After a story at The Athletic dropped on Friday morning detailing how John Collins and Clint Capela criticized Trae Young during a Hawks film session earlier this week, Atlanta media asked Young about his response to the situation, and Young responded that nothing out of the ordinary happened at those conversations are part of a young team getting better.
Young struggled in the next game he played on Wednesday, taking only nine shots in a home loss to Charlotte, but his words on Friday indicated he may have moved on.
It’s hard to tell here where one fissure begins and another ends. Tension between Young and head coach Lloyd Pierce has been reported on multiple times over the course of the past two seasons, and of course Collins’ contract extension negotiations became public prior to the NBA deadline last fall as he turned down a new deal in order to face restricted free agency in 2021. Pierce in the past has expressed that he wants to give Young the space to develop as a leader.
It is also clearly true that Young plays a style that does not involve sophisticated offensive sets and can often phase his teammates out of the offense. Young is not the only one in the NBA who plays this way, but unlike guys like James Harden or Luka Doncic, it has not led to his team making the postseason. However, Atlanta is also just 4-4 and still has a solid shot at being in the playoff conversation in the East, so they have plenty of runway to figure things out if this ends up being put in the past.
Friday is a sad day for Jeopardy! fans, as the syndicated game show is set to air the final episode Alex Trebek taped as host before he died of pancreatic cancer in November. Many have paid tribute to Trebek as his final episodes air, including past champions and those who have appeared on the show in the past.
But former Jeopardy! champion and Greatest Of All Time Tournament participant Brad Rutter is doing his best to lighten the mood with a great story that showcased a little-seen side of the late game show host. People detailed a radio interview Rutter gave with WOGL on Thursday where the show veteran described a moment from the Ultimate Tournament of Champions in 2005. Back then, Rutter was not as veteran a big-game Jeopardy! player, and the tournament pitted him against Jeopardy! GOAT Ken Jennings and Jereme Vered.
Rutter explained that the trio were nervous before the match and someone joked that to ease tensions someone should should play without their pants on, a riff on some common advice to imagine a crowd naked if you’re nervous. But it turns out that Trebek got wind of the joke and wanted to play along.
“What we didn’t know was that our mics were live, and Alex heard us,” Rutter said.
When the announcer introduced Trebek, the longtime host decided to have some fun with the three competitors. “Alex came out with no pants on,” Rutter recalled.
Rutter added that Trebek’s sense of humor came out “even more so in person than you would see on the show.”
“You’re really just not allowed to talk about much,” he told WOGL of being on Jeopardy! “I was lucky enough to be on the show so often that I got to know Alex a little.”
Trebek’s humor has appeared on the show in other forms over the years, but it was a notable break from the usually stoic character he displayed as trivia master on the show. It’s what made those SNL sketches about celebrities messing with Will Ferrell’s Trebek so funny: the idea of the Jeopardy! host suffering on their account. Rutter also co-signed another good Trebek story earlier in the week that spoke to who the show host was.
It is nice, though, to know that Trebek was also willing to risk a bit of public embarrassment in order to deliver a joke. And it’s a lovely example of why so many people over the years recall their time on Jeopardy! and around its legendary host so fondly.
The holidays can take a real toll on us. And we’re not just talking about the stressors and anxiety that come from spending time (even via Zoom) with uncles, aunts, cousins, and our immediate families. We’re also referencing all the eating and drinking that December is known for.
One too many scoops of grandma’s famous lasagna or that extra pint of barrel-aged stout can make a person feel the need for a seasonal detox.
But we’re not the types to swear off alcohol until February 1st. We like our moderation in moderation. Instead, we’ll spend the weeks (and maybe months) after the holidays taking it a little easier in the alcohol department. To help in that endeavor, we went to the pros — asking a handful of our favorite bartenders to tell us the best low alcohol beers to drink this January.
It’s hard to find a session beer that’s not an IPA. Bell’s Brewery makes a beer called Oarsman Ale. It was kind of like a berlinerweiss, a classic German-style that’s low abv and a little tart. It has this delightful, ghostly body, making it the ultimate palate cleanser.
This beer is absolutely delicious with food.
Cass Fresh Beer
Cass
ABV: 4.5%
Cari Hah, formerly bar manager at Café Alcove in Loa Angeles
My go-to low alcohol beer is Cass Fresh Beer. It is a Korean lager that is crisp and refreshing. Perfect to wash down Korean barbecue.
Slightly Mighty IPA by Dogfish Head is a solid low-ABV beer coming in at 4% ABV and only 95 calories, that’s fewer calories than a white claw and a heck of a lot more flavor and pizzazz. Delicately hoppy on the nose and light and fruitful on the palate, with hints of pineapple and mango.
For low-ABV and low-calorie beer, I’ve found Slightly Mighty to be a great choice – it’s light but still carries a wallop of flavors, giving you the joy of a good beer without the guilt.
Michelada from Speciation Artisan Ales and Untitled Art is one of my favorite crushable beers. Lime, Tabasco, and salt are perfectly balanced to create this sour with a flavorful punch and an ABV of 5%.
My favorite sessionable beer I’ve ever had is New Glarus’ Spotted Cow Farmhouse Ale. It has a fairly intricate flavor profile for being such a drinkable beer. It has the floral, grassy notes of a saison, the malt profile of a hefeweizen, and a nice creamy texture. Saisons and hefeweizens are my two favorite styles, so that feels like a no-brainer.
I sometimes wish I lived in Wisconsin solely to have regular access to this beer.
WellBeing Heavenly Body
Heavenly Body
ABV: 0%
Andy Printy, beverage director at Chao Baan in St. Louis
Heavenly Body from WellBeing brewing is a great 0% brew made for those who want a solid beer, but none of the ABV. Made in the style of American wheat and kissed by both Cascade and German traditional hops. It’s crisp, citrusy, and has a great, balanced finish.
54-40 Kascadia Kolsch
54-40
ABV: 4.8%
Justin Moses, wine director at Sand Valley in Nekoosa, Wisconsin
Kascadia Kolsch from 54-40 Brewing Co. out of Washington state is a refrigerator staple. Crisp, clean, and always fresh. Floral hops and slight maltiness lets you know that you’ve got a quality brew in your hand. And, at 4.8% ABV, you can easily have a couple after work or on the golf course.
Bell’s Light-Hearted Ale is probably my go-to for a crushable low ABV beer. With pine tree and some subtle citrus from the hops, but not an overwhelming hoppy characteristic, it’s balanced and easy to drink. You can definitely down quite a few before your day starts to go sideways.
Sometimes the best new R&B can be hard to find, but there are plenty of great rhythm and blues tunes to get into if you have the time to sift through the hundreds of newly released songs every week. So that R&B heads can focus on listening to what they really love in its true form, we’ll be offering a digest of the best new R&B jams that fans of the genre should hear every Friday.
Jazmine Sullivan — Heaux Tales
Only a week into the year and Jazmine Sullivan has blessed the R&B world with Heaux Tales, her latest project after nearly 5 years of laying low on the scene with only single drops here and there such as the powerful “Insecure” featuring Bryson Tiller off 2017’s Insecure Soundtrack. Jazmine has been getting everyone ready for this moment. “Pick Up Your Feelings” and “Girl Like Me” with H.E.R. were all the signs of what Heaux Tales turns out to be. Upon closer listen, fans will find more goodness on her honest collection of songs including “Price Tags” featuring Anderson .Paak and the sensual “On It” with Ari Lennox’s buttery vocals. Heaux Tales was named as one of Uproxx’s Most Anticipated Albums of 2021, and here it is.
Dvsn — “Use Somebody”
“Use Somebody” is Dvsn’s beautiful interpretation of rock band Kings Of Leon’s Grammy Award-winning hit song from 2008. The song is yet another sneak peek into what the OVO Sound duo has in store with their forthcoming project, Amusing Her Feelings. Nineteen85 softens the vibe and Daniel takes the energy to a different space in a way that only these two could have re-imagined.
Nao — “Antidote” feat. Adekunle Gold
On the vibrant “Antidote,” Nao taps in with Nigerian hitmaker Adekunle Gold and delivers a music video to go with it. “’Antidote’ is the remedy to 2020, it’s a song born out of lockdown which was something that affected everybody’s lives all over the world,” Nao expresses in a statement. “Both Adekunle and I had daughters born weeks apart during this time, they lifted our vibrations and we wanted to share that good energy with the rest of the world.”
VanJess — “Curious”
Sister duo VanJess serves sensuality on a platter with their latest release “Curious” featuring Jimi Tents and Los Angeles’ own Garren. This track follows Ivana and Jessica Nwokike previously released “Slow Down” and “Come Over.”
SZA — “Shirt”
“Shirt” isn’t necessarily a new release from SZA (check out “Good Days” and “Hit Different” for that), it’s merely a snippet of her collaboration with legendary producer Rodney “Dark Child” Jerkins on a loop that she teased back in October. TikTok is currently eating this one up and for good reason. Hopefully, SZA will make this release official.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
It’s one of the most memorable scenes on HBO’s Game of Thrones: Ned Stark is executed by Ser Ilyn Payne for the crime of being too honorable (and also kind of a dummy). Sean Bean, the actor who played Robb, Jon (kind of), Sansa, Arya, Bran, and Rickon’s papa, has previously revealed what Ned’s final words were before losing his head, and in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, he discussed what was going through his mind while shooting the iconic scene.
“It was horror and disbelief — that Joffrey changed his mind [about exiling Ned] — and then resignation and [realizing that he was] seeing his daughter for the last time, Arya,” he said. “I was trying to think of all four [things]. It wasn’t just, ‘Oh God, I’m getting my head chopped off.’ Those mix of feelings is what made it what it was, I suppose.” Bean explained that the beheading scene took a whole day to film, “so you have to just keep focused on the fact that you’re about to meet your death without messing around. I was very hot at the time, so that probably helped. And everybody else’s reactions were fantastic — Cersei and the kids. It was very moving with a lot of pathos in that scene. Then I put my head in the block and I was finished for the day.” And for the series.
Bean has been in a lot of fine television shows and movies, including The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Wolfwalkers, which you should absolutely watch. But his defining role is on a series that he only appeared in nine episodes of. Even Jason Momoa made it longer. That must be weird for Bean, but at least he’s used to it.
Quibi isn’t dead. It simply took a nice nap and needed a new streaming media deal to bring it to the masses. At least, this involves the content on Quibi that was trapped there when the streaming company with more than $1.5 billion in seed money failed amid a pandemic year and a less-than-stellar adoption rate in 2020.
Variety reported a deal between Roku and what’s left of the Icarus’d streaming company that both debuted and died last year. The pact will reportedly bring Quibi’s content to Roku via a free streaming channel that will give a much larger audience access to the quick bites Quibi spent so much money creating.
The problems that sunk Quibi are many, but now those who missed out on giving the platform and its shows a chance will get the opportunity if they own the right streaming device. The deal will put all 75 Quibi shows on the Roku Channel, an ad-supported channel available to millions of users who have smart TVs and other Roku streaming devices:
Financial terms of the pact were not disclosed. A source familiar with the agreement said Roku is paying “significantly” less than $100 million for the Quibi library, confirming an earlier Wall Street Journal report. Rob Holmes, Roku’s VP of programming, said in an interview, “We do think this deal represents a great value.”
“Fundamentally, we think that Quibi has created great, high-quality content,” Holmes told Variety. “It’s a great value proposition for our users… We’re pivoting from Quibi’s SVOD model to an ad-supported model, and this type of new, original content is not usually available for free.”
There are some perks to the deal. Interestingly, Quibi shut down before it had actually debuted all of that original content, including a Stephen Spielberg horror series that will now debut on Roku Channel:
More than a dozen Quibi shows will debut on the Roku Channel for first time. Those include “The Now,” a suicide-themed comedy from Peter Farrelly, and “Slugfest,” a docuseries based on the story of Marvel vs DC comics from the Russo brothers. Another evidently will be “Spielberg’s After Dark,” a horror series from Steven Spielberg (which originally was designed to be viewed only after sunset on Quibi).
At the very least, it means the shows will all see the light of day and screens that do not fit into people’s pockets. And it’s an opportunity to finally find out what was going on with all of those viral clips of Rachel Brosnahan getting buried with a golden hand. Finally, 2021 begins to bring us closer together instead of further tearing us apart.
Like many artists, failed erotic wallpaper salesman Nick Cave was forced to cancel a tour in 2020. He made the best of his time, though, telling fans in a post on his website that it was “time to make a record.” Sure enough, it looks like that’s just what he’s done, as Cave noted in his latest dispatch.
In a new post, Cave wrote about how he’s been doing during lockdown, calling the experience “weirdly familiar” since he “was a heroin addict for many years and self-isolating and social distancing were the name of the game.” He also wrote about how he has missed performing and concluded the post, “Anyway, as promised in my last issue, I did go into the studio — with [Warren Ellis] — to make a record. It’s called Carnage.”
Read Cave’s full note below.
“In many ways lockdown has felt weirdly familiar, like I’ve experienced it before. I guess this should come as no surprise as I was a heroin addict for many years and self-isolating and social distancing were the name of the game. I am also well acquainted with the mechanics of grief — collective grief works in an eerily similar way to personal grief, with its dark confusion, deep uncertainty and loss of control. For me, lockdown feels like a state mandated version of more of the same — a formalisation of the kind of hermit-like behaviour to which I’ve always been predisposed, and so, as difficult as it has been to see the devastation and anguish caused by the pandemic — including to the lives of those close to me, and many who have written into The Red Hand Files — I have been doing okay.
I am surprised, though, at just how hard not being able to play live has felt. I have come to the conclusion that I am essentially a thing that tours. There is a terrible yearning and a feeling of a life being half-lived. I miss the thrill of stepping onto the stage, the rush of the performance, where all other concerns dissolve into a pure animal interrelation with my audience. I miss the complete surrender to the moment, the loss of self, the physicalness of it all, the feeding frenzy of communal love, the religion, the glorious exchange of bodily fluids — and The Bad Seeds themselves, of course, in all their reckless splendour, how I miss them. As much as sitting behind my desk can bring me a lot of joy, and the imagination can be a stimulating, even dangerous place, I long for the wanton abandon of the live performance.
Anyway, as promised in my last issue, I did go into the studio — with Warren — to make a record.
Meghan McCain is having a rough week on The View. The daughter of John McCain is doing her best to uphold his conservative legacy but also seems to completely misunderstand what protections the First Amendment allows to citizens of the United States.
McCain has spent her week demanding that Trump voters be respected, then a good portion of them tried to overthrow the seat of government at the behest of Donald Trump. And now it seems she lacks the basic understanding of the very nation’s constitution we’ve seen seditionists try to upend in real-time on Wednesday. Thankfully, a sitting US senator was on the program on Friday and was able to explain the difference between the right to freedom of speech and how it applies to the publishing industry.
The Daily Beast had the details on Friday, sharing video of McCain learning about the Bill of Rights. The View later tweeted the video as well, as McCain asked a pointed question of Chris Murphy, a senator from Connecticut, about Josh Hawley’s book being canceled by Simon and Schuster a day after he helped incite a riot on Capitol Hill that, as of this publication, has left five people dead.
McCain called Hawley’s book being canceled “an echo of the New York Times canceling senator Tom Cotton over his national guard op-ed,” a writing the paper of record published in which a sitting senator encouraged state-sanctioned brutality against nonviolent protesters advocating for better treatment of people of color by police. Murphy didn’t hold back in responding to what’s often a common trope among the right: that being deplatformed by corporations for violent and dangerous rhetoric is somehow a First Amendment issue.
MORE: Sen. @ChrisMurphyCT: “Nobody’s robbing Josh Hawley of his First Amendment rights. He can go and speak on the Senate floor. He can go speak on a street corner. Nobody’s locking him up for saying what he thinks, for leading an insurrection against the federal government.” https://t.co/ktET7lfvnp
“Nobody’s robbing Josh Hawley of his First Amendment rights. He can go and speak on the Senate floor,” Murphy said. “He can go speak on a street corner. Nobody’s locking him up for saying what he thinks, for leading an insurrection against the federal government.”
Murphy noted that Simon and Schuster is a public company, and therefore Hawley’s First Amendment rights are not being infringed upon by a business decision.
“They’ve made a decision that it is going to hurt their business to be associated with Josh Hawley,” Murphy said. “You have to accept the consequences of engaging in such outrageous behavior as riling up people to march on the United States Capitol. And so if that means you can’t make money off of a book, then so be it.”
McCain, who days earlier advocated for Hawley to be the next president of the country he tried to incite a mob against, called for “unification” and asked how Murphy can help achieve that. But the senator made it clear he wasn’t the one trying to overthrow the will of the people and declare Donald Trump president after he lost a fair and free election.
“Let’s talk to Josh Hawley about that,” Murphy said. “He had an opportunity on Wednesday night to withdraw his objection. The Senate was almost burned down, and he had a decision to make afterwards. He could have withdrawn his seditional objection to Pennsylvania, he knew he wasn’t going to win, but he kept going after four people had died.
“You want to talk about bringing this country together,” Murphy continued, “Then let’s hold the people accountable.”
Murphy was asked if Hawley should resign, and he didn’t outright call for it on Friday. Others, including those in the Senate, have said just that.
!!!! Sen. Murray, No. 3 Senate Democrat: “Any Senator who stands up and supports the power of force over the power of democracy has broken their oath of office. Senators Hawley and Cruz should resign.”
Anyway, McCain sounded a bit miffed about how things went on Twitter on Friday.
Grateful for my job @TheView and the privilege to (try and) speak on behalf of conservatives in America. That being said – what a week to return from my bliss bubble of maternity leave. Going to do nothing but cuddle Liberty all weekend and count my blessings.
Netflix’s latest release, Pieces Of A Woman, is proof that arthouse filmmakers still haven’t tired of exploring grief. It’d be one thing if they had something interesting or entertaining to say about grief (and some do, Hesher and Babyteeth come to mind) but so often it seems filmmakers just want an excuse to stage those oh-so-cinematic moments, like a tear falling gently onto a photograph, or Shia Labeouf screaming “WHYYYYY!” at a frozen harbor. Some people just want to see the world wallow.
Pieces of a Woman, from Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó (White God) and writer Katá Weber (executive produced by Martin Scorsese, whatever that means) stars Vanessa Kirby and Shia Labeouf as a Boston married couple who lose their baby during a home childbirth. They then spend the rest of the film doing grief-y stuff, like lashing out at family members, descending into self-destructive vice, and screaming at harbors. WHY, HARBOR, WHY???
The home birth itself takes a full 30 minutes of screen time, with Vanessa Kirby bellowing to the heavens at every contraction and acting inexplicably doped up in between. It’s a home birth with no drugs administered, so I’m not sure why she seems drunk. It’s one of a handful of odd artistic choices during the sequence, like the frequent focus on Kirby’s very fake-looking stomach, an effect it seems like they could’ve either spent more time constructing or just not shot in so many close-ups. It’s also a little unclear what drew this pair together, Kirby playing the bourgie avocado toast yuppie, LaBeouf the squirrely, blue-collar knucklehead with an unexplained accent.
Playing Kirby’s manic, inexplicably cholo-sounding husband, Sean, LaBeouf seems to have retained a bit of the accent from his previous role, as Creeper in David Ayer’s execrable The Tax Collector (which LaBeouf was actually pretty good in). The out-of-step accent is extra noticeable on account of Kirby’s character being named “Martha.” LaBeouf’s soft, SoCal R pronunciation comes through every time he says her name, which is a lot. MORtha. MORtha? MORtha! MORtha?! Sidenote: how many women under 50 do you know named Martha?
The baby dies, leaving many to wonder whether it was all the fault of their midwife, played by Molly Parker. Emphatic in this belief is Martha’s rich mom, played by Ellen Burstyn, a controlling old money sort who naturally hates Shia LaBeouf and his overemphasized cholo Rs. Iliza Shlesinger as Martha’s sister, Bennie Safdie from Uncut Gems as her brother-in-law, and Succession‘s Sarah Snook as her cousin/lawyer round out a pretty nice ensemble cast. (Netflix must call Iliza Shlesinger every time they have a spare character from Boston.)
From there, the movie goes on to combine excruciating symbolism with the usual tropes of arthouse grief. Sean and Martha engage in some light infidelity (including a hilarious extended closeup of Shia LaBeouf’s pubic patch, the Muff LaBeouf, as I call it), and Martha proceeds to: 1. smash their framed ultrasound pictures 2. pop an exercise ball with the lit end of her cigarette (what’s the opposite of “pregnant” with symbolism?) 3. and take up apple seed cultivation as a hobby (get it, man? she’s creating life!). If I never saw another oh-so-symbolic art movie moment involving an apple I could die a happy man.
At one point, Ellen Burstyn gets to deliver a lengthy monologue about her past as a Holocaust baby, which slowly turns into a parable about how the grieving Martha should act. The speech is fitfully compelling, as it always is watching Burstyn chew scenery, but so overly dramatic and out of left field that it’s a little reminiscent of Mike Myers’ parody Oscar monologue in Wayne’s World. And another thing! I! Never! Learned! To Read!
LaBeouf’s character, meanwhile, a recovering alcoholic construction worker, is manic, borderline abusive, and seemingly always on the verge of becoming unhinged. He’s arguably the most compelling element of the film, even as he seems like might’ve wandered in from a different movie. He teeters on the cusp of real violence and comes frighteningly close, but it feels almost like he spooked the filmmakers in the process. Eventually, they sort of just shunt his character aside and carry on with the rest of the movie.
There’s a courtroom drama sequence involving the midwife that briefly threatens to turn Pieces of A Woman interesting, but even that soon dissolves into corny grief clichés and ends before it can really get going. The film ultimately concludes with arguably the most groan-worthy apple visual. Perhaps as the filmmakers’ way of saying, “So, guys? How do you like them apples?”
Personally, I think if we’re going to spend 30 minutes watching a woman give birth to a dead baby, we deserve more justification than a few good Ellen Burstyn scenes and a bushel of apple metaphors. Come for the grieving, stay for Shia LaBeouf’s pubes.
‘Pieces Of A Woman’ premieres January 8th on Netflix. Vince Mancini is on Twitter. You can access his archive of reviews here.
WandaVision will officially launch the MCU’s Phase Four with next Friday’s Disney+ premiere, which is reported to be a double-dip of episodes. Whether we actually get two episodes (out of the total of nine) remains to be seen, but Jimmy Kimmel is not thrilled with not being able to see a preview screener before interviewing the man who embodies Vision, Paul Bettany. Given that Kimmel can’t see it while working for the same parent company as Disney+, yup, it sure says a lot about Disney and Marvel Studios’ continued commitment to keeping things airtight to avoid spoilers.
Still, Kimmel couldn’t resist theorizing and bouncing ideas off Bettany on Thursday evening. At around the 8:00 mark above, the host guessed that the entire show doesn’t stick around in sitcom land (although it starts in a Dick Van Dyke-esque manner), and Bettany surprisingly confirmed this hunch. To Kimmel’s delight, the actor responded, “That’s 100 percent correct.”
Tell us more, Paul Bettany. He did: “We hurtle through the decades, and we hit different genres of sitcoms and then Vision begins to think that this is getting a little weird, you know. And in the end, you end up in full, MCU action movie.” There was no further comment on whether we’ll hear anything else about Vision’s anatomy, and it’s doubtful that we’ll see anything visually confirmed here. Then again, Disney was alright with Avengers: Endgame‘s tribute to “America’s Ass,” so we might hear a few jokes in that regard. Truly, anything can happen.
WandaVision gets funky on Disney+ on January 15.
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