Month: July 2023

James Harden is, for now, still a member of the Philadelphia 76ers. He would like for that not to be the case by the time the 2023-24 season starts, as he has requested to be traded and, more specifically, requested to be traded to the L.A. Clippers.

It is a situation not unlike what Portland finds itself in with Damian Lillard’s trade request to Miami, but the difference is, there’s not even really a hope of finding another suitor for Harden. A team could talk themselves into Dame begrudgingly playing for them given he has four years remaining on his deal, but with Harden on an expiring deal after picking up his player option, there’s no long-term potential upside to trading for him if he does not want to be there. As such, the Sixers can only hope to apply pressure to the Clippers to put a better offer on the table by threatening to drag this out into the season.

The problem with that is, Harden won’t just disappear like Ben Simmons did, as he will report to camp and apply pressure in the manner he’s perfected. Harden is as good as there is at making things so uncomfortable that a team acquiesces to his trade demand, as he’s pulled it off twice in the last few years — first with Houston and then with Brooklyn. After Daryl Morey, who was once tight with Harden but now is decidedly not, made it publicly known that he wouldn’t trade Harden if the right offer came long, Harden appears to have responded in kind.

Harden posted an Instagram story on Thursday that simply read: Been comfortable for so long. It’s time to get uncomfortable.

Either Harden recently watched Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One and was inspired by seeing Tom Cruise jump a motorcycle off a cliff and wants to get into pushing his own limits with daring stunts, or, more likely, he is issuing a mild threat about what’s to come for the Sixers if they don’t figure out this trade with the Clippers.

According to Variety, AMC Theaters has dumped its plan to charge people different rates for heartbreak that feels good depending on where they’re seated to witness said heartbreak.

The plan, called “Sightline at AMC,” was originally announced in February. The general idea was that center seats would cost more while patrons might get a discount for sitting in the front row or on the sides. The concept was criticized at announcement, most vocally by Elijah Wood, for essentially divvying up the movie theater Shakespeare style with the Haves in certain sections and the Have Nots in others.

Now that they’ve tested the plan out, the company is scrapping it because it didn’t do enough to put butts into differently-priced seats. Turns out they weren’t really swayed by the “Movie Theaters are sacred spaces” argument and leaned more heavily on the fact that a couple bucks in either direction didn’t sway people.

“To ensure AMC’s ticket prices remain competitive, the Sightline at AMC pilot program will come to an end at participating locations in the coming weeks, and the initiative will not roll out nationwide,” the company said in a press release.

Thus, movie theater prices will continue to only be delineated based on whether you’re seeing it in standard format, on IMAX, or with a rumble pack attached to you for when Tom Cruise goes zoooooom.

John Stamos visited Hot Ones (before the SAG strike) to proclaim that the central character on Full House was “love” before getting angry drunk on hot sauce.

An absolute delight, Stamos brought up one of Hot One‘s previous interviews where Sean Evans compared Howard Stern‘s infamous Fartman scene in Private Parts to how celebrities initially thought of coming on his show to eat spicy food and answer niche questions. When Evans couldn’t remember who shared the scene with Stern in the movie, Stamos gleefully shouted, “It was me! Good research, you asshole!” causing Evans to nearly fall out of his seat laughing.

A few minutes later, Stamos asked if he could become the co-host of the show before actually falling out of his seat.

It was a solid pratfall, but the thousand-yard-stare Stamos had glued to his face by the end of the gauntlet was legit. It was one of the best episodes of the interview series, marked by Stamos’ unique charm and a fantastic chemistry between the two as they ate wings and chatted about comedy legends, working with James Earl Jones on stage, and close encounters of the fandom kind. Stamos also explained how he got the Private Parts gig, replacing Luke Perry and spending the shooting day drinking beer with Slash.

Last week, Atlanta rapper Future seemingly revived his feud with Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson on Quavo’s new song “Turn Yo Clic Up.” In his verse, Future says, “I got it out the field, f*ck Russell,” which some fans took to be a clear shot at Wilson, with whom Future has been feuding since 2015, when Wilson began dating R&B singer Ciara after she broke up with Future in 2014.

However, Wilson has always taken the high road, choosing not to respond to Future’s provocations — at least, not directly. He continued in this strategy with his latest social media post, which fans have determined is the best kind of subtle clapback. Posting a photo of himself and his stepson, Future (yes, he’s named after his dad), Wilson captioned the post: “Best part of the day #DadLife.” Given the criticism that the adult Future has taken online for taking a supposedly aloof parenting style to his seven children, Fans were delighted to see the laid-back football player gain the upper hand in their exchange.

There are a lot of good responses, but this one pretty much sums it up: “Future said I’m really in the field f*ck Russell.. then Russ took a pic in the field with his kid .. this uncharted territory of disrespect.”

Yup. You can check out more responses below.

John Boyega has not been shy when it comes to voicing his opinion on his Star Wars experience after starring as Finn in all three Sequel Trilogy films. While Boyega has since made peace with Finn’s journey and has hinted over the years that he’d return to the franchise, the actor couldn’t resist being his candid self during a recent episode of Hot Ones.

When asked to rank the films in the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy from best to worst, Boyega gave what will surely be a controversial response thanks to his last place choice.

“‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ is most definitely the best,” Boyega said via Variety. “Second, for me, comes [‘The Rise of Skywalker’]. The worst – in the most respectful sense – is [‘The Last Jedi’]. But they’re all lovely.”

While Boyega gave a diplomatic answer, the actor did give a little bit of side-eye after mentioning The Last Jedi, a film he’s criticized before, and one that has proved to be highly divisive with Star Wars fans.

“I didn’t necessarily agree with a lot of the choices in that and that’s something that spoke to Mark [Hamill] a lot about and we had conversations about it. And it was hard for all of us, because we were separated,” Boyega told HypeBeast back in 2019 before comparing The Last Jedi to the classic films. “There was much more of a trio feel where it was essentially about Luke’s journey, but Han and Leia there was a strong dynamic.”

Boyega placing The Rise of Skywalker ahead of The Last Jedi is also an interesting choice given Lucasfilm hasn’t been able to get a Star Wars movie off the ground since the final installment for the Sequel Trilogy managed to disappoint both lovers and haters of The Last Jedi. Heck, Boyega might be the only person who likes it.

(Via Variety)

Austin Reaves enjoyed a breakout season in 2022-23, becoming the Lakers third-best player during their run to the conference finals, earning a new 4-year, $54 million deal in free agency to stay in L.A. in the process.

Reaves had always dreamed of being a member of the Lakers because of Kobe Bryant, and his anti-LeBron tweets from when he was a young Kobe fan have been forgiven by his legendary teammate. Reaves even orchestrated a Draft night move to avoid being picked by the Pistons, preferring to sign with the Lakers as an undrafted free agent. In his breakout year, Reaves has become a fan-favorite for many Lakers fans, including one in particular who has family ties to the organization.

Kobe Bryant’s nephew is apparently a huge Reaves fan, and when his birthday rolled around in the playoffs, his mother, Shaya Bryant, reached out to Matt Barnes to see if he had a way to get in touch with Austin. On the latest All The Smoke podcast, Barnes thanked Reaves for being willing to send a video birthday message despite it being during the postseason, and showed the video of Kobe’s nephew breaking down in tears seeing his favorite player sent him a personal note.

It’s a very cool moment and shows that Reaves obviously understands what it can mean to a young fan to take a little time out to send a video message like that. Clearly it meant a ton to Kobe’s nephew, and Barnes wanted to relay the message from Shaya that it was immensely appreciated.

Fans have been impatiently waiting for the follow-up to ASAP Rocky’s 2018 album, Testing. For the past five years, Rocky’s been more occupied with a variety of ups and downs, from his incarceration in Sweden to becoming a father thanks to Rihanna (with whom he might be married, judging from some of his recent comments and his new song “Riot (Rowdy Pipe’n)“).

That doesn’t mean he hasn’t been working on it; late last year, he noted that the upcoming album, Don’t Be Dumb, has heavy input from Metro Boomin — and that it’s been “finished” since December. Of course, once an album is done, there’s still lots of work to do, from plotting out music video releases and brand partnerships to routing tours, but with multiple singles, including “Riot” and “Same Problems” out, you can’t blame fans for believing the album should be on its way any day now.

Rocky certainly fueled those rumors in a new interview with Complex, blaming delays on leakers and revealing a laundry list of producers that includes Hitkidd, Madlib, Mike Dean, Swedish House Mafia, The Alchemist, and Tyler The Creator, in addition to Rocky himself. As far as when the album is due, Rocky said, “These dummies got to stop leaking sh*t. Every time, we have to go back to the drawing board. But right now, I think it’s in a place where we tightened it up and we really can’t make or break anything right now… it’s time to start rolling out the project.”

Just days after announcing the impending release of their fifth joint project, Magic 2, Nas and Hit-Boy have also shared the album’s tracklist and features, which include both 21 Savage and 50 Cent. This is notable because both of those rappers have engaged to some degree in controversy with Nas over the years — 50 Cent decades ago, during the juggernaut G-Unit heyday, and 21 Savage more recently.

In 50’s case, the two fellow Queens natives had toured together early on in 50’s career, and Nas was one of the dozens of rappers 50 mentioned in his breakout hit, “How To Rob.” And while Nas initially shrugged off the shots as just clever execution of the concept, the two rappers feuded in earnest in the mid-2000s after Nas made disparaging comments onstage during during a concert in New York. 50 nearly escalated the feud with a scathing diss track, but was stopped by Dr. Dre.

Meanwhile, 21 Savage drew criticism from fans late last year when he happened to suggest that Nas isn’t so relevant anymore during a chat on Clubhouse. However, that may have just been rollout, because he backtracked within 24 hours and two weeks later, the two rappers had released a collaboration, “One Mic, One Gun” — the song that appears on Magic 2.

Magic 2 drops July 21 via Mass Appeal. Get more info here.

Finesse2Tymes might well be on the cusp of a huge breakout after being featured on the 2023 XXL Freshman Class cover thanks to the success of his viral hit “Back End,” but that didn’t stop him from getting into some legal trouble in Houston this weekend. Local news reported that the Houston Police Department has issued a warrant for the Memphis rapper’s arrest for allegedly stealing a rental car earlier this year.

Finesse2Tymes, whose legal name is Ricky Hampton, was charged with felony theft between $30,000 and $150,000 after a supposed associate told Enterprise employees the rapper was using it — well over a month after it was supposed to have been returned. The car, an Infiniti QX80 SUV, was rented by Ronald Bell on February 28 with a return date of March 10. However, after a 10-day demand letter sent on April 10 received no response, Enterprise employees called Bell, who told them Finesse2Tymes had the car, connecting him on a three-way call.

Hampton said he and the car were in Atlanta and that he’d bring it back three days later, on April 23. On April 24, the car was reported stolen. Traffic cameras showed the car being driven around Houston that day and police recovered the vehicle on April 25 at a recording studio being driven by a woman who said Finesse had hired her a few days before and giving her the car to run his errands. Hopefully, Finesse can resolve the issue before August, when he’s scheduled to join fellow Memphis rapper Moneybagg Yo on his Larger Than Life Tour.

In Netflix’s absurdist sci-fi comedy, They Cloned Tyrone, Teyonah Parris may not sport spandex or a cape, but she still saves the day. Her character, a wise-cracking, street-smart sex worker named Yo-Yo, is the film’s low-key hero – a woman with dreams and ambitions that never outweigh her need to help her community. In that, she’s a bit of a foil to her co-stars Jamie Foxx and John Boyega. As the charismatic pimp Slick Charles, Foxx is only out for himself. And, as the stoic, brooding drug dealer Fontaine, Boyega is too weighed down by past demons to be of use to anyone, let alone his neighbors in the Glen who find themselves on the wrong end of a government conspiracy. Someone’s been tweaking the recipes of the fried chicken, the grape drink, and the hair relaxer in a wild plot to suppress an unsuspecting Black community and, as usual, it’s up to a Black woman to figure out why.

Parris wholeheartedly embraces the role of reluctant amateur sleuth in the film, solving sinister riddles and breaking into underground bunkers with the kind of bravado you’d expect from an actor set to star in one of the year’s most anticipated superhero team-ups. But no matter how capable Yo-Yo is, she’s dosed with just enough pragmatism to recognize the ridiculousness of her situation – that investigating clones and government suits and secret laboratories never goes well for women like her. She’s a superhero, but she’s not stupid.

Uproxx chatted with Parris prior to the start of the SAG/AFTRA strike about fighting for her spot in the film, keeping up with the comedy of Jamie Foxx, and how her biggest role – motherhood – is beginning to change her career on-screen.

There are so many fun pop culture references in this film but the theme of Yo-Yo being this Black Nancy Drew type comes up the most. Is that how director Juel Taylor pitched the character to you when he called?

Juel didn’t call me. I just hunted him down after I read that script. I kind of stalked him, like, ‘I’m going to be a part of this movie whether you realize it or not.’ But he was great and that was always in the script, and that’s a part of why I wanted to be in this film — just how smart it is, how funny it is. Throwing up all these different genres and creating our own world was a really fun challenge.

Jamie Foxx is a naturally gifted comedian. As his scene partner, how do you keep up with him?

Slick Charles and Yo-Yo are such a dynamic duo. They’re a pair of sorts. So when I found out I was going to be working with Jamie, I was like, ‘What world am I living in?’ The first scene I filmed was the first scene you see us in, and Yo-Yo carries that scene, so I was sweating bullets. Man, I was so nervous, almost debilitatingly so, because I’m in my head like, ‘Oh, my gosh. It’s Jamie Foxx. What am I going to do?’ I got to say all of these words, and I’m trying to stay present in what Yo-Yo is doing, but I’m also like, ‘This is cool. Focus. Focus.’ So many things are happening at once, but Jamie definitely put me at ease just being an open and generous artist and just an open, generous human in general.

He’s also a master improviser. Did you feel like you had to step up your game to keep pace in some of your scenes together?

I did, and I think I did very well. And the times when I was like, ‘Girl, you are not doing well. Ask for help,’ I asked him for help, and he gave me some jokes to crack on him, so Yo-Yo could crack on his character, Slick Charles. He gave me some jokes to say. Who does that? You know what I mean?

So much of They Cloned Tyrone is just surreal dark comedy but when you boil it down, it’s about people in power abusing those without it. Do you think the central conspiracy of the movie is that implausible?

Personally, I feel like conspiracies, there’s always a little truth in them. I don’t know, but it’s possible it could be real, so I leave space for that now. I am not going to do like Yo-Yo and go hunt this down. I’m going to mind my business. But bless those like Yo-Yo who will put herself up front and dive deep into this mystery and all those things. But if I saw a clone, child, I’m out of here. I’m not going to go to the basement. I’m going to walk outside. I’m going to turn around. I don’t want to see what’s in this basement, or this truck, or this house.

There’s an art to leaning into stereotypes just enough to bust them later. How did you approach that with Yo-Yo?

It was important to me that while we have these stereotypes of these characters, that they’re eventually fleshed out and you understand that they are full-fledged humans with… Well, in this movie it’s hard to say humans. Some might be. They’re something … fully fleshed beings who have hopes, dreams, desires, and the like. But it’s a satire as well. So, you have to lean into the stereotype and the silliness in order to eventually have that payoff when everything drops in and you realize what’s actually happening and who these people are. You have judged them based on a stereotype or on a very surface assumption, and that’s just not their truth.

You’ve talked about, with the roles that you take on, thinking about how they add to the narrative of being a woman, specifically a black woman. Where does Yo-Yo fit into that?

Well, Yo-Yo is a Black female sex worker, who uses what she knows how to do as a line of defense. She uses her sexuality as a way to help protect her community, learn information, and figure things out. But not just her sexuality. She’s also incredibly intelligent, and so she uses everything at her disposal to stand up for her community and for herself.

You just became a mom for the first time. Has that influenced the projects and roles you’re interested in now?

As a new mom, your priorities shift, and your point of doing life shifts. I would say the first part of my career, in the last 12 years or so, I have understood very clearly what I wanted to do. I had a mission, and I feel like I’ve been very intentional and productive with that mission in the types of projects I’ve chosen. With this next chapter, I think I’m going more with the flow, which is something life is showing me. I cannot control all things. In this next chapter, I’m trying to let things come to me in the way that they’re supposed to. I want to focus on projects that, again, always have something to say, and also, that bring light to people. I want my child to be proud of them. I want her to watch it, even in her youth, and say, ‘Oh, look at mommy.’