Category: News

Paul Verhoeven, the eccentric Dutch director of RoboCop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Showgirls, Starship Troopers, and Elle, has made an erotic lesbian nun movie. It’s about time. Benedetta stars Virginie Efira as Benedetta Carlini, a real-life nun (she even has her own Wikipedia page where she’s described as “a Catholic mystic and lesbian nun” — the OG girlboss) who Catches Feelings for another nun. We’ve all been there.

Benedetta premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, where it was greeted with positive reviews (and tweets about a Virgin Mary dildo). “If Benedetta is a joke that Verhoeven is in on, and that is designed to play to those in on it too, we can at least be thankful that it’s a good joke — not that there’s anyone up there to be thankful to,” critic Jessica Kiang wrote for The Playlist.

Here’s the official plot synopsis:

A 17th-century nun in Italy suffers from disturbing religious and erotic visions. She is assisted by a companion, and the relationship between the two women develops into a romantic love affair. Based on Judith C. Brown’s Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy.

Benedetta, which also stars Charlotte Rampling, Lambert Wilson, Daphne Patakia, Olivier Rabourdin, and Herve Pierre, opens on December 3.

Trump’s former National Security advisor Michael Flynn is peddling a new Covid conspiracy theory and it may just be the most bizarre one we’ve heard so far.

Now, just as a reminder, Flynn — once a respected military general — pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about meetings he had with a Russian ambassador. He’s gone on to spread dangerous misinformation about the results of the 2020 Presidential Election and has publicly stated he believes the current pandemic was created specifically to harm Trump during an election year. He should be in prison right now, but, here we are, listening to his absolutely bonkers hysterics on conservative podcast shows.

Flynn guested on one such show this week to try out his latest deep state paranoia pitch and it’s a doozy. Flynn told “The Thrivetime Show” host Clay Clark (via Rolling Stone) that he thinks the government might be sneaking Covid vaccines in our salad dressing. You read that right. Salad dressing, people.

“Somebody sent me a thing this morning where they’re talking about putting the vaccine in salad dressing. Have you seen this? I mean it’s – and I’m thinking to myself, this is the Bizarro World, right? This is definitely the Bizarro World,” Flynn said. “These people are seriously thinking about how to impose their will on us in our society, and it has to stop.”

Flynn is right about one thing: he’s definitely living in his own bizarro alternate reality, but the hogwash about vaccines being added to Hidden Valley ranch packets is just the rantings of a sad man trying to achieve some kind of relevancy after trashing his own reputation by aligning with a badly-spray-tanned despot. Still, the way these people convince others to believe this bullsh*t is by taking a kernel of truth and twisting it to fit their fascist-fighting delusions, so here are the totally unremarkable origins of Flynn’s crackpot theory: According to Snopes, Flynn was most likely referencing a preliminary study from the University of California-Riverside. Scientists there are trying to figure out if they can grow produce containing mRNA material so that vaccines with that technology — like the COVID-19 vaccine — won’t need to be preserved by deep-freezing, meaning we could distribute them more efficiently.

So please, don’t stop putting ranch dressing on things. One, it makes everything taste better, and two, no one should deprive themselves of the simple joys in life right now just because of some fear-mongering hysteria.

(Via Rolling Stone)

The Killers did a, uh, killer performance of “Dying Breed” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last night, where they rocked out in front of a live audience from the roof of 30 Rockefeller Center. In addition to the Imploding The Mirage track, The Killers also bought out a classic, “When You Were Young,” from 2006’s Sam’s Town. Watching Brandon Flowers bust out “When You Were Young” from a skyscraper in New York City? The thought alone is chills-inducing! Watch it all go down above and below.

“I love ‘Blowback,’ ‘Dying Breed’ — it’s strange that we’ve never played these for people yet,” Flowers told Uproxx earlier in this year. “It seems like they’re going to go off.” Flowers also looked back at making Sam’s Town in that interview, telling Steven Hyden, “I had a tough time with Sam’s Town. I was still so young, and emotionally and socially not where I should have been to be doing interviews. I took the bad reviews pretty hard because I loved it so much, and I was so proud of it. Critics were really hard on it, but I do attribute those pretty terrible reviews with the live band that we became because I set out to prove to whoever the critic was coming to the show that night how good this album was. I really think that we became a greater live band because of that.”

The Killers’ latest album, Pressure Machine, is out now via Island Records. Get it here.

Chaos erupted on the set of The View on Friday morning as co-hosts Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro received positive COVID test results live on their and were forced to immediately leave the studio. Vice President Kamala Harris was just moments away from appearing on the daytime talk show for an in-person interview, which only added to the urgency and confusion.

In the clip below, you can see the grave expression on Hostin and Navarro’s faces as they receive the news that they both tested positive and instantly walk off set as Joy Behar and Sara Haines try to discern what’s happening from producers. After Hostin and Navarro leave, an understandably confused Behar tries to keep the show going by bringing out the vice president, but receives the “no” from off-camera.

After cutting to commercial, Behar addresses the elephant in the room by accurately noting that the show is about to become a major news story. She reveals that Hostin and Navarro received positive test results, but they will be fine because they’re both vaccinated “up the wazoo.” Obviously, it was a very serious and potentially dangerous situation, which could have infected the vice president. But, of course, that didn’t stop conservative commentator Tomi Lahren from taking a cheap shot at The View.

“Well, apparently the super health cautious ladies of @TheView may be the super spreaders they lecture you about!” Lahren tweeted.

As is often the case, Lahren was quickly dragged in the replies by users noting that the pandemic would be contained if conservatives like her would stop spreading misinformation and encouraging vaccine hesitancy. Also, it was a pretty low blow even for Lahren.

Few updates have emerged in 21 Savage’s ICE immigration case after he was arrested in 2019 and held for nearly a month while he battled against the agency’s attempts to have him deported under questionable circumstances. However, today, Buzzfeed reported that the rapper recently found out about a warrant stemming from that arrest that was only issued earlier this month. He surrendered to Atlanta police Thursday and was released on bond the same evening.

According to Buzzfeed, the warrant, issued by a local magistrate after being filed on September 7, alleges felony drug possession and weapons possession during the ICE arrest in January of 2019, saying that he threw out a bottle of codeine when he was stopped and also had a handgun in the car. Savage’s attorney, Charles Kuck, told Buzzfeed he believes that the warrant was requested by ICE, which has refused to drop the rapper’s deportation case, to cover its own mistakes.

In a statement, Kuck said, “The warrant appears to have been sought at the behest of ICE, as the warrant was issued in the eve of an Immigration Court hearing in Mr. Joseph’s deportation proceeding, and is based upon events that transpired on the evening that ICE arrested Mr. Joseph over 2 and one-half years ago. There can be no doubt that ICE is seeking to cover its own errors in detaining Mr. Jospeh by pushing trumped-up charges against him and seeks to stop him from obtaining lawful permanent residence in the United States.”

ICE’s deportation case was initially based on felony drug charges which were vacated, on the grounds that 21 overstayed his visa as a child. The Atlanta-based rapper originally immigrated to the US at seven years old with his mother, with the visa expiring when he was 12 or 13. He has since pursued a U visa for his cooperation in a shooting involving a relative and in more recent months, applied for a green card. He has three children who are US citizens.

Adding insult to injury, Savage is scheduled to join J. Cole on his Off-Season tour tonight in Miami, but would have remained close at hand for a hearing over his immigration status on November 1.

Last night, Camila Cabello kicked off the 2021 Billboard Latin Music Awards with a high-energy performance of her latest single, “Don’t Go Yet.” Rocking a sparkly black costume and a high ponytail, Cabello created a spirited atmosphere, complete with an old-school array of dancers, bongo players, guitarists and horns. “It’s giving… Brazilian music inspired dance break for don’t go yet with the familia, by the familia, for la familia,” the singer wrote on social media.

The night’s Billboard Latin Music Awards performers also included sets from Karol G, Marc Anthony, Christian Nodal, Juanes, Natti Natasha, Prince Royce, and more. Rancheras great Paquita la del Barrio likewise received the Lifetime Achievement Award, while other special honors were handed out to Mexican rock act Maná, who got the Icon Award, and reggaeton master Daddy Yankee, who got a Hall of Fame award.

Cabello, of course, also performed “Don’t Go Yet” at the 2021 MTV VMAs. “#DontGoYet is the first song from my next album, Familia,” she wrote of the song in Instagram. “The album’s journey started with @scottharris123 and our makeshift studio in my bedroom in Miami about a year ago. We just had a mic, some MIDI keyboards and guitars! Then we brought it to LA where I met and worked with @mikesabath for the first time. That first day of working together, we wrote this song after listening to old Cuban songs and playing with my dog Tarzan.”

Watch Camila Cabello’s “Don’t Go Yet” performance above.

The mean-girling of Steve Bannon by Roger Stone has been an interesting instance of infighting among the inner MAGA circle, and exactly why that’s happening is becoming more clear. Stone got pissed off when Trump pardoned Bannon for defrauding Trump supporters, and it seems like Stone is all kinds-of worked up at the idea of Bannon skating on punishment, shortly before Stone came under investigation for his alleged role in plotting the insurrection. Well, Bannon kind-of admitted that he did, as many suspected, have a hand in strategizing the failed coup. And now, Bannon has been subpoenaed over Jan. 6 by the House select committee in charge of the investigation.

This should make Roger Stone happy, sure. And it’s also no real surprise that the guy who called for Fauci’s head on a pike would have been all-up in this insurrection business. Well, the new book (Peril) from veteran journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa claims to bring the receipts on what Bannon said to Trump in the lead-up to January 6. Here are some excerpts via CNN:

“‘You’ve got to call Pence off the [expletive] ski slopes and get him back here today. This is a crisis.’ Bannon said, referring to the vice president who was vacationing in Vail, Colorado.

“Bannon told Trump to focus on January 6. That was the moment for a reckoning.

“‘People are going to go ‘What the [expletive] is going on here?’ Bannon believed. ‘We’re going to bury Biden on January 6th, [expletive] bury him.’”

Pence did vacation in Vail over the holidays, so that part checks out, as well as his public declaration that he remains “proud” of his own January 6 actions, which would be the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential win in Congress. Meanwhile, the CNN piece reveals how Bannon and Trump complained to each other about Pence. The pair was not happy, with Trump calling Pence “arrogant” and remarking how he had changed on Trump, and Bannon “agreed.”

All in all, it’s not looking wonderful for Steve Bannon concerning January 6, and Biden has signaled that Trump might be out of luck on the executive-privilege issue, too.

(Via CNN)

A year after being the No. 3 seed and making the Conference Finals, the 2020-21 Celtics took a step back, finishing as the seventh seed before being dominated by the Brooklyn Nets in the first round. Last season promoted several changes in the front office, on the coaching staff and on the roster for the Celtics. The hope has to be that 2020-21 was just an off year in one of the weirdest years in league history.

Roster:

Jayson Tatum
Jaylen Brown
Al Horford
Marcus Smart
Robert Williams
Dennis Schroder
Josh Richardson
Juancho Hernangomez
Grant Williams
Romeo Langford
Enes Kanter
Aaron Nesmith
Payton Pritchard
Jabari Parker
Sam Hauser

Projected Vegas Win Total: 45.5

Biggest Addition: Ime Udoka

There are a few ways to answer this question for Boston. Al Horford could be an answer as he returns to Boston. Dennis Schroder is another considering he is functionally replacing Kemba Walker. But the right answer feels like Ime Udoka, who replaced Brad Stevens (now the Celtics’ general manager) as head coach.

Udoka has a strong pedigree coming from the Gregg Popovich coaching tree and should bring a new voice to a team that might need to take a step forward in the Eastern Conference. He’s also coming into a a situation with All-Star players and an expectation to win right now. Among first-year head coaches, Udoka may be the most interesting to follow over the course of the season considering all that will be thrown at him.

Biggest Loss: Kemba Walker

Walker wasn’t ever really at his Hornets-era peak with the Celtics, largely due to injury issues. But he was still a key piece the last few years and it’s unclear how moving on from him to a point guard rotation of Schroder and Payton Pritchard will impact this team.

Without Walker, it’ll be worth watching to see how Udoka organizes the offense. It seems possible that he leans more on Tatum and Brown to lead the offense and create for others. Schroder is also a good pick-and-roll player, so maybe a Schroder-Horford pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop can be a staple of whatever Boston runs on offense.

It’s also worth noting that replacing Walker goes beyond this year. Schroder is on a one-year deal, so he isn’t locked in for the future like Tatum and Brown are. It seems possible that the offense is built not just for right now, but to succeed if/when Schroder is playing somewhere else in 2022.

Biggest Question: Can Jayson Tatum make another leap?

Depending on who you ask, Jayson Tatum is top-10 to top-20 player in the NBA. Last season, he was heavily impacted by contracting COVID-19 and it feels fair to assume that wasn’t the best version of Tatum. He’s also only 23 years old still and is in the age range where he could take another leap and hit an entire new level as a player. If he ascends right now and puts himself in the MVP race, a top-four (or better) seed could be in play for the Celtics.

What Makes This Season A Success: A deep playoff run

The Celtics have done the hard work — they have two All-Stars and have a fairly deep roster around it. There’s some new pieces coming in and it’s not exactly clear what Horford brings in his return at age 35. Udoka also has to hit for this season to reach its full potential. But a deep playoff run that seems Tatum and Brown lead the team to the Eastern Conference Finals would undoubtedly feel like a success.

What Makes This Season A Failure: An early exit from the playoffs

The Eastern Conference is, at least on paper, better this year. Even so, because they have Tatum and Brown, anything like last season would be a failure for Boston. This team should be, at minimum, in the top-six of the East and have a better shot than last year of getting to the second round at least. If they slip into the play-in tournament again or are bounced early, that’s a problem.

Chvrches have shared a cover of Avril Lavigne‘s 2002 pop-punk power ballad “I’m With You” as part of their Apple Music Home Session recordings, which also came with a new version of “California” from their latest album, Screen Violence. Singer Lauren Mayberry called “I’m With You” a “classic banger-ballad of our times,” in a statement. Check it out below.

Speaking to Apple Music about creating Screen Violence, Mayberry added, “It helped put a lot of things into perspective. The band is normally an amazing but quite chaotic part of our lives. Working on Screen Violence became a really comforting and grounding thing to do because the band was one of the only things that provided us with some sense of normalcy.”

She added: “‘California’ feels like a good illustration of what Screen Violence is about, sonically and lyrically, and we thought it would be fun to reinterpret it in an acoustic format.”

Likewise, the Scottish synth-pop trio recently spoke to Uproxx about making Screen Violence. Mayberry revealed:

“It’s not about horror movies, but it was more like we can build a backdrop and a landscape that you can tell personal stories through. Once we’ve written a few songs and I had a few things under our belt and especially with the aesthetics and the visuals, it was more about the role of women in those stories and the role of women in horror. How can you take those tropes and ideas and use those to tell your stories? And what about being a woman feels horrific? What about it feels violent? How do you live in and around that violence, how can you live through it? What do you do with it when you live in this space? I think that’s been really fun to play with, especially like with the imagery on the record and the imagery in terms of the album artwork and the videos and the visuals. How can you take that genre and bend it to tell your stories?”

Chvrches’ Screen Violence is out now via Glassnote. Stream it here.

Among the hilarious bars dispensed on Remble’s new single “Rocc Climbing” with Lil Yachty, the two rappers issue side-splitting witticisms such as, “I’m a known home wrecker, like Jerry Springer” and “A lot these Instagram hoes look just like aunties.” Look, none of this stuff is very PC, but it is undoubtedly funny, if only for its audacity and not the eye-popping contrast between the two artists’ unusual deliveries.

On one side, Lil Yachty is in full Michigan Boy Boat mode, deploying the marble-mouthed, overstuffed rhyme schemes of his collaborators on that mixtape with his usual, un-enunciated, lethargically mellow flow. On the other, Remble pronounces every phoneme of every word in every bar, which sounds a little like if one of the guys from Big Bang Theory grew up in South Central gangbanging. Drakeo The Ruler‘s influence hovers over the whole thing — and if you’ve never noticed the affinity between the off-kilter cadences of both LA’s emerging underground and Michigan’s, you will never un-hear the similarities now.

“Rocc Climbing” is Remble’s first new single since releasing his debut mixtape It’s Remble this summer. The release considerably raised the San Pedro rapper’s profile, and his association with the never-not-working Drakeo’s Stinc Team more or less ensures that more music is on the way.

Watch Remble’s “Rocc Climbing” video featuring Lil Yachty above.