Category: News

A film’s box office total isn’t necessarily indicative of whether it was a success or not… but it’s still cool as hell that Everything Everywhere All at Once made over 100 million bucks. The A24 mind-bender is a leading contender for a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars, and its star, Michelle Yeoh, is all but guaranteed to be up for Best Actress. The actress spoke to another likely nominee, Tár‘s Cate Blanchett, as part of Variety‘s Actors on Actors series, and she revealed the reason that she nearly left the project.

“With [directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert], I had to see if they were certifiably insane, in the best possible way. It’s very important that I feel the director is a visionary and I’m one of their tools,” Yeoh said. “The only thing I said to them was, ‘The character cannot be called Michelle Wang.’ They’re like, ‘But why? It’s so you.’ I’m like, ‘No, I’m not an Asian immigrant mother who’s running a laundromat. She needs her own voice.’ That was the only thing.” She added, “If you don’t change the name, I’m not coming in.”

It’s a good thing they listened to Yeoh, which is a good rule for most things in life.

(Via Variety)

The NBA’s changing of the guard is becoming evident every night on the court, with young stars leading some of the league’s best teams to championship contention. The rise of this new generation is also increasingly materializing in boardrooms across the country.

Nike finalized its decision to end its partnership with Kyrie Irving this week, after a year of turmoil between the sneaker brand and the faces of one of its most popular lines. While Nike retains lucrative deals with legends like Kevin Durant and LeBron James, whose shoes are among the most popular among both current players and everyday hoopers around the world, parting ways with Irving created a chance for some of the league’s best young athletes to step up in the sneaker game.

It soon came out that the main beneficiaries would be two 2022 All-NBA guards from out West. Nick DePaula of ESPN and the Boardroom reported that Ja Morant and Devin Booker will both be getting signature shoe lines in time for the start of the 2023-24 season.

This move gives Nike several great options to collaborate with two of the most popular, marketable stars in the league, and will certainly help boost the two athletes’ impact on the basketball community to even greater heights. Morant has 8.5 million Instagram followers while Booker has 5.4 million. Both were in the top 13 among the NBA’s most popular jerseys last season. They were next in line and starting to hit their primes as players, so Nike’s choice makes sense.

Moving forward, new projects with Booker and Morant will help give Nike faces for its brand for the rest of this decade. Booker has already released multiple well-received sneakers in conjunction with Bryant’s Proto line, particularly the Protro 5 “Devin Booker” in orange and white, which Booker frequently wears on the court. Booker also put out a sleek-looking Air Force 1 colorway dedicated to his high school, Moss Point, in Mississippi.

Morant, meanwhile, is also fond of Kobes, though it’s expected Nike might prefer a wholly new model for Morant, including a potential “Air Ja” concept. A recent Nike ad campaign called “Says Who?” centered on Morant’s high-flying style and played off his roots in small towns across the South in high school, college, and the NBA.

Jordan Brand, a subsidiary of Nike, had been snatching up most of the other up-and-comers. Jayson Tatum, perhaps the front-runner for the 2023 MVP right now, will get a signature line with Jordan Brand next summer. Zion Williamson got a Jordan Brand deal worth a reported $2 million before playing a single NBA game. Luka Doncic released the Jordan Luka 1 last summer.

Nike is still in a good position as well. James has a lifetime deal and it’s unlikely his sneakers ever become irrelevant (though fewer current players are wearing them), while Bryant’s Protros remain among the most popular lines in the world. The brand recently gave Bulls star DeMar DeRozan a four-year deal to keep him as the “face” of Bryant’s line. Durant makes a reported $35 million annually through his Nike deal, which runs through 2024, and he’s still playing at an elite level in his mid-30s. And in 2019, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Freak 1s gave Nike the biggest sneaker launch in the history of the company.

The Morant and Booker deals will allow Nike to carry on the legacy of its Protro brand and begin to reinvent itself post-Irving, Durant, and Paul George. Nike can use these new deals to further establish their dominance over the NBA, particularly as adidas struggles with its business strategy after cutting ties on its Yeezy brand. For Morant and Booker individually, it solidifies their place in the NBA even further, on top of their massive contracts, consistent on-court brilliance, and standing atop the Western Conference.

The role of companies like Nike is only strengthening in the NBA over time, and Booker and Morant will be the latest to cash in during this period of transition atop the sneaker pecking order.

One of the best baseball players in the world isn’t leaving the Big Apple. Early on Wednesday morning, it was reported that reigning American League MVP Aaron Judge will stick with the New York Yankees after a tense couple of days that made it sound like he was strongly considering leaving town, with the San Francisco Giants mentioned as a potential destination.

It’s not uncommon for a star athlete in a city to do something big that gets the media looking for reactions from other star athletes in the same city that play different sports. As such, Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant — who is never shy to share his thoughts on things that happen outside of the world of basketball — was asked his thoughts on Judge sticking around after the team picked up a 122-116 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night. In response, Durant gave an objectively hilarious answer.

“I’m a Nationals fan, I really don’t care about Aaron Judge at all,” Durant said.

While this is, again, an extremely funny response, Durant took to Twitter and walked things back a bit, expressing that it was a joke that “came out colder than I intended.”

A quick hop onto Instagram shows that Durant and Judge follow one another, so we’ll take KD at his word on this one.

To say that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are a study in contrasts would be an understatement. If we want a simple example, we can look at how Zelensky refused an offer (from President Biden) for a ride out of Ukraine after Russia’s February 2022 invasion. Whereas reports indicate that Putin has been hatching a plan to flee from Russia if he loses the war and gets booted from power.

As one would expect, Putin’s also not thrilled about his army’s shortcomings as Ukraine has made a series of stunning advances against the odds. Putin did try to downplay the sophisticated bombing of a key Russian asset, but Putin couldn’t deny (as USA Today now reports) that this was is turning into a longer affair than he previously imagined it would be.

Meanwhile, Putin continues to be the butt of shirtless horseback jokes while trying to look big, bad, scary, and strong, so TIME naming “Zelensky and the spirit of Ukraine” as Person of the Year was bound to ruffle Kremlin feathers, too.

As TIME notes, “Zelensky’s success as a wartime leader has relied on the fact that courage is contagious.” The publication pointed toward how presidents (and there are many examples of this) tend to leave the building when similar invasions happen. Here’s how the Kremlin has officially responded, via USA Today

“The magazine’s editorial directives remain within the boundaries of the pan-European mainstream, which is totally short-sighted, anti-Russian and vehemently Russophobic,” Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Putin has yet to directly comment on the TIME move, but he did resurrect his talk of using nuclear weapons. As CNN reports, Putin didn’t deny the possibility of being the first to whip out nukes. He stayed very vague, too, by mentioning that “we have a strategy… namely, as a defense, we consider weapons of mass destruction, nuclear weapons – it is all based around the so-called retaliatory strike.” What does this mean? “That is, when we are struck, we strike in response.” He doesn’t define “struck,” of course, but again, the differences between himself and Zelensky are looking pretty stark these days.

(Via Time, USA Today & CNN)

Here’s a little treat for your Thursday: a practical penis stunt.

In the third season of The Boys, which aired this past summer, we witnessed something unlike anything ever seen on television before: Herogasm. Heroagasm is, essentially, exactly what it sounds like: a big Supe get-together/orgy where they have sex and do weird Supe sex stuff. The Boys never hesitates to push the limit, and thusly, Herogasm included a penis that was on fire. According to The Boys series creator and showrunner Eric Kripke, that penis was a practical effect meaning that, yes, The Boys set a penis on fire, literally. The things we do for art!

During a For Your Consideration conversation moderated by Metacritic, Kripke described the special effect used in the sixth episode of season three, titled, if you can believe it, “Herogasm.”

“That’s practical; that guy did that for real,” Kripke said. “The gel is so good in terms of how it doesn’t burn you that it was a stuntman, and I was like, ‘Really? Are you sure that he’s going to do that?’ And our stunt coordinator John Koyama, who’s also amazing, said, ‘Oh yeah, no, it’s going to be fine.’ So he got one of his stunt guys to rub all of that fire gel all over his junk and lit it — take after take after take. I couldn’t get over it.”

But the fiery penis was not the only crazy thing at Herogasm. Kripke explained that they wanted every frame to contain something, and the writers took inspiration from existing superheroes: for example, in the episode, a woman is using a lasso like Wonder Woman, but for bondage, since this is an orgy. “We had to pack the frame so that everywhere you looked, you could freeze frame and see 10 insane things,” Kripke said. Call Kripke Ethan Hunt because the seemingly impossible mission of Herogasm was accomplished, and no penises were burnt in the process.

(Via Metacritic)

If there’s something worth noting about the best K-Pop albums of 2022, it’s that a lot of music came out of the woodwork. Whether you were a boy group, a girl group, a solo act of either gender, a new group, a group reuniting for an anniversary — a lot has happened. But that happens every year, really. This year, we heard the sounds of rock, Latin, and R&B all blended into the colorful palette of Korean pop music. Concepts that either followed the Y2K aesthetic, ’80s retro, or futuristic cyberpunk dominated and became fashion trends.

With that being said, choosing the best K-Pop albums of 2022 was not an easy task. As dozens of releases happen every month, deciphering through it all was fun and exciting, yet stressful as artists and producers surely did not come to play in the year of our lord 2022. However, looking at it from afar, when it does come down to see what’s topping the charts in South Korea, what songs everyone was listening to, or what everyone’s talking about (or dancing to) on TikTok and Twitter, it’s safe to say that the girlies came through and conquered 2022. We even saw it on our own lists this year as well. Without further ado, we celebrate the best K-Pop albums and EPs of 2022 that had no right to go this hard but had us feeling good and dancing on our own wherever, whenever.

Check out UPROXX’s Best K-Pop Albums of 2022 below.

Blackpink — Born Pink

We all know Blackpink is composed of a bunch of baddies that go by the name of Jennie, Jisoo, Rosé, and Lisa. When the group released their second studio album Born Pink this year, it felt like all their feelings were out in the open in the form of eight tracks. The YG Entertainment quartet shows off their duality with hard-hitting and bass-heavy tracks like “Pink Venom” and “Shut Down” and seamlessly counteract it with mellow and soft serves with “The Happiest Girl,” “Tally,” and Rosé’s solo “Hard To Love.” Dropping F-bombs and expressing the pain and gains of love throughout, YG Entertainment’s in-house producer Teddy and Blackpink deliver their signature sounds that Blinks all over the world love.

Key – Gasoline

Key understood the assignment, and aced it with his second studio album, Gasoline. He knew what he was doing — channeling his inner retro ’90s baby with some love for haunted horror nights of the ’80s, in a collection of dark pop tracks. Everything about this album and concept was perfectly packaged from album cover to song titles and lyrics. (Check out “VILLAIN,” “Burn,” “Guilty Pleasure,” and “Another Life.”) After being in the industry for over a decade, delivering perfection was always in his musical repertoire.

KIHYUN – YOUTH

If you’re a K-Pop fan who went through the alternative/emo rock to K-Pop pipeline, then KIHYUN’s album is something you want to listen to. Monsta X’s power vocalist released his YOUTH solo EP that brought nothing but nostalgia. (In a good way, of course.) The title track of the same name is a feel-good rock pop song that invites listeners to take a trip down memory lane and remember the greatest times of our lives — our youth. The following four tracks can be interpreted as moments in our youth where we experience feelings such as anger, heartbreak, loss, and love. But to sum it all up, KIHYUN’s ode to our YOUTH is a timeless masterpiece worth having on loop.

LE SSERAFIM – FEARLESS

There’s a saying that there’s a song or album made for every mood there is. However, in LE SSERAFIM’s case, their debut EP was made to make the world your oyster. (Just like the first track off the album.) From beginning to end, FEARLESS serves as a sonic introduction to LE SSERAFIM’s sophisticated pop tones and tenor. The EP oozes with confidence and roars with range in the form of bass-bumping pop tracks throughout, delivering a refreshing and mature take on K-Pop that suits everyone’s taste. You may want to grab a listen to “FEARLESS,” “Blue Flame,” and “Sour Grapes” to get the gist of what LE SSERAFIM is all about.

Nayeon – IM NAYEON

As 2022 marked the seventh year for TWICE, it also marked the beginning of solo projects for the group. Nayeon’s IM NAYEON EP is a double entendre that plays as a reintroduction to her as a person and an artist. The five-track EP explores how Nayeon defines pop by blending in R&B (“Love Countdown” and “All Or Nothing”), dance (“No Problem”), and a bit of ballad and jazz (“Sunset”) all in one go. Her lead single “POP!” grabs inspiration from the sounds of second-generation bubblegum K-pop, an era she was personally a fan of. Successfully navigating through seven years and some to release her debut EP, IM NAYEON has set the standard for what’s to come and what to look out for with future solo projects from TWICE.

NewJeans – New Jeans

If you haven’t heard or listened to the music of NewJeans, then what are you doing? It’s just amazing how much NewJeans has grabbed the attention from everyone within the span of a few days over the summer. Prior to the official release of their first self-titled EP, NewJeans initially introduced themselves by dropping music unannounced like Beyonce’s self-titled album in 2013. Except, NewJeans were newcomers that became overnight celebrities that brought modern nostalgia with their Y2K concepts and dreamy pop tracks like “Attention,” “Cookie” and “Hype boy.” Their songs and choreography were instantly loved by all, sung by all, and even covered by all. With a comeback gearing for the beginning of 2023, NewJeans has not only become K-Pop’s youngest “It” girls but a promising new act that can spread K-Pop’s global presence.

PIXY – Reborn

A K-Pop girl group that debuted last year under AllArt Entertainment, and successfully completed a whole European tour with some US appearances this year, can arguably be considered the underdogs or one of the hidden gems in the K-Pop industry. PIXY, a five-piece ensemble, thrive and take pride in bringing dark pop into the K-Pop sphere, shifting gears quite a bit in their 2022 EP, Reborn. With a funky, bass-bumping lead single that kicks off the EP, “Villain” showcases the range to welcome more listeners into their world. In a span of seven tracks, PIXY balances their signature dark pop aesthetics with more funk (“Natural”), rock (“Swan Song”) and even acoustic (“Greetings”) sounds. Although they may not be as big as the other artists on this list, PIXY’s music and concept are promising with a lore worth dissecting in each release.

SEVENTEEN – 4th Album Repackage ‘Sector 17’

SEVENTEEN makes music for everyone. The repackaged version of their fourth studio album is like meeting an old friend, kicking it back, and having a good time. Songs like “_WORLD” and “Darl+ing” feel like the warm embrace when you first meet with their lighthearted melodies and lyrics, while “HOT” and “DON QUIXOTE” are the songs you listen to at a party, cracking a cold one while dancing. This all goes to say that Sector 17 continues to prove that although SEVENTEEN continues to grow in age and music, their songs and concepts are still deeply rooted in what makes them SEVENTEEN, the versatile and timeless artists they are.

STAYC – YOUNG-LUV.com

What’s great about STAYC is that they’re consistent with releasing hit after hit, and powerful b-side after powerful b-side that hit just the same. The K-Pop group’s second EP YOUNG-LUV.com was the epitome of that. On top of its lead single “RUN2U,” the six-track EP highlights STAYC’s ability to adapt to a blend of different genres K-Pop usually offers. Considering the group is housed under producer duo Black Eyed Pilseung, K-Pop’s top-producing hitmakers, YOUNG-LUV.com does an exceptional job at showcasing every member’s talent whether it be singing, rapping, or even both.

Stray Kids — Oddinary

Something was in the water for Stray Kids to go off when they released Oddinary. One can argue this album was the turning point for the octet’s transition from being boys to men in terms of sound. If you were one of the lucky ones to attend the group’s sold-out Maniac Tour, you’d agree the choreography is sexually aggressive – especially for songs like “Venom“ and “Charmer.” Other than that, the sixth EP from Stray Kids showcases their range as two b-side tracks like the ‘90s hip-hop-inspired “Muddy Waters” and the rock ballad “Waiting For Us” are sung by two sub-units for the project.

Honorable Mention

IVE – After LIKE

Even if it’s just been singles from them, there is no denying IVE’s impact in 2022. Their second single “LOVE DIVE” has taken the industry by storm and still charts despite it being released early in the year. Their follow-up single-album After LIKE, however, houses the lead single of the same name that is the epitome of a ballroom pop hit. Sampling the instrumental hook to Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive,” “After Like” is an instant one-stop shop for a K-pop bop. The supporting single “My Satisfaction” highlights IVE’s fluidity to seep into dark and grungy pop, balancing the upbeat tempo from the track prior.

ITZY – CHESHIRE

ITZY really has perfected the formula of what it takes to become a top-performing, versatile pop group. Releasing at the end of November, CHESHIRE highlights ITZY’s playful side in a four-track EP. The lead single “Cheshire” takes inspiration from Alice In Wonderland’s Cheshire Cat, a mischievous and mysterious character. The following track “Snowy” starts with a melody, briefly sampling Beethoven’s “Fur Elise” that follows the riddle-like concept of the album. As you move along to the last two tracks (“Freaky” and “Boys Like You”), the album gears away from the dark pop “girl crush” sounds and ends with livelier beats.

Paramore made a crashing comeback with the sardonic “This Is Why,” the lead single and title track from their forthcoming album arriving in February. The unhinged, TikTok-viral performances have been helping as well, whether they’re protesting the Don’t Say Gay law in Florida or keeping their humor intact while trying to break up a fight in the crowd.

They’re finally back today with the second This Is Why single, a spunky, frustrated anthem called “The News,” which was first teased on TikTok. Like “This Is Why,” it expresses irritation towards journalism, especially on the bridge when she starts something of a chant: “Exploitative, performative / Informative and we don’t know the half of it,” she deadpans. In the video, she’s seemingly hypnotized, her eyes glazed over almost in a possessed Stranger Things kind of way.

About the track, Williams explained in a press release, “‘The News is one of those songs that came together pretty quickly and felt exciting from the start. It feels like a happy medium between classic Paramore angst and bringing in some influences we’ve always had but never exploited. Watching Zac track drums for this one was one of my favorite memories from the studio. Lyrically, it probably explains itself. The 24-hr news cycle is just impossible to comprehend. And I feel a pang of guilt when I unplug to protect my headspace. The common reaction, or non-reaction, seems to be dissociation. Not one of us is innocent of that and who could blame us?”

Paramore doesn’t offer a solution to this crisis, and instead implies that it’s inescapable as Hayley Williams sings the final line of the track: “Shut your eyes, but it won’t go away / Turn on, turn off the news.” Still, it’s sonically invigorating and catchy through and through, quite obviously inspired by Bloc Party, which Williams stated months ago on her Everything Is Emo podcast.

Watch the video for “The News” above.

This Is Why is out 2/10/2023 via Atlantic. You can pre-save it here.

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

Only a couple of years after the Golden Globes were essentially blacklisted due to a long history of scandal and questionable practices, they’re back on NBC, baby! The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced on Thursday that Emmy-winning comedian Jerrod Carmichael (an improvement from frequent host Ricky Gervais) will host the 2023 ceremony, which will air live on NBC with a streaming option on Peacock, on Tuesday, January 10.

“We’re so excited to have Jerrod Carmichael host the historic 80th Golden Globe Awards. His comedic talents have entertained and thrilled audiences while providing thought-provoking moments that are so important in the times we live,” Helen Hoehne, HFPA president, in a statement per Deadline. “Jerrod is the special kind of talent this show calls for to kick off the awards season.”

“Jerrod is a phenomenal talent with a fresh perspective and excellent comedic style,” Jesse Collins, executive producer and CEO of Jesse Collins Entertainment, said in a statement, also via Deadline. “We’re all thrilled to have him host this year’s show.”

Per Variety, Hoehne promises that the new HFPA is just that: new, and modern. “This is really not the old HFPA anymore,” she said.” Over the past 18 months — almost two years now — we took a deep look inward and listened to the criticism. The changes that we’ve made were the expansion of our voting body, the universal gift ban. We are one of the only awards shows that has a universal gift ban. And we built a new infrastructure that transformed our organization and the awards show into something that is more diverse, transparent and responsive. We are the only major awards show that is voted on by a majority of women and by a majority of voters who self-identify as ethnically diverse. There are also a lot of voters who self-identify as LGBTQIA+. What I would like the industry to know is that this is not the finish line. It’s a journey that will continue in the years to come.”

No matter what they do or say, Brendan Fraser will not be attending. George and Mayan Lopez will announce the nominees for the 80th Golden Globe Awards on Monday, December 12.

(Via Deadline)

As the story goes, in true royal fashion, Prince William met his future wife Kate Middleton while they were both studying at a prestigious Scottish university, until one fateful night when Kate modeled in a school-sponsored fashion show titled “The Art of Seduction” and the two began their whirlwind romance. Really!

There have been books, TV movies, and fan fiction about this meeting (probably) and the two remain a happily married couple with more power than anyone else in the world. Meanwhile, William’s brother Harry met his wife the old-fashioned way: through Snapchat.

Even though he might be a royal with every resource at his fingertips, Prince Harry needed some social media engagement too. Sometimes you just need some clout, even if your grandmother was one of the most influential people in your home country.

When Prince Harry was scrolling through his social feed back in 2016, he, like so many other men at the time, became enamored with a certain actress wearing the historically significant dog filter on Snapchat. “I was scrolling through my feed, and one of my friends and someone who was a friend had this video of the two of them, like a Snapchat,” Prince Harry says in his new Netflix docuseries Harry and Meghan. He added, “I was like, ‘Who is THAT?’” Modern romance is NOT dead when a real-life prince can find his own princess through the fuzzy animal filter! Meghan Markle is just like us!

Markle’s friend then said that “Prince Haz” wanted to meet her, but she wasn’t impressed. “I said, ‘Who’s that?’” Markle recalled. As with any millennial-adjacent, she then insisted to see his Instagram….probably after noticing that he had millions of followers. “I asked if I could see his feed. That, to me, was the best barometer,” Markle added. “So I went through, and it was just like beautiful photography and all these environmental shots and this time he was spending in Africa.”

But it didn’t begin and end there, since Markle really wanted to live it up and not be tied down to a literal Prince. She had her own stuff going on! “I had a career, I had my life, I had my path, and then along came H. Talk about a plot twist,” she said. The duo then got married in 2016 and eventually left the Royal family in 2020, only to inspire more than one Lifetime movie about their epic romance, which would not be possible without the trusty use of the Snapchat dog filter. The world’s true leader!

Harry and Meghan Volume I is now streaming on Netflix.

(Via Page Six)

Pharrell looks to save the polar bears with his latest collaboration, a partnership between MINI USA and Pharrell’s design label, Icecream. Dropping an exclusive merch collection on NTWRK featuring a variety of Icecream products emblazed with MINI’s new Mini Electric car, Pharrell and MINI are donating 100 percent of the proceeds to Polar Bears International, the non-profit polar bear conservation organization. The MINI x ICECREAM Save the Polar Bears Collection includes a keychain, a hoodie, and a t-shirt, retailing for $150 — a price point meant to draw attention to the polar bears’ habitat, Antarctica, is losing 150 billion tons of ice per year. The collection goes on sale on December 15 at 4 pm ET/1 pm PT.

In addition to his conservation and philanthropic efforts, Pharrell has kept busy on the music front this year, contributing production and vocal work to projects from Omar Apollo, Pusha T, Jack Harlow, Nigo, and Murda Beatz. He also put out several more direct collaborations, including “Cash In Cash Out” with Tyler The Creator and 21 Savage and “Down In Atlanta” with Travis Scott. He also has a BTS collaboration on his upcoming album.

Pharrell also brought back his Something In The Water Festival where Pusha T and Malice performed together as Clipse for the first time in over a decade. Check out images of the merchandise drop below and purchase here on 12/15.