Category: News

Trading Marcus Smart for Kristaps Porzingis was a sign that the Boston Celtics wanted to reimagine their offensive structure under second-year head coach Joe Mazzulla. While Smart was a beloved figure in Boston and a Defensive Player of the Year award winner, Boston’s offense didn’t always have the high-level playmaking to consistently navigate crunch time situations in the playoffs.

After a disappointing Conference Finals showing against Miami, Boston chose to double down on the five out offense that Mazzulla shifted to in playoffs with the idea that Porzingis would amplify their spacing without sacrificing anything on the defensive end. Thus far, that idea has held true. Boston sits at 3-0, while Porzingis looks like the unicorn he was promised to be in New York.

Boston provides Porzingis the opportunity to reemerge on the national stage after the one-time All-Star spent the last few seasons in relative obscurity. Porzingis’ partnership with Luka Doncic in Dallas never quite flourished, whether that was due to injuries or friction over his role within the Doncic-centric offense. It’s easy to forget, but when Porzingis was traded to Dallas in 2019, he was coming off his first All-Star nod while Doncic was in the middle of a promising rookie campaign. At that point, it was plausible to think of Porzingis and Doncic as co-stars. While Doncic blossomed into the no-doubt No. 1 option in Dallas, Porzingis held onto the idea of them being on equal footing.

In Dallas, Porzingis was a productive and impactful player when healthy, but he was an inefficient post player. The discourse around Porzingis’ post play lead to then-Mavs coach Rick Carlisle going on a rant on how the post up is an inefficient play. That point held true until Porzingis was traded to the Wizards at the 2022 trade deadline. Last season, Porzingis played in 65 games — his most since 2017 — while quietly having the best season of his career. The 7’3 big man put up 23.2 points and 8.4 rebounds per game on admirable efficiency, and most importantly, he became a very efficient post player.

You would be excused if you weren’t locked in on Wizards basketball last season, but Brad Stevens clearly took note of Porzingis improving enough to break up a Celtics core that had made multiple deep playoff runs. The Porzingis acquisition has allowed Boston to lighten Al Horford’s workload while also deploying a starting lineup that has dynamic shotmaking and plus defense at every position. With all the caveats about the sample size being small, the new Celtics starting lineup of Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Porzingis has a plus-31.2 net rating in 54 minutes this season.

Replacing Horford and Robert Williams minutes with Porzingis has supercharged the Celtic offense. For all the fuss about Porzingis post touches, his spot-up shooting is the skill that truly separates him. Porzingis has a quick, high release and can hit jumpers well beyond the three-point line. Most big men don’t want to guard Porzingis when he sets up shop that far out, but his release forces defenses to overreact. The increased spacing has made life easier on both Tatum and Brown. According to Cleaning The Glass, Boston’s effective field goal percentage is eight percent higher when Porzingis is on the court than when he’s on the bench.

Porzingis has managed to be both a productive player and a complementary piece to Brown and Tatum. He’s averaging 20.7 points per game with 85.7 percent of his made field goals being assisted. The egalitarian Celtic offense allows Porzingis to really shine as both a spot up player and a cutter. Much was made of how he set the franchise record for points in a debut; less was made of how that came without a single isolation or post up bucket. It’s a stark contrast from Smart, whose fearlessness meant he was prone to taking over possessions.

On defense, Porzingis has thrived playing next to so many high-level perimeter defenders. This is the first time in Porzingis’ career that’s he’s played behind a perimeter defense this ferocious, and it’s freed him to leverage his shot-blocking skills, particularly when Horford is on the court to take on the bruising post matchups. Thus far, opponents are shooting just 42.6 percent against Porzingis within six feet of the rim.

There will always be trepidation about Porzingis’ health, however as his Celtic career begins, he’s emphatically answering any and all questions about his on-court play. Boston gambled by trading their longest-tenured and most beloved player for Porzingis, and the first week of the season has shown the upside that move provides.

Doja Cat and Doechii have embarked on The Scarlet Tour promoting Doja’s new album Scarlet, kicking off the tour in San Francisco on Halloween and continuing to Los Angeles tomorrow night. In addition to showing fans the setlists they’ll be playing for the next month and a half, they also previewed an upcoming collaboration on night one. The massive screens onstage played what appears to be a snippet of a music video for the song, with Doechii and Doja cruising in a convertible in a clear visual homage to Thelma & Louise.

It’s a fitting reference for the duo, who are both individually known for breaking rules and upsetting the status quo like the 1991 classic’s titular heroines, who break away from their dull, depressing daily existences for a road trip that gets them not only out of their ruts but into a whole heap of life-changing trouble.

According to some social media users, Doechii previously teased the track during her Coachella debut earlier this year, although it wasn’t the only song she previewed for fans during her set. It’s apparently called “Shots” and while they did not yet allude to a release date, one imagines that it can’t be all that far off.

You can follow Uproxx’s coverage of The Scarlet Tour, including setlists and helpful information, here.

Sofia Vergara came to be a U.S. household name through the long-term success of Modern Family. For the most part, she has stuck with her flair for being funny, but Vergara is now turning to the dramatic side to portray Griselda Blanco, otherwise known as the “Cocaine Godmother,” in Netflix’s Griselda. As you can see in the below screenshot (and this teaser), Vergara underwent quite a physical transformation for this role. Not only are the hair and clothing circa 1970s and 1980s, but Vergara is wearing prosthetics.

This, of course, was not an instantaneous process for each day of shooting. As pointed out by the Daily Mail, Vergara revealed that she spent at least two hours in the make-up chair on a daily basis. This actually sounds like less time than I expected, because dang, I would not have realized that this was Vergara at first glance. As well, her clothing in the series is frumpier than the usual va-va-voom style that we see from the leading lady.

All of this was worth the journey, and Griselda is an enlightening watch and quite a take on what a fight it was for Blanco to be taken seriously in the drug trade. This isn’t quite a parable of real-life feminist struggles, but it is definitely interesting to watch. Blanco was quite the recruiter and coordinator as well as being a dastardly murderess, and this paid off to the tune of 80 million per month in the cocaine trade. Eventually, yes, Blanco also had a hell of a downfall that parallels her real-life descent.

Griselda is also the “cousin” to the Narcos shows, in the words of Narcos: Mexico executive producer Eric Newman. Here, he works alongside Narcos co-creator Doug Miro with Vergara also calling many of the shots as executive producer. Here’s the series synopsis:

La Jefa is coming. Sofia Vergara transforms in this series, inspired by Griselda Blanco, a woman who rose from obscurity to become ‘the Godmother’ of the underworld. Witness her lethal blend of charm and ruthlessness in this captivating series.

Griselda streams on January 25, 2024.

Marvel is reportedly freaking out. After suffering a box office catastrophe with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania amid a growing sense of “superhero fatigue” after pumping out too many streaming shows on Disney+, the studio is reportedly scrambling behind-the-scenes to restore its position as the must-see pop culture dynamo.

Compounding the problem: Marvel has bet big on Jonathan Majors as Kang, the next Thanos-level threat to the rapidly expanding MCU. However, Majors was arrested on domestic violence charges shortly after Quantumania hit theaters. The actor is contesting the charges in court, but it has left a PR mess to contend with for the better part of the year as Marvel reportedly contemplates a recast.

There’s also a notable lack of excitement surrounding The Marvels, the next Marvel film set to hit theaters next week. Thanks to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, the studio has been unable to leverage its three leads to help drum up heat at the box office. The Marvels is tracking way below expectations as Marvel continues to watch its once-guaranteed box office power diminish.

How can Marvel pull itself out of a tailspin? According to a new report, the studio is banking on bringing the X-Men into the fold to get audiences excited again.

Via Variety:

The key to reinvigorating Marvel may lie with the superhero arsenal that Disney acquired during its 2019 purchase of 21st Century Fox. That deal brought several blue-chip heroes, such as the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, back under the studio’s control. Already fans are geeking out about next year’s “Deadpool 3,” which unites Ryan Reynolds’ merc with a mouth with Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, and a reboot of “Fantastic Four” slated for 2025. As a bonus, the Fox additions give Feige an opportunity to reimagine the “X-Men” franchise, the very property he cut his teeth on as a young executive at Lauren Shuler Donner’s production company.

Obviously, Deadpool 3 is a major sign that Marvel is willing to go big on leveraging the Fox films to revitalize the MCU. But the studio also made a surprising move in a new promo for The Marvels. The 15-second spot lit social media on fire by leaning heavily on the letter “X” as its characters warned of a different reality crashing into the MCU.

The Marvels play was a savvy move by Marvel that seemingly supports Variety reporting on the X-Men being a much-needed balm to soothe the studio’s woes.

(Via Variety)

Jennifer Aniston and the rest of the Friends cast issued a brief statement in the days following Matthew Perry’s untimely passing. The group is undeniably processing a great loss, which feels — at least from a public view — especially tragic since he recently detailed his journey to permanent sobriety in his Friends, Lovers, And The Big Terrible Thing memoir. Perry’s prognosis reached its most crucial point with a 2018 hospitalization, during which doctors gave him a 2% chance to live, but that wasn’t the first time that Perry’s health was seriously in question. He struggled with drug and alcohol addiction throughout several Friends seasons, and his co-stars were alongside him in that journey.

Last year when Perry’s memoir went live, Entertainment Tonight shared a clip from Jennifer Aniston’s 2004 Diane Sawyer interview, in which she began resisting tears when Perry’s name was mentioned. “We didn’t know. We weren’t equipped to deal with it,” Aniston admitted about Perry’s sobriety struggles. “Nobody had ever dealt with that. And the idea of even losing him,” she trailed off. “He’s having a road. But he’s alright.” The “alright” was what Aniston hoped that Perry knew about himself. You can watch the shorter clip above or at around 7:45 in the below (low-quality) full version.

When Perry published his memoir last fall, he declared that he knew the timing was right because he had been sober for 18 months at that point. In that book, he revealed that Aniston was the Friend who “reached out the most” to him during his struggles. As well, he declared that he’d much rather be remembered for helping others attain sobriety than for his decade-long funnyman stint on a primetime TV series.

(Via Entertainment Tonight & The Independent)

Arlo Parks finally made a longtime dream of hers come true. Today (November 1), Parks performed a Tiny Desk Concert as part of NPR’s live performance series.

She opened the session with a performance of “Blades” from her sophomore album, My Soft Machine. She then proceeded to detail her poetry book, The Magic Border, which she released earlier this year. She also reeled over the fact that she was finally playing a Tiny Desk Concert in person.

“This session is generally one of the reasons that I decided to make music and I grew up with this session, so it’s really special to be here,” she said.

This isn’t the first time Parks has performed a Tiny Desk Concert. Back in 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Parks recorded an at-home session, simply by herself performing with her guitar.

For her in-person performance, Parks was accompanied by a full band, whose members were dressed in colorful clothing and vibrant makeup.

Also during the set, Parks performed the My Soft Machine fan-favorite “Eugene,” as well as the queer love song, “Pegasus.” She closed her set with “Impurities,” the lead single from My Soft Machine.

You can watch the full Tiny Desk set above.

Last night (October 31), Doja Cat kicked off her Scarlet Tour at the Chase Center in San Francisco. Many of the songs throughout the night were live debut performances from her recent album, Scarlet. With Doechii and Ice Spice as the tour’s opening acts, fans who are attending one of the upcoming dates might be wondering exactly how long the concert is — so they can prepare, schedule-wise.

Here’s what to know.

Fans can start entering the venue when doors typically open at 6:30 pm. From there, Doechii or Ice Spice starts on stage at 7:30, followed by Doja Cat’s headlining set starting at 8:30 pm. According to users on Reddit, Doja’s set then ends sometime around 10 p.m. — giving lots of time for fans to hear their favorite tracks.

Doja’s next show is in Los Angeles on November 2, and she will be continuing to perform across North America through December. A complete list of dates, along with more information, can be found here.

Continue scrolling for Doja Cat’s setlist from the Scarlet Tour‘s opening night, via Setlist.fm.

1. “WYM Freestyle”
2. “Demons”
3. “Tia Tamera”
3. “Shutcho”
5. “Agora Hills”
6. “Attention”
7. “Often
8. “Red Room” (Hiatus Kaiyote cover)
9. “Balut”
10. “Gun”
11. “Ain’t Sh*t”
12. “Woman”
13. “Say So”
14. “Get Into It (Yuh)”
15. “Need To Know”
16. “Kiss Me More”
17. “Paint The Town Red”
18. “Streets”
19. “FTG”
20. “97”
21. “Can’t Wait”
22. “Go Off”
23. “Ouchies”
24. “Wet Vagina”

The Marvel Cinematic Universe isn’t the pop culture force it once was. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania underperformed at the box office, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 failed to make a billion dollars (a lofty milestone, but it was once a given for an MCU movie), and Loki isn’t attracting the same level of buzz as it did during its first season. There’s also the Jonathan Majors… mess.

To get out of its post-Avengers: Endgame rut, Marvel is reportedly having “talks” about getting the OG Avengers back together.

According to Variety, “this would include reviving Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow, both of whom were killed off in Endgame.” (Superheroes coming back from the dead is nothing new for comic books — or Fast and Furious movies.) This plan would also presumably involve Chris Evans’ Captain America, Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk, and Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye. Marvel Studios “hasn’t yet committed to the idea,” however, possibly because of the salary requirements. “If it were able to bring those actors back, it wouldn’t come cheap. Sources say Downey Jr.’s upfront salary for Iron Man 3 was around $25 million,” Variety reports.

Another option is to recast a familiar Marvel character with a different A-list actor, like when The Hulk went from Edward Norton to Ruffalo. It’s hard to imagine Iron Man being played by anyone but Robert Downey Jr. — until Jack Black steps into the red and gold suit. Problem solved!

(Via Variety)

Last night at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Doja Cat kicked off The Scarlet Tour with Doechii, giving fans the first glimpse of the setlist she’s going to play for the next month and a half — as well as the merch she’ll be slinging along the way.

We also know what time Doja — and her openers — will be hitting the stage, thanks to social media users confirming that they’ll be sticking to the run-of-show “to the minute.” Doechii hits the stage at 7:30, while Doja herself goes from 8:30 to 10:15.

The Scarlet Tour Dates

Here are the remaining dates for The Scarlet Tour:

11/02 — Los Angeles, CA @ Crypto.com Arena *
11/03 — Las Vegas, NV @ T-Mobile Arena *
11/05 — San Diego, CA @ Viejas Arena *
11/06 — Anaheim, CA @ Honda Center *
11/08 — Phoenix, AZ @ Footprint Center *
11/10 — Denver, CO @ Ball Arena *
11/13 — Austin, TX @ Moody Center *
11/15 — Houston, TX @ Toyota Center *
11/16 — Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center *
11/19 — Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena *
11/21 — Miami, FL @ Kaseya Center #
11/24 — Tampa, FL @ Amalie Arena *
11/26 — Charlotte, NC @ Spectrum Center #
11/27 — Washington, DC @ Capital One Arena #
11/29 — Brooklyn, NY @ Barclays Center #
11/30 — Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center #
12/02 — Boston, MA @ TD Garden #
12/04 — Columbus, OH @ Nationwide Arena #
12/07 — Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center #
12/08 — Omaha, NE @ CHI Health Center #
12/10 — Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena #
12/11 — Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena #
12/13 — Chicago, IL @ United Center #

* with Doechii
# with Ice Spice

If Elon Musk bought Twitter to stop people from brutally roasting him day in and day out, that plan spectacularly failed. The new Twitter CEO has only been dunked on more since the acquisition, which is what happens when you force your tweets into everyone’s feed while simultaneously tanking the whole platform.

Such was the case on Tuesday evening when Musk replied to a fan club account fawning over Tesla’s Cybertruck. In response to a tweet calling the vehicle “the most bad ass truck ever made,” Musk wrote, “It’s an armored personnel carrier from the future – what Bladerunner would have driven.”

As anyone who’s watched Blade Runner knows, Harrison Ford’s character in the iconic Ridley Scott film is named Rick Deckard. He is not “Bladerunner.” He also doesn’t drive around in an “armored personnel carrier,” but instead, a futuristic flying car that, unlike the Cybertruck, can make it over a curb.

More notably, Blade Runner isn’t an action movie about a guy plowing into robots with his massive vehicle. It’s a film noir detective story based on the Philip K. Dick novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? that interrogates humanity’s reliance on machinery that one day might not want to do our bidding. We’ve read the book, and no one shoots a Tommy gun into a future truck, so Elon Musk is off his gourd.

Naturally, Twitter went to work on Musk’s tweet as “Bladerunner” continued to trend on his own platform well into the next day.

You can see some of the reactions below:

(Via Elon Musk on Twitter)