Category: News

During Sunday’s EuroBasket game between Turkey and Georgia, Philadelphia 76ers guard Furkan Korkmaz grew animated, butted heads with a Georgian player and was ultimately ejected. The clip makes clear that something set Korkmaz off and, apparently, things didn’t end once he was ejected.

According to various reports, three Georgian players confronted Korkmaz on his way to the locker room following his ejection and initiated a fight.

“When I was talking to the tunnel, our conditioning guy was with me,” Korkmaz said, per BasketNews. “As soon as we walked out of the tunnel and were trying to reach the locker room, I saw three Georgian players alongside two security guys running at us. We started throwing punches at each other. That’s basically what happened.”

“It was like a street fight. There was no talk or conversation. People just came at us and were trying to attack us. Of course, we reacted and tried to defend ourselves,” he continued. “I also think it’s a security problem. But I don’t know if it’s a security problem or if they just showed tolerance to their players.”

Clearly, this incident understandably frustrated Korkmaz. Fortunately, he was back at Turkey’s team shootaround on Monday. Turkey and Belgium square off on Tuesday.

It seems as though Korkmaz has moved on and will be in the lineup for Turkey’s next game.

Movie Awards Season has only just begun, and there’s already a pick for the most controversial entry. It’s Don’t Worry Darling, Olivia Wilde’s hotly anticipated follow-up to Booksmart. Over the last few weeks, the film has been hit with one mini-scandal after another. Did Wilde fire original key supporting player Shia LaBeouf, or did he quit? Did Wilde have a falling out with her main star, Florence Pugh? Can Harry Styles act? It’s all a mess, and during a predictably awkward press conference during its premiere at the Venice Film Festival, the director did her best to sidestep the “tabloid” issues.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, handlers at the presser reportedly shot down proposed questions from journalists about LaBeouf and Pugh. Instead, most of the questions stuck to the costumes, the sets, the cinematography, etc. Only at the end did someone get in a question about the absence of Pugh, who announced she would skip the conference but still attend the premiere.

Wilde did her best not to pour gasoline on an already raging fire, calling Pugh “a force, and we are so grateful that she’s able to make it tonight despite being in production on Dune.” (Indeed, she arrived in town while the presser was still going.) She added, “I can’t say enough how honored I am to have her as our lead. She’s amazing in the film.”

Then she tried to dismiss all the elephants in the room, saying, “as for all the endless tabloid gossip and all the noise out there, I mean, the internet feeds itself. I don’t feel the need to contribute. I think it’s sufficiently well-nourished.”

THR reported that they tried to ask a question about LaBeouf specifically, only to be told that Wilde “already answered that” in relation to “Internet noise.”

Is this all nonsense and Don’t Worry Darling is some stunning masterpiece? It would hardly be the first great film to face terrible press in its lead-up. Perhaps everyone will go back to talking about all the film’s hot sex. Whatever the case, the film hits theaters on September 23.

(Via THR)

Ever since he first started running for office, Donald Trump has claimed to be a champion of the common man. But perhaps that’s an exaggeration. In reality, he’s pocketed donations from his cash-strapped supporters, on top of having a long history of stiffing contractors. He’s even having trouble finding competent legal representation now that he’s in a whole mess of real trouble, in part because good lawyers don’t want to be stiffed. Indeed, a new book claims that he’s so averse to reimbursing people for goods and services that he once paid an attorney with a horse.

As per The Guardian, the forthcoming book Servants of the Damned: Giant Law Firms, Donald Trump and the Corruption of Justice, by New York Times reporter David Enrich, features the umpteenth bizarro tale of creative tomfoolery from the former president. The story? Trump once owed a lawyer he employed $2 million. Instead of cash, though, he offered him a deed to a horse he claimed was worth $5 million.

Was the horse actually worth 2 ½ times what he owed? This is Trump, so it’s up in the air. In any case, the lawyer in question reportedly did not take kindly to this form of payment. Enrich writes that “once he regained the capacity for speech,” the attorney “stammered, then informed Trump, ‘This isn’t the 1800s. You can’t pay me with a horse.”

Trump famously dislikes or is at least disinterested in animals. He’s long used “dog” as an epithet, and he was the first U.S. president since Andrew Johnson to have no White House pets, although even Johnson was known to feed mice that lurked in his bedroom. (At least he’s not his oldest son.) But at least he likes horses, if only as a form of currency. He might have to get several bands of horses to get him out of the legal muck that may land him on prison — although at least he can still run for president from the slammer.

(Via The Guardian)

Last Thursday (September 1), Megan Thee Stallion made her much-discussed debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by popping up in She-Hulk: Attorney At Law. The most noteworthy part of her appearance came in a mid-credits scene, when she hired Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk to be her lawyer. The two celebrated by dancing in Walters’ office, a moment that saw the two of them twerk together.

After the episode debuted, Meg took to Instagram to share her thoughts on what it was like to film the show. She had a terrific time, as she wrote, “Likeee thee hot girl coach is now in thee marvel universe [green heart emojis] ive been holding this in for so long im glad the hotties finally get to see it !!! Shooting this was a BLAST thank you @shehulkofficial @marvel for asking me to be apart. Im gonna manifest I get to do moreeeeee.”

She-Hulk head writer and executive producer Jessica Gao recently said about how Megan came to appear on the show, “We knew that for that story, we needed a famous, beautiful, successful woman… We were going through all the possibilities… but when it came down to it, Jameela [Jamil, who plays Titania] knew Megan from working on [HBO Max’s] Legendary together, and she brought her up. We were like, ‘Don’t say it if it’s not really true! Don’t tease us with this!’”

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Spoilers for House of the Dragon will be found below.

And we have “Dracarys!”

Daemon Targaryen looked the part of a badass in this week’s House of the Dragon. He could have easily died, however, given this war against the Crabfeeder isn’t going too well, two years into Daemon’s alliance with Corlys. And although Daemon and his dragon, Caraxes, immediately squished a dude who believed that he was being rescued, they pulled off a blazing entrance that left people declaring that they had a new favorite dragon. But wait, not so fast? Daemon needed a rescue.

Caraxes still rules, but Daemon is foolhardy when it comes to war. Yes, part of this attitude is because he’s salty over King Viserys I not naming him as heir, but it really is miraculous that Daemon was still standing at the end of “Second of His Name.” That happened by the grace of Leanor and his dragon, Seasmoke, but there’s still one incredible feat that Daemon (and Matt Smith) pulled off during the course of this episode: Daemon dominated attention, and Matt Smith in turn delivered a spellbinding performance, but the rogue prince never spoke a word during his screentime.

Yep, not one word, even though it sure felt like Daemon’s eyes (and his entire presence) said so much. People noticed and duly shouted out Smith’s silent prowess.

HBO’s House of the Dragon airs on Sundays at 9:00pm EST.

What did you do this summer? Did you try and chill out amidst all the rollercoaster news cycle? Or did you turn 60 and have the biggest success of your career? If you did the latter, then in some ways you’re a lot like Tom Cruise, who’s capped off one crazy summer the only way he knows how: by risking life and limb for a little teaser for movie theaters.

The footage, which you can watch above, features the Days of Thunder vet perched on a red biplane high up in the sky, cruising above the Blyde River Canyon in South Africa. They were busy filming some no doubt psychotically dangerous stunts for Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One. So why not film an extra death-defying one for a little intro for CinemaCon, the convention for movie theater owners?

The stunt mostly finds Cruise sitting on top of — not in — one of the plane’s seats, in front of his pilot. There’s only one hitch: Cruise struggles to talk. Surely it has something to do with the speed and the altitude. Whatever the case, it gives him a mushy-mouthed voice similar to Eric Cartman’s brace-faced sister, struggling to enunciate as he extols the glories of seeing big movies on big screens in big movie theaters.

Eventually he’s joined by the film’s director, Christopher McQuarrie, in his own plane, at which point the plane takes a big sideways dip, Cruise apparently glued or cemented to the plane’s surface.

In any case, this much is clear: Cruise is not going to let entering a new decade stop him from putting his life at risk just to entertain. He’ll even do it for quickie intro films! Perhaps it will endear him to another famous movie star who’s also been recording short films about the greatness of movie theaters: Nicole Kidman.

(Via IndieWire)

Let’s start with the easy part. Did you like In Bruges? You know, the 2008 movie starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as two dopes working as hitmen who have to hide out in the city of Bruges, directed by Martin McDonagh? Then, yes, you will very much like The Banshees of Inisherin (which just premiered at the Venice Film Festival and will also play at the Toronto International Film Festival), the 2022 movie starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as two dopes living on a small island off the coast of Ireland, directed by Martin McDonagh. I would put myself in the category of “someone who really likes In Bruges,” so, if you feel the same, let me tell you that this reunion of McDonagh, Farrell, and Gleeson not only met my high expectations, it exceeded them. As I type this I saw this movie over a week ago and I can’t stop thinking about it.

The Banshees of Inisherin will be an easier movie to write about once people have seen it. It would be a mistake to call it “subtle” in what it is attempting to do, but also to get into great detail about specific moments in the movie would be a disservice to a future viewer of a movie that they don’t have access to yet. What I will say is, in The Banshees of Inisherin, McDonagh has distilled the last 100 years of Irish history into two dolts who get into a heated feud for literally no reason.

Pádraic (Farrell) and Colm (Gleeson) are drinking buddies who live on a quaint, sleepy island off the coast of mainland Ireland. Set in 1923, the Irish Civil War is in its last throes, a conflict about the terms of Irish independence from Britain that (if my Irish history is correct) formed sides that still remain as heated political parties today. The battles can be seen from the island, but don’t seem to affect life much there one way or another. At least, it certainly doesn’t get in the way of a good pint.

One afternoon Pádraic is headed to the local pup and, as he usually does, stops by Colm’s house on the way, because, presumably, this is Pádraic’s daily routine. But this time Colm doesn’t answer him, even though he’s clearly right there. When Colm finally does show up at the bar, he tells Colm that he has decided he doesn’t want to be friends anymore and that’s that and all communication needs to end. At first Pádraic thinks this is a joke, and Colm’s reasoning in vague – giving explanations that vary from, “Pádraic is dull,” to, “devoting the rest of his life to making music.”

Pádraic’s frequent attempts to diffuse the situation – at first he assumes he said something insulting after a few too many pints – leads to aggression on Colm’s part. Namely, every time Pádraic tries to talk to Colm, Colm will cut off one of his own fingers. What starts as a simple, unprompted shunning eventually escalates into something much more twisted and violent. As much as Colm warns Pádraic to leave him alone, Pádraic simply won’t let it go.

Pádraic lives with his sister, Siobhán (Kerry Condon), who believes Colm is obviously overreacting, but also truly believes both men are idiots and isn’t at all happy that these two nitwits who are feuding for literally no reason is affecting her life in any way. She also has to fend off Dominic (Barry Keoghan), a nice enough lad, but is both too young and too naive. (And is often beaten and abused by his alcoholic father, who also happens to be the town policeman.)

Like In Bruges, The Banshees of Inisherin is a dark movie that is often downright hilarious. And The Banshees of Inisherin somehow manages to be darker than In Bruges, a movie in which (spoiler for In Bruges) both main characters (probably) die. And as I alluded to earlier, this isn’t simply a movie about two morons. McDonagh shows us what happens when one person, group, government, entity shuts down all communication with another. It leads to confusion and angst, then eventually aggression and retaliation. It’s quite remarkable that a movie that plays so clearly as a giant metaphor also works so well as its own story. And that has a lot to do with Farrell and Gleeson settling back into their comedy routine they perfected 14 years ago in In Bruges. (Though, this time around there are a lot less Time Bandits references.)

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

It remains to be seen where Elton John and Britney Spears’ new single “Hold Me Closer” will debut on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. On other ranks, though, the song is seeing some early success, which Spears celebrated with an Instagram post this weekend.

On Friday (September 2), Spears wrote, “Thank you to my fans for making my song number one for a week now !!!”

It appears Spears may be referring to the daily Worldwide iTunes Song Chart (which tracks Apple iTunes music store downloads). “Hold Me Closer” first reached No. 1 on August 26, remaining at No. 1 until August 31. It took a couple days away from the top spot before returning to No. 1 on September 3. As of the latest chart (September 4), “Hold Me Closer” remains on top and has been for eight total days.

Meanwhile, “Hold Me Closer” debuted at No. 1 in Australia, No. 2 in Ireland, No. 3 in the UK, and No. 4 in New Zealand. The tune has also been No. 1 for two weeks now on the UK’s The Official Big Top 40 radio chart show. As for the US, the top 10 spots of the Hot 100 chart are usually revealed on Mondays, but this week’s chart unveiling may be delayed to tomorrow (September 6) due to the Labor Day holiday today.

Shortly after winning back the AEW heavyweight championship in the main event of All Out in Chicago, CM Punk hit the post-show press conference and immediately launched into a tirade against the EVPs of the show amid allegations he was responsible for sending former friend Colt Cabana to Ring of Honor.

Punk’s falling out with Cabana stemmed from his infamous podcast appearance post-WWE that resulted in lawsuits against WWE doctor Dr. Chris Amann, and later lawsuits brought against each other. After it was reported that Punk had some involvement in Cabana, who was part of the AEW roster a year ago, being sent to ROH, Tony Khan came out in defense of Punk just days ago.

On Sunday night, Punk’s tirade included mentions of him not being a friend of Cabana’s in nearly a decade, how he paid all Cabana’s bills and has all the receipts to prove it, and how upset he was to be having to deny reports he alleges were put out by the promotion’s EVPs, which includes Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks.

“Now, it’s 2022. I haven’t been friends with him since at least 2014, late 2013. And the fact that I have to sit up here, because we have irresponsible people who call themselves EVPs, and couldn’t f***ing manage a Target, and they spread lies and bulls*** and put into a media that I got somebody fired when I have f*** all to do with him, want nothing to do with him, do not care where he works, where he doesn’t work, where he eats, where he sleeps. And the fact that I have to get up here and do this in 2022 is f***ing embarrassing. And if y’all are at fault, f*** you. If you’re not, I apologize,” Punk said (H/T Wrestling Inc for transcription).

He then turned his attention to “Hangman” Adam Page, who he called an “empty-headed f***ing dumb f***” who went “out on national television and f***ing go into business for himself,” referring to Page’s promo comments leading up to their original title match at AEW Double or Nothing.

The fireworks didn’t stop there, as reports detail how the reaction backstage to his comments allegedly resulted in a “melee,” per the Wrestling Observer. The people involved in any backstage confrontation have not been identified, but the Young Bucks were said to be there, according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer.

Despite all of the backstage drama, Khan said the EVPs are still significant contributors to his organization, but admitted what is going on is a “dicey situation,” per Jon Alba.

Pat Stay, a Canadian battle rapper (often hailed as one of the best) from Nova Scotia, died at 36 years old this weekend. TMZ reports he was the victim of a stabbing in downtown Halifax early Sunday (September 4) morning, and later died in a hospital from his injuries.

Stay was widely respected in the hip-hop community, so some of the biggest figures in it have taken a moment to pay tribute to the late rapper.

After hearing the news, Eminem took to Twitter to write, “hiphop lost one of the best battlers of all time … RIP @patstay .. KINGS NEVER DIE!!”

Drake also praised Stay on his Instagram Story, writing, “RIP to the Sucka Free Boss @patstay902 one of my fav rappers ever.”

The Alchemist also shared his thoughts, writing, ‘“I can moonwalk with steel toe boots on’ Rest in peace Pat Stay. Battle Rap icon and king. If u know me u know i always thought he was the best. I’m hurt.”

Immortal Technique also tweeted, “Rest in Power Pat Stay. I may not have known him as well as many other of my friends who are broken and in a lot of pain. But I met him in passing and he was a cool down to earth dude.”

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