While you probably did not manage to write your own King Lear during the pandemic, Sylvester Stallone was apparently hard at work over the last few months making a new cut of Rocky IV. And now the director’s cut of the 1985 film is coming to theaters for one night later this fall.
Stallone wrote, directed and starred in the Rocky Balboa film more than 35 years ago, but a new version of the film is apparently ready for screening and features 40 minutes of newly-restored content. As Deadline detailed, MGM and Fathom Events announced on Thursday that a remastered director’s cut of Rocky IV will premere in theaters on November 11, with it available to stream online afterward.
Stallone will show a live Q&A in select Fathom locations nationwide along with a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the recut film. Tickets are on sale today, and a complete list of theater locations are available on the Fathom Events website.
The movie is very much a Red Scare flick framed by the Cold War, so it will be interesting to see how that story is altered after the fact. The news of the Fathom event came with a new trailer for the classic film, which you can watch above. There’s no real indication of what the movie’s new footage will include or how it will reframe the film, but for fans of the series it’s certainly a must-watch to see what’s new. Unless it means they remove all those beloved robot scenes that Stallone reportedly wants to get rid of.
Sierra Nevada/Jack’s Abby/Big Storm/Founders/istock/Uproxx
By now, you’ve probably heard that Oktoberfest was canceled for the second straight year. Let’s hope you didn’t book a hotel and flight in hopes of hoisting giant steins of Spaten, Paulaner, or Augustiner — it’s not going to happen until 2022. But don’t worry, just because the official festivities aren’t taking place doesn’t mean that you can’t celebrate the 211th anniversary of the world’s biggest beer fest with a few brews and some singing of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”
Since you can’t actually travel to Munich this year to enjoy a drunken bacchanal, why not try an American Oktoberfest-style beer from a local craft brewer? We can assure you, few reach the heights of the Munich originals but American Oktoberfest beers bring their own vibe to the table — one that’s defnitely worth checking out.
We asked a handful of well-known bartenders to help you find the best American-made craft beers to pair with sweet mustard, sausage, big pretzels, lederhosen, and dirndls. Check them all out below and click on the prices to give them a try.
Great Lakes Oktoberfest is my go-to Oktoberfest beer. Characteristically malty and round but with a slightly higher ABV it is a bit dry compared to the slightly heavy mouth feel expected from most Oktoberfest beers.
Vonn Trapp Oktoberfest
Von Trapp
Chandra Richter, vice president of beverage development and chief mixologist at Drinkworks
Von Trapp makes a great Oktoberfest beer. It features nice toffee and caramel notes and finishes with a bit of sweetness. I love the body of this beer and the sweeter notes are well balanced by the subtle hops. I think it’s one of the best beers to kick off the fall season.
Victory Festbier
Victory
Sue Stia, bartender at TPC Jasna Polana in Princeton, New Jersey
Victory Festbier is a perfect autumn Oktoberfest beer. It’s filled with great fall flavors. The slight sugary, vanilla flavor makes it very drinkable. It’s a rich, sweet, malty beer I look forward to every year.
Highland Clawhammer
Highland
Robbie Robinson, sommelier and mixologist at The Ballantyne in Charlotte, North Carolina
Highland Brewing’s Clawhammer has to top the list of the best American Oktoberfest beers. It’s light and crisp with honey and bread characteristics on the palate. Quite a bit of toasted vanilla on her nose.
Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest
Sierra Nevada
Emily Lawson, bartender and founder of Pink House Alchemy in Fayetteville, Arkansas
Sierra Nevada’s Oktoberfest beer is just right to initiate the fall season. It is an amber Marzen, which is a traditional German beer. It’s malty, hoppy, a little sweet, and a little bitter, it’s all the right things for the changing of the seasons.
Karl Strauss Oktoberfest
Karl Strauss
Stephen George, director of outlets and bartender at 20 | Twenty Grill in Carlsbad, California
I’m going to stick with a San Diego classic, Karl Strauss Oktoberfest. It’s very traditional, Bavarian in style, and that’s what Oktoberfest is all about — tradition. malty, slightly sweet, and perfect for fall.
My favorite American Oktoberfest beer is from Founders Brewing Co. I’ve been very impressed with beers coming out of Michigan as a whole and this one does not disappoint. Malty with a slight sweetness, and flavors of toast, biscuit, and caramel are present with some light hops for balance. Founders import the malt and hops directly from Germany for this seasonal beer offering.
It’s a very approachable Oktoberfest beer for those new to the style.
Saranac Octoberfest
Saranac
Katherine Ball, consumer engagement & mixology director at Black Button Distilling in Rochester, New York
Saranac Brewery makes by far the best American Oktoberfest beer. It’s easy to sip on and refreshing, but it has the caramel and malty notes that a Märzen style beer should have.
Big Storm’s Oktoberfest Beer is a definite fall favorite. This beer has a clean, malty finish with sweet flavors of caramel and nutmeg. It’s a great seasonal beer.
Jack’s Abby Copper Legend Festbier is a release that I look forward to every Oktoberfest season. Light toffee malts, red apple, caramel, honey, and bready notes delightfully balanced cinnamon-peppery hop bitterness makes for an enjoyable beer each September.
As a Drizly affiliate, Uproxx may receive a commission pursuant to certain items on this list.
Lizzo has been one of the most vocal proponents of body positivity in pop music in recent memory. As a Black woman of size, she’s been very open about the cultural pressures she’s faced, not only growing up, but even after making it as a global star. So, she took it upon herself to help share the history of twerking with the world, since this ass-shaking dance also represents a major component in her own acceptance of herself. In the talk, she lets fans know that her butt was her least favorite part of her own body, and that embracing twerking was what helped her see it as a positive.
But she also wants to be clear about the rich twerking of history, which was derived from Black people and culture, with a direct parallel to West African dances like mapouka. As Lizzo explains, the dance was carried over to America through the transatlantic slave trade, and she traces it from Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith to Josephine Baker and more. “Black people will not be erased from the history, the creation, and the innovation of twerking,” she asserts. And it’s definitely stars like Lizzo that will make sure this history remains intact. Check out the full talk above.
One of the longest-running tropes in popular entertainment is having a villain with a scarred or disfigured face. Try to think of a horror film where the bad guy doesn’t suffer from some sort of disfigurement.
Candyman has a hook. Freddy Krueger is severely burned. Jason from “Friday the 13th” is bald, burned and disfigured beneath the hockey mask.
It’s also popular in science fiction and adventure films. Darth Vader has to wear a mask to hide his deformity. In Tim Burton’s 1989 “Batman,” Jack Napier becomes The Joker after having an acid bath that leaves him with a bizarre grin. The bad guy in “The Lion King” is named Scar after a mark on his face.
One film franchise that has relied on the disfigurement trope for far too long is James Bond: Raoul Silva with a deformed jaw in “Skyfall,” Le Chiffre’s disfigured eye in “Casino Royale,” and Alec Trevelyan’s scars in “GoldenEye.”
Now, in the latest Bond adventure, “No Time to Die,” 007 faces two villains with facial differences, Rami Malek’s Safin and Christoph Waltz’s Blofeld.
Author and disability advocate Jen Campbell called out the Bond franchise in a recent viral tweet thread:
“[The face is] the #1 part of the body we use for socializing and is strongly tied to our sense of personal identity, so in essence, destroying a person’s face is the equivalent to destroying his or her life,” TV Tropes writes. “This trope can include those who die from the disfigurement, but it’s more effective (and more horrifying) to have the victim live with it,” the site continues.
The problem is that after being bombarded with countless bad guys who have facial irregularities, we begin to associate facial scarring and disfigurement with evil. This leads to discrimination against people with facial differences.
Actor and presenter Adam Pearson, who has neurofibromatosis, says it’s not just about banning villains with scars from TV and film but showing that there can be protagonists and love interests with facial differences, too.
“When the only character with a scar or disfigurement is shown on screen as the villain, it’s perpetuating the use of an old-fashioned and outdated trope,” he told ITV News.
“This isn’t about banning baddies from having scars or telling people not to enjoy a trip to the cinema, it’s about putting a line in the sand and saying now is the time to ensure other characters can be seen on screen with a visible difference too,” he said.
The film was also criticized by Phyllida Swift, the CEO of Face Equality International, an alliance of groups working to promote face equality.
“‘This is not simply an outdated stereotype, or a poor creative choice, this is indicative of a society that doesn’t see facial difference as an equality issue worthy of respect and consideration,” she said in a statement.
“No Time to Die” marks the final performance of Daniel Craig as James Bond. In a few years, there will no doubt be a new 007 and some new villains for us to root against. Maybe a new era will bring fresh ideas and villains who are threatening for more reasons than their appearance.
The Swifties are simply cut from a different cloth. Yes, plenty of fan bases are incredibly active online and obsessive over their favorite artists, but Taylor Swift acolytes are constantly co-creating their meaning around her music. And because she’s blessed with such a fervent fan base, Taylor tends to step in from time to time, too, to let them know she sees their creativity and appreciates it. Well, that’s exactly what happened with one Swiftie, @izzy_1989, took it open themselves to draw up a comparison between Taylor’s two most recent new albums, Folklore and Evermore.
folklore is white wine and evermore is red wine no i cannot explain i will be taking no further questions at this time, your honor
“Folklore is white wine and evermore is red wine,” Izzy wrote. “No i cannot explain. i will be taking no further questions at this time, your honor.” Stylized a bit to fit into a sort of joke format Twitter likes to use, the comparison does really seem to hold up when you think about the albums: Foklore came out in the summer, it’s a little more fresh and sad, sometimes sweet and a bit lighter. Evermore, on the other hand, was a winter release, it’s a lot more country and overall a richer album in some ways, darker and more complex. The comparison is very accurate!
Twitter
And according to her most recent favs on Twitter, Taylor happens to agree! She liked the tweet, making it her first fav since August! And of course it went pretty viral after she gave her co-sign. Now, to pour a nice glass of red wine and play some Evermore.
If your fast food menu go-to is the fried chicken sandwich, you’re living in heaven. Seriously, this is your era. Two years ago, Popeyes dropped a chicken sandwich, it caused absolute pandemonium, and now every fast food restaurant on earth has some offering that hopes to compete with the king (spoiler: in straight-up fast food, no one can; in fast-casual, Popeyes gets washed).
The appetite for chicken sandwiches is so widespread that even Panda Express is flirting with the idea, to some success. So is Taco Bell, to… less success.
We’ve now arrived at the point where the new sandwiches don’t taste like they’re trying to compete with Popeyes anymore. That’s a good thing and Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr’s new Hot Honey Chicken line follows that trend. It takes the chain’s already delicious chicken sandwiches and douses them in a spicy-sweet honey sauce — something Popeyes doesn’t offer. That’s how you score competitive advantage.
Ww set out to try the whole Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr’s line to see if it’s any good. Check our thoughts below!
Carl’s Jr. Hot Honey Chicken
Carl
Predictably, none of the sandwiches look quite as glorious as Carl’s Jr’s marketing material, but we’ll give them a pass for delivering on flavor. The new Hot Honey Chicken line consists of three different sandwiches all featuring Carl’s Jr’s hand-breaded fried chicken: The Hot Honey Chicken Biscuit, the Hot Honey Chicken Waffle Sandwich, and the Hot Honey Chicken Sandwich. They all pretty much sound (and taste) like the same thing, so we’re lumping them all together in a single review rather than tackling each sandwich one at a time.
Let’s get the weakest of the line out of the way first: The Hot Honey Chicken Biscuit. The HHCB features a hand-breaded chicken breast filet doused in sweet honey sauce sitting atop one of Carl’s Jr’s in-house-baked biscuits. Each individual part of the sandwich is good — the biscuit is buttery and crumbly, the sauce strikes a nice balance between sweetness and heat, and the hand-breaded chicken is a juicy crispy winner — but altogether it makes for a long and laborious chew.
The problem is that there isn’t enough going on with this sandwich, and it ends up very dry in your mouth as you work through the crumbly texture. If Carl’s Jr added more honey to combat the dryness, it would be so sickly sweet it would taste overwhelming. So it’s not that this sandwich tastes bad, it’s just that it’s executed poorly. Maybe a truly spicy mayo and two pickles could help. Maybe a douse of honey mustard.
Dane Rivera
The Hot Honey Chicken Waffle sandwich remedies the biscuit’s chewiness issues. Again it’s a simple combination, hand-breaded honey-doused fried chicken on top of a Belgian style waffle bun. The bun is sweetened with some extra maple flavor, and its thinner, less-crumbly form factor serves the chicken better.
It’s not hard to eat this thing. If anything, we could’ve used a thicker waffle. I think the maple and honey compound together to be a little bit too sweet, but if you’re a fan of the combination of sweet and salty this is a winner. I also like the option of being able to eat this one with a knife and fork. It takes the fast food aspect out of it, but it keeps your hands dry and they don’t get sticky. Eating it the normal way will result in sticky hands, so keep that in mind.
Dane Rivera
Now let’s move on to the star of the show — The Hot Honey Chicken Sandwich. I love this thing. Hand-breaded chicken, honey sauce on both ends of a potato bun, two strips of bacon and cheese. Despite this being the only sandwich in the line not intended for the breakfast menu, the Hot Honey Chicken sandwich manages to taste the most like a breakfast sandwich.
The sweet and spicy honey sauce pairs perfectly with the bacon, creating a mixed aroma of maple and smoked qualities that literally smells like breakfast in sandwich form. This sandwich provides more crunch than the other two, too — thanks to the inclusion of bacon. The melted Swiss cheese adds a bit of sweet and nutty flavor to the whole thing, elevating the honey sauce by adding complexity to its one-two punch of sweet and spicy.
The Bottom Line:
Carl’s Jr just delivered us the best breakfast chicken sandwich in all of fast food with the Hot Honey Chicken Sandwich. Was it intended for breakfast? No, but pick it up on your next early morning commute and it’ll be your new morning obsession, we promise.
The other two sandwiches in the line are tasty curiosities, but they’ll leave you feeling like they’re missing something. That something it turns out is a potato bun, bacon, and melted Swiss. This is a winner.
Afropop sensation Burna Boy is on a tear. Not only does he have an upcoming headlining set at the Hollywood Bowl — as the first African artist to ever do so — but he’s steadily been dropping a stream of new music that continues to buoy him past the success of his Grammy-winning album, Twice As Tall. Today’s latest actually features one of his most high-profile collaborations to date, with none other than Polo G joining him on the yearning “Want It All.”
In the video for the collaboration, the two artists take turns flexing about their recent accomplishments, recollecting how hard things used to be, and facing up to the pressure that their current success has created. Of course, Polo G is a rising Chicago rapper who is riding high off the success of his No. 1 album, Hall Of Fame, and just announced his own headlining tour in support of it.
Speaking on the collab, Burna said he’s had his eye on Polo for a minute, and was looking forward to working together. “I’ve been watching him for some time, and I just knew this had to get done, but it had to get done in the perfect way where the whole world gets to feel the reality of both of us,” he said. Check out the video above as both artists bask in the glow.
Wale and J. Cole are a match made in hip-hop heaven, proving as much once again on their J Dilla-sampling new single, “Poke It Out.” The two former XXL Freshmen continue their long history of bringing out the best in each other on their smooth new jam, which interpolates the Jay Dee-produced beat from 1999 debut solo single “Vivrant Thing.”
The original was a huge hit in its own right, giving Q-Tip his highest-charting single to date; Wale and Cole’s version, produced by Cool & Dre, updates the lyrics but keeps a similar theme, letting the two rappers praise the beauty of a female companion with their usual slick, wordplay-laden rhymes. The two also shout out female rappers Coi Leray and Megan Thee Stallion as a way of touting their broad and inclusive tastes.
The single is the latest from Wale’s upcoming album Folarin II, which he also announced is set for release on October 22 through Warner Records. So far, he’s released a pair of other singles: “Angles” and the Mike Jones-sampling “Down South” featuring Texans Maxo Kream and Yella Beezy. From the singles released so far, it appears Wale’s latest album will pay homage to classic hip-hop as he parallels his legacy with those of his musical heroes in his ongoing efforts to prove himself one of the greatest rappers of all time.
Listen to “Poke It Out” above and pre-order Folarin II, out 10/22 on Warner Records, here.
Wale is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Halloween is right around the corner, and this year, many children will get to return to in-person trick-or-treating. Sure, parents should always be careful when dealing with candy from strangers, but this reporter’s overzealous tweet about the dangers of weed edibles is taking it a bit far.
BEWARE: As Halloween gets closer, @BensalemPolice are warning parents to LOOK at your child’s candy before they eat… https://t.co/kiEe8ol4nJ
Her tweet vehemently cautioned parents to “LOOK at you child’s candy before they eat it,” with the added warning that though the snacks “looked like the real thing … ALL are laced with THC.” Laced, really? Has this lady never stepped into a dispensary?
Twitter had some hilarious responses, to say the least, and thus an entire “Halloweed” thread was created:
So parents, the moral of this story is: If you’re out trick-or-treating with your little one and find a piece of candy with that special five-leaf insignia on the package, keep it for yourself. After all, you probably deserve your own kind of “sugar high.”
In early April, the Washington Wizards were 17-32 and seemingly headed for a highly disappointing 2020-21 season. From that point forward, Washington posted a 17-6 record, getting red-hot at the perfect time, and the Wizards earned a trip to the play-in before losing to the Indiana Pacers. Since that time, however, the Wizards have overhauled their roster with Russell Westbrook heading to Los Angeles, and the 2021-22 season will be intriguing as a result, particularly with All-Star guard Bradley Beal returning and Spencer Dinwiddie joining the party in the nation’s capital.
Roster:
Deni Avdija
Bradley Beal
Davis Bertans
Thomas Bryant
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Spencer Dinwiddie
Daniel Gafford
Anthony Gill
Rui Hachimura
Montrezl Harrell
Aaron Holiday
Corey Kispert
Kyle Kuzma
Raul Neto
Isaiah Todd
Cassius Winston
Projected Vegas Win Total: 33.5 wins
Biggest Addition: Spencer Dinwiddie
Dinwiddie played in only three games for the Brooklyn Nets last season before suffering a long-term knee injury. All signs point to a strong recovery, though, and Dinwiddie is only one season removed from averaging 20.6 points and 6.8 assists per game for the 2019-20 Nets. In some ways, he will be called on to “replace” Russell Westbrook (see below!), but Dinwiddie also projects as a strong complement to Bradley Beal and a player that can create for himself and others. Health will be something to monitor, but Dinwiddie is perhaps an undervalued player when he’s operating at 100 percent capacity.
Biggest Loss: Russell Westbrook
Westbrook is now a member of the Lakers, and he had a bit of a strange journey last season. Though he still nearly averaged a triple-double, the former MVP scuffled to a 48 percent true shooting mark before the All-Star break, and Westbrook badly hurt the Wizards on both ends at times. Then, he found his stride, averaging 23.6 points, 13.1 assists, and 12.8 rebounds per game after the break, upping his efficiency to a reasonable range and carrying Washington at times down the stretch. There is a never-ending debate on Westbrook’s value at this point, but his every-night production will be missed.
Biggest Question: What happens in the frontcourt?
Washington’s backcourt is set, at least aside from injury concerns, with Beal and Dinwiddie. Up front, things are a lot less certain. The Wizards have used lottery picks on both Rui Hachimura and Deni Avdija, with both fitting into combo forward roles. 2021 first round pick Corey Kispert is a sweet-shooting wing. Kyle Kuzma headlines the package that arrived for Westbrook, and the Wizards invested a gigantic five-year deal in Davis Bertans. Then, at center, Daniel Gafford is a budding standout, but Washington also has Montrezl Harrell and Thomas Bryant, the latter of which should return from injury after acting as the starter previously. There is talent here, but there is a lot of uncertainty and jockeying to be done.
What Makes This Season A Success
The Wizards seemingly always operate with an eye toward making the postseason. That, of course, is a reasonable goal for a team that made the play-in last season, but Washington’s long-term outlook is a bit muddier. At any rate, Washington’s internal expectations are almost certainly focused on playing postseason basketball, with Beal as a centerpiece and a roster that has intrigue at every position.
What Makes This Season A Failure
Falling way out of the postseason mix could be a blessing in disguise if Washington has some lottery luck. Aside from an extreme outcome, though, it would be rough for the Wizards to flounder, particularly as Beal has a contractual decision to make. Washington can’t afford to be too far off the radar if they want Beal to stick it out, and the team doesn’t haven’t a sure-fire blue-chip roster piece beyond him.
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(she/her) (@izzy_1989_) 
