Category: News

For weeks, trade winds have swirled around James Harden, and things got even louder when the Houston Rockets star didn’t arrive to training camp alongside his teammates. Harden did eventually show up, however, and he made his preseason debut on Tuesday evening in a home game against the San Antonio Spurs.

Predictably, Harden showed plenty of flashes in his limited deployment, getting buckets as he often does.

Before tip-off, though, Twitter got a hold of a photo that didn’t paint Harden in the most flattering light and, at first, there was confusion and bewilderment.

Then, the jokes began flying in earnest.

Harden was visually compared to Rick Ross and others, including former NBA center and current ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins.

While the jokes were inevitable and unceasing, it is also wise to point out that, a) Harden looked totally fine when he took the court and, b) the pandemic has been at least a little bit tough for everyone.

Harden also looked more than okay physically on Monday when video circulated during a workout.

All things considered, Harden has been an example of impressive durability in recent years, churning out production and always showing up for work. While his reported desire to find a trade is a factor that will contribute to many takes about Harden as 2021 nears, it would be wise to keep in mind just how productive and consistent he is on a game-to-game basis.

The Rockets may move on from Harden, as reportedly requested, in the coming days and, if they do, things will be quite different in Houston. Still, it would be (way) too aggressive to assume that Harden is going to enter the 2020-21 campaign in shape as poor as one photo suggested, but it only takes one snapshot to get observed riled up in the preseason.

Unlike his successor Donald Trump, who doesn’t even understand his favorite movie, Citizen Kane, Barack Obama is a voracious and adventurous watcher of movies and TV. He publishes a Top 10 favorite films list every year. (Last year’s gave Parasite, Little Women, Booksmart and more some love, ditto shows like Fleabag.) He’s yet to make his 2020 list available, but while speaking to Entertainment Weekly about his latest book, A Promised Land, the 44th president singled out some shows he watched “when I need a break.”

Of course, Obama isn’t watching, say, Real Housewives or Below Deck to unwind. He throws on serious stuff like Better Call Saul, “because of its great characters and examination of the dark side of the American dream.” He also admired Damon Lindelhof’s sequel show Watchmen and Amazon’s nasty, satirical The Boys, “for how they turn superhero conventions on their heads to lay bare issues of race, capitalism, and the distorting effects of corporate power and mass media.”

Obama did enjoy some lighter fare, even if it, too, dwelt on heavy themes. Which is to say he adored The Good Place, which he called “a wise and sweet combination of goofy comedy and big philosophical questions.” But he had another, more surefire way of kicking back: the NBA — “because it’s hoops!”

The news that the former much-loved president was really into The Boys really made the day for its creator, Erik Kripke.

Ditto some of its stars.

So congrats, all, on the huge honor! It’s far better to know Obama is watching, and loving, your work than it is to be Kristen Stewart knowing that Trump is creepily obsessing over Twilight.

(Via EW)

Despite the fact that it was released in 2018, Among Us is on the list of gaming’s biggest breakout hits during 2020. An online multiple game that can be played in groups from across the world, Among Us exploded in popularity as people were stuck inside during the COVID-19 pandemic, becoming an easy way for people to interact with one another and have from doing it no matter where they were located.

The game was originally released on Android and iOS in mid-2018, and a few months later, Among Us made its debut on PCs. It had existed on those various platforms ever since, but on Tuesday, big news came out of the gaming universe when Nintendo announced that Among Us is now available on the Switch. The news dropped in a video on the official Nintendo YouTube page.

The fine folks at Among Us announced the news on Twitter, too, and included a fun detail: Instead of being a game that is exclusively played by folks on Switches, this version will have cross-platform capabilities, meaning you can pick up your Switch, fire up the game, and play with your friends who are staring at their iPhone.

The announcement comes a few days after Among Us took home Best Mobile Game and Best Multiplayer Game at the Game Awards 2020.

For nearly a week now, Dave Grohl and Greg Kurstin have covered songs by Jewish artists as a part of their ongoing series The Hannukkah Sessions. For the sixth installment, the two take on Elastica’s “Connection,” a song from the British rock band’s self-titled 1994 album. The duo’s excitement was clear in the video’s description which read, “From Brit Milot to Britpop…here’s one of the coolest tracks from the 90’s….sung by the very cool…and Jewish…Justine Frischmann…ELASTICA!”

Grohl and Kurstin’s series first began on December 10 with a cover of The Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage.” Since then the duo has covered Drake’s “Hotline Bling,” Mountain’s “Mississippi Queen,” Peaches’ “F*ck The Pain Away,” and Bob Dylan’s “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35.” The Hannukkah Sessions will cover the span of the Jewish holiday, which lasts for eight days. This means the duo has just two installments left until the series will come to a close.

Once The Hannukkah Sessions concludes, the next piece of content will most likely have to do with his Foo Fighters band’s upcoming album, Medicine At Midnight, which is locked in for a February 5th release date.

You can watch the cover of “Connection” in the video above.

Medicine At Midnight is out 2/5 via Roswell/RCA. Pre-order it here.

Movies have been back in production for a while now, but with one giant caveat: There’s still an out-of-control pandemic happening, and now cast to crew have to obey strict COVID-19 protocol lest everyone get infected. But one person seems to be taking it even more seriously than everyone else: Tom Cruise. (Though he did brave a movie theater to go see Tenet.) In audio obtained by The Sun (and later verified by Variety), the superstar can be heard launching into a sweary tirade after catching two crew members not obeying social distancing.

The crew in question were reportedly standing too close to each other when Cruise caught them. That’s when the actor — who often risks his very life to entertain us, but is clearly not about to catch a highly contagious virus — went to town.

“We are the gold standard. They’re back there in Hollywood making movies right now because of us. Because they believe in us and what we’re doing,” Cruise is heard saying. “I’m on the phone with every f*cking studio at night, insurance companies, producers and they’re looking at us and using us to make their movies. We are creating thousands of jobs, you motherf*ckers. I don’t ever want to see it again. Ever!”

He wasn’t done. “You can tell it to the people who are losing their f*cking homes because our industry is shut down,” Cruise told them. “It’s not going to put food on their table or pay for their college education. That’s what I sleep with every night – the future of this f*cking industry!”

He then backed off a bit, though not entirely. “So I’m sorry, I am beyond your apologies,” he said. “I have told you, and now I want it, and if you don’t do it, you’re out. We are not shutting this f*cking movie down! Is it understood? If I see it again, you’re f*cking gone.”

But he still had some fight left. “Am I clear? Do you understand what I want? Do you understand the responsibility that I have? Because I will deal with your reason, and if you can’t be reasonable and I can’t deal with your logic, you’re fired,” Cruise told them. “That’s it. That is it. I trust you guys to be here.”

You can hear the audio here.

But it’s likely it won’t be received the same way that, for instance, Christian Bale’s notorious blow-up on the set of Terminator: Salvation was. Bale was in the wrong there; Cruise is not. Even if he went ultra, it’s because he clearly wants a safe set. Many productions have had to go on pause because of COVID-19 outbreaks. Cruise obviously does not want the same fate to befall Mission: Impossible 7. In fact, people are already commending him for being a voice of reason when too many people are “mask-skeptics,” even as cases skyrocket.

Although the news did take some people aback.

(Via The Sun and Variety)

A Whitney Houston movie has been in the works since 2012, the same year the legendary R&B singer died. It’s been in development hell for so long that there’s already been a Lifetime TV movie, directed by no less than actress Angela Bassett. But the big screen version looks like it’s finally coming together. It even, as per The Hollywood Reporter, has its Whitney: English actress Naomi Ackie, who was seen last year in a pivotal role in Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker.

Ackie is the result of a worldwide search to find someone with the charisma and the vocal chops to play the singer, who skyrocketed to fame in the 1980s, had numerous top of the chart hits, including the song that inspired the biopic’s title, I Want to Dance with Somebody. Personal problems, including drug use, led to a slow decline, ending with her dying at only 48. The cause was accidental drowning in her bathtub, an incident caused by heart disease and cocaine intoxication.

The English actress first came to notice with the art film drama Lady Macbeth, which also made a name of its star, Florence Pugh. In Rise of Skywalker, Ackie played Jannah, a former stormtrooper who winds up, like John Boyega’s Finn before her, joining the resistance. She also had roles in the popular Netflix show The End of the F***ing World and in Desiree Akhavan’s The Bisexual. Perhaps the Whitney movie will recreate her infamous run-in with a soused Serge Gainsbourg on French television, which ended with her knowing exactly how to handle him getting fresh.

(Via THR)

Tyrese is known for many things, a multi-hyphenate artist who seamlessly transitioned from singing and songwriting, to acting, and back again. There’s also that matter of his feud with The Rock, which is apparently resolved now. But today he’s offering his thoughts on some medical issues instead of various artforms, namely, how to stay safe from COVID-19. On Instagram today, Tyrese posted his thoughts on the virus and some preventive measures he thinks keep him healthy.

Random shit I think of on flights…

One of my secrets for staying COVID free is I sleep with the heat on 90 degrees every night…… Been sleeping at this temp for 15 years so it’s nothing new….. But….. Rumor has it if you catch Covid it doesn’t survive warm temperatures…..another random thought is people are not loyal to you… They are loyal to what they want FROM you…. It’s ok to be cool with people who you clearly see and KNOW they want something…. As long as you are CLEAR about their CLEAR intentions….. just know… Soon as they don’t get what they want…. They will disappear faster than you can blink…. And just leave you standing there confused, shook and feeling like wtf just happened…… I’m a self professed alpha empath….. My alpha will turn fragile insecure people away… When that happens it makes me happen cause I have one less person to love and care for…..

There you have it. Check out his full post below:

It’s been a rough year for all of us, in ways big and small. And on Tuesday Swae Lee took to his Instagram story with some bad news: He recently lost a hard drive that contained the entirety of his music while at Los Angeles International Airport. He was hoping that one of his followers might have a lead. “I got 20K for anyone who found my hard drive @LAX T2 delta airlines this morning,” he said. “All my songs are on there.” He posted about it on Twitter, too, writing, “I GOT MY WHOLE LIFE ON THAT SH*T.”

In the meantime, the rapper is still working on his upcoming solo album, Human Nature. It will be the follow-up to his first solo project, Swaecation, which was released as a triple disc set with SR3MM — the third album from Lee and Slim Jxmmi’s duo Rae Sremmurd. Earlier this year, Mike Will Made-It, who founded the Ear Drummers label that Lee and Slim Jxmmi are signed to — and who is collaborating with on Human Nature — revealed that Lee sent him 733 songs to pick from as they put the finishing touches on the upcoming project.

On a more recent note, Swae joined Khalid and Kane Brown to perform their collaboration “Be Like That” on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “There is nothing so American as our National Parks….the fundamental idea behind the parks is that the country belongs to the people.”

It’s a beautiful sentiment, this idea that our most breathtaking landscapes are there for all of us to experience, equally. But unfortunately, if there’s anything as American as the National Parks, it might be the sad reality that equality has not historically meant everyone. According to the National Park Service, nearly 77% of its visitors are white and only 7% are Black Americans. So while the founding principles of the parks may have been as a refuge for all, they’ve become yet another space without enough Black, Indigenous, and Person of Color (BIPOC) representation.

“Generally, being in the outdoors can be a very privileged, elitist, expensive sort of existence,” says Tyrhee Moore, the founder of Soul Trak, a D.C. based organization devoted to connecting marginalized people with the outdoors. “I’ve been very lucky to develop enough resources to gain access to these spaces that so many folks in my community haven’t been able to.”

Since launching Soul Trak in 2016, Moore has devoted his life to democratizing adventure — by providing the resources, experiences, and education to make public lands more accessible. And he’s gone on that journey, in part, because access to the outdoors changed his own life. Growing up in Washington D.C., the very community Soul Trak primarily serves, he took part in The City Kids Wilderness Project. Through the organization, he had the chance to visit Jackson Hole, Wyoming during the summer. It was a tradition he kept up through high school.

“That environment was drastically different than where I’d grown up in a very urban environment,” Moore says. “Being at home, playing, and being involved in very traditional team activities and sports, was the norm. But when I was in Jackson Hole, I was introduced to things like paddling or hiking or camping, and they pushed me individually — especially with developmental aspects around leadership, teamwork, perseverance, and risk-taking.”

Those summers sparked a passion in Moore for the outdoors. Being a climber and adventurer soon became not just a hobby but a vital part of his life. In 2013, at just 19 years old, Moore was invited to be a member of the first team of African American climbers to reach the summit of Denali, the highest point in the United States. This not only resulted in national attention and a visit to the White House, but solidified Moore’s path as an outdoor leader.

But even as an adventure expert, Moore found himself feeling isolated when he moved out west to be a nature guide.

“It can be pretty lonely if your community isn’t present on a regular basis,” he says. “As a guide, I was frequently leading clients and participants from specific backgrounds who may have never seen black authority or leadership. And so, in a lot of cases, there were moments of resistance or even questioning my credibility.”

Frustrated with the lack of representation of Black leaders in the outdoor sphere, Moore began to think about how he could change things.

“It became a question of how I could be most powerful in my position,” Moore says. “I knew that I wanted to dedicate myself to the things that I was really passionate about…create more space for others and not just myself.”

After working with other organizations that provided outdoor access to BIPOC in the mid-2010s, Moore founded Soul Trak as an intersectional environmental organization — aimed at bridging the gap between his community and outdoor spaces.

The first hurdle for Moore was figuring out why members of his community weren’t spending as much time in nature. He quickly discovered that the popular representations of “experiencing the great outdoors” — families skiing in the mountains or influencers living the #vanlife — wasn’t something his neighbors felt was possible for them.

“What we traditionally see on magazines or TV of nature, like mountains in Colorado and Montana, for a lot of our participants is completely unrealistic,” he says. “We can get locked into this one mold of what being in nature looks like, but they may never see snowcapped mountains. They may never get to visit Colorado. So we had to redefine what that looks like and how we connect to nature.”

Soul Trak started small, by organizing trips to hike, raft, and climb near D.C.. Moore’s stated goal was to meet people where they were at in their respective outdoor journeys. From synching up for painting events in public parks to picking up trash on trailheads — it wasn’t about the activity, it was about coming together as a community to enjoy the outdoors recreationally.

Along the way, Moore emphasized that there’s not just one way to commune with nature. Even when trips are adventure-based, there’s doesn’t need to be a high degree of pressure. He encourages participants to set their own goals and have their own experiences — whether or not they fit the conventional idea of how a space “should” be used. Recently, on a small climbing trip, he says of the eight participants, only four did any climbing.

The others spent the time discussing the books they had read during the pandemic.

“It’s been really important to try and knock down any pre-existing norms because I think that those are innately intimidating for folks who may not see themselves in the space currently,” he says. “For us at Soul Trak, it’s really important to let people come as they are and exist in a space in which they feel comfortable. We’re redefining how we exist in nature, because that is naturally going to look different for any one individual or community in regards to race, sex, gender, or geographics.”

As he builds a community of new outdoor adventurers, it’s also extremely important to Moore that he sets up a new generation of Black outdoor role models, something he wishes he had more of growing up. He remembers how thrilling and affirming it was when he climbed Denali, as the youngest team member, to see other African American outdoor adventurers. With this aim, Soul Trak has partnered with Howard University to empower young people to become environmental stewards and organizers.

With more community and representation, Moore hopes to inspire others to join him in creating more bridges for BIPOC to access outdoor spaces and take ownership of them. As George B. Hartzog, Jr., the NPS Director from 1964-1972, once said, “The national park idea has been nurtured by each succeeding generation of Americans. Today, across our land, the National Park System represents America at its best. Each park contributes to a deeper understanding of the history of the United States and our way of life; of the natural processes which have given form to our land, and to the enrichment of the environment in which we live.”

For too long, National Parks haven’t truly represented America at its best — because BIPOC have been left out of the conversation. But Moore hopes to change that for the next generation.

“We all play different roles in this whole intersectional movement of environmental stewardship,” he says. “It takes all of us to come together and understand that it’s going to take each individual to be stewards of our environment and stewards of our planet. When we’re looking at climate issues, when we’re looking at sustainability issues, who are we going to look to? It’s not one specific demographic, it’s not the current inhabitants of these spaces, we’re going to need everyone in our communities — both urban and rural.”

Over the weekend, the great Timothée Chalamet was hosting SNL — and he even brought his mom. Now, there’s always a million brilliant moments on a show like Saturday Night Live, and last Saturday’s show was no different. But there’s one event that keeps getting brought up even days later, and that’s Timmy’s spot on impression of Harry Styles.

Now, both of these vaguely European and fearlessly feminine men became sex symbols, style icons, and breakout stars at around the same time, so the already have a lot in common. In fact, Chalamet interviewed Styles a couple years ago and the two had a fascinating conversation. One is currently king of cinema, while the other is the king of pop. Maybe that’s why it was so easy for Tim to give us the kind of Harry Styles take that is actually funny without an ounce of mockery.

In the clip, “Harry” is appearing on a talk show with Dionne Warwick. Side note, based on her recent Twitter performance, she’d be a killer host. Anyway, Warwick asks “Harry” how she’d know his work and the subject of “Watermelon Sugar” comes up. Of course, after the recent Vogue dust up, fashion comes up, too. Watch the pitch perfect sketch below.