Category: News

HBO Max’s first original TV show, Love Life, included a sharp performance from Anna Kendrick, but given that the romantic dramedy is an anthology series, a changing of the starring guard was expected. This summer, executive producer Paul Feig told us that they had Season 2 all plotted out, and they were figuring out casting details. Well, the series has found its new star, William Jackson Harper of The Good Place fame.

Deadline reports that although Kendrick will sporadically appear in the sophomore season, Harper’s definitely the toplining leading guy. He’ll play a character who’s escaping a starter marriage of sorts (to a mistaken soulmate), and now, he’s single again in New York City, which means that the Jacked Chidi physique might serve a more clear-cut purpose. Here’s more:

Season 2 will focus on Harper’s character as he comes out of a years-long relationship with the woman he thought was going to be his person. The rug pulled out from under him, he is plunged back into the search for the romantic fulfillment that he thought he had already found.

Yep, a whole lot of us have been there, so it sounds like the show will keep viewers empathizing with the season protagonist. That made the first batch of episodes occasionally difficult to watch but ultimately rewarding in a realistic way, even if Harper’s character (like that of Kendrick) will probably have a much better apartment than his young-and-single status will suggest. Can he please be a firefighter? That’d be some news that could only make 2020 better.

(Via Deadline)

One of the most confounding things for many people in the Trump era is how on Earth a porn star banging, pussy grabbing, serial lying, charity stealing, student defrauding, non-church-going, faith-mocking, unrepenting president could have won the support of conservative evangelical Christians. The hypocrisy has always been a bit stunning, but a viral video of Trump’s “spiritual adviser” Paula White offering a prayer—or something—for his reelection really puts a feather in the cap of the absurdity of it all.

Known for her charismatic televangelism and for asking people to send her part of their January salaries before anything else, White’s preaching often focuses on the “prosperity gospel” (which basically preaches that God wants us to be rich, so if you’re rich you’re clearly doing the right thing in God’s eyes—Hallelujah, unbridled capitalism and materialism!). But this week, she was focused on Trump’s reelection, and phew, this is a performance you just have to see.

So, there’s a lot to talk about here. For people who come from this particular tradition, this might seem normal, but the repetitive, rhythmic chanting feels a bit brainwashy to many of us. The summoning of angels from Africa and South America thing was…interesting. We’ll get to that in a bit. The speaking in tongues part was also…interesting. There’s too much to dive into on that front, so I just won’t go there.

In addition to all that, what has people really scratching their heads is the dude walking back and forth behind White on the stage. Seriously, who is that guy and what is he doing?

People were mesmerized by the guy just popping in and out of the camera shot.

Sooooo many questions about wandering back and forth man. Is he one of the angels from Africa or South America that she summoned? Doesn’t really look like it. Is that a towel draped over his arm? Did he get lost on his way to the shower? Why is he wearing a t-shirt and shorts up on the stage? Why is he even up on the stage at all? Does Paula even know he’s there? Is that a Bible he’s carrying? Or is he just getting some pleasure reading in while he’s out for a stroll?

Carl T. Bergstrom, a virologist at University of Washington, tweeted a screenshot of the man walking behind Paula White with the caption “We are all this guy,” and it’s painfully true. People like Bergstrom—who has been on the front lines of COVID-19 research since the beginning of the pandemic—have been calmly going about their business while nuttiness raves around us for months (or years, really). This guy is every sane American trying to act like everything is normal in the face of total insanity.

People have parodied the video on TikTok:

And remixes have taken over Twitter.

So that’s fun.

In all seriousness, though, what’s with the summoning of angels from Africa and South America thing all about? While White’s purpose may have been different than this, one Twitter user explained her Pentecostal upbringing and said that it could, at its heart, be what many of us suspected (ahem, racism).

Wow. That’s…something.

And the former Pentecostal woman also had a possible answer to the wandering guy mystery as well.

Huh. Seems like kind of a strange thing to do in sneakers and shorts, but who’s judging.

So yeah. Just another super normal day in Trumpland, everyone. Carry on.

Darkside, the short-lived collaborative project between musicians Nicolás Jaar and Dave Harrington, parted ways to focus on other projects following their 2013 debut record Psychic. Before they disbanded, Darkside toured behind the record until 2014. They made stops in North America and Europe, with one of their last-ever shows being their set at Belgium’s Dour Festival in 2014. Recently, the group came across a recording of that performance, and Darkside has now turned it into a live album.

Titled Psychic Live July 17 2014, the live album consists of six tracks and concludes with their Psychic album opener “Golden Arrow.” Announcing the unearthed live record, Darkside wrote on Twitter, “Earlier this year we found a recording of one of our last live shows from 2014. It was recorded by our longtime live engineer V. Galloway and has been mixed and mastered by R. Becker. We’ve put it up for free on Bandcamp & wherever you like to stream music.”

Jaar and Harrington formed the project after they met while attending Brown University. Their first release was in the form of a self-titled EP, which they debuted in November 2011 after honing their sound together as musicians. Later, the duo briefly re-named their duo Daftside to remix Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories in full.

Listen to Psychic Live July 17 2014 below.

In early 2019, Marshmello dropped half a million dollars on a custom Hennessey Ford VelociRaptor truck, which is 26 feet long, has a train horn, and is otherwise a more extravagant vehicle than anybody really needs. It’s a truck that stands out, which presumably made it easy to track down when it was stolen earlier this week.

TMZ reports that on Wednesday, Marshmello dropped the vehicle off to get serviced at a Malibu Ford dealership. The keys were in the vehicle, so the suspected thief took them and brought the car out for a ride, which kicked off a police chase. The LA County Sheriff’s Department and California Highway Patrol tried to pull the suspect over for reckless driving, but they instead took off and pulled into a Taco Bell parkling lot. The driver then took a sharp turn and crashed into a utility pole. That ended the chase and the driver was arrested for felony evading and possession of a stolen car.

This isn’t the best interaction Marshmello has had in recent months. The DJ has teamed up with a roster of collaborators on various tracks lately: He linked up with Demi Lovato for “OK Not To Be OK,” with Juice WRLD on “Come & Go,” and with Halsey on “Be Kind.”

Voter fraud is a real issue, but it’s not as rampant as the average Fox News viewer — including the president — thinks it is. Study after study has shown that “fraud is very rare, voter impersonation is virtually nonexistent, and many instances of alleged fraud are, in fact, mistakes by voters or administrators,” according to nonpartisan institute Brennan Center for Justice. But that hasn’t stopped Last Week Tonight target Sean Hannity from searching for the “Loch Ness Monster of the Republican party.”

“PROTECT THE VOTE: Send Us Your Photos & Videos of Election Abuse, Fraud, Voter Intimidation HERE,” the Hannity host tweeted, along with a link to his website:

“The 2020 Race for the White House still hangs in the balance in a handful of pivotal battleground states. Despite President Trump winning by big margins on Tuesday, ballots for Joe Biden continue to be added to the tally days after polls closed in all 50 states. If you have any evidence of fraud, election abuse, or voter intimidation send them to [email protected] NOW. This is the biggest election of our lifetime. Hold them accountable. Protect the Vote.”

First off, Trump didn’t win by “big margins” on Election Day; he’s losing in the Electoral College count and popular vote. Also, anyone who spends as much time on the internet as Sean Hannity does should know what was going to happen here. It’s like Melania and her green screen dress all over again. Let’s see what Hannity has found so far!

He’s going to crack this case wide open any minute now, I feel it.

The entire world is sitting and watching as the United States is in what should be the final days of trying to determine whether Republican incumbent Donald Trump or Democratic challenger Joe Biden will serve as president for the next four years. A number of states are in the process of sorting out ballots cast in the lead-up and on Election Day, and with razor-tight margins in those states, it’s unclear whether Trump will return to the White House or Biden will ascend to the presidency.

As this is happening, Trump is doing what he can to sew discord about the legitimacy of the election. His camp has filed lawsuits in most of the remaining states, urging that counts be stopped in some states and be allowed to continued unabated in others, with judges in Michigan and Georgia dismissing cases in recent days. This came to a head on Thursday morning, when he tweeted that he wants states to “STOP THE COUNT!”

We won’t link to the tweet, but it did lead to a whole lot of reactions in the world of sports, as fans used a moment meant to upend our democracy as an opportunity to look back on famous blown leads.

The moral of this story: There is no amount of yelling that anyone can do to successfully impact the outcome of things like this that are out of their hands. This applies to Falcons fans, Kentucky basketball fans, and even the president.

Riverside, California rapper Hook has an unconventional flow and a quirky ear for beats. As she puts it on her new song “Take You Home,” “I’m a rapper but I don’t have to rhyme,” furthering her boast by claiming “I could literally get on a track / Whisper, yell — it’s still a hit.” Borrowing a sample of Lisa Lisa’s 1984 hit “I Wonder If I Take You Home,” she does a lot more than that, reeling off a relentless stream of stinging punchlines with an ear-to-ear grin the whole time.

Hook has been prolific in her relatively short time producing and releasing music, counting no less than six projects since 2019 on her Genius profile, including three in 2020 (Crashed My Car, Pretty Bitty: The Mixtape, and I Love You 2, Hook). While she might not be a household name — yet — she’s got the reckless, devil-may-care attitude that has propelled many a rule-breaking rebel to meme-making stardom and she’s racked up an impressive list of co-signers among the left-of-center collection of rappers that includes Father and Zack Fox.

She’s every bit as scathingly funny as they are and she’s offering up something new and different, which can be a help or a hindrance, depending on what you’re looking for. Either way, she’s working with a recipe that will grab eyeballs and attention, which is half the battle these days anyway.

Watch Hook’s bubbly UPROXX Sessions performance above.

UPROXX Sessions is Uproxx’s performance show featuring the hottest up-and-coming acts you should keep an eye on. Featuring creative direction from LA promotion collective, Ham On Everything, and taking place on our “bathroom” set designed and painted by Julian Gross, UPROXX Sessions is a showcase of some of our favorite performers, who just might soon be yours, too..

As the NBA prepares for a potentially massive financial windfall in 2021, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported on Thursday that the league is hoping to host fans next season, likely in suites and courtside, as a means of maintaining social distance while also boosting revenue a bit.

As Charania notes, these fans would be asked to wear masks, stay distanced from one another, and potentially even get tested prior to entry. Charania also reports the capacity would likely be subject to the public health guidelines in each market, as well as the potential availability of a vaccine.

For a league that prioritized full safety in its Bubble over the summer and pushed back its reset many weeks in order to develop protocols, it would be a big leap to integrate the wildcard element of fans as soon as December or January. What this mostly shows is just how desperate the financial situation is, just as it was a driving force for the NFL when fans were allowed into pro football games in late summer.

It’s too early to know exactly what this will look like, but the league and players’ union are clearly moving toward an agreement here, and fans attending games would be an unexpected twist should both sides agree.

After a controversial and ultimately decent theatrical release, Tenet will be arriving on home video just in time for the holidays. The time-bending Christopher Nolan film will release on 4K, Blu Ray, DVD and digital on Dec. 15. Via Deadline:

The Tenet 4K UHD combo pack and Blu-ray will also have the hour-long featurette “Looking at the World in a New Way: The Making of Tenet” which will explore the development and production of the film as told by the cast and crew. Tenet will retail for $44.95 on 4K UHD, $35.99 on Blu-ray and $28.98 on DVD.

Warner Bros. and Nolan faced an onslaught of criticism after releasing the film theatrically in the middle of a pandemic. While the film performed well overseas, it’s American box office take is just north of $50 million, and that’s after being in theaters since August. To put things in perspective, a blockbuster movie of Tenet‘s caliber would normally expect to do $100 million on its opening weekend (although it did score $333 million at the global box office)

However, Nolan stated that he is “thrilled” with Tenet‘s performances given the circumstances, and he recently said that he fears the wrong lessons are being learned from the film’s unorthodox release.

“Rather than looking at where the film has worked well and how that can provide them with much needed revenue,” Nolan told the Los Angeles Times. “They’re looking at where it hasn’t lived up to pre-COVID expectations and will start using that as an excuse to make exhibition take all the losses from the pandemic instead of getting in the game and adapting — or rebuilding our business, in other words.”

Fortunately, American audiences will soon to get to see if Tenet was worth all of the hype and intense discussion when the film is more safely available to watch in December.

(Via Deadline)

The best new hip-hop albums coming out this week include projects from Bree Runway, Doe Beezy & Southside, Nav & Wheezy, and Phora.

It’s been a wild week in a truly wild year but as we approach the holiday season, the new hip-hop album release train has slowed down to give everybody a bit of a break. With only a handful of new projects dropping — and a rumored deluxe version of The Kid Laroi’s debut F*ck Love — we’re nearing the time to take stock of what has turned out to be one of rap’s most prolific years, even despite the pandemic and live entertainment shutdown. Fortunately, with so few projects dropping, there may actually be enough time to not only listen to this week’s slate of releases but also catch up on some of the previous ones.

Here are all the best new hip-hop albums coming out this week.

Bree Runway — 2000and4eva

This Hackney, London genre masher gives off very strong Azealia Banks Music Vibes (as opposed to Azealia Banks Twitter Vibes, which are awful) by way of Lady Leshurr and “Super Bass” Nicki Minaj. Her song “Gucci” with Maliibu Miitch racked up a combined million views between its two videos on YouTube within the last two months, and her electro-influenced blend of hip-hop and pop is a sure mood booster for these troubled times.

Doe Beezy & Southside — Demons R Us

Freebandz-signed Doe Beezy takes a much more straightforward approach to his trap-centric bars than his boss Future, making him a perfect candidate for fans of Southern rap who prefer its purveyors enunciate. Southside is, of course, one of the foremost suppliers of menacing, cavernous trap sounds. Together, they have created a truly sinister-sounding crossover project designed to blow out trunks and put the streets on notice.

Nav & Wheezy — Emergency Tsunami

Teasing this joint mixtape with a cheeky trailer just a week before its intended release, Nav looks to — ahem — tide fans over between full-length releases. Linking up with “Turks” production partner Wheezy, who has had a productive year of his own knocking out bass-booming beats for everyone from DaBaby to Gunna to Lil Baby and Lil Uzi Vert, Nav will try to recreate the chemistry from his pair of Good Intentions collaborations with Wheezy, bringing along features like Lil Keed for the ride.

Phora — With Love 2

Newly released from his deal with Warner Records, Phora went right back to his winning formula last year with Bury Me With Dead Roses. The Orange County rapper’s unique crossover of rapid-fire flows with heartbroken, emotional rhymes proved to be intact and he’ll look to keep the trend going on With Love 2, the follow-up to the US Rap chart-topping 2016 mixtape that first put him on the map.

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