Category: Viral

In what has to be one of the biggest divides ever seen between critics and audiences, the new Netflix comedy series Hard Cell is racking up rave reviews on Twitter despite sitting at a rock bottom zero percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Here’s the official synopsis for the Catherine Tate series that began streaming last week much to the chagrin of critics who really did not care for it:

Hard Cell is a documentary-style comedy set in the fictional female prison, HMP Woldsley. Writer and creator, Catherine Tate plays multiple characters from Laura Willis, the Governor who believes creativity leads to rehabilitation, to Big Viv, the psychopath lifer. Set over a 6 week period during which the inmates rehearse a musical directed by ex-Eastender’s star Cheryl Fergison. Rehearsals draw together an oddball collection of women as they find their voices, grow in confidence and strengthen their friendships. Funny yet surprisingly moving, Hard Cell leans into the comical truth of prison life.

While Tate is a veteran comedian, this is her first stab at delivering a full-fledge sitcom and the critics are not impressed. “This is one show that should remain behind bars,” wrote James Field of Pajiba.

“Above all, it feels terribly dated, with endless toilet humour and a mock-doc approach that could only be described as Gervaisian,” said Gabriel Tate of the Daily Telegraph.

“Tate used to be a take-no-prisoners (pun intended) satirist, blasting away at homophobia and general ignorance,” wrote John Doyle of the Globe and Mail. “But here the humour can get raw, and gags about sewage and masturbation are more clangers than they are clever.”

However, over on Twitter, audiences are loving the new Catherine Tate comedy series and demanding a second season. You can see just a small taste of the reactions below, and unlike the critics, viewers are apparently here for Hard Cell:

(Via Rotten Tomatoes)

The United States generates an incredible amount of paper and cardboard waste every year. The most recent EPA statistics from 2018 found that Americans throw away 67.4 million tons of paper and paperboard a year. Sixty-eight percent of it is recycled, with the remainder being dumped in landfills.

Cardboard will eventually deteriorate in a landfill but as it degrades it creates methane gas, one of the largest contributors to climate change. While carbon-trapping trees are one of the biggest ways to combat climate change, over a billion of them are chopped down every year to meet the country’s ever-growing cardboard demands.

In Hawaii, cardboard waste is an even greater contributor to climate change because the state lacks adequate recycling facilities. So, all of the country’s recycled cardboard is packaged and shipped five thousand miles to Thailand to be reprocessed.

Twenty-nine-year-old Evan Lam is improving the cardboard problem on Hawaii’s Big Island by upcycling the material into useful products that keep it on the island. He sees his work as part of a larger, global trend.

“One of the biggest responses that I see happening kind of all over the world, and here in Hawaii, is localization,” Lam told Eco Watch. “The more that we can do and process and take care of things at a local or regional level that’s kind of geographically bounded, the further we can get in just eliminating sources of greenhouse gas emissions.”

Lam created CirclePack in 2020 to make better use of the Big Island’s cardboard waste. The company travels to partner organizations throughout the island where people drop off clean cardboard that is shredded on-site by volunteers. The cardboard is repurposed into a flexible, perforated mat or smaller pieces of confetti.

The confetti cardboard can be used as sustainable packing supplies, animal bedding, compostable mailers, and garden or farm mulch.

The mesh cardboard is used by farmers as a mulching to kill invasive plant species. It also works as an organic weed cover and provides a home for worms in a vermicompost. Vermicomposting uses worms to convert biodegradable waste into organic manure.

As of April 2022, CirclePack has shredded 23,534 pounds of cardboard in just over a year of operation.

Lam says that Facebook and Instagram are invaluable tools to help him connect with community groups, volunteers, and environmentally conscious people. “Instagram has connected CirclePack with both community organizations and emerging businesses who prioritize and invest in sustainability. Facebook Groups particularly have helped us connect with community members who volunteer and bring cardboard to our community shred days,” Lam told Upworthy.

Lam’s work is further proof that digital communities can have a tangible impact on local ecosystems. “I post about our community shred days in local Facebook groups and people just show up,” he added.

See on Instagram

Lam believes that our ever-growing cardboard use and the supply chain that moves it around the world is unsustainable. “The growth of online shopping will probably increase the use of cardboard. It’s a system that needs to change, the global consumption of paper fiber is generally always increasing and we now live in a world where social, political and environmental issues are converging. We can’t continue on this pathway and not expect to experience some sort of disaster,” he told Upworthy.

“The fact that my cardboard probably comes to Hawaii from Canada and ends up being recycled in Taiwan and then can be shipped back to Los Angeles to deliver cotton from China and pears from Argentina is surreal,” Lam added. “Who is making these decisions and benefiting from them?”

There’s no end in sight for cardboard consumption, so Lam hopes to share what he’s learned from CirclePack with other like-minded eco-entrepreneurs. “I would like to inspire and inform people how to act in their own communities,” he told Upworthy. “I want people to replicate and use whatever parts of this program to fit their needs where they are. It doesn’t have to be complicated, big, or newsworthy to start doing the new, necessary things to benefit people and the places they live.”

Former Bill O’Reilly stooge Jesse Watters spends much of his days irritating Geraldo Rivera on Fox News’ The Five, but things took an even more awkward turn than usual for the guy who asked Mel Gibson about The Slap. Last week, everyone but one of the The Five panelists were left aghast when Watters began to relate how he “romanced” a co-worker who was fifteen years his junior. He was 39 at the time (only a few years ago) and married to his first wife, Noelle Watters.

And Jesse still decided to pursue Emma DiGiovine. Even worse, he did so in a very stalker-y way. Jesse persuaded her to climb into his car in a way that’s sure to set off some Stranger Danger alarms for all Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt viewers. Via Huff Post, Jesse proudly told his co-workers about how he tricked Emma into letting him drive her home: through sabotage. This is one for the books, alright.

“When I was trying to get Emma to date me, first thing I did, let the air out of her tires.” Watters proudly admitted. “She couldn’t go anywhere, she needed a lift. I said ‘Hey you need a lift?’ She got right into the car.”

Not great! The extra unsettling twist here is that Emma and Jesse exchanged wedding vows in 2020. Here they are, looking dreamy on the beach in January.

So, is Emma, uh, aware of the situation? “No, she doesn’t know the story,” Watters conceded. However, “Now she does.”

Jesse continued to insist that his shady methods are just fine because his story “has a happy ending.” Yikes.

(Via Huffington Post)

Jack Harlow is the toast of this week’s Billboard Hot 100 chart: It was revealed yesterday that “First Class” debuted in the No. 1 spot, making it the second chart-topper of his career so far. That said, if you peek a bit past the top 10 entries of the current chart, it looks like Harlow’s No. 1 may not actually be the week’s biggest accomplishment.

Lil Baby debuted two songs on the Hot 100 this week: “Right On” at No. 13 and “In A Minute” at No. 14. That in itself is nice but doesn’t seem like an especially huge deal. Looking at the big picture, though, it actually is, as those songs are Baby’s 99th and 100th to appear on the chart.

This feat puts Baby in rare territory, as only a handful of artists (12, counting him) have ever landed 100 or more songs on the Hot 100 in their career: Drake (who has 260 entries on the chart), Glee (207), Lil Wayne (180), Taylor Swift (166), Kanye West (135), Future (132), Nicki Minaj (123), Elvis Presley (109), Chris Brown (107), Jay-Z (104), Justin Bieber (103), and now, Lil Baby (100).

Also worth noting is how early in his career Baby reached 100 entries: His first single was only just released in 2017. The next “youngest” (in terms of when their first single was released) artist on the list is Future, whose debut single arrived in 2011. He’s actually the youngest (in terms of actual age) solo artist to do it, too, but just barely: When Bieber got his 100th Hot 100 song on July 20, 2021, he was 27 years, 4 months, and 19 days old, which was the record at the time. When Baby did it yesterday, he was 27 years, 4 months, and 15 days old, a mere four days younger than Bieber was.

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

For the first five seasons of Better Call Saul, every premiere began the same way: with a check-in on Gene, a.k.a. Omaha Gene, a.k.a. Cinnabon Gene, a.k.a. definitely not Saul Goodman / Jimmy McGill. So, in an episode full of shocking moments, maybe the most shocking moment of last night’s season six premiere was the lack of Gene. Instead, “Wine and Roses” kicked things off with Saul’s house being raided by the authorities following the events of Breaking Bad. But don’t worry, there’s plenty of Gene to come.

“As we started talking about the whole season, we realized that this season has a very different structure from the other seasons of the show. It has a different structure, it goes into places that we’ve never been before, there are shocks of many kinds and it seemed like starting it in a different way was the right thing to do, waiting to see Gene Takovic might make sense at this point,” co-creator Peter Gould told the Hollywood Reporter.

He continued:

“It’s no big surprise that Gene is part of the show, because that’s the key art, Bob as Gene Takovic the Cinnabon manager, either taking off or putting on a Saul Goodman sports coat. So I think it’s a pretty good bet that we’re gonna see Gene, but maybe waiting to see him is the right move.”

Here’s the key art that Gould is referring to:

The lack of Gene in the premiere was a real disappointment to the Cinnabon Twitter account, which, ahead of the episode, tweeted, “Our employee of the month is reporting for his shift today #iykyk.” He must’ve been a no call, no show. If only he got paid more.

(Via the Hollywood Reporter)

Shortly after Chromatics announced their official break-up last year, singer Ruth Radelet delivered a gorgeous cover of Elliott Smith’s “Twilight,” effectively marking the beginning of her newfound journey as a solo artist. Now, Radelet has just shared her first original track in the arresting hypnotism of “Crimes.”

Produced by former Poolside member Filip Nikovic, “Crimes” sees Radelet operating with her familiar breathy delivery. The song’s lyrics hint at what she’s had to consider with the dissolution of the group and now forging her own path, singing, “Is it easy to start over? Is it easy to play the game? Is it easy to forget your own name?”

She’s definitely establishing her own artistic identity with this solo output, and for fans of Chromatics who waited forever for Dear Tommy and never got it, it’s beyond welcome to hear Radelet soaring on “Crimes.”

“ʻCrimesʼ is about the pursuit of success at the expense of oneʼs integrity, and the exploitation of others in order to get ahead,” Radelet said in a statement. “Itʼs about the price we pay for our choices, and whether or not itʼs worth it. The question, ʻIs it easy to start over?ʼ can be interpreted in two ways — itʼs meant to ask how it feels to continually reinvent yourself until you lose sight of who you are. It also asks how hard it would be to walk away from it all.”

Listen to “Crimes” above.

Later this week, Helado Negro (aka Roberto Carlos Lange) will be embarking on a headlining tour through the US and Europe, supporting his most recent album, Far In. Released last year, Far In proved to be a journey into the mind that took us through the locales that Lange traversed in creating the skin and bones of the album: Marfa, Berlin, Brooklyn, and Asheville. It’s fitting that not only will he finally get to revisit the areas surrounding the album’s beginnings, but that he also released one last single ahead of the tour that seemingly calls out his nomadic creationism, “Ya No Estoy Aquí.”

Lange said in a statement that “Ya No Estoy Aqui” (which translates to “I’m No Longer Here”) is about “loneliness and alienation.” He added, “It’s about being lost within yourself and not knowing who you are. Making this song was catharsis; it was a way to get this all out and feel the texture of new perspectives.”

His vocals in Spanish cozy up against a woozy, vibrating beat that’s downright comforting. The song has a surrealist lean, as if it’s begging the question of how you can be somewhere but nowhere at the same time? The video depicts Lange’s single eye and mouth moving through time and space, adding to the transportive feel of the tune.

Lange added that the song’s title was inspired by the recent indie film of the same name. “This movie moved me in ways that nothing else has moved in a long time,” Lange says. “It is about a young man from Monterrey, Mexico, who gets into trouble and is forced to leave for his safety to New York. The language barrier, the cultural isolation, and his characteristics spiral him more towards his loneliness and isolation. Music was his only solace. Songs that he would dance to by himself and disappear into the memory of being somewhere else with the people he missed and loved.”

Watch the video for Helado Negro’s “Ya No Estoy Aquí” above.

Earlier this month, Nicki Minaj was the first guest on popular Late Late Show segment “Carpool Karaoke” following a two-year hiatus. The series is back up to full steam, now, as James Corden and company offered another new installment last night, this time with Camila Cabello.

Of course, the duo busted out some of Cabello’s biggest songs — “Havana,” “Don’t Go Yet,” “Bam Bam,” and “Liar.” As they drove around, Cabello also revealed Harry Styles was the main motivation for her to audition for X Factor, a choice that led her to Fifth Harmony and now to her thriving solo career.

She told Corden, “This is really embarrassing and I can only say this because obviously it’s like ten years ago but I literally was like, I’m auditioning for X Factor because I will marry Harry Styles. I really believed that at the time.”

Towards the end of the ride, Cabello told Corden her go-to karaoke song is The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside,” so naturally, they proceeded to sing along to the classic single.

This comes months after Cabello was part of a viral Late Late Show moment last summer, when she, her Cinderella co-stars, and Corden stopped traffic for a “Crosswalk The Musical” segment. Before the actual segment was released, though, it blew up online due to footage of Corden, dressed as a mouse, just thrusting away like tomorrow wasn’t a given.

Watch Cabello on “Carpool Karaoke” above.

Stephen Colbert tries to ignore Tucker Carlson as much as possible (we should all be so lucky), but The Late Show host couldn’t resist discussing the dishonest propagandist‘s new obsession: roasting your nuts. In his Fox Nation documentary series, Tucker Carlson Originals, Carlson praises the supposed benefits of “testicle tanning” with his “fitness professional” guest Andrew McGovern. “So, obviously, half the viewers are now like, ‘What? Testicle tanning — that’s crazy.’ But my view is, OK, testosterone levels have crashed and nobody says anything about it. That’s crazy,” Carlson explained.

Speaking of crazy, Colbert called Carlson “one of the engineers on the express train to right-wing crazy town” for among other things, his documentary on the “de-broing” of America. “I gotta say, coming from a Fox News anchor, that is a refreshing and positive celebration of homoeroticism,” the comedian joked following a montage of sweaty, shirtless hunks. “Good for you, fellas!” And now we’ve arrived at the testicle tanning.

“I’m no urologist, but if the Lord intended testicle health to include a lot of sunlight, I think he would have put them where the sun do shine,” Colbert said. “Like on your shoulders, or something. But there it is, Tucker is promoting testicle tanning, which is surprising, because the last time I checked, he is the whitest d*ck ever.”

You can watch Colbert’s monologue above.

DJ Khaled is always full of energy, at least when he’s in the public eye. It’s clear through his enthusiastic skits on his albums like Khaled Khaled or one-off collaborations like Latto’s “Big Energy” remix with Mariah. There are also his social media videos and behind-the-scenes clips with friends and other celebrities. Nowadays, Khaled has plenty to celebrate as he recently received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. He accepted the honor with Diddy, Fat Joe, and Jay-Z beside him during the ceremony last week. Khaled seems to still be in a celebratory mood, and the high energy that comes on was on full display during the Miami Heat’s recent playoff game.

On Sunday, the Miami Heat kicked off the first round of the NBA playoffs with a Game 1 matchup against the Atlanta Hawks. DJ Khaled was in attendance at the game as he sat courtside with his family. During a break in the game’s action, Khaled decided to leave his seat and walk onto the court in order to grab a ball and attempt a three-pointer. Despite the ambitious attempt, the shot was a complete airball, and soon enough, a security guard arrived to send him back to his seat.

While the airball might have been disappointing to Khaled, his Miami heat did win the playoff game by a score of 115-91. This is also not Khaled’s first attempt at some on-court action. Back in February, he tried his hand at the Skills Challenge obstacle course for the NBA’s All-Star Weekend. This also resulted in an airball from Khaled, but he made up for it by sinking his following shot.

You can check out Khaled’s airball from Game 1 in the video above.