Month: October 2022

The last time John Waters directed a movie was 2004’s underrated A Dirty Shame, which was just about as mainstream as he could possibly manage in the director’s chair. In the meantime, he was able to shepherd Hairspray from its Tony-winning musical incarnation into a filmic remake. He was also able to deliver a dozen memorable cameos, including a delightful turn helping Midge find a gay bar on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. He’s written non-fiction books and done spoken word poetry and had several careers inside his career.

Now, he’s returning to his original love. According to Deadline, Waters will direct an adaptation of his debut novel, Liarmouth: A Feel-Bad Romance, for Village Roadshow Pictures.

“Liarmouth is the craziest thing I’ve written in a while so maybe it’s fitting that my novel was shocking enough to jumpstart the engine of my film career,” the 76-year-old filmmaker said in a statement. “Thrilled to be back in the movie business, hopefully to spread demented joy to adventuresome moviegoers around the world.”

Yes, please. Spread that demented joy.

The novel features a grandmother, mother, and daughter (Adora, Marsha, and Poppy) who are all trying to kill each other. Adora does illegal plastic surgery for pets in Manhattan, Marsha is a klepto, Poppy operates a trampoline park outside Baltimore, and all of it sounds so thoroughly John Waters-ish that it will be difficult to wait until his triumphant, disgusting return hits theaters. Let’s hope he doesn’t end up in jail for obscenity before he gets the chance.

(via Deadline)

Following a series of disasters during Paris Fashion Week, Kanye West stopped by Fox News studios for an interview with Tucker Carlson. On tonight’s (October 6) episode of Tucker Carlson Tonight, Ye addressed several of the bits of headline-making behaviors from the past week. Also during his interview, he doubled down on his anti-abortion stance, while wearing a necklace containing an image of a fetus in a sonogram.

“You designed that?” asked Carlson.

“Yes,” Ye responded.

“What does that mean?” asked Carlson.

“It just represents life. I’m pro-life,” Ye said.

“What kind of response do you get? And amen, I agree,” said Carlson.

“I don’t care about people’s responses,” Ye said. “I care about the fact that there’s more Black babies being aborted than born in New York City at this point. 50% of Black death in America is abortion. So, I really don’t care about people’s responses. I perform for an audience of one, and that’s God.”

Elsewhere in the interview, he addressed the incident with Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, attacking body-positive movements in the process.

“The media wants to put out a perception that being overweight is the new goal when it’s actually unhealthy,” Ye said. “Let’s get aside the fact of whether it’s fashion in Vogue, which it’s not. If someone thinks it’s attractive, to each his own. It’s actually clinically unhealthy, and for people to promote that, it’s demonic.”

Check out the full interview here (if you must).

The Nielsen streaming ratings for the first week of September are out, and they prove that everyone was sweeping the leg. Cobra Kai topped the charts for original series with 1.74 billion minutes viewed. However, it wasn’t the only one to top a billion minutes. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix’s Devil in Ohio came in second with 1.38 billion minutes, Prime Video’s The Rings of Power came in third with 1.2 billion minutes, and HBO Max’s House of the Dragon hit the top of the “acquired series” charts with 1.02 billion minutes.

The two obvious things jump out here: first, that we were streaming, like, a ton in early September. Is everyone okay? The answer is no, but are we less okay than the normal level of Not Okay? Just checking in. Call a friend and see how they’re doing tonight, please.

Secondly, plucky little reboot Cobra Kai is king of the heap versus a slew of gargantuan-budgeted epics. Amazon spent a billion dollars on The Rings of Power, and it’s losing out to the delightful nostalgia bomb about kicking people in the face and learning personal responsibility. That’s pretty cool! Also, art isn’t a competition, and both can be excellent shows at the same time.

(via The Hollywood Reporter)

The 2016 election was a watershed moment when misinformation online became a serious problem and had enormous consequences. Even though social media sites have tried to slow the spread of misleading information, it doesn’t show any signs of letting up.

A NewsGuard report from 2020 found that engagement with unreliable sites between 2019 and 2020 doubled over that time period. But we don’t need studies to show that misinformation is a huge problem. The fact that COVID-19 misinformation was such a hindrance to stopping the virus and one-third of American voters believe that the 2020 election was stolen is proof enough.

What’s worse is that according to Pew Research, only 26% of American adults are able to distinguish between fact and opinion.

To help teach Americans how to discern real news from fake news, The News Literacy Project has created a new website called RumorGuard that debunks questionable news stories and teaches people how to become more news literate.

u201cLove this. We need to make it easy for people to know the difference between what is real and what is misinformation. Itu2019s especially helpful that @NewsLitProject shows the process of how they debunk these rumors.u201d

— Melissa Luck u2618 (@Melissa Luck u2618)
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“Misinformation is a real threat to our democracy, our health and our environment. But too many people are not sure how to verify the news they come across and are convinced there is no useful action they can take to protect themselves and others from being fooled,” Charles Salter, NLP’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “We can confront these challenges by making sure more people have news literacy skills and the ability to collectively push back against the spread of false, misleading and harmful content.”

The site regularly posts debunked news stories to push back against the lies that spread online. The great thing is that the stories explain why the information shouldn’t be trusted.

Each post explains how to use five major factors of credibility to judge whether a claim is legitimate and walks the reader through the debunking process. The five criteria are a great thing to consider any time someone is reading a news article.

Source: Has the information been posted by a credible source?

Evidence: Is there any evidence that proves the claim is true?

Context: Is the provided context accurate?

Reasoning: Is the claim based on sound reasoning?

Authenticity: Is the information authentic, or has it been edited, changed, or completely made up?

The site also provides lessons to teach people how to identify misinformation so they don’t fall for it in the future. Studies show that the best way to combat misinformation is by inoculating people against it by teaching them how to spot the deceptive tactics used by illegitimate news sites.

u201cFeel empowered ud83dudcaaud83cudffenStop misinformation in its tracks u274cnJoin the #RumorGuard today! nnud83dudd17 https://t.co/xLs55ws8HJu201d

— The News Literacy Project (@The News Literacy Project)
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A recent study highlighted by Upworthy from researchers from universities of Cambridge and Bristol found that “pre-bunking” was one of the most effective ways to stop the spread of misinformation.

“Across seven high-powered preregistered studies including a field experiment on YouTube, with a total of nearly 30,000 participants, we find that watching short inoculation videos improves people’s ability to identify manipulation techniques commonly used in online misinformation, both in a laboratory setting and in a real-world environment where exposure to misinformation is common,” the recently published findings note.

Over the past six years, there have been numerous attempts by social media platforms and fact-checking organizations to try to stop the spread of false information online as it slowly erodes our democracy. RumorGuard seems to be following the lessons we’ve learned over the past few years by providing fact-checks to big news stories in real time and by helping to inoculate people against fake news in the future.

Let’s hope we can stop the spread of misinformation while we still have a democracy to protect.

Deep in the bowels of The Hollywood Reporter‘s sprawling profile of The Rings of Power showrunners Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne lies a curious tidbit about how all the majors were promising comically large checks to the Tolkien Estate if they could be the ones to bring further Lord of the Rings projects to life. HBO Max wanted to take everyone back to Middle-Earth, McKay and Payne spoke Elvish during their pitch on behalf of Amazon, and Netflix allegedly offered the most money and the most frightening vision.

As the feature, written by James Hibberd, states:

Netflix pitched doing several shows, such as a Gandalf series and an Aragorn drama. “They took the Marvel approach,” said one insider to the talks, “and that completely freaked out the estate.”

Thus, if that insider has it right, this is one of those rare moments where the biggest number didn’t win the day. It’s also one of those moments where attempting to create an expanded universe was actually balked at. Regardless of where you come down on Amazon’s concept of taking us all back in time long before Frodo got the ring, it’s difficult to imagine a Netflix version that wasn’t algorithmed into the ground. It’s hard to judge too harshly without knowing more, but those two concepts feel wholly uninspired.

On the other hand, no one had the courage to pitch a Tom Bombadil series, and we’re all worse off for it.

(via The Hollywood Reporter)

Just weeks after dropping his latest EP, Sad Songs In A Hotel Room, Joshua Bassett has surprise-released a new ballad. On “Would You Love Me Now,” Bassett longs to reconnect with an ex of his over a forlorn piano-and-guitar-driven track.

“If I showed up at your doorstep, would you turn me away? / Or would you care to see a stranger hose eyes are still the same? / Take me or leave me, I’m goin’ home / But I’d rather be going your way,” Bassett sings on the song’s chorus.

Though Bassett’s EP isn’t even a month old, he admits that he couldn’t stop writing once the sessions for the EP were complete.

“At the end of the summer, inspiration struck me like lightning,” said Bassett in a statement. “I found myself up at ungodly hours barely keeping up with the songs. The new music felt urgent to put out into the world. This first track – ‘Would You Love Me Now?’ – touches on how even after heartbreak and distance, there are certain people you will always find yourself asking, “What if we tried it again?” From long lost love, broken promises, reconciliation, and new beginnings – you can count on one thing: it’s complicated.”

Check out “Would You Love Me” above.

Joshua Bassett is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The NBA 2K League is expanding. The esports league where players compete in NBA 2K has seen its number of teams rise over the years, and has even had some international additions with the Shanghai-based Gen G. Tigers and the Mexico City-based DUX Infinitos. Now, the league will continue its overseas expansion with the announcement of NBL OZ Gaming out of Melbourne, Australia.

NBL OZ Gaming showcases the relationship that the NBA 2K League and Australia’s National Basketball League. Both leagues are hoping to gain with audiences by including a growing and vibrant basketball fanbase in Australia. It is the latest bit of news in what has become an exciting week for the NBL, as one of its teams knock off the NBA’s Phoenix Suns in a preseason game.

“We have been intrigued by the esports sector now for some time, largely because there is a significant crossover between gaming fans and basketball fans – more so than any other sport,” NBL Commissioner Jeremy Loeliger said via an official press release. “We always want to partner with the best, and one of the best professional esports leagues in the world is operated by our long-standing friends and partners at the NBA. The global popularity of NBA 2K and the NBA 2K League continue to grow every year, and neither is showing any signs of slowing down. Our hopes and expectations are that NBL Oz Gaming will introduce the NBL to a legion of new fans around the world. But first, we have to turn our attention to building a strong and competitive roster and showing once again that the NBL can take on the best in the world. This time, it just happens to be a slightly different game!”

An expansion draft will be held in November where NBL OZ Gaming will fill out its roster.

Having anxiety is fun and by fun I mean extremely inconvenient and overwhelming. If you don’t experience anxiety then the idea of something invisible seemingly coming out of nowhere to activate your fight or flight response may seem strange. But it’s the reality for more than 40 million people, and while no two people’s anxiety looks exactly the same, there are some things that can help sufferers get through the day when anxiety shows up.

Anxiety can happen at any time and in any place, like at home watching TV or when trying to fall asleep. But most of the time it rears its head when people are away from the comfort of home. If you suffer from anxiety you’ll be familiar with the feeling of having to repeat to yourself “be cool,” when you are, in fact, not cool at all. Anxiety is always playing side-splitting jokes on sufferers when they least expect it—heavy on the sarcasm in that sentence. So what are you supposed if you suffer from anxiety and it just won’t go away and let you live in peace? Lucky for you, I’ve created a list of what works for me, as a fellow sufferer, and that hopefully will help you too.

1. Something to squeeze or pop helps nervous energy.

Sometimes anxiety may feel like pent-up energy, so having something physical to do to relieve that energy can be really helpful. I’ve found that stress balls can really help get that “I’m about to go screaming down the hallway to cry in the bathroom” feeling to calm the heck down a bit. It may not take the anxiety away completely, but it will give you something to do with that energy and it’s something you can do under your desk or in a meeting.

2. Mmmm, something that smells good can help.

Smell is a powerful tool when it comes to a lot of things but there’s something about it that can really help calm your anxiety, especially when coupled with other tools. The smell you pick can literally be anything that makes you feel safe or calm. Your laundry detergent, perfume or lemons. Whatever it is, put it on a piece of fabric and shove that bad boy in a Ziploc bag for when you need to open it up for a whiff of “calm the heck down.” If you’re not sure where to start for smells, you can try lavender and chamomile spray.

3. A coloring book works wonders.

Coloring books cover multiple sensory areas at once. You get to feel the pages, smell the crayons or colored pencils, and you get to see the colors. It’s the sensory jackpot for anxiety and you can do this activity at work in your office or at home. I prefer the kid coloring books that have the giant pages so I can pretend I’m 9 years old. I lay on the floor and don’t care about the lines. I highly recommend entertaining your inner child.

4. Grab a journal and get it out.

Well, well, well, if it isn’t the thing that therapists keep bringing up in sessions about taking care of yourself. You know they wouldn’t keep harping on it if it didn’t actually work for a lot of people. This journal is just a fun sweary journal with prompts for people who may not be good at writing what’s on their mind. Journaling may be really helpful, but it shouldn’t be something that stresses you out. If you find yourself freaking out over getting the journal done, then throw it in the trash because it’s not serving the purpose it’s supposed to.

5. Keep a sensory box at work and home.

I like to call this my “take 15 box.” Sometimes we need a little break to get it together and a sensory box is something you can stash at the office or at home. Basically what you put in a sensory box are things that will appease all five senses, which some therapists use to bring you back to the moment. Instead of looking around for the items, they’re all in one spot. In the box you’ll want to have some sort of candy for taste, cloth sprayed with whatever fragrance you prefer in an airtight bag, something visual like bubbles, a stress ball or pop it, and I’d say a CD, but no one uses those anymore so have a relaxing playlist ready and extra set of headphones in case you misplace yours.

Whatever your anxiety looks like, hopefully some of the things on this list work for you. Anxiety can be stressful and those of us who suffer from it need all the tips we can get for overcoming those moments.

The Golden State Warriors had far more attention for an early October practice on Thursday than is typical as it was a day removed from a practice fight that saw Draymond Green hit Jordan Poole, leading to “internal discipline” for Green that included him being held out of practice on Thursday.

Green apologized to the team and Bob Myers addressed the situation at a Thursday presser, confirming the report and noting that the team was prepared to move on and keep Green’s punishment internal. For the most part, the Warriors seemed ready to just move on, but one thing that came out in the aftermath of the altercation seemed to irk some key members of the Warriors.

Chris Haynes reported that Poole’s attitude had changed as he was getting ready to sign a lucrative extension and that had frustrated Green and others leading to the altercation, but that got quickly shot down by Steve Kerr and Stephen Curry, via ESPN’s Kendra Andrews.

“There was a report that Jordan had an attitude in camp, and that could not be further from the truth,” Kerr said. “He’s been fantastic.”

Curry added: “[Poole] has been great, and there was nothing that warranted the situation yesterday. I want to make that clear.”

Curry also said it was “unfair to JP” that had been floated as a reasoning for Green hitting him, and it’s clear Curry thought Draymond crossed the line — and that the attempt by someone to save face for Green with that report was off base.

It’s not often that these kinds of reports get rebuffed that quickly and publicly by a team, but the Warriors want to make it clear that Poole’s attitude wasn’t and isn’t an issue as they get set for the season.

Following a series of scandals this week, including wearing a “White Lives Latter” shirt at his Yeezy Season 9 fashion show, and attacking Vogue fashion editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson on Instagram, Kanye West appears to be doing some damage control — or at least, his version of that. Tonight, Ye will appear on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show, Tucker Carlson Tonight for an interview.

According to TMZ, the two Carlson and Ye sat down for “a lengthy chat, which mostly focused on the recent attention Kanye’s generated through wearing a “White Lives Matter” shirt at his Yeezy fashion show.”

In a clip shared to Kanye West’s Instagram page, Carlson and Ye are seen touring the latter’s Yeezy office.

A Yeezy employee offers Carlson some of the beverages Yeezy is working on, including one called Donda, activated charcoal black sesame milk.

“I’m pretty open-minded about what I put in my mouth,” says Carlson before sampling the drink, which he then says is “delicious.”

Elsewhere in the clip, Carlson is seen trying on a prototype of some 3D-printed shoes, as another employee explains that the company is trying to build a factory where several 3D-printed shoes can be manufactured.

Check out the clip above (if you must).

Ye’s interview will air tonight at 8 p.m. EST / 7 p.m. CST.