the entire Byrde family was deemed worthy (by the show’s writers) of emerging unscathed, both from a rollover vehicle accident and also from law enforcement (even though the damn cookie jar full of Ben’s ashes should have done them in). Ruth Langmore, on the other hand, wasn’t so fortunate and ended up succumbing to the Langmore curse. She sort-of engineered this ending herself, although we did see some poetry in action while she died as she lived.

Showrunner Chris Mundy has been doing the post-mortem thing while previously revealing that spinoff talks have happened. In the process, he made it quite clear that any spinoff would occur in the same universe as Ozark proper, which would mean that Ruth fans wouldn’t see any alternate-timeline followup, and Mundy has now confirmed to TV Line that there’s zero chance that Ruth miraculously survived being shot in the chest. Mundy also addressed with this “emotional” ending fit with Ruth’s plight and how this cynical ending fits with how the Byrdes embody capitalism:

“Capitalism doesn’t work unless there is a winner and a loser. And there’s a degree to which the Langmores are going to be the losers of that equation, while somebody else builds their fortune. The Byrdes came in and climbed their way up off the backs of people like the Langmores, and they’re representative of a lot of people. There’s something about it that’s cynical and there’s something about it that’s very, just, true. So we were trying to write into that truth.”

So, Ruth is “absolutely” and “totally” dead, confirms Mundy. And the Byrdes did get off unscathed, even though the camera cut away when Jonah pulled the trigger. In other words, Wendy was not the recipient of the bullet, but hey, a girl can dream. Now, off to daydream about spinoff potential where Jonah runs a cartel from his dorm room: Ozark: The College Years. Well, maybe not!

(Via TV Line)

Even as efforts to eliminate the use of rap lyrics as evidence in criminal cases continue, one rapper (who was criticized not that long ago for the inscrutability of his rhymes) is facing a federal case in which much of the evidence against him comes from his lyrics. Huffington Post editor Philip Lewis acquired and shared the full 88-page indictment against Young Thug, who is being accused of racketeering by federal authorities who call his label, YSL Records, a criminal organization. The indictment includes several of Young Thug’s lyrics, which Lewis posted to Twitter.

Among them are bars from songs such as “Anybody,” from Thug’s 2018 EP Hear No Evil, his 2014 single “Eww,” Slime Language 2 hit single “Ski,” and “Slatty,” from that same compilation. All are described as “overt act(s) in furtherance of the conspiracy.”

Along with Young Thug, 27 other people including his rap protege Gunna, were charged with 56 counts of murder, armed robbery, and participation in criminal street gang activity. Gunna faces one count of conspiracy, while Thug, YSL’s founder, is accused of renting a car used in a 2015 murder and greenlighting an attempt on fellow rapper YFN Lucci in Fulton County Jail (also on racketeering charges).

Unfortunately, Young Thug isn’t the only rapper to have his rhymes used against him. Bobby Shmurda only recently completed a six-year sentence on similar charges when his lyrics were used against him, and before being released from jail, Drakeo The Ruler had his raps held over his head as the former Los Angeles County District Attorney tried to argue his Stinc Team crew was a criminal organization.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Tuesday morning brought a bombshell in the world of NBA media, as Fox Sports and Tom Brady announced the future Hall of Famer will step into Fox’s lead broadcast booth whenever he retires from the NFL (for real this time).

Brady will spend at least one more season under center for the Buccaneers after his initial retirement plans were scuttled this offseason — depending on who you ask, it was simply a change of heart to want to play again or the result of plans to become a player-owner of the Dolphins being nuked by the league’s investigation into Brian Flores’ lawsuit. In any case, Brady now has his post-playing career set up in full, giving Fox the big name they were desperate to find after Joe Buck and Troy Aikman bolted for ESPN’s Monday Night Football, but the price to bring in Brady is very steep.

Initial reports indicated Brady would get $20-25 million annually, but Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reports that was underestimating the contract by a considerable amount. Per Marchand, Brady’s new deal is for 10 years and a whopping $375 million, making his annual salary double that of Aikman and Tony Romo.

It’s not a surprise that Brady would immediately become the highest paid man in NFL television, but that is a rather preposterous figure, as Brady will now make more in the booth than he did in all but one season (2021, when he made $39 million) as arguably the best quarterback ever — and more over 10 years than he did in his 23 seasons in the NFL. Fox is banking on Brady drawing eyeballs not only to their lead broadcast but to other shows where he’ll serve as Fox Sports’ ambassador, but at $375 million, it’s hard to know just how much return on investment they will get.

This year’s Austin City Limits line-up is stacked with several exciting acts. Upon returning to Austin’s Zilker Park for its annual celebration of live music, ACL has a promising group of headliners.

Taking place over the course of three days for two consecutive weekends, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Chicks, Pink, SZA, Kacey Musgraves, Flume, Paramore, and Lil Nas X will headline both the weekends of October 7 to 9 and October 14 to 16. Texas fans of Lil Nas X will be elated to see the “Industry Baby” rapper live after the initial announcement of his Montero tour didn’t include any Texas dates, due to the fact that his “ex lives out there.”

Also on the line-up are Diplo, Japanese Breakfast, Jazmine Sullivan, Omar Apollo, Bia and more.

While many of the acts will perform both weekends, some acts will only perform one of the weekends. Carly Rae Jepsen, Gayle, Lil Durk, and James Blake will all play weekend one only. Wet Leg, Lucky Daye, Princess Nokia, and Teezo Touchdown will play weekend two.

General on-sale begins today at noon CT. Check out the full line-up below.

Some of the artists mentioned are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Giannis Antetokounmpo has firmly established himself as one of the best players in the NBA — and, for many the best — with his performance over the last few years, winning back-to-back MVP awards in 2019 and 2020, a DPOY to go along with that 2020 MVP, and his first championship and Finals MVP a year ago.

As the Bucks continue their title defense in a tightly contested second round series with the Boston Celtics, Giannis continues to put up sensational stat lines and give Milwaukee a chance despite the absence of their second best player, Khris Middleton, from the series. Giannis’ greatness is just an accepted part of NBA fandom at this point, but his journey to this point and his backstory is nothing short of incredible. That journey for Giannis and his family, from the streets of Greece to the NBA, will be the subject of a new Disney+ original movie this summer, titled RISE.

On Tuesday, Disney released the first full trailer for RISE, showing a young Giannis and his brothers getting introduced to basketball, dealing with racism and xenophobia as immigrants from Nigeria in Greece, and how they as a family worked to create the opportunity to go to the NBA.

RISE will release on Disney+ on June 24.