Category: News

Amazon’s making a play for award season in a big way with One Night In Miami…, a Regina King-directed film centered around Cassius Clay’s defeat of Sonny Liston in 1964. The new trailer released on Monday depicts the theatrical version of the award-winning play of the same name.

The trailer showcases some emotional moments between the men, from the soon-to-be Muhammad Ali (Eli Goree) in the ring battling Liston to tough conversations about the future of the civil rights movement playing out at the time of the film. The movie features Black men from very different fields all experiencing the same struggles because of race, as well as them finding their place in the movement.

The One Night In Miami stage play, written by Kemp Powers, is a fictionalized account of conversations between Malcolm X (played here by Kingsley Ben-Adir), Sam Cook (Leslie Odom Jr.), and Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge) have while in Miami for the Clay fight.

“Everything’s not so black and white like you make it out to be,” Odom’s Cook says at one point in the trailer, interspersed with images from the Clay match and tense music.

“But we are fighting for our lives,” Ben-Adir’s Malcolm X appears to reply, showcasing some of the powerful rhetorical skills that the real-life civil rights icon once had. There’s certainly a lot of drama in the trailer alone, and it’s a conversation that still very much rings true, especially in the months following the second civil rights revival that the U.S.experienced in 2020.

One Night In Miami… starts streaming on Amazon on January 15.

On last week’s Billboard Hot 100 chart (dated January 2), Christmas music dominated. Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” was in the midst of its now-annual return to No. 1, and 24kGoldn and Iann Dior’s “Mood” was the only non-holiday song in the top ten spots of the chart. Across the entire Hot 100 chart, there were 39 holiday songs included on last week’s tally, which is an all-time record.

Now, though, 2021 has arrived and the holiday season is over, so the Hot 100 is starting to return back to normal. On the latest Hot 100 (dated January 9), Carey’s hit has fallen down to No. 9 and is the only holiday tune remaining in the top ten, while “Mood” is back to No. 1 for the seventh total week. What is perhaps the most impressive chart feat of the week, though, is the return of The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights.” The single, which initially was released in November 2019, wasn’t on the Hot 100 at all last week, but now it’s back up to No. 3. That is the biggest re-entry in the history of the chart, meaning that no song that has ever left the chart has come back from off the chart to on it in this high a ranking.

This means that “Blinding Lights” extends the records it holds for both most weeks spent in the top 5 of the Hot 100 and in the top 10. As for Carey, she managed to avoid repeating last year’s drastic “All I Want For Christmas Is You” chart descent, when it became the first song to ever fall from the top spot of the Hot 100 one week to off it completely the next week.

The pivotal Georgia Senate runoff election, which will decide whether the U.S. Senate remains in Republican control under Mitch McConnell or switches over to the Democrats, is fast approaching. And by fast approaching we mean it’s tomorrow. This means if you’re planning on lending a helping hand in some way — be it by phone banking, posting support to social channels, or donating (or voting, if you’re a Georgian) — now is the time to get to it.

In a call to action for Georgia voters, Lift Every Vote, a collective of musicians and creators teamed up with the BIPOC-led Georgia-based non-partisan group of organizers CivicGeorgia for a special campaign focused on boosting voter turnout and raising donations for grassroots civic engagement, specifically relating to the Georgia runoff. The campaign features a fitting and dramatically reimagined rendition of the Ray Charles classic “Georgia on My Mind,” arranged and produced by Grammy Nominated bass clarinetist Oran Etkin.

A cover of “Georgia on My Mind” while everyone in the country is literally obsessing over Georgia might seem a little too on the nose, but Etkin switches things up here playing with the song’s harmony and melody and leaving plenty of space for his remote jazz group (consisting of players from LA, NYC, Miami, and Georgia) to express themselves.

“The video is structured as a flowing series of musical conversations — oftentimes between a vocalist and an instrumentalist because I think what we want to do is promote open conversation around the issues our country faces,” Etkin says. “I wanted to create something fresh and new out of the familiarity of ‘Georgia on My Mind,’ so this arrangement plays with the harmony and groove of the original song and leaves room for all of the wonderful artists to add their own voices. I hope this can be an inspiration to create something fresh and new within our political system that can give everyone room to lift their voices.”

Check out Etkin’s arrangement above and make sure to vote. If you’d like to donate to CivicGeorgia, visit the organization’s website here, and keep in mind that while CivicGeorgia is non-partisan, it is not a 501(c)(3), meaning your donation is not tax-deductible.

Rudy Gobert has become something of a polarizing figure for NBA fans. The two-time DPOY inked a new max contract this offseason that will keep him paired up with Donovan Mitchell in Utah, and his pay day re-sparked debates over just where he belongs in the NBA hierarchy of players given his new $205 million contract.

Given that his greatest impact is on the defensive end rather than on offense where he is more limited than some other star big men, particularly as a shooter, Gobert has many who consider him vastly overrated. As such, the discourse around Gobert can get heated and the French superstar hasn’t been shy about making his feelings on his worth very clear. You can count Shaquille O’Neal among those who are not huge fans of Gobert, which should come as little surprise given Shaq’s propensity on Inside the NBA to demand that big men dominate the game to the tune of 25 and 12 or whatever other arbitrary numbers he chooses to throw out there on any given night.

Over the weekend, Shaq posted to Instagram with a photoshop of him dunking on Gobert, asserting that he would’ve had “45 points, 16 rebounds, 10 missed free throws in three quarters” and fouled Gobert out if he’d played against the Jazz center. Gobert brushed that off in the comments with some laughing emojis and an “I guess we’ll never know” response, and then took to Twitter to further clarify that there is no beef between he and the Hall of Famer, as he’s just letting it all go.

I doubt this is the last we hear from Shaq on the matter, as he’s always enjoyed taking shots at the current big men in the NBA and whenever this comes up on TNT, you can bet Charles Barkley will egg him on into pouring more fuel on the fire. In any case, Gobert doesn’t seem interested in a war of words with Shaq, which comes as a bit of a surprise but shows some growth from the Frenchman. It’s probably a wise move as there’s really no way of winning in this and best to simply ignore it and carry on.

With less than two weeks to go until the premiere of WandaVision, Disney+ is pulling out all of the stops for its first original Marvel series. On Monday, the streaming service dropped a new video featuring just one of the WandaVision theme songs from Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, who have a strong record of delivering hit songs for Frozen, Coco, and Frozen 2. In statement from Disney, the duo revealed that the series will feature several “unique themes” as each episode will focus on a different era of television. Via /Film:

“WandaVision is such a cool, strange, one-of-a-kind project,” Lopez said. “When the director, Matt Shakman—an old friend from my college days—pitched it to us, we didn’t have to think about it. We loved the bright feeling of American sitcoms mixed with the deep sense of unease the story had, and it was a really inviting challenge to help set that tone.”

Added Anderson-Lopez, “I grew up in the ’80s watching shows from every decade on the networks all day long. Episodes from I Love Lucy, Brady Bunch and Family Ties shaped who I am and how I move through the world. So this project was a dream come true.”

Disney also announced that WandaVision will run for nine episodes, which is a welcome surprise after months of rumors that the series would only have six episodes. The extended episode count will prevent a gap in Marvel content when The Falcon and The Winter Soldier premieres in March just a week after WandaVision ends. It also gives the series plenty of time to tell its reality-bending story that officially kicks off Phase Four of the MCU, which was supposed to start with Black Widow back in April 2020, but COVID-19 had other plans.

(Via Marvel & /Film)

Harry Styles has been in (or has at least been rumored to have been in) a number of high-profile relationship, and it seems he’s at the start of another one. TMZ reports that over the weekend, Styles attended a wedding with Olivia Wilde as his plus-one, and they were “holding hands and very much together.”

The small ceremony, which only had 16 attendees, was in Montecito, California (near Santa Barbara) and was for Styles’ manager Jeffrey Azoff and his now-wife Glenne Christiaansen, who works for Apple Music. Styles actually officiated the ceremony. Furthermore, People reports the two “have dated for a few weeks” and that after the wedding, they were seen at Styles’ Los Angeles home. Styles and Wilde recently worked together on the film Don’t Worry Darling, which Wilde directed and in which Styles plays a lead role alongside Florence Pugh.

Wilde isn’t too far removed from a long-term relationship, as she and Jason Sudeikis began dating in November 2011 and got engaged at some point during the 2012 holiday season. Then, a couple months ago, it was reported that the pair had called off their engagement and split up in early 2020. The pair are apparently amicably co-parenting their two children, a six-year-old son and a four-year-old daughter.

As for how the internet feels about all this, there are a lot of different reactions on Twitter. Some users wonder why Styles and Wilde holding hands has sparked dating rumors but him holding hands with Lizzo (or Louis Tomlinson) didn’t. Some internet users have apparently also taken to harassing Wilde on her social media posts, which others have condemned as deplorable behavior.

Check out some reactions below.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Over the holidays, the New York Times published a feature on the future of DC Films, which includes plans to release four theatrical films based on DC Comics characters every year starting in 2022. While those ambitious plans also promise two additional films will be released exclusively on HBO Max, the report did not bode well for fans hoping to see more of Zack Snyder‘s vision for the DC Extended Universe.

WarnerMedia has invested heavily in bringing Snyder’s director’s cut of Justice League (a.k.a. The Snyder Cut) to HBO Max as a four part miniseries, leading fans to believe that Snyder could return to the DC Films fold and continue telling the epic story he started going all the way back to Man of Steel. The NYT report, however, contained the following passage that’s attributed to Warner Bros. executives:

At least for now, Mr. Snyder is not part of the new DC Films blueprint, with studio executives describing his HBO Max project as a storytelling cul-de-sac — a street that leads nowhere.

Those are ominous words for Snyder fans, who were hoping Justice League would open the door for more stories set in the “SnyderVerse.” (#RestoreTheSnyderVerse began trending not long after the NYT report.) But there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, according to Kevin Smith. On the recent episode of his Fatman Beyond podcast, he claims the ending Justice League does set up future stories for Snyder’s version of the DCEU. Via Heroic Hollywood:

“I happen to know that the ending that he’s got for the Snyder Cut is very not a cul-de-sac… it takes it to a weird neighborhood, but it’s not a cul-de-sac. You can keep f***ing going with the story based on what I’ve heard from a friend.”

Whether those stories see the light of day as live-action films, animated features, or comic books will hinge on the success of the Snyder Cut when it finally arrives on HBO Max later this year.

(Via Fatman Beyond)

Most of the targets in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm — the QAnon conspiracy theorists, the alt-right March for Our Rights rally attendees, Rudy Giuliani — deserved to get duped, but not Jeanise Jones. The kind-hearted babysitter looked after Borat’s teenage daughter Tutar, played by legit Oscar contender Maria Bakalova, while her dad (Sacha Baron Cohen) worked at a barbershop to make enough money to pay for her breast enhancement surgery in order to give her away to the president’s attorney. We’ve all been there. Anyway, Jones, an all-around decent person who teaches Tutar that women can drive cars and that she should use her brain because “your daddy is a liar,” felt “betrayed” by Borat and Tutar not being real, but she and Bakalova have since reunited.

“Jeanise is a true angel. I will probably always think of her as my godmother, a real hero, and life coach. She just wanted to help this girl become a strong woman. We had a real human connection from the very first day we met,” the actress told the Los Angeles Times. “I called her on Thanksgiving: It was my first American Thanksgiving and was also my best. I was so happy to talk to her that I started to cry. When we were shooting, it was very hard for me, because I wanted to tell her not to worry about me. She is a really good example of how important it is to be a good person and care about others.”

A GoFundMe in Jones’ name has raised over $180,000 since Borat Subsequent Moviefilm was released, including a $100,000 donation from Baron Cohen himself. Meanwhile, Rudy Giuliani started oozing and got COVID.

(Via the Los Angeles Times)

2020 is over. And while you’ve surely got a few half-full bourbon bottles on your shelf, it’s time to look forward to the new expressions coming down the pike in 2021. Generally speaking, you can expect brands to start dropping their new bottles now — with big releases landing in the spring, summer, and fall.

While most of the big-name bottles tend to arrive in mid-to-late fall, during awards season and in anticipation of the holiday drinking and gift-giving, there are some great bourbons getting released between now and October. We’re talking literally hundreds of drops, from the biggest names to the smallest craft distillers.

To mark the start of the year, we’re highlighting the scheduled bourbon releases that have us the most excited for 2021. While we’re sure to be a little light on the indie drops, we’re fully committed to covering small brands making big noise in the new year. Let’s dive in!

Thomas S. Moore Bourbon Finished in Port Casks

ABV: 49.45%
MSRP: $70
Estimated Release: January

The Whiskey:

This expression is part of a new three-bottle roll out from Barton 1792 (Sazerac Company). Each of the bottles has its own special finishing cask: Port, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Chardonnay.

Why we’re excited:

Among these three releases, the Port Cask Finished expression has piqued our interest the most going into 2020 for two reasons. One, Port cask finished bourbons are generally very delicious. Two, we already tried this one and it’s a solid first entry for the new line (our full review of the line will be featured on @UproxxLife’s Expression Session this year).

Yellowstone 2021 Limited Edition

ABV: 50.5%
MSRP: $150
Estimated Release: August

The Whiskey:

Limestone Branch Distillery (Luxco) drops this much-beloved bottle of bourbon every summer in very small quantities. The juice tends to include special barrels with unique finishing casks in very small batches to highlight the prowess of Limestone Branch out in Lebanon, Kentucky.

Why we’re excited:

Last year’s release was aged for seven years and then finished in Armagnac barrels (cognac’s French cousin). Whatever this year’s release holds, it’ll be an expertly crafted and unique bottle of bourbon worth giving a shot (if you can find it).

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof A Batch, B Batch, and C Batch

ABV: Varies
MSRP: $60/each
Estimated Release: Winter, summer, and fall 2021

The Whiskey:

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof (Heaven Hill) is a damn fine bottle of bourbon that you can still get at a fairly affordable price (though it’s starting to reach above it’s MSRP in some places). Still, this is a multi-award winning bourbon that’s often called out as a very underrated bottle of booze to have on hand.

Why we’re excited:

The beauty of these three releases is that you can test and compare the difference between each batch and find one that suits your palate. That being said, these batches will not vary wildly, but you should be able to find the nuance of the barrels in each.

Wild Turkey Master’s Keep

ABV: Varies
MSRP: $175
Estimated Release: June

The Whiskey:

The Master’s Keep line from Wild Turkey (Campari) is always a home run in a bottle. Last year’s Bottled-in-Bond was a masterpiece in a bottle and really highlighted the beauty of Eddie Russell’s dep understanding of bourbon.

Why we’re excited:

These are often seen as showpiece bottles. But the juice inside tends to be almost too drinkable, making these hard to keep on the shelf. Still, since it’s Wild Turkey, you should be able to find these for little to no mark up when they drop.

Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond

ABV: 50%
MSRP: $140
Estimated Release: March and October

The Whiskey:

Ah, Old Fitzgerald (Heaven Hill)… Their yearly Bottled-in-Bond releases have become some of the most sought-after drops throughout the year. One, the bottles themselves are awesome and serve as a decanter long after the juice is gone. Two, the whiskey tends to be some of the best from Heaven Hill’s wide array of spirits.

Why we’re excited:

Unfortunately, you’re not going to find this bottle easily or anywhere near its MSRP. Expect to pay at least double if you do happen upon a bottle. You can decide for yourself if it’s worth it (it is, at least once in a lifetime).

Colonel E.H. Taylor Limited Release

ABV: Varies
MSRP: $70
Estimated Release: June

The Whiskey:

The yearly E.H. Taylor release from Buffalo Trace (Sazerac) is always a defining bottle for the bespoke line. Last year’s drop was their 18-year Marriage which was, well, a marriage of high-rye bourbons with a wheated bourbon (BT makes both Weller and Pappy on-site). That bottle now retails at $3,000.

Bottom Line:

This is going to be another of those bottles that’ll be really hard to find given the very limited amount that actually goes out. Still, if you can find one, it’ll be worth getting at least a taste of some seriously well-crafted whiskey (just maybe at a little closer to MSRP than $3,000).

Four Roses 2021 Limited Edition Small Batch

ABV: Varies
MSRP: $150
Estimated Release: September

The Whiskey:

Four Roses (Kirin Brewery) drops a Limited Edition Small Batch every year that really does hit a high watermark for the brand and bourbon in general. The whiskey is a one-off marriage of their best barrels from the ten mash bills (recipes) Four Roses uses to make all their expressions. It’s the finite and complete view of what they do at Four Roses in a single bottle.

Why we’re excited:

Generally, you’ll need to get these bottles through a ticketing system at the distillery. The beauty of that system is that you can snag these at MSRP. If you’re not in Kentucky (or nearby), expect to pay as much as two to three times more for the bottle.

Larceny Barrel Proof Batch A, B, and C

ABV: Varies
MSRP: $50/each
Estimated Release: Winter, summer, and fall 2021

The Whiskey:

Larceny Barrel Proof (Heaven Hill) ended 2020 strong by getting the top honor of “Whisky of the Year” over at Whisky Advocate. That’s a hell of an honor for the wheated bourbon. A big part of that lauding is due to the craft behind the bottle. Another big part is the growing adoration for wheated (instead of high-rye) bourbons.

Why we’re excited:

Whether you’re riding the bandwagon of wheated bourbons or have been on that wagon for decades, this is a solid bottle of booze. It’s also still accessible. You can grab last year’s bottle for around $70, not thousands of dollars. That will change as Heaven Hill continues to rack up awards and love from whiskey drinkers around the world.

Buffalo Trace Antique Collection

ABV: Varies
MSRP: $69-$99/each
Estimated Release: September

The Whiskey:

BTAC (Sazerac) is one of the biggest drops in the bourbon year — second only to the Pappy drop in November. This year will see the new Eagle Rare 17, George T. Stagg, Sazerac 18, Thomas H. Handy, and William Larue Weller bottles. If last year’s drops are any indication, they’ll be a highwater mark for both bourbon and rye whiskey and very much sought after.

Why we’re excited:

This is another tough one as these bottles are extremely limited and, therefore, very expensive on the secondary market. That being said, it’s always fun to see how these bottles grow and develop year by year and 2021 should be another stellar outing.

Barrell Bourbon New Year 2022

ABV: Varies
MSRP: $90
Estimated Release: November

The Whiskey:

Barrell Bourbon is one of the most interesting blenders working in Kentucky today. Their end-of-the-year drop is always a bit of a celebration of American bourbon as a whole. Last year’s drop — New Year 2021 — had a blend of five, nine, ten, and eleven-year-old bourbons from (takes a deep breath) Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, New York, Texas, Wyoming, and Colorado.

Bottom Line:

At the very least, this will be an interesting bottle of bourbon that won’t be like anything else you try all year. That’s a good (and necessary) thing in our estimation. We’re looking forward to seeing what Barrell does next.

Over the years, multiple groups have felt that they haven’t been properly represented in the annual lists of Grammy Award nominations. On the 2021 list, for example, some thought the rap categories should have featured more women. There’s an apparent disparity in the Best Children’s Album as well, and some of the nominees are so bothered by it that they don’t want to be nominated at all.

A group of artists whose works are up for contention this year — Alastair Moock and Anand Nayak of Alastair Moock And Friends; Joe Mailander and Justin Lansing of The Okee Dokee Brothers; and Dean Jones, John Hughes, and Chris Cullo of Dog On Fleas — penned an open letter to the Recording Academy in December. In it, they requested that their “names be removed from final round ballots.”

Some of those nominees spoke about the situation on NPR this morning, with Mailander saying, “We thought that it was the strongest thing we could do, to stand with people of color whose albums are too often left out of the Grammy nominations. This is not just white guys with guitars playing for kids. We want to welcome all different types of music to this community.”

In the letter, the artists describe what they see as a trend of non-white artists being excluded from the Best Children’s Album nominations. The message notes:

“After a week of soul searching, discussions with our black, brown, and white peers, and consultations with our families, we, the undersigned nominees in this category have come to the conclusion that it’s in the best interest of our genre for us to decline our nominations. We respectfully ask that our names be removed from final round ballots.

We are deeply grateful to the Recording Academy and its voting members for the honor we’ve received, but we can’t in good conscience benefit from a process that has — both this year and historically — so overlooked women, performers of color, and most especially black performers.”

Read the full letter below.

“To the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences,

After a week of soul searching, discussions with our black, brown, and white peers, and consultations with our families, we, the undersigned nominees in this category have come to the conclusion that it’s in the best interest of our genre for us to decline our nominations. We respectfully ask that our names be removed from final round ballots.

We are deeply grateful to the Recording Academy and its voting members for the honor we’ve received, but we can’t in good conscience benefit from a process that has — both this year and historically — so overlooked women, performers of color, and most especially black performers.

Unfortunately, this year’s slate of all white nominees, only one of whom is female, is not an aberration for children’s music. In the past 10 years, only about 6% of nominated acts have been black led or co-led, another 8% or so have been non-black POC-led, and around 30% have been female-led. These numbers would be disappointing in any category, but — in a genre whose performers are uniquely tasked with modeling fairness, kindness, and inclusion; in a country where more than half of all children are non-white; and after a year of national reckoning around race and gender — the numbers are unacceptable.

We take full responsibility for putting ourselves in the position we’re in. We chose to submit and distribute our albums to voters, even as we were aware of this category’s past history of exclusion. We thought that this year — after recent national events, all the hard work of the Family Music Forward racial justice collective to bring attention to issues of diversity, equity and inclusion in our genre, and changes within the Academy itself designed to reduce bias — we might see a different outcome. We didn’t, and the results are frankly an embarrassment for the field of children’s music.

We know that there are proposed changes already being discussed for this category — due, at least in part, to the vocal efforts of Family Music Forward in bringing attention to this year’s results. If there’s a role for us to play in helping to create positive change in this category going forward, we’d like to be a part of that work. But we also recognize that changes going forward can’t alter the outcome of this or past years’ nominations.

We know that declining our nominations runs the risk of centering ourselves even further in this conversation. We’re prepared for that criticism if it means helping to bring attention to the problem. And, in order to make sure this story is told in a well-rounded way and not purely through a white lens, we commit to including black and brown leadership from our genre in any future press interviews that may arise from our nominations, or our declining of them.

We’re hopeful that our statement today can be a small part of helping to heal some of the pain and anger amongst our peers, and that it will help bring us closer as a community. We don’t pretend to have the answers, but we want to be part of the solution. We feel sure that, if we work together in the coming months and years, we can arrive at a better place for children’s music — one that better serves all performers and families.

Sincerely,
Alastair Moock & Anand Nayak (Alastair Moock and Friends)
Joe Mailander & Justin Lansing (The Okee Dokee Brothers)
Dean Jones, John Hughes, Chris Cullo (Dog on Fleas).”