Category: Viral

Before Netflix’s Making a Murderer set the true crime genre on fire, there was The Staircase from French director Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, which focused on the bizarre death of Kathleen Peterson. Her husband, author Michael Peterson, was accused of the crime, but the docuseries raised significant questions about his guilt. Now, those events are being turned into a limited series starring Colin Firth as Peterson that will adapt the original work by de Lestrade along with “various books and reports on the case,” at least one of which, hopefully, involves killer owls. Harrison Ford was originally attached to the Peterson role, which is a joint venture between Annapurna Television and HBO Max, but maybe one man can only star in so many projects about husbands suspected of killing their wives.

Uproxx‘s Brett Michael Dykes raved about the original The Staircase docuseries back in 2016 when SundanceTV brought it back for a limited run on its website and mobile app. Declaring the series to be “as riveting as — if not more than — Making a Murderer,” Dykes provided background for new viewers looking to dive into the Peterson mystery:

Originally aired by Sundance in 2004, The Staircase follows the legal saga of Michael Peterson, a Durham, North Carolina-based writer whose wife, Kathleen, died mysteriously in 2001. (She appeared to have fallen or been pushed down a flight of stairs in the couple’s home; thus the name, The Staircase.) Local prosecutors — among them the notorious Mike Nifong of the Duke lacrosse team rape case infamy — charged Michael Peterson for her murder. French filmmaker Jean-Xavier de Lestrade was provided extraordinary behind-the-scenes access throughout the months that followed Kathleen’s death, the result being the eight-part docuseries.

Dykes ended his praise for the original The Staircase series with the following recommendation: “Watch it, dangit.”

When it came to what song to perform for her UPROXX Sessions debut, Erica Banks’s choice was a no-brainer. Her biggest hit to date — and the song that introduced her to the world via a fan-approved TikTok challenge — remains “Buss It,” the Nelly-sampling, bass-heavy, twerk-ready anthem that had fans dropping it low at the Dallas native’s behest. Stopping by Uproxx Studios, Banks brought her signature bold energy to a buoyant performance that proves her personality comes through live even better than it does on the record.

Being signed to 1501 Certified Entertainment — the same label that helped introduce the world to Megan Thee Stallion — brings a fair share of expectations for Banks. As a fellow Texan, her accent, flow, and taste in production have all been compared to the Grammys’ 2021 Best New Artist winner, yet Banks also has to stand out and prove that she’s a completely different artist.

Fortunately, the success of “Buss It” has given her a running start at reaching that goal, while its remix with Travis Scott and her subsequent guest appearance on Yella Beezy’s “Star” took massive strides toward becoming a breakout artist in her own right. With her UPROXX Sessions performance, she takes another step on that journey, strutting with her head held high and showing she’s got the tools to carve out her own lane.

Watch Erica Banks’ buoyant “Buss It” 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.

Erica Banks is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

TikTok is no longer just an emerging platform, as it’s already been making stars for a while now. Gradually, people who had stayed away from the app are making their way to it, and today, Radiohead decided to get in on the fun. They introduced themselves on the platform today with a new video that stars recurring Radiohead character Chieftan Mews.

The brief black-and-white clip shows Mews sitting at a television news desk emblazoned with his name. A voice from off-camera instructs, “Say something.” Mews responds, “Well, what do you want me to say? TikTok. Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock. This is your wake-up call. Have a good day.” He then displays some facial tics before the video ends with unsettling electronic sounds. So far, this is the only video on the Radiohead account.

For those unfamiliar, Mews is a character that has popped up in various Radiohead endeavors over the years. He’s a digital composite created by producer Nigel Godrich and he first appeared in The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth Of All Time, a collection of 24 short films released by Radiohead in 2004. More recently, he starred in a 2017 unboxing video of the OKNOTOK box set, an anniversary rerelease of OK Computer.

It’s possible the band joining TikTok could preface some new music. Jonny Greenwood expressed hope for new activity for Radiohead in a letter to end 2020, in which he wrote, “Right now, I just feel this: I hope you are safe and well and not too scared, or too bored. I also hope that somehow we can be part of making music for you soon, and that the pleasure of making music, and hearing music, whether in a gig, concert hall, church, or at home with friends – is not forgotten in this desolate year.”

Watch the TikTok video above.

The pandemic has had a big effect on the country’s fashion habits. It’s drastically reduced the number of people going out at night and 42% now work full-time from home. The change has been so drastic that one in six dry cleaners has gone out of business during the pandemic.

The COVID-19 era proves that if people don’t have to dress up, they don’t.

That’s why La Verne Ford Wimberly of Tulsa, Oklahoma is such an inspiration.

She’s a parishioner at Metropolitan Baptist Church and when Sunday services went online last March, it didn’t stop her from dressing to the nines. For 53 Sundays in a row she has dressed in a color-coordinated outfit and, after service, posted a photo of it on Facebook.

“She never skips a beat with the hats, the clothes, and all that beautiful jewelry,” Robin Watkins, 54, the church’s executive office assistant, told The Washington Post.

Wimberly was always known for her head-turning outfits at Sunday service.

“In the 20 years I’ve been going to church there, I’ve always had my little routine that I learned from my mother as a girl,” she said. “I’d pick out a nice outfit and hat and lay it out the night before, so that I could be prepared and look presentable.”

When COVID hit, she decided wasn’t going to let it change how she presents herself to the world.

“I thought, ‘Oh, my goodness, I can’t sit here looking slouchy in my robe,’ ” she said. “I didn’t want to sit around alone and feel sorry for myself, so I decided, ‘You know what? I’m going to dress up anyway.’ “

On her first day of virtual church, she got up early to style her hair and put on some lipstick. She then put on her favorite white dress and a sheer ruffled hat. She even put on matching shoes, a detail no one would notice over Zoom.

After she posted a photo on Facebook she was flooded with compliments.

Wimblery has written down her outfits on a calendar so she never repeats the same one twice. The most dramatic piece of her wardrobe has to be her hats and she has plenty of them. “It’s safe to say that 50 is a good number for the hats,” she confessed.

Her love of fashion was inspired by a school teacher she had growing up. So when she joined the profession after college, she decided to carry on the tradition.

“They’d rub my arm and say, ‘Oh, Miss Ford [her maiden name], you look so pretty,’ ” she recalled. “Pretty soon, I had so many clothes that I started a rotation and color-coding system, so I could keep surprising the kids with my outfits.”

Wimberly is known by her fellow parishioners as “Doctor” because she has a doctorate in education. She would go on to be a principal and then a superintendent.

However, from the looks of it, she could have easily made it in the world of fashion, too.

Fashion psychologist Rose Turner from London College says that dressing up even though we don’t have to is great self-care during a pandemic.

“When other activities that help us to feel ‘like us’ – such as hobbies, seeing friends and going to work – are unavailable, getting dressed up may help people to reinforce their sense of self,” Turner told the BBC.

“Clothing impacts how people think and behave. Putting on a ‘work’ outfit might help with motivation and concentration, and wearing something special might help to break the monotony of lockdown, and lift people’s mood,” she added.

Wimbley’s story is a great lesson for everyone to remember. Just because times are hard, doesn’t mean you have to look like it.

The Snyder Cut and Ayer Cut are so last month. I’m all about the Tarantino Cut now.

In an interview with Variety’s Awards Circuit podcast, actress Margot Robbie was asked about the fabled cut of Suicide Squad that “scared the sh*t out of the executives.” She jokingly responded, “For personal reasons, I’d love to watch the five-hour cut of every movie I’ve ever done,” before adding, “There’s a 20-hour cut of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood that would… There’s so much more that you didn’t get to see, that we shot that was amazing, and for a million reasons obviously, can’t make the cut.”

The theatrical version of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was 161 minutes long (a re-release added 10 minutes), but a four-hour cut exists and it might be released on Netflix. The extra 80 minutes is mostly Brad Pitt lifting his shirt off in extremely slow motion.

Robbie will soon appear in The Suicide Squad, out August 6, followed by roles in David O. Russell’s next film (along with Christian Bale, John David Washington, Rami Malek, Michael Shannon, Chris Rock, Anya Taylor-Joy, Robert De Niro, Mike Myers, Timothy Olyphant, and Zoe Saldana) and Damien Chazelle’s Babylon, where she’ll reunite with Pitt. Maybe they can text Quentin Tarantino about the four-hour cut between scenes.

(Via Variety)

Every day, more and more rappers are hopping on the viral “Beat Box” challenge. It’s essentially a way for artists to flex their lyricism while offering their own interpretation of SpotemGottem’s “Beat Box” beat. So far, rappers like Mulatto, DaBaby, Polo G, and Lil Yachty have hopped on the trend. Now, NLE Choppa offers up his own version of the viral challenge while also celebrating his recent release from prison with “Beat Box (First Day Out).”

Over SpotemGottem’s recognizable beat, Choppa asserts his dominance with each boastful lyric. Choppa’s “Beat Box (First Day Out)” arrives alongside a fast-paced video, the filming process of which apparently saw some hiccups. It closes out with a clip of the rapper and his crew fleeing a car that they had crashed into the side of the road while on camera. Even still, the video is a way for the rapper to celebrate that he’s currently out of jail on bail.

Earlier this week and ahead of the “Beat Box” filming, the 18-year-old was arrested in Florida on suspicion of burglary, carrying a concealed firearm, and possession of drugs including Xanax and weed. He was taken into Broward County Sherrif’s Office in Fort Lauderdale and his bail was set at $4,500, which he was able to pay shortly after his arrest.

Choppa is looking to make the most of his legal situation, however. Along with dropping “Beat Box (First Day Out)” as an anthem for his freedom, the rapper announced a line of merch that is printed with his most recent mug shot.

Watch Choppa’s “Beat Box (First Day Out)” video above.

NLE Choppa is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The only thing that Donald Trump likes more than himself is McDonald’s. He asked White House chefs to recreate a Quarter Pounder; served a buffet of fast food items, including greasy “hamberders” from McD’s, to the Clemson Tigers football team after they won the national championship; and his former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski claimed a typical dinner for the former-president consisted of “two Big Macs, two Filet-O-Fish sandwiches, and a small chocolate shake – a total of 2,430 calories.” But while Trump may love to recline in bed with a McDonald’s cheeseburger (who doesn’t), he doesn’t love paying people back for McDonald’s.

Kevin McKay, who worked as a bodyguard for Trump for five years, told the Daily Mail that the former-president owes him $130 for a McDonald’s order that he paid for back in 2008. “He told me he would pay me back, but he never did,” he said. “For much of the time I was working for him, I kept thinking he would say, ‘Kevin, here’s that money I owe you,’ but it didn’t happen. I thought he was an OK guy when I first started working for him, but I guess that as we have all come to see, he is not a man of his word.”

I bet Trump never chipped in for gas money, either.

Kevin reveals he bought fast food for Trump in 2008 when the future President was heading to Aberdeen airport in northeast Scotland after visiting his beloved Trump International golf course. The former bodyguard said: ‘We were driving from Mr. Trump’s estate and just as we got to the Bridge of Don, he asked to stop at McDonald’s so he could buy food for the flight back to New York. We were in a convoy of six blacked out Range Rovers with about 15 men in suits inside, so there must have been some shocked expressions as we pulled up in the carpark.’

Trump didn’t have any local currency, so “he asked me if I could front him the cash,” McKay revealed. “I said, ‘Sure’ and took everyone’s order – about 20 cheeseburgers and fries with around 10 or 15 Coca Colas. I think Mr. Trump ordered two cheeseburgers with fries and a Diet Coke – that was his usual order and he always wanted McDonald’s to take with him on the private jet. It cost me about £95 in total and Mr. Trump told me, ‘You’ll get it back.’ … I never heard about it again after that. I should have asked him for the money, but I brushed it under the carpet.” Thirteen years later, he’s still waiting.

I’m beginning to think this Trump guy isn’t a man of his word.

(Via the Daily Mail)

Wheel of Fortune fans have finally had it with a controversial rule that just cost another contestant a win on Wednesday’s episode. As Wheel Watchers know, the show is oddly strict about contestants adding the word “and” while solving a puzzle and will rule their answer incorrect if they make the common blunder. That’s exactly what happened to contestant David Pederson while solving the episode’s crossword puzzle for the day. Via Entertainment Weekly:

“Don’t add anything,” host Pat Sajak warned Pederson, who then answered, “Sole, flounder, cod, and catfish,” which Sajak ruled incorrect. Another contestant then answered correctly by listing the same fish but omitting “and.”

You can watch the frustrating loss below:

While this mistake has happened before, it appears to be the final straw for some Wheel of Fortune fans who took to social media to demand the show ditch the rule once and for all.

As of this writing, the show has not responded to the “and rule” controversy, but judging by the number of people who are arguing that it should stay, there probably will be very little movement on the topic. It’s also not the only problem the show is currently dealing with. Host Pat Sajak has been involved in a growing number of awkward incidents in recent weeks. The longtime host seemingly made a very suggestive remark to a contestant and has been under fire after reportedly mocking a contestant’s speech impediment in late February. Sajak also called a contestant “ungrateful” back in November, but in that case, he apologized for yelling at the end of the show.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

Each week our staff of film and TV experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish movies available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.

1. Godzilla vs. Kong (HBO Max)

Do you like to watch monsters pummel the ever-living hell out of each other? (Of course you do! Who doesn’t?!) Well, has HBO Max got a movie for you! (Though we should note that you can also see it in theaters.) This seemingly non-stop parade of cinematic excess is a long way from Godzilla’s original legacy as an anti-nuclear parable, but it’s entertaining as hell, so we forgive everything. Watch it on HBO Max.

2. Zack Snyder’s Justice League (HBO Max)

After a hardcore fan campaign and plenty of backlash (of both the content-related and behind-the-scenes varieties), the fabled “Snyder Cut” is no longer fabled but a real thing. It’s also a 4-hour thing, so it’s quite a mouthful to chew, but it’s undeniably a vast improvement over the theatrical version. Snyder’s version isn’t technically canon, but it’s still the realization of a fever dream and one that will satisfy those who longed for actual character depth amid all the CGI mayhem. Watch it on HBO Max.

3. Concrete Cowboy (Netflix)

Idris Elba on a horse and wearing a cowboy hat? Sure, sign us up. Director Ricky Staub uses actual members of Philadelphia’s Fletcher Street Riding Club in the film, and the film also serves as a pretty good history lesson explaining why there are often Black cowboys on horses in the middle of large cities. Watch it on Netflix.

4. The Last Cruise (HBO Max)

If you enjoy documentaries that feel like horror movies that will give you nightmares when you sleep, this one is right up your alley. Director Hannah Olson combed through hundreds of hours of video footage taken by passengers and crew members aboard a cruise ship in the midst of a COVID outbreak to transport audiences back to the early days of the pandemic. Watch it on HBO Max.

5. Bad Trip (Netflix)

Eric Andre, Lil Rel Howery, and Tiffany Haddish in a wild road trip prank comedy where they pull strangers into nutso stunts as they make their way to New York. You could do a whole lot worse in on a Saturday night. Watch it on Netflix.

6. Minari (VOD)

Do you want to make Alan Kim happy? You should, as he’s the world’s most adorable child. All you have to do is watch Minari. Not only will you get to enjoy a very good movie about a Korean-American family, including patriarch Steven Yeun, living in small-town Arkansas in the 1980s, you will also bring a smile to make this gosh-darn cute kid’s face. Watch it on VOD.

7. Nomadland (Hulu)

In his review of the film last year, our Mike Ryan wrote, “there’s a scene in Nomaldland so beautiful I gasped as it whisked my brain to some of Terrence Malick’s early work.” That pretty much sums it up well — Nomadland is one of the most beautiful and touching movies we’ve seen in a while. Watch it on Hulu.

8. Wolfwalkers (Apple TV)

Wolfwalkers was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars. It probably will not win because it’s going against Soul and Onward, but it should. The third and final installment in Tomm Moore’s majestic “Irish Folklore Trilogy,” after The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea, is gorgeous and profound and lyrical. Pixar can always win another Oscar next year. Watch it on Apple TV.

9. Kid90 (Hulu)

Actress Soleil Moon Frye mines her vast archive of diaries and videos, creating a star-studded scrapbook of her bittersweet ’90s teen experience that is as affecting as it is surprisingly relevant no matter when you came of age. Watch it on Hulu.

10. The Sound Of Metal (Amazon Prime)

Riz Ahmed is terrific in The Sound of Metal and is a, mark it down, done deal for a Best Actor Oscar nomination. Ahmed plays Ruben Stone, a drummer in a heavy metal band who is losing his hearing at a dramatic speed. As a former addict, he worries about relapsing and checks himself into a shelter for deaf addicts. It’s here he learns to sign and starts to accept himself in new ways. Things get complicated after Ruben has surgery to install implants that, sort of, restore some of his hearing, but now he’s caught between two worlds and has to decide how he wants to live. Ahmed gives a reserved performance (at least for a character who plays in a heavy metal band) as he copes with the anguish of who he was, who he is now, and who he’s going to be. Watch it on Amazon Prime.

Each week our staff of film and TV experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish shows available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.

Get more streaming recommendations with our weekly What To Watch newsletter.

1. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (Disney+)

After WandaVision proved that Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige could still bring their A+ game, even on the small screen, we’re getting the (begrudging) buddy comedy for Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes that was forecast when they grumbled over a back seat in Captain America: Civil War. Baron Helmut Zemo (portrayed by Daniel Brühl) is the big bad, but what Marvel viewers will truly love to see is the return of Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp), who’s kicking ass and making her aunt’s Peggy’s spirit proud. Also, yes, “Who will be the next Cap?” will be the question on everyone’s mind, so get ready. Watch it on Disney+.

2. Made For Love (HBO Max)

Cristin Milioti stars in this delightfully weird comedy about a sociopathic tech billionaire’s trophy wife who doubles as his human guinea pig. After ten years of being trapped in a terrible marriage, she decides to make a run for it to escape and, well, hilarity ensues. Watch it on HBO Max.

3. Solar Opposites (Hulu)

Solar Opposites is a reverse Rick and Morty. Instead of Rick and Morty visiting other planets to interact with aliens, it’s the aliens who are living on Earth in the Hulu animated series, including an adorable pupa… who will eventually destroy Earth. Putting people’s lives in danger through comical misadventures? In that sense, Solar Opposites is a lot like Rick and Morty. Both shows also share a creator, Justin Roiland. But mostly the “lives in danger” thing. Watch it on Hulu).

4. Mayans M.C. (FX/Hulu)

This season, the Sons of Anarchy spinoff is getting downer-and-dirtier with more biker drama and less family-related theatrics. That’s a good thing because warring guys-in-leather are where it’s at, and the two rival M.C.s coming no closer to peacefully coexisting, so prepare for (you knew this was coming) war. Showrunner Elgin James is officially taking the show into the post-Kurt Sutter era of the Sons Of Anarchy franchise, so let’s ride. Watch it on Hulu.

5. The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers (Disney+)

Finally, the Emilio Estevez comeback we’ve all been waiting for is here. In this reboot series, a 12-year-old boy forms a hockey team of underdogs with the help of the Ducks’ original coach, Gordon Bombay (Estevez), who has become a despondent owner of a low-level ice rink over the years. Watch it on Disney+.

6. Invincible (Amazon Prime)

This animated romp will please both fans of The Boys and The Walking Dead, and the latter reference has everything to do with the source material penned by Robert Kirkman. Invincible is an ultraviolent deconstruction of the superhero, and yes, we’ve seen plenty of dismantling already, but this story has heart. Stephen Yeun makes a fantastic leading man here, and the cast (J.K. Simmons, Sandra Oh, Seth Rogen, Walton Goggins, Jason Mantzoukas, Zazie Beetz, Zachary Quinto, Mark Hamill, and several TWD names) is ridiculously good. Watch it March 26 on Amazon.

7. WandaVision (Disney+)

Wanda Maximoff finally got her due, and this show manages to be everything that Marvel fans hoped for and almost nothing like what they expected. We’re now in Phase Four, baby, with magnificent cameo troll jobs throwing us off the scent of a story that delivers a rather touching medication on loss and trauma with all sorts of witchy shenanigans there to help us actually, you know enjoy the ride. Fun is the name of the game, after all, and all eyes are now pointing ahead toward The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Watch it on Disney+.

8. Q: Into the Storm (HBO Max)

Sure, there was hesitation involved with watching HBO’s new docuseries on QAnon (“Do we really want to expose ourselves even more to the lunacy of these people?”) but once we started digging into the screeners we just couldn’t stop. It’s a fast-paced docu-mystery, one that even comes with a satisfying payoff at the end of the final episode: the unmaking of Q. Watch it on HBO Max.

9. Ted Lasso (AppleTV)

Ted Lasso shouldn’t have worked. It’s a show based on a character with a funny name and a thin premise (American football coach starts coaching English soccer team), both of which first appeared during a commercial campaign. The fact that it’s good at all, let alone this good, is a minor miracle. He’s a sweet man with a lovely mustache and he just wants to help. You could do far worse in a television show. Watch it on Apple TV+.

10. Waffles + Mochi (Netflix)

Waffles + Mochi is a charming show about eating vegetables. It’s more than that, sure. It’s got puppets and celebrity cameos and Michelle Obama, who produced the show as part of the family’s big deal with Netflix. But what it is, mostly, if you boil it all down, is a show about getting people to eat healthier. It has no right to be as entertaining as it is. And yet, there you’ll be, won over by adorable puppets and goofy guest stars, thinking about eating a bowl of carrots instead of an entire bag of chips. Watch it on Netflix.