Category: News

How does one improve upon perfection? It’s something actor Jake Gyllenhaal and director Doug Liman may soon have to seriously ask themselves. As per Deadline, the two are circling a remake of Road House, the seminal, bonkers ‘80s action movie about an NYU philosophy grad student-turned-Deep South bouncer (Patrick Swayze) who eventually wages battle with an evil capitalist (Ben Gazzara).

MGM, hot off their big Amazon acquisition, as well as No Time to Die (with Licorice Pizza on the horizon), are looking to redo the film, though it’s unclear when their star will have time to do it. Gyllenhaal is on the cusp of shooting Guy Ritchie’s The Interpreter, with Everest due after that. (That one’s not to be confused with the 2015 film also called Everest, also with Gyllenhaal.) Still, the project is deemed to be “high priority,” though there’s no word if it will be a straight remake or take it in its own, possibly equally deranged path.

Then again, how does on remake Road House? It’s a flash-in-the-can masterwork, impossible to repeat. It had a beefcake star with a magnificent mane who took himself incredibly, beautifully seriously. Sam Elliott could still do roundhouse kicks (though perhaps he still can). It starts off as one batcrazy movie and turned into something even more surreal. It has a guy getting his windpipe ripped out and another being crushed by a stuffed polar bear. It’s not tongue-in-cheek but it’s not that serious either, in a way that’s strictly of the early Bush I era. It’s so great that people with smallish roles in it will, over 30 years later, still do interviews about it.

Then again, Gyllenhaal can at least fight. He got ripped back in 2015 for the boxing movie Southpaw. But even if it’s a dog, that shouldn’t affect fans of the 1989 original. After all, they know that pain don’t hurt.

(Via Deadline)

LeBron James has never shied away from making his feelings felt when it comes to issues beyond the basketball court, as the man who was famously told to “shut up and dribble” has used that to create his own mantra of “more than an athlete,” encouraging others to take stands and speak out on what is important to them.

He has been outspoken on issues of racism and police violence against the Black community, and the country is currently watching to see how the legal system will deal with Kyle Rittenhouse, who shot and killed two protestors in Kenosha, Wisconsin following the police shooting of Jacob Blake in the back, which left Blake paralyzed. Rittenhouse went on the stand on Wednesday and put on quite the scene, breaking down and causing a 10-minute recess so he could gather himself.

Many weren’t buying the Rittenhouse display on the stand, and among those calling BS on his tears was James, who tweeted that Rittenhouse “ate some lemon heads before walking into court” to try and fake tears.

James’ commentary can all but assure him of being a leading discussion point for conservative talk show hosts on Thursday, something he’s quite familiar with dating back to “shut up and dribble” and his infamous tweet calling Donald Trump “u bum” while he was the president.

The trial of Kyle Rittenhouse — the Illinois teen who shot three protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin last summer, killing two, and who was supported by both Fox News ghouls and has-been ’80s stars — started last week, and for the first week-and-a-half it was pretty quiet. That all changed on Wednesday. A lot happened. Rittenhouse himself took the stand and launched into a crying jag that left many doubting its sincerity. The judge melodramatically snapped at the prosecution. And at one point the former’s cellphone went off, which wouldn’t have been that big a deal except for the particularly song that was his ringtone.

It was the kind of perfect moment one sees only in movies. The defense team was in the middle of accusing the prosecution of trying to intentionally cause a mistrial — which, of course, they themselves later requested by the end of the day — when Judge Bruce Schroeder’s phone started blasting its ringtone. What was it? Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.”

First released in 1984, the tune was Greenwood’s attempt to forge a new patriotic anthem for the era of Reagan and cheesy synths. It was instantly dated and for years fell into obscurity…until it was revived during the Gulf War during the early ’90s…and again after the September 11 attacks. It was dusted off once more by Donald J. Trump, who has long used it as his walk-up song during rallies.

Was this is a giveaway — an accidental admission of Schroeder’s political biases? Or did he simply just really dig the song? Either is likely. And a quick perusal on social media reveals both left and right think Schroeder is against them.

Still, the moment — which would seem too on-the-nose in a work of fiction — did not escape people’s notice:

(Via The Daily Beast)

More than three years after Mac Miller’s tragic death, all three of his accused drug dealers have reached plea agreements for fentanyl distribution in connection to the rapper’s death. The last of the trio, Ryan Reavis, who is a 38-year-old resident of Lake Havasu, Arizona, agreed to plead guilty to the charge, according to Rolling Stone, who cited an announcement from the United States Attorney’s Office for Central District of California. Reavis was accused of giving counterfeit pills to a drug dealer who then sold them to Miller. According to the court records, the pills were given to Miller just two days before he passed away on September 7, 2018.

Reavis’ plea comes just weeks after the two other accused drug dealers in the case — Stephen Andrew Walter and Cameron James Pettit — pled guilty to the fentanyl distribution charge in the case. Walter “knowingly directed” Reavis to sell the pills to Pettit, who delivered them to Miller. “Reavis admitted in his plea agreement to knowing that the pills contained fentanyl or some other controlled substance,” the United States Attorney’s Office said on Wednesday. “In fact, the pills contained fentanyl.”

The United States Attorney’s Office says Petit’s case is still pending despite it being previously reported that he reached a plea agreement. In the coming weeks, Reavis and Walter are expected the officially plead guilty before a judge in Los Angeles.

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

Since Democrats took control of all three bodies of government, they’ve accomplished…well, not much. Despite lofty ambitions, they’ve ran into a number of obstacles, most prominently the filibuster and the mere two (2) intransigent Democrats who refuse to help them kill it so their party can get stuff done. One of the Democrats’ wishes is to enact the Freedom to Vote Act, which gives the nation’s election system a badly needed overhaul. But they can’t get that passed either. So the buck has been passed to celebrities, who did the best thing they could do drum up support for the bill: They made a parody ad.

It’s called “Electile Dysfunction,” and it stars a handful of famous faces making wink-winky sex jokes about our tragically broken system. The most prominent is MCU star and proud activist Mark Ruffalo, who joins Jake Johnson and Property Brothers’ Jonathan Scott as “regular people” hoping that voting was easier and better represented the people.

“Trouble maintaining a strong coalition? Tired of the parade of disappointing performances? Then you might be one of the 330 million Americans suffering from electile dysfunction,” the narrator crows.

“I get all excited about a new bill, a debate gets all hot and heated, we’ll move things to the floor, and right when we’re about to achieve a joint resolution — bam! A total government shutdown, premature capitulation,” one actor bemoans.

“Filibusting just doesn’t feel good anymore,” Ruffalo mourns.

There’s a lot of erectile dysfunction jokes to be had here, but it also makes a strong case for why people should care that the bill passes — which will almost certainly require axing that pesky filibuster. Should the Freedom to Vote Act pass, it promises, as per the fake ad, to end “your tired, sagging, floppy relationship with politics by making Election Day a holiday across the country, banning gerrymandering, expanding voter access and increasing integrity, blocking foreign interference, empowering everyday citizens and healing our democracy.”

Then again, the rapid-fire boilerplate warning at ad’s end claims the bill is “only for democracies healthy enough for electoral activity.” And that might not be America much longer…or it might not even be America right now.

You can watch the joke ad in the video above.

(Via The Hill)

After Monday’s night game against the Nuggets, where Nikola Jokic shoved Heat forward Markieff Morris from behind, no Miami players spoke to the media. Jokic did, saying he “felt bad,” but felt he needed to protect himself after what was deemed a Flagrant 2 from Morris. There has been plenty of chatter over the last two days about the shot from Jokic, with some like Shaq and Chuck saying they “liked” Jokic responding in that way, even if it was suspension worthy, and Jokic’s brothers getting into it with Markieff’s twin, Marcus, on Twitter.

In some of the first comments from a Heat player about the incident, longtime veteran and team captain Udonis Haslem said that he doesn’t believe that Jokic is a dirty player and that he wants Miami to “move on” from the incident.

“Obviously in a situation like that, alpha males and reactions take over,” Haslem said per the Miami Herald. “A couple of days later, we all want what’s best for everybody. I don’t think Jokic is a bad guy. I actually love him as a basketball player and I love him as a person. I think he’s a really good guy. I think emotions just got the best of everybody.”

“Looking at it a day or two later, I wish it wouldn’t have gone down the way it went down. But I don’t think he’s a bad guy, nor do I think he’s a dirty player. I’m also a guy who has definitely let emotions get the best of me sometimes. But I never hit nobody in the back, and I think that’s where it got a little murky. But I don’t think he’s a bad guy, and I don’t think he meant to hurt anybody. We don’t hold grudges, so it’s time to move on.”

Jokic was suspended for one game for the shove, while Morris and Heat guard Jimmy Butler were fined for their respective roles in the kerfuffle. Morris won’t play on Wednesday against the Lakers due to whiplash suffered from the shove.

These two teams play again near the end of November, so it will be worth keeping that game circled on the calendar simply because of this incident. However, if a veteran with the cache of Haslem says his side needs to move on, then perhaps there won’t be as much reason to worry about the rematch getting too physical.

Click to download here.

Kevin (Finnerty) Can Wait

On the latest Pod Yourself A Gun, Washington Post political reporter Dave Weigel joins Matt and Vince to talk about The Sopranos season six A, episode two, “Join the Club.”

This is the beginning of the Kevin Finnerty saga. Purgatory is a conference in Costa Mesa, heaven is a light in the distance, hell is the wildfire just outside of Costa Mesa, and the Buddhists are pissed about the scams you’re running, because David Chase is just a self-aware Janice.

Around here we of course appreciate Edie Falco, but please, put some respect on Robert Iler’s name as well. Tony, hanging on by a thread after catching a bullet with Pussy Malanga’s name on it, is all tubed up in a hospital bed and that has Carmela and AJ feeling big feelings. Dave and the PYAG boys agree, Iler and Falco are making these scenes, which are essentially monologues because Tony is in a coma, feel real as hell. Or at least as real as a fire outside of Costa Mesa.

There has been a lot of talk about what kind of adult AJ would be, but Dave has the freshest take, which is that AJ would think Elon Musk was cool and become an early Tesla investor, resulting in a fortune, and eventual death on Dan Bilzerian’s yacht.

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-Description by Brent Flyberg.

Earlier this month, it was reported that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — the already delayed sequel to one of the MCU’s most popular entries — was going to take a break from filming. Why? Because one of its stars suffered an on-set injury and required a long convalescence. But a new report by The Hollywood Reporter about vaccine mandates on industry sets suggests that the sequel’s production may (or may not!) run into yet another snag.

That person is Letitia Wright, the Guyanese-born British actress who played break-out fan favorite Shuri, badass techie sister to the late Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa. She was promoted to a more prominent role in the follow-up, which had to do some major restructuring after the death of the first film’s star. In August she injured herself mid-shoot, and went back to her native England to recover. Production proceeded to shoot everything they could that didn’t involve her. By early November they’d run out of things to film, and everyone went on hiatus until the new year, when Wright could return.

Problem is: Wright is, according to sources, not vaccinated. And that could create a new headache, as per THR:

Now, a return to the U.S. for a possible shoot in Atlanta, where Wakanda Forever is based, could be an issue. On Nov. 8, the CDC implemented rules that require all non-immigrant, non-citizen air travelers to the U.S. be fully vaccinated and provide proof of vaccination status before boarding a plane. Wright is not a U.S. citizen. Disney declined to comment.

This has not been officially confirmed either way, though Wright made headlines late last year for spouting views skeptical of COVID-19 vaccines. In October, a THR report cited sources claiming Wright was spouting anti-vaxx views on set, which Wright later denied. There’s a possibility she is vaccinated. After all, she was filming in America up until her injury. In that case, there’s no need to worry about any future delays or dramatic rewrites.

In the meantime, Wright’s rep released a statement to THR about her current status. “Letitia has been recovering in London since September from injuries sustained on the set of Black Panther 2 and is looking forward to returning to work early 2022,” they wrote. “Letitia kindly asks that you keep her in your prayers.”

(Via THR)

Duke freshman Paolo Banchero could very well be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft next summer. The big man out of Seattle was nothing short of sensational in his college debut against Kentucky in the Champions Classic on Tuesday night, putting up 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting, with seven rebounds and two steals in a 79-71 Blue Devils win.

While there was plenty of hype about Banchero coming into Duke, his performance on national TV in a spotlight game against another blue-blood program raised his profile immensely. Where he goes at the top of next year’s draft will be up for debate for the next 8 months, but there’s no doubt that he’ll be headed to the Association soon. While he’s been in the spotlight for some time as a prospect and is set to be a pro within a year’s time, he’s still an 18-year-old who can’t help but be giddy when his favorite players show him some love.

After his performance on Tuesday night, LeBron James posted a pic of Banchero lacing up a pair of Duke PE LeBron 11s on his Instagram, saying Paolo is “so tough.”

For the normally calm and cool Banchero, he posted to Twitter in giddy excitement, noting that people will have to excuse him for being a fan for a minute because “my GOAT” posted his pic and showed love.

It’s a cool moment and is also a reminder of just how long James has been in the league. Banchero was born in November of 2002, so he has never watched the NBA without LeBron in it. Next year he’ll get to go up against his favorite player on the court, but for now he can enjoy being on the King’s radar.

More than three months after Nicki Minaj and her husband Kenneth Petty were sued for harassment byJennifer Hough, who accused the latter of rape, Petty has made a new public statement on the matter. He claims that his interaction with Hough was consensual and insists that he did not rape her. Court documents obtained by XXL say that “Defendant [Petty] denies that he ever raped Plaintiff [Hough] and Defendant denies all of Plaintiff’s allegations of improper conduct and/or sexual assault.” It continues, “Rather, the sexual encounter between Plaintiff and Defendant was consensual and Plaintiff was a willing participant.”

The document continues, “Petty pled guilty to attempted rape, despite his innocence, because he was a scared 16-year-old kid and was told that his sentence would be 20 years to life if he did not plead guilty to attempted rape.” The 1995 conviction led to the New York State Board of Examiners of Sex Offenders’ decision to designate him as a Level 2 offender. However, in late 2019 he was arrested for failing to register as an offender, a charge he pled guilty to in September of this year. He faces a maximum sentence of ten years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release.

Hough’s attorney Tyrone A. Blackburn issued a response to XXL about Petty’s comments. “A willing participant would not run 20 blocks to school after a sexual encounter and tell the school security/police that she was raped,” Blackburn said. “If Petty believed Ms. Hough was a willing participant he should have never plead guilty to attempted rape.”

Petty’s comments come after a judge ruled that Nicki Minaj would not have to pay a $20 million judgment in the harassment case.