Year: 2022

It’s only been six years since Erin Jackson first strapped on a set of ice skates. Now she’s the best female 500-meter speedskater on the planet.

Impressive? Um, yes.

Jackson, 29, just took home gold skating the 500-meter in the Olympics for Team USA, making her the first Black woman and just the second Black athlete to win an individual Olympic medal in any speedskating event. A historic moment, for sure, but the journey that brought Jackson to that moment is fascinating in more ways than one.

BEIJING 2022: ERIN JACKSON 500M OLYMPIC CHAMPION pic.twitter.com/ZbngHg0zN1

— US Speedskating (@US Speedskating)
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First of all, despite being the No. 1 ranked skater in the women’s 500-meter going into the Olympic trials, Jackson slipped during her qualifying race and came in third. Only the top two finishers qualified for the Olympics, so she was out. However, her teammate and long-time friend Britanny Bowe, who came in first, gave up her spot so that Jackson could compete with Team USA. (“She deserves it,” said Bowe, who would already be competing in the 1000-meter and 1500-meter Olympic races.)

“I’m incredibly grateful and humbled by the kindness of @BrittanyBowe in helping me to secure a chance at reaching my goals in #Beijing2022,” Jackson wrote in an Instagram post. “She’s an amazing friend, teammate, and mentor and this is an act I’ll never forget. You can bet I’ll be the loudest voice in the oval cheering for her in the 1000 and 1500 next month.”

Considering the fact that Jackson brought home the gold, it was clearly the right call. As luck would have it, Bowe still got to compete in the 500-meter race, as the U.S. was granted a third spot in the International Skating Union’s final reallocation of places. She came in 16th.

In 2018, Erin Jackson became the first Black woman to qualify for a U.S. Olympic long-track speedskating team, just four months after she started the sport.nnShe speaks with @ahylton26 about her journey to the 2022 Winter Olympics and more tonight on @NBCNightlyNews.pic.twitter.com/qs3b4Cy8FF

— NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (@NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt)
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So how did Jackson go from taking her first steps on the ice just six years ago to winning a gold medal in speedskating?

Jackson came into the sport as a world-class inline skater and artistic roller skater, so she was no stranger to gliding across a surface in boots. But according to Jackson’s speedskating coach, Ryan Shimabukuro, ice-skating and rollerblading are two different beasts.

“There is a big difference in how you deliver power through a blade on ice versus through wheels on cement or concrete,” Shimabukuro told NBC. “The timing of your push is different, how you apply force is different, your body position is different.”

Speedskating didn’t come easily, Jackson told NBC. “When I started out on ice, I was like, ‘I’m a speedskater, and this is speedskating, and why isn’t this coming easier?’” she said. “I really struggled at the beginning.”

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Jackson was an eager learner, however, always asking questions about how to improve and asking Shimabukuro to explain things a different way if it wasn’t clicking. In just two years, she made it to her first Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, where she placed 24th in the 500-meter event. Since then, she’s only gotten better and better, winning her third straight World Cup championship in November 2021 and now the Olympic gold in Beijing.

Congratulations, Erin Jackson, not only for making history, but for showing the world what hard work can accomplish.

And thanks to Brittany Bowe for showing us what selflessness and friendship can accomplish as well.

On Sunday, the legendary film director and producer Ivan Reitman passed away. He was 75. He left behind a long CV of hits, among them Stripes, Meatballs, Ghostbusters, Twins, Kindergarten Cop, and more. He also passed the torch to his son, Jason Reitman, who, starting with Thank You For Smoking, developed his own successful career. Jason made sure to honor his father with a moving post on social media.

“I’ve lost my hero,” Jason wrote about his father, accompanied by a photo of him as a child next to his father. “All I want is the chance to tell my father one more story. He came from a family of survivors and turned his legacy into laughter. Thank you for the kind messages. Enjoy his movies and remember his storytelling gifts. Nothing would make him happier.”

For first chunk of his career, Jason made very different films from his father — comedies, sometimes, but more geared towards the indie/art house world: Juno, Up in the Air, Young Adult, Tully, The Frontrunner. Last year, the two finally teamed up, with Ivan serving as one of the producers on Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which saw Jason directing a threequel to one of his father’s enduring classics.

Following news of Ivan Reitman’s passing, tributes poured in, including from Ghostbusters alumni. Ernie Hudson, who played Winston Zeddemore, honored the late filmmaker.

As did Dan Aykroyd, who released a statement to Deadline. “Feeling heartbreak today for Geneviève, Catherine, Caroline, Jason and family. The loss of my friend, collaborator, champion and one of the last great creative talents of the BIG SCREEN ERA crumples me,” Aykroyd wrote. “Now on Thursdays who am I gonna call?”

Super Mario RPG is one of the most beloved games ever made. An RPG for the Super Nintendo, it took a genre that was still fairly niche at the time and simplified it so non-RPG fans could get into the genre. With Mario on the cover, it had a much larger appeal to the common person, and with Final Fantasy developer Square Soft at the helm it had plenty of pedigree to pull from. The result? An arguably perfect gateway RPG game for newcomers while also being a fun time for veterans of the genre.

Unfortunately, Super Mario RPG did not break off into a multi-title franchise. A falling out between Square and Nintendo as business partners resulted in Intelligent Systems picking up the pieces to form the Paper Mario franchise. While Paper Mario is still fantastic, many fans still miss the style and characters of Super Mario RPG. They want an official sequel, but there have never been rumors of it and neither company has done much to remember the franchise besides the occasional easter egg or port.

This hasn’t stopped fans really wanting a sequel and among those who would love a Super Mario RPG 2 is director of the first game, Chihiro Fujioka. It’s been over 25 years since Fujioka worked on Super Mario RPG, and he would even go on to make different Mario RPGs with the Mario & Luigi series, but the lack of a sequel has left a hole in his resume. He wants to make one more before his career is over, and explained why Super Mario RPG in particular is something he would like to do, through a translator, in an interview with MinnMax’s Ben Hanson.

“Yeah, I would absolutely love to make one… in my career I’ve been involved with a lot of games, and I would really like my final one to be another Mario RPG game if possible.”

“I think Mario & Luigi is cool, but I would like to go back and create a Mario RPG where you’re only controlling Mario.”

While the immediate reaction to this would be to get excited about the idea of an official sequel to Super Mario RPG 2, we, unfortunately, have to put a damper on that excitement. While many fans would love to see more Mario RPG games, we’ve seen interest from Nintendo’s side to make them dwindle. Fujioka’s previous studio, Alpha Dream, went bankrupt in 2019 and Nintendo has unfortunately not shown too much interest since then to bring back the Mario & Luigi franchise. Paper Mario, also a Mario RPG franchise, has steadily moved further away from its traditional RPG roots with many fans considering The Thousand-Year Door to be the last time Paper Mario felt like a true RPG.

Ignoring the conversation about what makes something a “true RPG” the biggest hurdle would likely have to do with the fact that Square Enix is the current owner of anything related to the Super Mario RPG name. If we’re ever going to get a proper sequel then that would require Nintendo and Square Enix to work together on creating it. This is not an impossible idea, the two companies’ relationship is much better than it used to be, but it’s asking a lot for two companies as big as Nintendo and SquareEnix to get together and work on a sequel for a game that is over 25 years old now.

Pop-R&B singer Tinashe’s known for the high-concept treatments of her music videos such as “X,” “Bouncin,” and “Pasadena,” but rarely have they been as viscerally provocative as her new video for “Naturally.” Seemingly inspired by 1970s psychological horror (and its recent resurgence), the video finds Tinashe covering herself in gore for a literal bloodbath on a sun-soaked farm where she apparently slaughters some local livestock and performs choreography with a team in Western ranch regalia.

“Naturally” is the first single from the deluxe version of Tinashe’s 2021 album, 333, which adds four new songs to the singer’s second independently released album. Two of the songs also bring in new featured guests, Compton dance musician Channel Tres, and Oakland rapper Christian Blue.

In a recent interview, Tinashe talked about her pioneering, experimental sound and why she hated being categorized as “just” an R&B artist. “I hated being called an R&B star,” she said. “I really, really had a strong aversion to that. I felt that created a ceiling to my artistry that really turned me off in the early days. I didn’t want to be in that box that I felt had some type of inevitable lid on it. I’ve always honestly classified myself as a pop star. That’s always been what I see for myself, and then I think people’s interpretation of what that means is maybe where it gets convoluted because some people think pop means mainstream. Like, I don’t know, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, or something. But I think that’s not what that really means. To me, it’s more like what you embody more so than, I think, what it sonically sounds like.”

Watch Tinashe’s “Naturally” video above.

With the 2022 NBA All-Star Game just a week away, the Philadelphia 76ers announced on Monday that James Harden would sit out through the All-Star break as he continues to work his way back from the hamstring injury that kept him out in Brooklyn prior to the trade.

As such, NBA commissioner Adam Silver was tasked with naming a third replacement player, after Dejounte Murray and LaMelo Ball were added to the roster in place of Draymond Green and Kevin Durant. There were a few players with strong candidacies, with two as the expected favorites for the suddenly open spot: Cavs center Jarrett Allen and Raptors forward Pascal Siakam.

Later on Monday afternoon, the league announced Allen would join the squad and represent the home team alongside Darius Garland.

Allen is averaging 16.2 points, 11.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game, with career highs in points and rebounds for the surprising Cavs, who sit in third in the East at 35-22. Allen’s presence on the defensive end has been particularly important for Cleveland, as he’s the anchor alongside Evan Mobley for one of the NBA’s best defenses. Siakam likewise had a strong statistical case for a spot, but it’s hard to argue with Allen, particularly when considering he plays for the hometown team as well.

Considering the All-Star rosters were very guard heavy, it’s also not a surprise that they’d look to add another center to the mix, with Allen joining Team LeBron’s roster in place of Harden — who was rather hilariously the last pick in the draft last week.

Multiple times per week, our TV and film experts will list the most important ten streaming selections for you to pop into your queues. We’re not strictly operating upon reviews or accrued streaming clicks (although yes, we’ve scoured the streaming site charts and ratings) but, instead, upon those selections that are really worth noticing amid the churning sea of content. There’s a lot out there, after all, and your time is valuable.

10: (TIE) Nightmare Alley (Searchlight Pictures film on HBO Max)

Guillermo del Toro assembled a wildly impressive ensemble cast (Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, and more) here, and of course, that’s not the sole reason that one should hop on board a project. Yet this movie (which has bagged four Oscar nominations) makes it easy to get absorbed in this carnival world (set in the late 1930s and 1940s) where Cooper’s leading man (who has already done some shady things) determines to pull the wool over the eyes of the extremely wealthy. It’s atmospheric, noir-soaked, and even worth the 2+ hour runtime.

10: (TIE) Reacher (Amazon Prime series)

The controversial Tom Cruise casting of the movies doesn’t exactly get erased with this series, but the show takes great pains to be more authentic with the leading man’s hulking stature. Alan Ritchson is 6’2″ and comes by the “hulking” detail honestly, and he picks up with this adaptation of Lee Child’s bestselling novels about the vet who’s having an interesting time with civilian life. Naturally, there are shadowy forces at work here because that’s how this story rolls, so cue the conspiracies.

9. Spencer (NEON movie on Hulu)

Kristen freaking Stewart finally (and fully) puts her Twilight days behind her in this film, in which she portrays Princess Diana and earned an Oscar nomination. The film revolves around a pivotal few days towards the end of her ailing marriage to Prince Charles, and Stewart fully pulls out the emotional stops. It’s a gutsy-as-hell career move and fully watchable, all while knowing that this film made the British royals steam under the collar, as with The Crown.

8. The Tinder Swindler (Netflix film)

This selection grew popular right ahead of Valentine’s Day, hopefully in an effort to save you from running to the apps on a very commercial holiday. Welcome to the sordid true-crime tale of the self-dubbed “Prince of Diamonds,” a faux billionaire playboy (Simon Leviev, actual name Shimon Hayu) who cruised Tinder, leaving women wondering what happened after they opened their wallets to him. This guy even succeeded in fooling people into thinking he was the son of real-life multi-millionaire Lev Leviev. Yikes.

7. Peacemaker (HBO Max series)

John Cena’s insufferable, super-patriotic The Suicide Squad character may have annoyed everyone in that movie, but he’s back and doing everything to entertain through campiness and multiple dance sequences. One of them even puts Cena in tighty whities, so here’s to James Gunn for adding some Eagly to the mix for unconditional love.

6. The Power of the Dog (Netflix film)

Oscar nominations all around for this film, which stars Benedict Cumberbatch’s a sinister, charismatic rancher who’s menacing side comes out in accordance with his own insecurities and toxic masculinity. He terrorizes his sister-in-law and her son, and both Jesse Plemons and Kristen Dunst won acting nominations along with Cumberbatch himself. Director Jane Campion earned accolades as well, so catch up on this one soon.

5. Pam & Tommy (Hulu series)

Pam & Tommy is a gloriously decadent show that revels in 1990s debauchery but also doesn’t shy away from difficult conversations about consent and misogyny. Pamela Anderson got a raw deal here, all while Tommy Lee and Rand Gauthier’s completely dumb beef worked high-stakes collateral damage upon her. The cast pulls out the stops, as does the incredible hair and makeup team. Plus, Jason Mantzoukas does the talking-penis thing. You can’t lose here.

4. All Of Us Are Dead (Netflix series)

Expect some Squid Game parallels to arise while you watch this K-drama series that rose to the peak of Netflix’s global charts immediately upon release (a few weeks ago). This show comes with the added bonus (?) of zombies while high school students try their hardest to survive the difficult conditions while realizing that there’s no hope of rescue on the horizon. Binging is the name of the game here, so clear your schedule.

3. Inventing Anna (Netflix limited series)

Julia Garner can’t be stopped after dominating the screen in Ozark, and she’s here with a wild, hybrid, mysterious accent and wigs and glasses and a master con-woman character who takes everyone on an intense ride, as inspired by Jessica Pressler’s New York Magazine article. The degree of commitment of Anna Delvey (real name Anna Sorokin) to the long con is nearly as impressive as those who clung to her coattails and got burned. There are no winners here, but there’s entertainment.

2. Euphoria (HBO series on HBO Max)

Guys, it is not looking good for Zendaya’s Rue as she attempts to drag herself out of her latest drug binge. After that happens, she’s got more troubles lurking in the background, and there are still a few more episodes to go before season finale time. Before that happens, we have a lot of theories to consider and musical considerations until next week’s edition with a next-season renewal in the cards.

1. The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window (Netflix series)

The critics were not wild about this show, but the people love it. You’ve undoubtedly heard of (or even seen) the similarly titled Girl On The Train, which has nothing to do with this film, although the spookiness arrives in a darkly comedic manner here. Kristen Bell’s the woman with the wine in the window, and she grows entrenched in observing the lives of her new neighbor and daughter. Sit down for that finale, too. Hoo boy.

On Sunday, the Rams defeated the Bengals to win the Super Bowl. This marked the end of the 2021-22 NFL season, and it was also the final game that everyone had the opportunity to say goodbye to NFL legend John Madden. The famous coach, commentator, and video game creator died late December 2021 and the NFL used what was left of the season to honor him.

EA Sports, the company that Madden himself helped make famous with the Madden NFL series of video games, also gave a final goodbye to the former NFL coach on Monday. It posted a tribute video to its YouTube channel where it spends seven minutes letting the people who got to know John Madden over the years remember him for his work on the football field, in the TV booth, and what he did to make the video game so special.

It’s a well-made tribute that features players who once played under Madden such as Fred Biletnikoff, people who shared the booth with him like Al Michaels, and current legends who looked up to him like Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes. It’s another way that everyone is able to remember the influence that one person had on not just the sport of football, but the presentation of the sport itself. Without John Madden, the way we enjoy the sport would look completely different today and his impact is hard to be overstated.

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers never got to have a championship parade after winning the 2020 NBA championship in the Orlando Bubble.

It was part of the unfortunate reality of the beginning of the pandemic, as restrictions on gatherings prior to the availability of COVID-19 vaccines didn’t allow the Lakers to celebrate with their fans in the streets of L.A. — despite James stumping for a parade to happen anyways at the time. Almost two years later and the Dodgers and, most recently, the Rams have won championships since the Lakers won their title and LeBron seems to be having a little FOMO when it comes to the impending title parade for the new Super Bowl champs.

On Monday, LeBron floated the idea of the Rams, Lakers, and Dodgers all getting a parade through L.A. to celebrate the three champs.

I get it, he never got that parade from 2020 and I can fully understand wanting that, but it’s also a rather hilarious idea for the Lakers to join a parade in the middle of a season in which they are currently in ninth in the West at 26-31. Not only that, but this current Lakers team has three players who were on that championship team — LeBron, Anthony Davis, and Dwight Howard (and Avery Bradley but he didn’t join the team in the Bubble) — which means the logistics of getting the actual title team to a joint parade is nearly impossible considering those players are scattered all over the league. So they either would just have the few still on the roster there or a bunch of guys who didn’t actually win a title celebrating for a team they weren’t on in the middle of what has been a rather dreadful season.

What feels far more likely is that LeBron will join the Rams for the parade as a special guest if it’s on a day he’s able to, but it seems like it’s probably a bit too far removed from that 2020 title for the Lakers to really get a proper parade as James wants so badly.

After kicking up a whole media circus by testing positive for COVID and then immediately going out to eat at a New York City restaurant, Sarah Palin‘s defamation suit against The New York Times has been dismissed. The former Alaska governor, whose reckless dining habits sparked an official warning from Mayor Eric Adams, was facing an uphill battle in proving the Times defamed her with a 2107 article, and now, it seems her misadventures in the Big Apple were for naught. Via The Daily Beast:

The lawsuit alleges that the Grey Lady intentionally tried to harm Palin in a 2017 piece entitled “America’s Lethal Politics.”

“My job is to apply the law,” Rakoff said on Monday, noting that he anticipates an appeal in the case. “The law sets a very high standard for actual malice and in this case the Court finds that standard has not been met.”

As the Beast notes, even Palin’s attorney expected this outcome. During his opening statement, attorney Shane Vogt flat-out admitted that he didn’t expect the lawsuit to succeed due to the landmark 1964 New York Times v. Sullivan ruling, which provides protection to journalists.

However, Palin’s trip to New York City wasn’t a total loss. On top of potentially spreading a deadly virus, she reportedly found time for romance with former New York Rangers Ron Duguay. The two claim to be just friends, but Duguay was by her side during her several COVID dinner outings, and she was spotted in court wearing a New York Rangers mask. You know what they say, unlucky in lawsuits, lucky in love.

(Via The Daily Beast)

With most of us still a bit hungover from yesterday’s Super Bowl festivities, it’s understandable that there hasn’t been that much Valentine’s Day celebration. After all, who’d want their brand-new, holiday-themed song washed away by the rush of conversation about that incredible performance? Fortunately, there’s one band that remains undaunted by the prospect — and they’ve got the perfect remedy for the above condition.

Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars, who teamed up last year as the romantic duo Silk Sonic, once again joined forces to play into their lover-man schtick for the most romantic holiday, offering a new song about love and all its benefits. Tapping even deeper into the 70s-and-80s-inspired funk aesthetic from which they derive their air of casual cool, this time they directly lift from their influences, covering Bay Area band Con Funk Shun’s 1983 R&B hit, “Love’s Train.”

For a generation of funk and R&B fans, this is Con Funk Shun’s signature hit, and for the most part, Andy and Bruno play it straight, with buzzing bass and soaring horns backing their velvety vocals. Of course, the song is secretly perfect for them — while it masquerades as a love anthem, it’s as much about the messiness as anything on their debut album, An Evening With Silk Sonic, as it was originally penned about a woman two of Con Funk Shun’s members tried to woo at the same time.

Listen to Silk Sonic’s cover of “Love’s Train” above.

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