Category: News

Once upon a time, in a very different world, movies used to play for months. For example, back in 1986, a little movie called Top Gun opened in May and stayed in theaters for about half a year. Jump 34 years and the same may wind up happening to its belated sequel, which also opened in May and which is poised to re-enter the box office top three in its 12th weekend of release.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, Top Gun: Maverick is expected to add another $6.6 million to its already sizable pile of cash. That should put it in third place, behind Bullet Train (with Tom Cruise’s former Interview with the Vampire co-star Brad Pitt) and DC League of Super-Pets. That might not seem like a lot of money, and in fact it’s slightly less than Maverick made the previous weekend, when it grossed another $7 million. But it’s a slow weekend at the box office, and $6.6 million is enough to bump it from sixth weekend, where it sat last weekend, up to the bronze.

There’s a reason why people keep seeing Top Gun: Maverick (apart from lots of people genuinely enjoying it): There’s really few other movies playing in movie theaters right now. Bullet Train is the last big budget movie of the summer. The A24 indie Bodies Bodies Bodies, with Pete Davidson in a supporting role, expanded nationally and is expected to at least crack the Top 10. There’s also the tiny thriller Fall, which is not.

And so, even though moviegoing appears to be back to almost what it was before the pandemic began, those hungry to go out to the movies are left with few alternatives but to go watch a pushing-60 Tom Cruise really fly in a fighter jet for real. Perhaps they’ll still be seeing it into the fall.

(Via THR)

For a team like the Kansas City Chiefs, the preseason is all about finding gems on the roster who can bolster their depth at various positions. With Patrick Mahomes under center, they’re expected to contend every year, but as they re-sign players to big deals, they have to get creative in ways to fill out the roster.

This year we saw that cap crunch lead to Tyreek Hill signing in Miami and the Chiefs remaking their wide receiving corps with a variety of signings to replace the speedy All-Pro receiver. How those new receivers, led by JuJu Smith-Schuster, assimilate to the Chiefs offense will be at the top of mind for many Chiefs fans in the preseason, but we also may have a bit of kicking controversy in KC.

Another offseason addition, safety Justin Reid who played his first four years in Houston, was brought in to help out their secondary, but Reid has shown in camp he has some other skills as well, namely as a place kicker. While the Chiefs employ one of the league’s best in Harrison Butker, Reid’s showed off the range with a 65 yarder in practice that had the defense going crazy.

On Saturday in their opener against the Bears, Reid got to show off his kicking skills in game action, drilling an extra point after the Chiefs’ second touchdown of the game, which led to the biggest celebration of a non-game winning extra point you’ll see.

It’s pretty cool of Andy Reid to let Justin trot out for an extra point and, look, if it keeps the Chiefs from having to worry about carrying a second kicker if there’s every a minor knock to Butker, Reid’s ability to knock through extra points is very valuable even if it’s not something the Chiefs hope to ever need.

By now, you’ve probably heard about Madonna‘s bizarre recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. It was strange for many reasons. “This interview is going to be all about flirtation and seduction,” she awkwardly said early on, with a noticeable lisp because of her grills, which were the topic of most of the conversations. At one point, she said out of nowhere, “People have a problem with my grills. I don’t know why.” She seemed much more interested in talking about them rather than her new album.

At another point, Madonna was discussing her Madame X tour documentary. “I’m really inspired by James Baldwin. The writer. Have you heard of him?” When he said, “Of course,” she replied, “Don’t lie.” That led up to her talking about how she wants to use her art to disturb the peace, and Fallon commented, “Oh yeah, you get in good trouble.” This phrasing somehow inspired her to then slide onto his desk, pushing his mugs aside, sprawling her body out while Fallon yelled at her to stop while trying to cover her butt with his suit jacket because her skirt was very short. It didn’t work. As soon as she got up to sit back down, she flashed the camera.

But of course that was not the weirdest part. At the end, Fallon got up and laid his body down on the floor. Madonna found this as a perfect opportunity to then straddle him. Check it out below at your own risk.

The NBA schedule is being finalized, with an expected release next week, and we are starting to learn a few of the marquee games that will be sprinkled throughout the calendar.

On Friday, Marc Stein reported the Lakers will visit Dallas on Christmas Day in the current plan, noting things can change but usually Christmas games are set early and don’t move. Then, on Saturday, we learned the Lakers will also be part of the opening night festivities, traveling north to San Francisco for the Warriors ring night celebration on October 18, per Shams Charania.

One would expect that to be a 10:00 or 10:30 p.m. ET tip on TNT, with an Eastern Conference tilt coming beforehand — with the Celtics as the most obvious choice to host an opening night game in the East, potentially against the Bucks or Heat if they want to go for a playoff rematch on the first night. We’ll find out the full schedule soon enough, but Lakers and Warriors fans can now mark their calendars for the opener (although Golden State was always going to have that first game for ring night). It’ll be a tone-setter in the West, as the Warriors will look to pick up where they left off, while the Lakers seek to prove last year’s disaster of a season wasn’t a harbinger of things to come in L.A.

Donald Trump has come close to being punished for his actions without being busted so many times he must feel invincible. But this time, the jig really might be up. On Monday, the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago, emerging with 11 boxes of intel. Later in the week, sources claimed that among the items were highly classified documents pertaining to nuclear weapons. Trump has predictably railed madly against the claims, but, as per Raw Story, it looks like he’s found his defense — even if it’s inaccurate.

On Friday, John Solomon, former Washington Times editor-in-chief and MAGA insider, went on Fox News and read a statement reportedly given to him by Trump’s organization. The statement, from an unnamed member of his orbit, claimed he had a “standing order that documents removed from the Oval Office and taken into the residence were deemed to be declassified.” As such, any document he’d taken with him down to Mar-a-Lago was now in the public domain.

“The power to classify and declassify documents rests solely with the President of the United States,” the statement read. “The idea that some paper-pushing bureaucrat, with classification authority delegated by the president, needs to approve of declassification is absurd.”

There’s just one problem: That’s simply not true. As The Atlantic’s Graeme Wood has explained, while a president can declassify certain documents, that power doesn’t apply to those involving nuclear weapons.

“The Atomic Energy Acts of 1946 and 1954 produced an even stranger category of classified knowledge,” Wood writes. “Anything related to the production or use of nuclear weapons and nuclear power is inherently classified, and Trump could utter whatever words he pleased yet still be in possession of classified material.

“The restrictions on documents of this type are incredibly tight,” Wood added. “If Trump was keeping nuclear secrets in the storeroom of his country club, without even the benefit of a padlock, and resisted attempts to secure those secrets against infiltrators and spies, a prosecutor might reasonably take more interest.”

In other words, Trump may have either knowingly taken documents he wasn’t supposed to or he failed to read his complete job description. Either way, he may be screwed. But don’t worry: Sean Hannity thinks he could always run for president again from the clink.

(Via Raw Story)

The New York Jets dealt with every NFL team’s worst nightmare on Friday night when they saw their starting quarterback limp off the field with a knee injury after making a cut against the Eagles in the preseason opener.

Zach Wilson fell to the ground after making a cut in the open field to evade a defender and needed to be tended to and went straight to the locker room after, leaving Jets fans concerned their young star QB might miss significant time. Luckily, Wilson’s diagnosis is not as bad as it could’ve been, as he avoided major ligament damage, but will miss at least 2-4 weeks after he has arthroscopic knee surgery to repair a tear in his meniscus (along with a bone bruise).

Overall, it’s good news for Wilson and the Jets, as a month-long absence on the longer end of the timetable is a pretty good outcome, even if it means he might miss the Week 1 matchup with the Baltimore Ravens on September 11. While New York is hopeful to be more competitive this season, it’s a team still focused on the long-term plan, of which Wilson is the centerpiece, so one would expect them to proceed with caution with his knee injury and try to make sure he is as close to 100 percent before putting him back out on the field.

Over the years, the rise of D-Generation X have taken many forms in being chronicled across WWE programming. So what makes the D-Generation X focal point of A&E’s latest episode of “Biography: WWE Legends,” set to premiere on Sunday, August 14 at 8 p.m. ET, any different?

“If I were to give it one word, it would be raw,” Shawn Michaels told Uproxx Sports. “Honestly, not until I saw it did I grasp all the different struggles that each of us, individually, went through at different times. Because from an on-camera standpoint, it was sincerely such a blast. But I think certainly what this will do is show another side to that. It’s going to be different and let you see a very humanistic side of the guys and gals that made up D-X.”

The documentary takes the audience through both iterations of D-X, making quick pit stops to detail each member’s background, their individual and group success inside the ring, and their collective struggles outside of the ring. The pacing of the episode gives each member of the group time to talk about what they experience, how life on the road affected their families, and true feelings about the group’s relatively short run together.

It chronicles many of the stories previously told — such as the infamous curtain call at Madison Square Garden and the fallout that led to Triple H’s demotion. But the documentary takes slight detours to touch on one-off stories, like the first time Triple H got the opportunity to “really unload” on Vince McMahon about his frustrations and what he felt was an unfair punishment.

“(Triple H) had seen me lots of times on and off screen go off on Vince. But this was his first time,” Michaels said. “It’s one thing for Vince to say, ‘Yeah, go ahead, do it, unload.’ And then he just hit him with both barrels and watching that face change. When you are out there, you don’t know if it’s him putting that on as part of what we’re doing or have I gone too far? Those are the things that made it so captivating, because people know real. They can just viscerally tell the difference.”

That moment would be just the tip of the iceberg for Triple H, who would eventually use Michaels’ exit from the WWE spotlight to lead the reformation of the D-X faction. At the time, it was considered his make-or-break moment and an opportunity to firmly take the next step in his career evolution.

“I didn’t know enough to be anything but happy for them,” Michaels said when asked how he dealt with watching the group grow after his exit. “We had already looked at Billy and Road Dogg as joining and we’d started in that direction before I was leaving, They were the next real natural fit. And me, knowing I was going away, Hunter’s going to step up. And then I had heard X-Pac is out of his deal at WCW and he’d be a great addition. And then of course that’s what happened. It was hard for me to be anything other than overjoyed.”

Chyna’s presence isn’t overlooked either, as her role in the development and success of D-X is heavily featured throughout the episode. It follows her trailblazing impact as Triple H’s “muscle” to what she meant to D-X both inside the ring and on the road, and eventually details her exit from the company.

“She was a trailblazer,” Michaels said. “The biggest thing I can remember when bringing her in was (people saying), ‘Oh my goodness, we can’t have guys selling for a woman.’ Look at her. She was such a presence and it was just so different.

“It was a hard hill to climb. But they trusted us. She had a really good understanding of who she was. She didn’t need everything under the sun, she just needed her special moments because she knew that’s what made her unique. That’s what made her different and set her apart, in my opinion, to this day from any other woman. There have been so many talented women that have followed her that are in the business right now, but she will still be the first and one of the most unique of all-time.”

The episode also details Michaels’ eventual return in 2002 and the evolution of his rivalry with his Triple H. Despite exiting his onscreen role in 1998, Michaels admits he wasn’t really intrigued with returning to the ring until he re-emerged.

“I was under contract the whole time and being well taken care of,” Michaels said. “I always get told stuff about my career that never reached my desk, that I was supposed to come back earlier in 2001. But no, there was never a time until 2002 that I thought about coming back and wrestling.”

The timing of the episode couldn’t be better, with the recent power shift within the WWE hierarchy. Early in the documentary, Triple H recalls telling Vince that the “business is changing, we gotta change with it,” in reference to his push for the formation of D-X. To this day, that’s a mindset both founding members of the faction keep top of mind in their respective roles within WWE and the NXT brand.

“We both got a ton of heat by the purists and the traditionalists back then for wanting (change). And now everybody acts like they were all on board and that just wasn’t true. And now again, that the one thing at the very least Hunter and I have never done the bitter old timer, ‘back in my day.’ It’s not supposed to be the same,” Michaels said.

“Every sport does need to change and evolve. It’s not about what we did. It’s about what we’re going to do that’s innovative. It has to be new, it has to be fresh, and it has to be different. We don’t neglect (the past). We honor it, respect it, but again, you still want to try to forge new ground. And that’s something that he and I have always understood, and I think that’s why talent enjoy working with us. We are very collaborative, certainly with one another, but we also try to be with talent. That’s one of the things I love about being here at NXT is having a chance to try stuff. No, it’s not always gonna work, but we’re not gonna know. And again, that’s the only way you can figure out what is that next level? It’s to try different things.”

After a long life of dodgy legal behavior, Donald Trump may finally be heading to jail. If he does, it’s not for one of his more known potential crimes. It’s because he may have violated the Espionage Act. Sources claim that the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago early last week may have been due to his taking of classified documents, some of them related to nuclear weapons. Why would he do that? It’s unclear. But Fox News hazarded a guess.

On Friday, host Martha MacCallum speculated about the 11 boxes the feds took from the former president’s resort home, allegedly filled with confidential documents. She wondered if maybe it all have been a mistake, as the president was, well, dealing with the fallout of his numerous failed attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

“Why? Why would they have been packed? Was it because it was such a chaotic time during that January period, post-election?” MacCallum postulated. “We all remember there was a whole heck of a lot going on. Were they told, ‘Just pack everything up and bring it to Mar-a-Lago’? What did the lawyers do after that when they got their hands on them? And what kind of transparency was there about what they actually had and how it should be handled?”

That “whole heck of a lot going on,” of course, was the aftermath of the Jan. 6 riot, when Trump helped whip up an already angry and misinformed crowd of supporters, who then stormed the Capitol building. Was he distracted by all the GOP party members ditching him (albeit temporarily)? Was he going through Twitter withdrawal? Whatever the case, it’s telling that even Fox News can’t defend him from one scandal without inadvertently acknowledging another.

Anyway, fret not, because Sean Hannity thinks Trump can still run for president while in the slammer.

In May, Jenny Lewis announced tour dates with The Chicks and Trampled By Turtles to promote her long-awaited 2019 comeback album On The Line. However, the Rilo Kiley bandleader announced yesterday that she’s canceling any and all shows that take place indoors due to COVID.

Cancelled dates include her shows in Richmond, VA; Stroudsburg, PA; Asbury Park, NJ; Baltimore, MD; Saxaphaw, NC; Asheville, NC. “Out of an abundance of caution due to the ongoing COVID situation, Jenny Lewis will not perform at any indoor venues for the remainder of the year. Therefore, it’s with great disappointment that the below indoor shows have been cancelled,” her social media statement read. “Check with your point of purchase for refund information. Jenny and her band will continue forward with the outdoor festival dates: Live On The Green, XPoNential Festival, Sound On Sounds Music & Arts Festival, Wildwood Revival and Moonstone Festival.”

Find the remaining tour dates below that are still scheduled to take place.

09/01 — Nashville, TN @ Live on the Green
09/18 — Philadelphia, PA @ XPoNential Music Festival
09/24 — Bridgeport, CT @ Sound on Sound Music Festival
09/30 — Athens, GA @ Wildwood Revival
10/29 — Birmingham, AL @ Moonstone Festival

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

Is Donald Trump going to jail? Or is he going to run for president? Why not both! On Monday, FBI agents searched Mar-a-Lago, the former commander-in-chief’s current residence. By the end of the week, sources told The Washington Post that among the items removed were classified documents relating to nuclear weapons. It’s possible Trump violated the Espionage Act, as the far-right site Breitbart inadvertently revealed. But if you’re worried that Trump doing time could keep him from the most powerful gig on the planet, guess again.

On Friday’s episode of The Sean Hannity Show, the Fox News host attempted to mollify fears that Trump couldn’t run a third time.

“What do you think the next thing that happens here is, do you think that they would try and indict the former president in the hopes of convicting him and having him in jail at the time of the next election to prevent him from running,” he said. “Because a conviction by the way, constitutionally, would not prevent him from running for office.”

Whether this is true or not, it doesn’t hide the fact that Trump is potentially in deep doo-doo. By dragging classified documents down to the Florida resort in which he now lives, As Marc Elias, the top lawyer in Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign pointed out, Trump may have violated U.S. Code Title 18, Section 2071. That law states that anyone “having the custody of any such record, proceeding, map, book, document, paper, or other thing, willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, falsifies, or destroys the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both; and shall forfeit his office and be disqualified from holding any office under the United States.”

But Hannity wasn’t moved by that one etiher. “You know, this code that is being cited by Marc Elias and all these other people negates the very enumerated qualifications in the Constitution, and the specific requirements for somebody not to be eligible to run, and that would be impeachment and conviction,” Hannity said. “It doesn’t mention anything about being, you know, maybe not following every single dotted ‘I’ and crossed ‘t’ in the Presidential Records Act of the National Archives Act.”

In any case, good thing Trump’s already used to living in a massive space with lots of strangers.

(Via Raw Story)