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Once upon a time Tenet was supposed to save the movies from the pandemic. (Actually, once upon a time it was supposed to open in a world not overrun by a highly contagious super-virus, but let’s not split hairs.) And while Christopher Nolan’s latest super-sized head-scratcher did manage to make a pretty penny elsewhere around the globe, in countries that more or less got COVID-19 under control, it struggled in America, where it barely eked past the $50 million mark — although at least it’s made over $350 worldwide.

Still, there’s one person who isn’t worried about those numbers: Christopher Nolan. In a new interview with The Los Angeles Times, the ever-ambitious filmmaker opened up about what happened to Tenet. His reaction? A mix of excitement and frustration, although neither side is divvied up the way you may think.

“Warner Bros. released Tenet, and I’m thrilled that it has made almost $350 million,” Nolan told the publication. Still, his optimism came with a caveat:

“But I am worried that the studios are drawing the wrong conclusions from our release — that rather than looking at where the film has worked well and how that can provide them with much needed revenue, 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.”

And yet Nolan remained positive when it came to movie theaters coming back — even though many, especially in the United States, are in considerable financial danger. “Long term, moviegoing is a part of life, like restaurants and everything else,” he said. “But right now, everybody has to adapt to a new reality.”

Tenet may have failed to bring movies back in its native America, but let’s not kid ourselves: No movie, even the latest from the guy who saved Batman, could have revitalized movie theatergoing when a pandemic was raging, largely uncontrolled, across the nation. It still managed to earn around $295 million elsewhere, and even brought Tom Cruise back to multiplexes, so maybe that counts as a win? Still, Nolan is right to be worried that studio execs — infamously short-sighted, eternally cost-cutting, rarely adventurous — may not see it that way.

(Via The Los Angeles Times and IndieWire)

The NBA is in the midst of trying to sort out when its 2020-21 season is going to tip off. In one corner, there’s a proposal to begin just before Christmas, which would cut into the amount of time players have to rest after this past campaign but would lead to more revenue and an avoidance of the Olympics. In the other, there’s pushing things back to January, largely to give players more time to get ready for the season even if it means bringing in less cash.

According to new reporting by Shams Charania of The Athletic, one of these two start dates — Dec. 22 and Jan. 18 — could be decided upon soon. Charania reports that the Players’ Association will vote on that first date later this week, with the sense being among some players that tipping things off before Christmas is “inevitable.”

The NBPA, led by executive director Michele Roberts, started formal conference calls with players from all 30 teams this week. Players have been holding calls with the NBPA beginning Monday and will go through Thursday morning. Players coming out of several meetings believe a Dec. 22 start is inevitable, sources said.

For the NBA and the players union, the two major issues in discussions so far have revolved around the start date — Dec. 22 or around Martin Luther King Day, Jan. 18 — and the player payments withholding/escrow amount.

The financials are obviously going to be at the center of things the two sides negotiate — things like escrow and TV networks wanting to renegotiate deals if they don’t play on Christmas, per Charania, are being considered. The vote on the Dec. 22 start is apparently slated to have on either Thursday or Friday.

Busta Rhymes blessed New Yorkers with a surprise street performance in Harlem as they stood in line at the polls waiting to vote. Although Busta is a native of Long Island, the New York rap icon clearly wanted to share some love with the other boroughs, pulling up on 125th Street with a DJ and his hype man Spliff Star to promote his new album, Extinction Level Event 2: Wrath Of God and encourage voters. The scene was captured and posted on Twitter by local journalist Joyce Philippe.

The performance seems to have been put on by the Election Defenders action network’s Joy To The Polls initiative. The campaign has been putting on dance and musical performances to keep voters’ spirits high since October 24, as well as promoting a series of playlists on Spotify curated by the likes of Billie Joe Armstrong, Maggie Rogers, Swizz Beatz, and others.

Busta Rhymes is fresh off a television performance of “Yuuuu” with Anderson .Paak on The Tonight Show. The performance coincided with the release of E.L.E. 2, his first album in eight years, which features Kendrick Lamar on “Look Over Your Shoulder.” The next place Busta may turn up to perform his classics is the Verzuz set; he recently challenged T.I. to a hits battle. While the King of the South declined, Busta returned fire with some trash talk of his own which may light the competitive fire in T.I. to accept.

Watch Busta’s sidewalk performance above.

Tuesday saw millions of Americans head to their local polling places to vote in the 2020 election, including at some NBA and WNBA arenas that had turned themselves into voting locations this year.

Throughout the NBA Bubble in Orlando and Wubble in Bradenton, players, coaches, and the league kept a strong emphasis on trying to encourage people to vote, with teams registering en masse and numerous ads and PSAs running during games calling on people to get registered and vote. That continued on Election Day, as players from around the league posted to social media to encourage people to head out and vote, as well as reminding folks that in many states, you can register on the same day as the election to vote.

LeBron James, who started the More Than A Vote campaign this summer was very active in encouraging folks to head to the polls and vote, while also passing along various resources on social media to help voters (and also fight against voter suppression).

Some were on site to encourage voters, meet with staff, and some even volunteered as poll workers for the day.

Other stars from around the leagues likewise posted resources and information on where and when to vote in various states, while making sure those wanting to vote aren’t scared off going to vote by attempts at voter intimidation and misinformation.

Others from around the league posted about their visit to the polls (or voting by mail earlier), with a number of players voting for the first time after the push internally to get more players registered.

(SPOILERS from The Mandalorian‘s Season 2 premiere will be found below.)

As a life-long Star Wars fan and the internet’s largest geek, Kevin Smith couldn’t wait to watch the new season of The Mandalorian. After being blown away by the premiere, Smith raved about the experience on the latest installment of his Fatman Beyond Podcast where he praised showrunner Jon Favreau for directing the episode. Like almost everyone who streamed the premiere, Smith was of course thrilled by Timothy Olyphant‘s performance and the surprise reveal in the final moments. Via Comic Book:

As you’re watching the episode you’re like ‘Oh, so that’s how they’re doing Boba Fett. It’s just his armor, and this is a random dude in the armor….fine.’ And they told a great story, and Olyphantastic was basically Justified in space. Everything was copasetic and then in the end they showed the real f***ing Boba Fett and you’re like ‘Oh my god, so is this going to be the runner for the season? Is he going to be chasing down his armor or is he just in the next episode?’ Just as you were like ‘Man, what a satisfying episode’ they were like ‘Boba F***in Fett, REAL Boba Fett.’

While there’s no doubt that Olyphant gave off strong “Raylan Givens: Space Marshal” vibes, the season premiere also channeled his time on Deadwood thanks to a cameo by W. Earl Brown. Brown played an unnamed Weequay bartender, which was a throwback to his role as bartender Dan Dority on the HBO western. According to Brown, Favreau is a huge fan of Deadwood, but sadly, not big enough of a fan that he’d let Brown and Olyphant call each other “c*cksuckers” on a Disney+ show.

Of course, the simple solution is to make Baby Yoda say it, but Star Wars isn’t ready for that brand of visionary storytelling. Yet.

(Via Fatman Beyond Podcast)

Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot are celebrating the wrap of their upcoming Netflix movie Red Notice, and for good reason. The action vehicle, which also stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, had to halt production due to the pandemic, and there were naturally questions on how and if the film would get back on schedule. Fortunately, the situation worked out, and by September, Reynolds was posting photos from the set. Of course, none of that would have been possible without some extraordinary sacrifices from the crew, and both Reynolds and Gadot made it a point to honor that group’s hard work in dual Instagram posts.

“My hat is OFF to this crew. I can’t emphasize their grit enough,” Reynolds wrote. “Over 300 souls living in a sequestered bubble to make this a reality. They went to work under the most intense circumstances every day. That sacrifice is not only theirs, but it also belongs to their family, friends and loved ones who haven’t seen them in months. Not all heroes wear capes. Some wear masks. And visors. And have cotton swabs shoved up their noses every day.”

You can see Ryan Reynolds’ full Instagram post and photos below:

Gadot posted her own tribute after she returned home and reflected on the sheer logistics of keeping everyone safe on the Red Notice set.

“We had to be sequestered 24/7 and only go to and from set,” Gadot wrote. “The crew had to be away from their families for several months and they worked their butts off so we can all deliver the best movie possible while keeping everyone safe. I’m always aware of the fact that things are impactful and special only when there’s a collective force behind it. This one was for sure that.”

You can see Gal Gadot’s full Instagram post and photos below:

Red Notice doesn’t have an official release date yet, but Netflix will most likely be in a rush to release the film in 2021. Considering casting The Rock, Wonder Woman, and Deadpool probably cost a pretty penny, Red Notice is the biggest financial commitment the streaming platform has made to a film to date, and that was before the added expense of COVID regulations and a 10-month delay.

(Via Gal Gadot on Instagram, Ryan Reynolds on Instagram)

2020 Election Night (Everywhere in America) — You know the drill here. Trump wants four more years, and Biden’s attempting to be one of the few to take out an incumbent president, and our country’s never been more divided. Polls start closing around 8:00pm EST. We’ll be keeping our eye on events all night long, and we’d love for you to join us.

However, if you prefer to be distracted tonight, Netflix has dropped a wealth of comedy specials this year, and here are the most eventful ones:

Sarah Cooper: Everything’s Fine (Netflix comedy-variety special) — She of the Trump lip-synching now has her own comedy special during a year when very little is, in fact, actually fine. Directed by Natasha Lyonne, Sarah Cooper brings us many vignettes on light subjects as well as the unavoidable ones: politics, race, gender, class, and other light subjects. Expect appearances from special guests including Maya Rudolph.

Eric Andre: Legalize Everything — This New Orleans-filmed special shows Eric Andre once again busting through comedic boundaries while taking on the wars on sex, drugs, and… fart jokes? Alright. Seriously though, It’s the best comedy special of the year and highly relevant to the U.S. police-related discussion today.

Jim Jefferies: Intolerant — The Aussie comedian (who remains notorious for his gun-control opinion) pulls a 180 from where he was five years ago. He’s less focused on issues these days and grows incredibly banal at times, but he’s still uproariously funny. While reflecting upon the state of comedy today, he manages to dole out some hefty insight on life while telling an epic tale of the pursuit of lactose at all costs.

Pete Davidson: Alive From New York — From SNL to a ton of upcoming movies, Pete Davidson’s doing everything, and now, he’s got his very first Netflix original comedy special. Yes, he’s dropping all kinds of unfiltered anecdotes on everything from his SNL-related discomfort to his Louis C.K. beef and Ariana Grande relationship.

Patton Oswalt: I Love Everything — The Emmy and Grammy winning comedian brings his newest comedy special to the streaming giant. Look forward to anecdotes involving a full-scale Millennium Falcon replica and how home buying gets tied to the term “suicide squad.” Stick around for the post-credits bonus, in which Patton introduces another one-hour comedy special, Bob Rubin: Oddities & Rarities.

Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours To Kill — The legendary Jerry Seinfeld has dropped his second Netflix special. Expect him to keep mining everyday life to unveil comedy in the commonplace. Although the title of this special feels Bond-esque, Seinfeld doesn’t disappoint those expecting his trademarked sharp perceptions about everyday life.

Rob Schneider: Asian Momma, Mexican Kids (Netflix stand-up special) — After all these years (and Adam Sandler movies), Rob Schneider’s first Netflix special has arrived to take on adulthood. Did you know that his daughter is Elle King? She shows up for an ending duet with dad.

Sam Jay: 3 In The Morning (Netflix standup special) — For her first hour-long comedy special with the streaming giant, SNL writer Sam Jay headed to Atlanta, Georgia to get witty, candid, and raw at The Masquerade club.

Marc Maron: End Times Fun — The long-time standup comic, GLOW star, and prolific podcaster unleashes his latest comedy special. Expect Maron’s thoughts on cell phones, vaccinations, and Tumeric. Oh, and he’s definitely talking about his ongoing beef with Marvel movie fans.

George Lopez: We’ll Do It For Half (Netflix stand-up special, Tuesday) — Somehow, this is Lopez’s first Netflix comedy special despite his storied stand-up roots. In one hour, Lopez dives into lessons that he’s learned from the Latino community, along with issues related to emotional support animals, gender reveal parties, and elevator etiquette.

Hannah Gadsby: Douglas (Netflix stand-up special) — The newest Netflix comedy special arrives today with Hannah Gadsby following up on Nanette with a second turn named after one of her dogs. Gadsby’s hope was that Douglas would “inspire comedy disobedience,” according to Netflix, and this LA-filmed special promises to upend all expectations.

Last Week Tonight host John Oliver may have already reached his biggest goal (that sewage glorious plant renaming in his honor) of 2020, but there was still another important box to check on his schedule. That would be voting for the first time as U.S. citizen after achieving that status last year, after which — as he told Stephen Colbert on Monday night (starting around the 2:00 minute mark above) on The Late Show — he had been “waiting for that to feel real.”

Even following receipt of his passport, he was looking for something to hit him hard, and as it turned out, stepping into the voting booth hit the spot. Imagine being the poll worker to see John Oliver walking in, and then seeing him realize that the time has arrived to make good on all his skewering of the U.S. system’s 2020 ridiculousness:

“Standing in line, I didn’t feel it. Giving my name and getting the ballot, I didn’t feel it. Scanning it into the machine and the machine saying ‘your vote has been counted,’ I nearly burst into tears. That is the truth. My eyes got misty, and I thought, ‘I don’t know if I can cry in a voting station.’”

Early voting was massive this year with nearly 100 million American (which is about two-thirds of 2016’s total voting turnout) getting it done beforehand. Only time will tell (and hopefully, not too much time) who will win the POTUS showdown during one of the most important election cycles of our time. We’ll be gathering here for coverage tonight when the polls close, so please circle back and join us.

During his recent appearance on Showtime’s Desus & Mero, Fargo star and hip-hop superfan Chris Rock shared his opinions on modern-day rappers from DaBaby to Youngboy Never Broke Again. Rock is something of an aficionado of the genre, often incorporating references to hot rappers in his stand-up, appearing on rappers’ albums, and even making one of hip-hop’s favorite debate subjects the title of his 2014 film Top Five.

Responding to Desus’ question “What music you out here listening to,” Rock instead asks the Bodega Boy to “name a new rapper.” When Mero suggests “NBA Youngboy,” Rock admits to not knowing much about the Baton Rouge rapper but offers Pop Smoke as an example of someone he’s into. He then confesses, “I still like Kendrick [Lamar] and J. Cole.” He also wonders, “Who’s the new album artist? I like DaBaby but is DaBaby [an album artist]? There’s a lot of guys dropping hot singles — which is lovely — but I like to [have] a whole experience I can marinate on… Kendrick is the truth. That’s what I’m fiending for: That experience.”

Rock recently contributed to such an experience himself, appearing on Busta Rhymes‘ new album, Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath Of God, which released this past New Music Friday.

You can watch the full interview above.

The NBA’s Orlando Bubble was a success for the league in just about every possible way. They managed to keep players and staffers safe and healthy thanks to a robust testing protocol and a strict adherence to protocols, and the quality of play was spectacular from the eight-game restart throughout the playoffs.

One of the big takeaways from the Bubble was how enjoyable the play-in format can be for teams battling at the bottom of the playoff race. While the East was decided without much fanfare, the chase for the 8-seed in the West was wild and saw teams like the Suns and Blazers play their best basketball of the season in pursuit of that final playoff spot. It’s an idea that had been kicked around for some time, but given how radical it is, it took a situation like we had with the 2020 season for the league to have a reason to implement a play-in concept to be able to test it. The success of that has given the league plenty of reason to want to continue it going forward in non-Bubble years, and expect a play-in tourney to be part of the agreement from the NBA and NBPA about the upcoming season.

Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe, the NBA is expected to propose a tournament that will pit the 7-10 teams against each other for the final two spots in each conference.

NBA and NBPA talks continue to include the likelihood of a play-in tournament for both the Eastern and Western Conference playoffs, a mechanism designed to incentivize more teams to aggressively pursue the late season competitively — and an avenue for the league, players and television partners to create more lucrative revenue streams, sources said.

…

The tournament would begin with No. 7 hosting No. 8, and the winner locking into the No. 7 spot. Meanwhile, No. 9 would face No. 10, with the winner advancing to play the loser of the 7-versus-8 matchup for the No. 8 seed, sources have told ESPN.

That the 7 and 8 seeds get to play each other for a guaranteed spot is good and rewards the full season performance, while still giving the teams in the hunt a chance to win two games in a row to earn their spot. With a shortened season expected, there’s plenty of financial reason for the league and TV partners to want a play-in tourney to add a few extra playoff games, essentially, and even moving forward this seems like something the league will want to keep because it keeps those teams on the fringe of the postseason trying their best throughout the regular season.