View Entire Post ›

Social distancing continues this weekend amid the global pandemic, and several new TV seasons are here for the binging. If nothing here suits your sensibilities, check out our guide to What You Should Watch On Streaming Right Now.

Beastie Boys Story (Apple TV+ film) — Both diehard and casual fans can dig director Spike Jonze’s intimate and personal story of the collaborative adventures of Mike Diamond, Adam Horovitz, and Adam Yauch. The pioneering trio’s hybrid documentary-live stage performance film is hilarious, sad, and something you won’t want to miss.

Defending Jacob (Apple TV+ series) — Chris Evans leads a stellar cast in this familiar story with a few gripping twists. Think We Need To Talk About Kevin crossed with Primal Fear, with Evans supported by the likes of J.K. Simmons, Jaeden Martell, Betty Gabriel, Cherry Jones, and Michelle Dockery.

Bad Education (Saturday, HBO 8:00 p.m.) — True events inspired this exploration of the underbelly of elite public school malfeasance starring Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney. Embezzlement and corruption abounds through two solid leading performances.

Extraction (Netflix film) — The Russo Brothers teamed up again with Chris Hemsworth for this crime flick about a black-market mercenary on a deadly ride through the weapons-and-drug-trafficking underworld. Guns will be out, in more ways than one.

After Life: Season 2 (Netflix series) — The Ricky Gervais comedy-drama series returns for six new episodes with Tony still struggling over the loss of his wife. In the process, he attempts to become a better person, but shall he succeed? And will the local Am-Dram show work any mood-lifting magic?

Middleditch & Schwartz (Netflix series) — Thomas Middleditch and Ben Schwartz’s two-man comedy show features in three new completely improvised Netflix comedy specials, including Dream Job, Law School Magic, and Parking Lot Wedding. Get ready for tales of an existential crisis, a robbery-gone-wrong, and a bit of magic.

Cooked with Cannabis (Netflix series) — Technically, this show dropped on 4/20, but considering how this year is going, it’s gotta still be 4/20 somewhere, right? Move your cannabis game past pot brownies and marijuana cookies while watching top chefs compete to get “baked” in more elaborate ways.

The Willoughbys (Netflix film) — This highly stylized animated film hails follows a group of four siblings who must adapt their old-fashioned ways to the modern world after being abandoned by their parents. The voice cast includes Ricky Gervais, Maya Rudolph, Will Forte, Martin Short, and Jane Krakowski.

Here’s the rest of this weekend’s notable programming:

Friday Night In with The Morgans (Friday, AMC 10:00 p.m.) — Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Hilarie Burton are back (from home), hopefully with more motorcycle stories, while hosting Sarah Wayne Callies and Sophia Bush.

Real Time With Bill Maher (Friday, HBO 10:00 p.m.) — Virtual interview guests include House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Dr. David Katz.

SNL (Saturday, NBC 11:30 p.m.) — The long-running sketch comedy series refuses to go dormant for long, and they’ll be back with a second round of quarantine content.

Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children (Sunday, HBO 8:00 p.m.) — Part IV of HBO’s unraveling of a shameful legacy airs. Read our interview with two of the filmmakers, and then tune in to watch Wayne Williams’ odd behavior make no sense.

Batwoman (Sunday, CW 8:00 p.m.) — An old villain resurfaces to challenge Batwoman, while Gotham’s most stand-up citizens find themselves tested as well.

Westworld (Sunday, HBO 9:00 p.m.) — This show’s not even halfway over yet, but what is Dolores’ endgame, really? Your guess is as good as ours, but watch out for whatever Maeve is doing.

Killing Eve (Sunday, AMC 9:00 p.m.) — Villanelle heads back to London (where there are biscuits!), and Konstantin’s feeling the pressure from all ends. Meanwhile, Eve’s finally all in to help track down Kenny’s killer.

Homeland (Sunday, Showtime 9:00 p.m.) — The series finale has finally arrived with one final freak-out for Carrie after an eight-season run.

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist (Sunday, NBC 9:00 p.m.) — Zoey’s dealing with mom, who’s dealing with an impossible decision, while Mo and Eddie hit a rough patch.

Insecure (Sunday, HBO 10:00 p.m.) — Molly’s headed to Thanksgiving (timely?) while Lawrence is down for Friendsgiving at Condola’s house.

Run (Sunday, HBO 10:30 p.m.) — The new show from Fleabag and Killing Eve dynamic duo Vicky Jones and Phoebe Waller-Bridge barrels further down the train track as Ruby and Billy try to figure out whether this is all a huge mistake.

Scroll through Troy Daniels’ Instagram page and you’ll find the familiar beats expressed by anyone in quarantine right now: honesty, courage, confusion, moments of positivity and doubt, and a sense of humor that says, “yeah I’m coping, but who isn’t right now?” The only difference between Daniels’ feed and any other typical basketball fan’s is in his sense of style, which hasn’t fallen off even in the slightest the past six weeks. Sure, there are still sweatpants or shorts days, but Daniels is trying to build himself up from the outside in, and that starts and ends with dressing.

“It gives me something to do,” Daniels says on the phone from his apartment in Los Angeles. “There’s really nothing to do during the day other than read, meditate or go for a run. It gives me something else to do during the day and helps me build my self esteem and confidence back up. Just to know I can put clothes on, look nice, and take pictures. That’s a fun aspect of my day.”

Daniels is living proof that athletes take the phrase “control what you can control” seriously. At All-Star Weekend in Chicago, he enjoys some quiet at a small reception inside the Neiman Marcus on Michigan Ave. Designers and reps mingle with Daniels, Bulls wing Max Strus, and influencers as they browse everything from custom Dolce and Gabbana shoes to limited Off-White collections. With a glass of wine in hand, Daniels seems adept at riding the wave, a skill that isn’t exactly quantifiable but has served him well since leaving VCU in 2013. Embracing his role at every stage, from the Rio Grande Vipers (the Rockets G League affiliate) and Charlotte (where he owns a home) to two years in Phoenix after being traded from Memphis and then joining the Lakers last summer during the run of signings that followed the Anthony Davis trade.

“Over the course of my whole career I never try to get too high and never try to get too low,” Daniels says. “I understand the business of the game. Once you understand how things work and continue to keep working, the best is yet to come for you. It sounds so cliché, but at the end of the day, that’s all you really have you to do. Some things you really can’t control. Some things you can. So, I try to focus on the things I can control and continue to focus my mindset on something totally different than whether I’m going to get traded or cut or move to another team. I never focus my energy on that. I’m really just happy at the moment because I understand there’s 450 jobs in the NBA out of how many people who want to play in the NBA, and I’m lucky to have one of those jobs.”

Sprawled out on a couch in Chicago, Daniels allows himself a relieved sigh. Even when everything is uprooted around him, he embraces the challenge and stays in the moment. If that means coming off the bench after a string of DNPs to provide a spark, he’s ready. If that includes keeping his spirits high following a release, searching for a new team, onboarding with a playoff contender in Denver, and then seeing it all shelved in the midst of a global pandemic that has him stuck thousands of miles from his North Carolina house at an apartment with his wardrobe and his game consoles, so be it.

Looking to the past won’t get him anywhere, and it isn’t the mark of an experienced player who, as Davis (and many other stars he’s played with agree) puts it, is “my guy.” Being a beloved teammate, even if he’s not in a place for particularly long, is something Daniels cherishes, and he’s willing to put in the work away from the court to make sure those bonds are formed.

“I look at it a little differently than other players,” Daniels says. “I think it’s very important to take advantage of this platform because it doesn’t last forever. We’re not going to be NBA players forever, and nobody knows how long your career’s going to be.

“I’ve always been that guy looking at other guys saying, ‘Wow, they got this, they got that. How did they get that?’ And I was always grinding, and so I feel like if I grind in the league and also I grind off the court, something good’s going to happen either way, you know what I mean?” Daniels continues. “And you also meet good people that way. My mindset totally has been focused, on obviously I have my own experience in being a journeyman, being the ultimate professional, but off the court stuff, my focus is more on social media. Just simple as when you’re out of practice sitting on the couch, having content to post, or engaging with your fans, stuff like that. If your teammate invites you to a popup or a movie premiere, just go. I’ve learned over the course of my years to take advantage of that. But you also have to make sure to get your work in and don’t get lost in the sauce. That’s part of being a professional.”

Daniels, by his very nature, isn’t someone who takes anything for granted. There’s a certain DNA strain that exists in players who often earn the backhanded compliment of “journeymen.” More recently, the phrase has evolved into “team vet,” an honorary title that goes to guys who ideally are “set it and forget it” when they’re in the game — they aren’t earning rotational minutes on a regular basis unless injuries pop up but help keep the peace, stay level, and enhance that all-important chemistry formula that every contending team looks to replicate.

The Lakers built the end of their bench with those guys in the offseason, from Daniels to Quinn Cook to Jared Dudley, and the opportunity to learn from business moguls like Davis and LeBron and get in meetings in the entertainment capital of the world – even in just a few months – is something Daniels treasured.

“I think what’s meant to be will be,” Daniels says, “but I also think you putting in the effort towards being better, or you put in the effort towards expanding your brand, it can help a lot. You know what I mean? So I think I was destined for this type of lifestyle. I never take it for granted, I know where I came from, but I also live my life with a certain type of confidence too because I know who I am and I know who I want to be. And me personally, I don’t want to be looked at as just a basketball player. And I think LeBron embodies what I want to be, is like everybody knows he’s a basketball player, but I can also do off-the-court things too. I can also sit at a table with billionaires and have a billion-dollar idea. I can also make a movie. I can also be in a movie. I can also be an entrepreneur, a serial entrepreneur.”

For now, it’s important for Daniels to hold onto that confidence and to treat this stretch during quarantine like a run of DNPs. Eventually, there will be some normalcy, even if it’s not exactly the same as what we took for granted in the past. If staying ready is an attribute, it’s one Daniels can continue to practice as he meditates with his electronics off and he allows himself to sit, to really sit and take in the energy around him.

That allows him to let others in a bit more, whether it’s through his new Twitch streams, his dressed up pics, going live on IG, or otherwise. The ultimate vet stays grounded, even in times of crisis, and there’s a calming quality to the posts Daniels puts out into the world, lacking the sheer boredom or thinly-veiled panicked energy that other players exude from their social media presence.

“The ultimate professional is always ready,” Daniels says. “And the way you can stay ready is in the things that you can control. That’s your mind, and that’s what I control. I try to control my mind and go in and do whatever I can to help the team win. And then whatever the case might be, that’s my job, to stay ready at all times. It’s hard to do, man, but I try to find a way.”

Download the mp3 here.

Every year, the fine folks over at Name Of The Year Draft release their March Madness bracket of the funniest real humans’ names that they’ve discovered over the course of the past year. Here at the Frotcast, we’ve been doing an annual name of the year draft based on those names for… God, at least eight or nine years now. Maybe a decade. Anyway, Name of the Year released their 2020 bracket this past week. It’s our favorite time of the year by far, and this year we brought back one of our Founding Frotters, Brendan, who gets more joy out of silly names than probably any human alive. Also joining for the draft is Laremy Legel, who has been guesting since Whoop Dreams.

Other topics include: Laremy’s vast tracts of lands, getting quarantine haircuts from your significant other, and your voicemails. But let’s be honest, you’re here for the name draft. Here are the squads:

Team Brendan
Rembertus Beerepoot
Mathdaniel Squirrel
Nazareth Pantaloni III
Carmelo Mustaccio
Gimadiah Scrogum
(from Vince) Dr. Floun’say Caver

Team Vince
Katie Smrcka-Duffy Fudd
Learjet De La Cruz
Hannah Moody-Goo
Gravity Goldberg
Dudley Onderdonk
(from Laremy) Robespierre Bolivar

Team Laremy
Kokaine Mothershed
Dhanmite Slappey
Lowell Snorff III
Courvoisier Dingle
Green Wix Unthank
(From Matt) Rod Ghods

Team Matt
Smoki Bacon
Zebulon Vermillion
Gennaro Bizzaro
Adolphus Hailstork
Stetson President
(from Brendan) Fatjon Cake

EMAIL us at [email protected], leave us a voicemail at 415-275-0030.

SUBSCRIBE to the Frotcast on iTunes.

SUPPORT at Patreon.com/Frotcast. You can add the bonus feed to regular podcast app!

The chase for Vandegrift High School prospect Greg Brown took on a heightened focus in recent weeks as the NBA G League targeted Brown for its new Select Team in southern California. Rather than opt for the uncertainty around that program, Brown committed on Friday afternoon to the University of Texas, which has become a bridge for talented big men to become NBA first-round picks.

Since Shaka Smart took over at Texas in 2015, the program has turned Jarrett Allen, Mo Bamba, and Jaxson Hayes into high draft picks. Brown will hope to follow in their footsteps.

“Their message to me was to just come in and be that alpha player they need for next year and I know coach [Shaka] Smart can help me develop my game for the next level,” Brown told Yahoo Sports.

The player development aspect is the most important part of Brown’s decision. The G League Select Team still does not have a coaching staff or a roster outside of Jalen Green and Isaiah Todd, two other extremely talented recruits who took the plunge. Brown could not know for sure that the Select Team would be a good environment in which he could improve his game, whereas Texas has a clear track record, particularly with big men.

After playing high school ball outside of Austin, Brown will stay within the familiar confines of the city for college. He will join a squad that improved during Big 12 play and finished 19-12, with upperclassmen Andrew Jones and Matt Coleman returning to fill out the starting backcourt.

“I got over having mono like three days before Coachella, so this feels a bit like deja vu,” recalls Wallows vocalist/lead guitarist Braeden Lemasters. With all three members of the band raised in California, Wallows’ Coachella debut in 2019 was a watershed moment for the fledgling indie band. However, a year later, instead of celebrating their continued success the road, the group is relegated to reliving their big moment from their couch as part of Warner Music Group’s PlayOn Fest. Playing throughout the weekend on the Songkick YouTube channel, the virtual festival revisits outstanding live performances from recent years, in support of the World Health Organization.

“It’s so funny because this was actually the first proper show of tour after our debut record came out,” explains drummer Cole Preston. “It was our first time playing new gear, first time using in-ear monitors. There were a million firsts happening at once.” Additionally, while the average viewer might not notice a different, Coachella was the first time the band was playing many of the songs from their debut album Nothing Happens live. “Realistically, I wish they had Weekend Two footage,” vocalist/rhythm guitarist Dylan Minnette says with a laugh.

When PlayOn Festival started to take shape, the band jumped at the opportunity to be involved. “It was important to us to do something for the people who care,” says Minnette. “Plus, we’re in really good company,” adds Preston, a nod to the festival’s massive multi-day lineup that includes Green Day, Paramore, The War On Drugs, Death Cab For Cutie, and many more.

Stuck in their homes, the band’s main focus is to continue writing their second album. Fans are chomping at the bit for new Wallows material. Just after the world went into lockdown, the band shared the single “OK,” their first new music since the release of Nothing Happens. The song was streamed upwards of one million times in its first week. “In a way, it’s sort of nice to do nothing but write. We’re writing a ton of songs,” says Preston. “We’re inspired to put something out during this time,” Minnette adds. “We’re asking ourselves, ‘what can we do right now to give people something.’”

Of course, having the luxury of space to write can’t replace the electricity of a live show. Watching their Coachella set again later this weekend, Wallows will be reminded of what they are missing on the road. “I can’t wait to go back,” Minnette declares. “I can’t wait to play again.”

Check out Wallows performance as part of PlayOn Fest here on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. EST.

Top Dawg Entertainment is closing out TDE Appreciation Week with a bang as fiery Del Amo-based label member Reason puts his own spin on a hip-hop classic with an animated video for “Might Not Make It.” Reason borrows the concept of the 1997 Mase posse cut “24 Hours To Live” to ponder what he might do with his last day on Earth.

The original Harlem World classic, which featured Black Rob, DMX, and The Lox, was half paranoid fantasy, half horrorcore nightmare as Mase and his guests hypothesized that they’d do things like giving financial advice in the hood, leaving money for their families, play the lottery, have a lot of sex, and commit acts of terrorism (seriously, DMX raps about blowing himself up in the middle of Wall Street).

Reason tones it down, but only a little. The sex fantasies remain intact — Reason name-checks Lori Harvey, Rihanna, and the Kardashians — while he limits his terrorism to assassinating Donald Trump, leaking labelmate Kendrick Lamar’s unreleased music, and killing fake rappers who perpetrate a thuggish image with tattoos and gold teeth. The animated video — directed by Egomeli Hormeku and animated by Emonee Larussa –plays out Reason’s lyrics as cartoonish graphics on his phone, scrolling through an Instagram-inspired social media app.

TDE Appreciation Week — the label’s way to pay homage to founder Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith — kicked off on Monday with Ab-Soul’s “Dangerookipawaa Freestyle” for Top Dawg’s birthday. It also included the return of another long-lost member of the crew, Isaiah Rashad, with his song “Why Worry” and the announcement that Top Dawg had paid the rent for over 300 residents of his hometown.

Watch the video for “Might Not Make It” above.

Earlier this year, Bright Eyes signaled a triumphant return by relaunching their social media accounts. Shortly after revving up their online presence, the band released the lead single “Persona Non Grata” as their first new material in nearly a decade. Bright Eyes unveiled a handful of tour dates across North America, accompanied by Japanese Breakfast and Lucy Dacus. However, after the onset of the global pandemic, Bright Eyes have decided to postpone all upcoming US tour dates.

Making the sullen announcement on social media, Bright Eyes said they have to “re-think” their upcoming tour. In a handwritten letter, the band thanked fans for their patience and gave an update to their 2020 tour dates.

“Thank you for your patience,” the band wrote. “Regretfully, yet predictably, we have had to re-think many of our upcoming tour dates. We hope to be in a better position to gather and celebrate at a later date. Regarding all US tour dates: existing tickets are valid for rescheduled and postponed dates. Refunds are available for all shows — canceled or not.”

Bright Eyes ended the message by urging fans to stay safe: “Take care of yourselves. Take care of others. Hope to see you on the road.”

Read Bright Eyes’ full message above.

While appearing on The Today Show, Hugh Jackman opened up about agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in his “feud” with Ryan Reynolds. The Wolverine actor says his main concern is Blake Lively, and not so much Reynolds, who Jackman couldn’t resist taking a few jabs at. Here’s what he said on TODAY:

“It is not over. But look, we’re in extraordinary times. [My wife] actually said to me, really, this is a time to rethink all that and maybe it’s time to build a bridge. I wasn’t ready for that, but then Blake [Lively] reached out. Blake and Deb have been brokering this thing and we came up with participating in the All In Challenge. “We’ve been reaching out to Blake, we talked to her, ’cause can you imagine quarantine, stuck in the house with Ryan? It must be brutal for her. So we’re really reaching out.’

You can watch the full clip below:

Earlier in the week, Jackman and Reynolds announced that they’d be pausing their feud to take part in the #ALLinCHALLENGE. The two have offered to run a lemonade stand together for one randomly chosen bidder who donates to the efforts to make sure America’s most vulnerable communities are still being fed during the pandemic.

The #ALLinCHALLENGE has been netting big name stars left and right ever since Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro joined forces to offer one lucky fan a walk-on role in their upcoming Martin Scorsese film Killers of the Flower Moon. They were quickly joined by Ellen DeGeneres, who’s auctioning off a chance to be her co-host for the day and Matthew McConaughey who will hang with one lucky fan at a University of Austin football game. With Jackman and Reynolds getting in on the act, it’s only a matter of time before even more celebrities start going “all in.”

(Via CBR)

When the news cycle and ridiculous current timeline of real life starts getting to you, where do you turn? Animal videos, of course. Give us allllll the animal videos. Cute ones, funny ones, mind-blowingly unbelievable ones. All the animals all the time, please.

The Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary Facebook page shared a video montage of animals hugging and kissing and dancing with their human friends, and it’s just the injection of pure joy we could all use right now.

Come on, the bee with the high five? The oh-so-snuggly duck? The seal who decided to use a camerawoman as a mattress? So precious.

(Note: We wanted to point out a caveat to the sweetness and fun of the video. There is a brief scene that shows orangutans in human clothing, which is obviously not a natural state for them. Though it looks like they are having fun interacting with people, there’s no way to know if or how they were trained to behave. We don’t condone training wild animals to interact with or perform for humans.)