Category: News

If there is one thing everyone knows about Nintendo it’s that they aren’t always the friendliest when it comes to esports. Super Smash Bros. has been one of the most popular esports in the world ever since Super Smash Bros. Melee came out on the Nintendo GameCube. These days, people who want to play Smash either still play Melee or Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on Switch. The community is large and very passionate, but it has frequently struggled to get the support of Nintendo. While it has been hosting unofficial tournaments of both games for years, it’s not uncommon for them to be shut down.

Fans of Smash Bros. have always found this frustrating because Nintendo has traditionally not given them support, but that may change in the near future. On Thursday, in a surprising move, Nintendo announced that it has partnered with esports organization Panda Global to host the first official North American Super Smash Bros. tournament. The real shocker? Not only will this circuit support Ultimate, but it will also support Melee.

Does this indicate a possible change in Nintendo’s attitude towards esports? Maybe! It would be fantastic if Nintendo would start allowing some of its more competitive games to host official esports tournaments and receive the support they deserve. Esports is, in many ways, free advertising for the games themselves, so there’s no real downside for allowing these tournaments, sspecially when fans of the game are going to host their own anyway.

All of that said, let’s wait and see how long Nintendo continues supporting tournament circuits like this before we say for sure the company stance has changed. Nintendo has a history of supporting events and communities only to suddenly change course. It wasn’t that long ago that then Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aimé played Super Smash Bros. Melee champion Hungrybox to reveal Ryu’s arrival to Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Of course, that moment of public outreach didn’t lead to official support from the company until this circuit.

The mercurial nature of Nintendo is part of what makes it so frustrating sometimes for communities like the Smash Bros. community. They just want to play their game and know Nintendo’s stance on it. Hopefully, this is a sign of positive change within Nintendo.

Amy Schneider, a transgender woman from Oakland, California, has just become the new Jeopardy! champion — and by a landslide, too. The engineering manager earned the title (and a whopping $31, 600 in winnings) on November 17, putting an end to five-time champion Andrew He’s winning streak. Ultimately, Schneider secured her big win when she was the sole contestant to correctly answer the final Jeopardy! question (“A cemetery on this island has the graves of Robert Fulton and 2 of the first 4 treasury secretaries,” “Manhattan”), demolishing the lead He had on her going into the final round.

While already exciting in and of itself, Schneider’s triumph also comes during the show’s annual Trans Awareness Week, giving even more cause to rejoice — especially considering public controversies with Netflix, Dave Chapelle, and J.K Rowling weighing heavy on the community However, in the midst of celebrating her achievement on Twitter, the champion took a moment to remind people she is neither the first openly transgender contestant nor champion to play Jeopardy!. Schneider was quick to thank the “handful” of transgender contestants that came before her for “blazing the trail,” before also acknowledging the success of former champion Kate Freeman, who won the competition December 16, 2020 and subsequently became the first openly trans person to win the game.

“FYI, I am not the first out trans person to appear on Jeopardy (a few friends have asked),” she wrote. “There have been a handful before, including one, Kate Freeman, who was the first out trans champion on 12/16/20. My thanks to all of them for blazing the trail!”

Schneider will continue her run on Jeopardy! tonight, at 4 PM PT on ABC.

After the South Korean series Squid Game basically dominated anything and everything in its path since making its massive debut on Netflix, the global phenomenon has been knocked out of its top spot on the U.S. Nielsen streaming chart by a surprising contender: You. The third season of the Penn Badgley-starring series, which was recently at the center of a very weird viral moment on Fox News, has officially dethroned Squid Game.

According to Deadline, You claiming the top spot for the week of October 18 to 24 wasn’t a close call either. The series racked up 2.7 million minutes of viewing, putting it far ahead of Squid Game:

The tally was more than double that of Squid Game, which remains the most successful original in Netflix history but is now in its second month of global release.

After starting out as a show on the Lifetime cable network, You shifted to Netflix for its second season and quickly expanded its following. The third season of the cheeky thriller starring Penn Badgely began streaming on October 15, so it had the benefit of a full week of viewing being captured.

Despite its juggernaut-like run starting to lose some momentum, Netflix is obviously very pleased with Squid Game and has already greenlit a second season. On top of that, the streaming giant is seemingly doing everything in its power to keep Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk happy. Three of his films were recently added to Netflix where they’re being lapped up by fans of the deadly (fictional) game show series.

(Via Deadline)

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… to be a Hulu subscriber.

That’s because the streaming platform is giving us the gift of new seasons of some of its best original series. Pen15 is back for more cringe-comedy goodness and so is FX mega-hit, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Plus, new episodes of the adult animated comedy Crossing Swords and Letterkenny are scheduled for later in the month.

Here’s everything coming to, and leaving, Hulu this December.

Pen15: Season 2, Part 2 (Hulu original series streaming 12/3)

Creators Anna Konkle and Maya Erskine deliver season two’s second half of their nostalgia-laced pre-teen comedy for Hulu subscribers this month. The cringe is dialed up, but so are the more heartwarming bits of this show that make it such an enjoyable binge-watch. This time around, Maya is the third wheel as Anna gets a boyfriend and struggles with her parents’ divorce. Eventually, the girls run away from home, although hamster-eating dogs might end up foiling their plans for freedom.

It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia: Season 15 (FX series streaming 12/2)

The gang is back for this shortened season (blame COVID). Fortunately, the show is managing to pack a ton of storytelling in just a handful of episodes. Everyone’s going to Ireland to work out their issues as Frank fields some questions about his Jeffrey Epstein connections and Mac tries to find God.

Crossing Swords: Season 2 (Hulu original series streaming 12/10)

Hulu’s stop-motion adult animated comedy sets off on another adventure with Nicholas Hoult returning to voice Patrick, the poor squire who once again must save his kingdom. This time there are bloodthirsty leprechauns, cursed treasure hordes, and evil tyrants to face off against.

Here’s everything coming to Hulu this December:

Avail. 12/1
Candified: Home For The Holidays: Season 1 (Hulu Original)
All Rise: Seasons 1 and 2
The A-Team (2010)
Above The Rim
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Addicted
Alex Cross
Alienator
All is Lost
Armageddon
Back To School
The Bank Job
Behind Enemy Lines
The Black Stallion (1979)
The Black Stallion Returns
Blow
Bull Durham
Chattahoochee
Cherry 2000
Con Air
The Crazies
Crazy Heart
Crimson Tide
Cujo (1983)
The Curse
Days Of Heaven
Dead Man Walking
The Dungeonmaster
Earth To Echo
Erik The Viking
Flightplan
Four Weddings And A Funeral (1994)
Friday The 13th (1980)
Her Smell
Hide And Seek
Hollow Man
Holy Man
Horton Hears A Who! (2008)
Hustlers
I Love You, Beth Cooper
Jagged Edge
King Kong
Love Field
Making Mr. Right
The Manchurian Candidate
My Best Friend’s Wedding
Ocean’s Eleven
Ocean’s Twelve
Ocean’s Thirteen
The Princess Bride
The Raid 2
Regarding Henry
Rio
Serendipity
Shanghai Noon
She’s Out Of My League
Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows
The Siege Of Firebase Gloria
Silverado
Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow
Soda Cracker
Some Kind Of Wonderful
Something’s Gotta Give
Stephen King’s Graveyard Shift
Stephen King’s Thinner
Superbeast
Troll
The Warriors
Young Guns
Young Guns II

Avail. 12/2
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Season 15 Premiere
Godfather of Harlem: Season 1
Kelly Clarkson Presents: When Christmas Come Around: Special
Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller: Season 2
Vice Versa: HIV: The Neglected Pandemic: Season 1
The East

Avail. 12/3
Pen15: New Episodes of Season Two (Hulu Original)
The New York Times Presents: To Live and Die in Alabama: New Episode
Annie Live!: Special
Trolls Holiday in Harmony: Special
We Need To Do Something
The World Of Kanako

Avail. 12/4
Real Housewives of Atlanta: Season 13

Avail. 12/7
Michael Buble’s Christmas in the City: Special
World War Z

Avail. 12/8
People’s Choice Awards: Special

Avail. 12/9
Trolls: TrollsTopia: Complete Season 5 (Hulu Original)
Bloods: Season 1
Creamerie: Complete Season 1
Swan Song

Avail. 12/13
70th Miss Universe Competition: Special
Beach

Avail. 12/14
Gordon Ramsay’s Road Trip: European Vacation: Special
American Auto: Series Premiere

Avail. 12/15
Gordon Ramsay’s Road Trip: Christmas Vacation
Grand Crew: Series Premiere
Rising Wolf

Avail. 12/16
Dead Asleep (Hulu Original Documentary)
Cryptozoo
Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman

Avail. 12/17
Mother/Android (Hulu Original Film)
The Nowhere Inn

Avail. 12/23
Dragons: The Nine Realms: Season 1 (Hulu Original)

Avail. 12/26
Letterkenny: Season 10 (Hulu Original)

What is leaving Hulu in December:

Leaving 12/9
Child’s Play (2019)

Leaving 12/10
Rogue (2020)

Leaving 12/12
Eye In The Sky

Leaving 12/16
Nostalgia

Leaving 12/19
Crawl

Leaving 12/28
Bratz: The Movie

Leaving 12/31
10,000 BC (2008)
127 Hours
A Christmas Carol
A Nanny For Christmas
The A-Team (2010)
Above The Rim
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Alienator
All The Right Moves
Alpha & Omega: Legend Of The Saw Toothed
Back To School
The Black Stallion (1979)
The Black Stallion Returns
Bloody Sunday
Blue City
Bohemian Rhapsody
Bull Durham
Candyman 3: Day Of The Dead
Cedar Rapids
Chattahoochee
Cherry 2000
Con Air
Conspiracy Theory
Crazy Heart
Crimson Tide
The Curse
Dark Shadows (2012)
Date Night
Diary Of A Wimpy Kid
The Dungeonmaster
Enemy At The Gates
Erik The Viking
Escape From Alcatraz
The Fighter
The Fly
Four Weddings And A Funeral (1994)
Friday The 13th – Part III (1982)
Friday The 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter (1984)
From Prada To Nada
Gattaca
The Gift
Girls! Girls! Girls!
Happy Feet
Happy Feet Two
Hell Or High Water
Hollow Man
Inception
Jack And Jill
Joseph: King Of Dreams
Killers
Kiss The Girls
Light It Up
Love Field
Making Mr. Right
The Manchurian Candidate
The Matrix
The Matrix Reloaded
The Matrix Revolutions
Meet The Spartans
Michael Clayton
My Best Friend’s Wedding
My Bloody Valentine
Ocean’s Eleven
Ocean’s Twelve
Ocean’s Thirteen
The Patsy
Phase IV
The Recruit
Resident Evil: Retribution
Road To Perdition
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Rush Hour
Rush Hour 2
Rush Hour 3
Rustler’s Rhapsody
The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty
Serendipity
Shark Tale
Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows
Shrek
Shrek 2
The Siege Of Firebase Gloria
Signs
Silverado
The Social Network
Soda Cracker
Something’s Gotta Give
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan
Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Star Trek: Insurrection
Superbeast
Sweet Home Alabama
The Tenant
Timeline
Tooth Fairy
Troll
Twisted
Underworld
Underworld Awakening
Underworld Evolution
Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans
Vantage Point
The Village
The Vow
Waitress
When A Man Loves A Woman
Wrong Turn 2
Yes Man
Young Guns

Wanting to “change rock music forever” is an ambitious narrative to push. But Quinton Brock is not the type of dude to hold anything back. He told Uproxx last year that “I got a literal chip tattooed on my shoulder” and that for his next tattoo is going to be “a heart on my sleeve.” This was on the heels of his single “To The Moon,” a melodious punk rock jam with The Cool Kids sensibilities and a wild guitar.

But on his latest song, “Touch,” it shows Brock’s more silken side. The Brooklyn-via-Buffalo singer says he wrote the song on an especially solitary night during quarantine and the yearning comes through over a blues rock riff as he sings “I know what you feel right now cause I can feel it too // You can feel my heart beat out my chest….So touch me slowly, I’ve been lonely too.” It’s an evocative anthem for wanting someone next to you on the couch, a feeling that was depressively magnified during the pandemic and that Brock delivers gracefully and emphatically.

Brock came up as a singer with the surf/blues rock duo The Get Money Squad. And while he looked up to Buffalo rappers Griselda growing up, his trajectory is reminiscent of the psychedelic soul of Atlanta’s Curtis Harding, who first came up with the garage rock band Night Sun and has made a name for himself as a Black man in musical realms typically dominated by white artists. Brock says his journey in rock and roll was inspired predominantly by Sister Rosetta Tharpe, a Black woman who was a guitar maven, and nothing short of a mid-century rock and roll pioneer.

There’s an exciting sound bubbling up with Brock on “Touch,” and while there’s no official word yet on his full-length debut, he’s batting a thousand so far.

Listen to and watch the video for “Touch” above.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians announced prior to the season that every player on the roster, along with the entire coaching staff and other team staffers, had been vaccinated.

However, that claim has come into question in a report from Tampa Bay Times reporter Rick Stroud, who has text messages from a former private chef of Antonio Brown’s that alleges the wide receiver attempted to get a fake vaccination card prior to the season in order to avoid the NFL’s protocols for unvaccinated players. According to Steven Ruiz, Brown’s girlfriend, Cydney Moreau, texted him on July 2 with a request for a fake vaccination card for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and provided Stroud with a screenshot of the messages.

“Can you get the COVID cards?” Moreau texted Ruiz on July 2, according to a screen grab he provided to the Tampa Bay Times.

“I can try,” Ruiz responded.

“JNJ shot. Ab said he would give you $500,” Moreau texted.

Ruiz said he wasn’t able to obtain the cards for Brown and Moreau, but that Brown later showed him two fake vaccination cards for he and Moreau, which were then provided to the Bucs to allow Brown to participate fully as a vaccinated individual. According to Ruiz, Tom Brady’s trainer Alex Guerrero took the photos of the cards to send to the Bucs while at Brown’s house to provide treatment, but Ruiz did not believe Guerrero was aware they were not real.

Guerrero and Brown both declined to speak for the story, while Moreau called the text exchange “fake” and said she didn’t know Ruiz, despite the text chain beginning with her asking where lunch was and offering Brown’s workout schedule for the day. The reason Ruiz is making this story public now is because he claims Brown owes him $10,000 for unpaid services, which is not the first time Brown has been accused of not paying someone fully — he also was released by the Patriots in 2019 over sexual assault allegations from a former personal trainer.

Brown missed a game earlier this season after a positive COVID test and is currently recovering from a foot injury. After the Aaron Rodgers debacle, the NFL is suddenly finding themselves in another frustrating situation regarding a star’s vaccination status.

If this is true, Brown faces not only discipline from the NFL, but also could face five years in prison for having a fake COVID vaccination card, as that is a federal crime. Brown wouldn’t be the first athlete busted for a fake vaccine card, as the NHL suspended Evander Kane for providing a fake prior to this season. The league and team will certainly look into the matter, and we will find out soon enough if Brown’s vaccination records are real or, as Ruiz claims, fake.

You’ve really got to admire Big Boi‘s latter-career resilience. After splitting with his Outkast partner Andre 3000 in the late 2000s, he could have faded from public view like so many other rap group members or pivoted to acting as his former partner did. Instead, he only became more creative and productive, three solo studio albums and a joint EP with Phantogram titled Big Grams (he also dabbled a little in acting himself appearing in films like Baby Driver, Superfly, and most famously, ATL).

All this while consistently being underrated by fans on Twitter who constantly clamor for new Andre 3000 material while sometimes overlooking his critically-acclaimed and commercially successful solo efforts (the latest, Boomiverse, peaked at No. 28 on the Billboard 200). However, those fans have another chance to finally give Big Boi his just due with his upcoming joint project with longtime collaborator, fellow ATLien Sleepy Brown, titled The Big Sleepover.

Last night, the duo appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to debut the album’s latest single, “Animalz,” in front of an animated backdrop featuring a running tiger. With a dance-pop-centric beat and lyrics that ruminate on the nature of sex and love, the single is the latest evidence that fans should be watching Big Boi’s moves every bit as much as his erstwhile partner’s.

Watch Big Boi and Sleepy Brown perform “Animalz” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon above.

The Sex Lives of College Girls: Season 1 (HBO Max series) — Mindy Kaling and Justin Noble produce this show about four Essex College roommates who are navigating the hell of dating lives in New England. They’re full of contradictions and hormones and feeling newfound independence, so this should be perfectly messy. Gavin Leatherwood from Chilling Adventures of Sabrina will be a series regular, and hopefully, he can escape the Devil this time.

Star Trek: Discovery: Season 4 (Paramount+ series) — This season shall begin with the U.S.S. Discovery crew facing a threat that they’re not prepared for, but they had better get that way. Both Federation and non-Federation worlds are feeling the uneasy unfamiliarity, so hopefully, they can come together and create a better future for everyone. Also, one should probably expect to see some alien life forms that the show’s already seen before, and that might include friendly and not-so-friendly faces.

The Curse of Von Dutch (Hulu film) — Welcome to the unbelievable yet true story of how a major 2000s fashion trend fell from iconic grace. From Venice Beach surfers to gangsters to Hollywood powerhouses, everyone wanted a piece of this iconic brand, and that fashion lust led to a decade of backstabbing and actual bloodshed. Yikes.

The Princess Switch 3 (Netflix film) — How on earth does Vanessa Hudgens have so much stamina to keep on bringing us the holiday spirit, year after year? This threequel sees Queen Margaret and Princess Stacy team up with another look-alike, and that would be cousin Fiona. She’s got ties to a dashing enigma of a man, and all of that leads to more identity-fudging fun and (of course) some Christmas romance.

Psych 3: This Is Gus (Peacock film) — It’s shotgun wedding time before Baby Guster arrives, all while Lassiter worries about his career, all while Shawn and Groomzilla Gus are going rogue.

Dogs In Space: Season 1 (Netflix series) — This is not the depressing 1986 film (starring Michael Hutchence) about a tragic group of friends. Rather, this story revolves around genetically enhanced canines who are out there in space and looking for a new Earth to help save humanity. If that search is successful, then the dogs get to be with their owners again, and I believe that the humans are coming out ahead in this deal.

Ghosts (CBS, 9:00pm) — The comedic spirits (including a Prohibition-era lounge singer, a hippie who indulges in hallucinogens, a scout leader, and a Militiaman) continue to haunt a country estate. This week, Jay gets booted from his a Dungeons & Dragons group, all while Sam wants to set up a group with the ghosts.

Jimmy Kimmel Live — Alessia Cara

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Simu Liu, Ruth Negga, Big Sean, Hit-Boy

Late Night With Seth Meyers — Paul Rudd, Jared Harris, Nate Smith

The Late Late Show With James Corden — Salma Hayek, Keith Urban

In case you missed this pick from last week:

Ragdoll: Season 1 (AMC+ series) — The Killing Eve producers are on the case in this psychological thriller series that follows a disgraced London Police detective, who’s making a sort-of comeback in a particularly grim case. That would be the discovery of a literal “ragdoll” of body parts (from six murder victims), and it’s the work of a serial killer who’s already got a hit list for six more people, including Mr. Detective Himself. He joins the team to race against time, and the series also captures the fractured personal lives of several people on and connected with the case.

During the Black Widow end-credits scene, Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova pays her respects to Scarlett Johansson‘s Natasha Romanov, who died during the events of Avengers: Endgame. However, in true Marvel fashion, the situation takes a turn as Julia Louis-Dreyfus‘ shady Valentina Allegra de Fontaine recruits Yelena by giving her “information” about her sister’s death. Namely, that the person responsible is Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye.

As Marvel fans know, Hawkeye is not responsible for Black Widow’s death in Endgame. She chose to sacrifice herself so the Avengers could get the Soul Stone in a final, last-ditch effort to bring back half the universe that Thanos had snapped out of existence. Although, it appears Renner’s young niece didn’t see Endgame, but she was allowed to watch Black Widow. After seeing the end-credits scene for the first time, she was apparently not pleased with her uncle.

“I was with my niece and she went ‘Uncle Jeremy, what did you do?’” Renner told Variety at the red carpet premiere for the new Hawkeye series. “I didn’t do anything!”

Naturally, Renner is a Marvel veteran and wouldn’t reveal anything more about how the Black Widow scene will affect his Disney+ series. He stuck to the niece anecdote, which still cracked him up just thinking about it.

Hawkeye premieres November 24 on Disney+.

(Via Variety)

If you’re still looking for a new show to fill that Downton Abbey-shaped hole in your heart, HBO might just have a solution for you. Created by Downton Abbey‘s Julian Fellowes, The Gilded Age is the latest historical drama to hit the streaming service and — based on its first trailer — already promises to be every bit as tense, lavish, and addicting as the former PBS series.

Unlike Downton Abbey, however, The Gilded Age is set in 1880s America — during the second industrial revolution. As for what the series will be about, HBO has released a lengthy description that already has us on the edge of our seats:

“The American Gilded Age was a period of immense economic change, of great conflict between the old ways and brand new systems, and of huge fortunes made and lost. Against the backdrop of this transformation, HBO’s The Gilded Age begins in 1882 with young Marian Brook (Jacobson) moving from rural Pennsylvania to New York City after the death of her father to live with her thoroughly old money aunts Agnes van Rhijn (Baranski) and Ada Brook (Nixon). Accompanied by Peggy Scott (Benton), an aspiring writer seeking a fresh start, Marian inadvertently becomes enmeshed in a social war between one of her aunts, a scion of the old money set, and her stupendously rich neighbors, a ruthless railroad tycoon and his ambitious wife, George (Spector) and Bertha Russell (Coon). Exposed to a world on the brink of the modern age, will Marian follow the established rules of society, or forge her own path?”

The series will run for nine episodes, and features an ensemble cast of Carrie Coon, Morgan Spector, Denée Benton, Louisa Jacobson, Taissa Farmiga, Blake Ritson, Simon Jones, Harry Richardson, Thomas Cocquerel and Jack Gilpin, with Cynthia Nixon, Christine Baranski, and dozens more. In addition to being created by Fellowes, the prolific author and showrunner will also be writing and executive producing The Gilded Age alongside Sonja Warfield (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power). The series is set to premiere on HBO on January 24, 2022.