It was only a few days that Matt Reeves’ The Batman resumed production, and it’s already been shut down again. “A member of The Batman production has tested positive for COVID-19 and is isolating in accordance with established protocols,” a Warner Bros. spokesperson said earlier today in a statement. “Filming is temporarily paused.”
It turns out that the “member” was the Dark Knight himself, Robert Pattinson.
Vanity Fairreports that Pattinson “has tested positive for the coronavirus, causing filming of The Batman to be halted just days after the superhero drama resumed work at studios outside of London.” Pattinson could not be reached for comment by Vanity Fair.
Little else is known about Pattinson’s condition (he hasn’t recorded a The Rock-style video), but according to Variety, The Batman was “about seven weeks into filming when they had to turn off cameras due to the pandemic. The movie has approximately three months of material left to shoot and hopes to be done filming by the end of the year.”
The Batman, which also stars Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Barry Keoghan, Jayme Lawson, Andy Serkis, and Colin Farrell, is scheduled to be released on October 1, 2021.
One of the worst parts of the basketball discourse is the insistence in breaking star players into one of two categories: Jordans and Pippens. The first category is meant for players who can be a lead star and the second is for players who need to be the secondary star on a championship team.
It’s reductive and fails to account for an awful lot of nuance in that, often, it’s best to pair two stars who can each take the lead at times and handle various responsibility, but has become a favorite discussion point not just among fans, but talking heads and former players turned analysts. This discussion ramped up again on Wednesday night after the Bucks lost to the Heat to fall behind 0-2 in there series, as Richard Jefferson professed his belief that Giannis Antetokounmpo was a Pippen, not a Jordan.
Pippen himself scoffed at that notion — and dunked on Jefferson in the process by asking what player that would have made him — but things got even messier when ESPN’s Jay Williams chimed in. Williams asserted that LeBron James was once a Pippen to Dwyane Wade’s Jordan, but eventually learned to become a Jordan.
So LeBron was a Pippen with D Wade once. Nothing wrong with that until you get over the hump. https://t.co/exAjQ3uOW4
That, uh, didn’t sit well with LeBron, who decided to respond with frustration and confusion as to why he was being dragged into this, noting he’s never been anything but himself on the floor, not a Pippen or a Jordan.
Explain to me what the fux I gotta do with this subject matter! I’m over here minding my damn business preparing for Houston. And by the way I ain’t never been nobody but my damn self! Shit!
LeBron and Wade were, maybe more than any star duo in league history, incredible at sharing the lead role. Their first season they had nearly identical scoring output, efficiency, and volume, so while Wade was certainly more established at winning titles having already gotten one, it’s off-base to call LeBron a Pippen while in Miami. The insistence with comparing things to a specific situation like Pippen and Jordan is always going to be messy and, rarely, will fit totally.
There’s certainly something to be said about what Giannis needs to do — or who he needs around him — to be at his most successful come playoff time, but trying to wedge that into the Jordan-Pippen dichotomy is just tired. One day, maybe we’ll move past this, but until then, it’s if nothing else guaranteed to make some people very mad.
The Milwaukee Bucks find themselves in a rough spot right now. The team is down, 2-0, in the Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the Miami Heat, and while Game 2 ended under strange circumstances, the Heat have all the momentum. Because this is happening in 2020, takes are abound, including one from Richard Jefferson that drew the ire of a Hall of Fame inductee.
In the aftermath of Game 2, Jefferson suggested that Giannis Antetokounmpo is more Scottie Pippen than Michael Jordan. As such, Jefferson believes that Giannis needs to team up with an alpha dog who can fill the Jordan role.
Now, Pippen is one of the best players to ever live, so being Scottie Pippen should, in theory, be a compliment. That changes a bit, though, whenever it is mentioned in the same sentence as Jordan, as the implication becomes that a player is not good enough to win on their own and needs someone better to get to the promised land.
There’s also the fact that Pippen has a Twitter account, saw this, and provided both a pretty reasonable response that also took a swipe at Jefferson’s game.
I’m not Giannis—I don’t have back-to-back league MVPs (he will in a matter of days)—and he’s not me. The question is… who were you as a player? https://t.co/Ce6tGU98s3
As we saw during The Last Dance, if there is one thing you could always count on with the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls, it was that somehow, someway, a joke was going to be made at the expense of Scott Burrell.
As summer comes to an end and the new school year is beginning, schools and students alike are coping with their new virtual classrooms. One university’s professor came up with a creative way to keep his students engaged and make sure they’re motivated to keep up with coursework. A Pierce College professor tapped Snoop Dogg to make a Cameo video urging his students to pay attention to his class’ syllabus.
TMZ caught wind of the video, reporting the cameo was purchased from Dr. Benny for his Chem 60 at Los Angeles Pierce College. The video starts off with the sharply dressed Dr. Benny addressing his students: “Today, I have a very special guest who has a very important message for you all.”
Snoop Dogg then appears on the screen, telling students he has a message for them: “Yo, syllabus. You gotta do it, you gotta read it. Man, I’m telling you. The more you know, the further you go.” Snoop goes on to say: “I know all about it. Catch up so we can have a conversation.”
The professor dropped a pretty penny to catch his student’s attention as a Snoop Cameo video doesn’t come cheap, as a custom video from Snoops costs $750.
According to Haynes, Billups is “fully invested in making the jump (to coaching) a reality” and “teams have now begun the process of researching Billups’ candidacy.”
In the meantime, Billups has served as an NBA analyst for ESPN and Fox Sports West, where he calls Clippers games locally. Billups also played in the Big 3 for two seasons from 2017-19.
The fan favorite Billups, an NBA champion and five-time All-Star, was known for his savvy all-around game as a player with the Pistons, Nuggets, Knicks, Timberwolves, and Clippers. The 43-year-old’s interest in becoming a coach comes the same day Steve Nash was hired by the Nets.
With Nash taking the Nets job, there are openings in New Orleans, Indiana, and Philadelphia. Notably, three of the four coaches who have been dismissed or replaced this offseason already are Black, while Billups’ candidacy adds to a broad list of qualified Black candidates around the NBA this offseason.
22-year-old rapper Silentó (real name Richard Lamar Hawk) has had an eventful past few days, which were headlined by an arrest for alleged domestic violence and assault with a deadly weapon over a pair of incidents. Silentó, of course, is best known for his 2015 single “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae),” which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and has been certified six-times Platinum.
ABC 7 reports Silentó was taken into custody by Santa Ana, California police on Friday, August 28 following a report of a domestic disturbance in the 100 block of MacArthur Boulevard, according to authorities. The rapper was booked and released on a charge of inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant.
The very next day, Silentó is alleged to have entered a home in the 12700 block of Burbank Boulevard in Valley Village, wielding a hatchet and looking for his girlfriend, who did not live in that home. TMZ adds somebody in the house screamed for help, while others in the home took down and disarmed the rapper. Silentó’s friend apparently arrived shortly after and told him he was in the wrong house. The two then reportedly fled as the police were called.
Officers caught up with Silentó and took him to jail. He was charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon. NBC Los Angeles reports that as of Wednesday afternoon, the rapper remains in custody on $105,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in court on the morning of Friday, September 4.
The Umbrella Academy‘s July 31 return to Netflix was a twist-filled blast that involved the Hargreeves siblings working to ward off another apocalypse in 1960s-set Dallas. It had fantastic action scenes, the weirdness that one expects from the characters, and plenty of cultural relevance to entertain the show’s rabid fanbase, which elevated the series to the top of the very first Nielsen Streaming Top 10 list, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Granted, this list is running on data that’s a month old and covers the week of August 3-9, but it provides an interesting glimpse into what shows beat The Office:
1. The Umbrella Academy, 3.01 billion minutes viewed
2. Shameless, 1.13 billion
3. Grey’s Anatomy, 918 million
4. The Office, 897 million
5. Criminal Minds, 697 million
6. NCIS, 524 million
7. In the Dark, 418 million
8. Dexter, 316 million
9. Supernatural, 315 million
10. Parks and Recreation, 304 million
Showtime’s Shameless being so high on the list (although still only 1/3 of total minutes as compared to The Umbrella Academy) has plenty to do with the show’s tenth-season arrival on Netflix. The Office, of course, made #3, followed by procedurals that are already airing on cable heavy rotation. People still can’t get enough of Matthew Gray Gubler or Mark Harmon, it seems, and seeing Supernatural (and its thirteen seasons) on the list makes sense, along with Parks and Rec, which recently aired a reunion special. Seeing Dexter on the list, several years after it went off the air, is a mild surprise, as is Grey’s Anatomy scoring near the top. It’s enlightening with more data to come, no doubt.
Summer may be ending but that doesn’t mean we have to stop enjoying some barbecue, or even easy-going backyard grilling. Besides some tasty veg, meat, or fish to grill, you’ll also need some serious BBQ sauce to smother whatever you’re cooking. But what’s the best BBQ sauce to have on hand when you fire up the grill or smoker? That question is not as easy to answer.
Let’s look at what makes a great BBQ sauce first. For us, a great BBQ sauce starts with the marrying of an umami tomato base and molasses sweetness. From there, a little tang and spice need to be present to varying degrees of intensity, but usually fairly balanced. After that, things get too pinned to individual palates to really dig into here.
So, to find out what the people use when they’re barbecuing in their backyards, we popped over to Ranker. There was a list of the Best BBQ Sauce Brands with over 50,000 votes, and that felt like a good enough quorum for us (though, we had to combine a couple of rankings as they were for the same sauces). So, let’s dive into the best BBQ sauces you can buy right now and use this weekend.
The Sauce: This Arizona sauce is a blend of roasted tomatoes, roasted chilis, blue agave, molasses, apple cider vinegar, cocoa, and Oaxacan coffee that gives this sauce a powerful sounding depth of flavors. These days, it’s damn near impossible to find unless you’re in a specialty shop in Arizona. If you’ve had it, let us know!
The Sauce: St. Louis’ Pappy’s Smokehouse is a cornerstone of the local BBQ scene. Their sauce is equally beloved and worth tracking down for your own BBQ sauce collection. The sauce amps up the tang with plenty of vinegar while keeping things just the right amount of spicy with the addition of a chili sauce and a red hot sauce in the ketchup base.
The Sauce: Bone Suckin’ Sauce feels like a bespoke sauce that you can actually find at most grocery stores. The sauce is billed as a “Western North Carolina style sauce” that leans into a foundation of sweetness from a mix of honey and molasses next to plenty of tang. The sauce is so beloved that it continually tops “best BBQ sauce” lists around the country.
The Sauce: Memphis BBQ is low-key one of the best BBQ corners of the country (sorry Texas and the Carolinas). Sticky Fingers Memphis Original Barbecue Sauce brings that wonderful, smoky, and tangy world right to your own backyard. The sauce combines molasses and brown sugar with just the right amount of vinegar and mild spice to boost any grilling session.
The Sauce: Stubb’s is a Texan icon at this point. Their Sweet Heat sauce combines a base of molasses and brown sugar with chipotle chili sauce, giving it a mild yet distinctly sharp edge. There’s also a nice edge of apple cider vinegar tang, tying the whole damn sauce together.
The Sauce: This is a perfectly fine dipping BBQ sauce. You can use it on some chicken, we guess. But the sauce leans a little more sweet than tangy. Also, it’s $1.50 for a bottle. You can’t expect hand-crafted greatness at that price point.
The Sauce: This feels like the Coors Light of the list. We love Coors Light around here because it gets the job done and is perfectly fine for what it is. Still, there’s a plastic presence here that’s a little off-putting.
The Sauce: Stubb’s Original should be in your fridge right now. This sauce isn’t going to blow your socks off, but it’ll suit any backyard grilling session perfectly fine with its mix of tangy vinegar, sweet molasses, and sharp black pepper.
The Sauce: This is probably the most complex BBQ sauce on this list and a steal at this price. The sauce, of course, utilizes Jack Daniel’s Tennesee Whiskey with a mix of apple cider vinegar, pineapple juice, brown sugar, and tamarind paste. It’s bold and unique.
The Sauce: Honey and chipotle in one BBQ sauce? Sign us up! This is a great go-to sauce with a good thickness and tang that’s also cheap enough to always have stocked. It’s also the tasty sauce is this price range by a country mile.
Following last week’s reveal of the Boba Fett Adidas Top Ten Hi, Adidas has revealed the latest addition to its group of silhouettes celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Empire Strikes Back, The Darth Vader Superstar. Oh wait, no sorry, they’re not actually called the Darth Vader Superstar, Adidas has chosen to oddly dub these kicks “Superstar Star Wars Shoes.” Last week’s release was officially named the “Top Ten Hi Boba Fett.” But these? They get the generic name.
That’s probably because, while both the Darth Vader Superstar and the Boba Fett would’ve never made it on our weekly roundup of the best sneakers. The Vaders aren’t nearly as cool as the Fetts. The Fetts were full of small fan-servicey details that reflected their namesake in a really cool way — they even came with a pouch! But the Vader Superstar does little to reflect the sith lord they’re named after aside from dress the sneaker in matte black leather.
Admittedly, we do like the stitching on the upper and the reflective three-stripes that are meant to resemble the lines and detailing in Vader’s suit. But, we would’ve liked to see Adidas lean more into functional design details rather than using more obvious signifiers like the imperial insignia on the heel tab, or the tongue portrait of Vader.
Adidas
In another head-scratching move, Adidas also replaced the Superstar’s iconic shell toe with a toe box shaped like Darth Vader’s mask and helmet. Finally, the “Superstar Star Wars Shoes” feature translucent outsoles revealing the words “I Am Your Father.” Which, sure, is no doubt the most iconic line from Empire Strikes Back, but to print it on the bottom of a shoe? Hilarious.
It’s a shame that of the full collection, which has so far featured a Luke Skywalker Stan Smith, Stormtrooper NMD R1, Lando Calrissian NMD RI V2, and a Boba Fest Top Ten Hi, the Darth Vader Superstar — ahem Superstar Star Wars Shoes — are the weakest by far.
Vader deserved better than this. He killed the Emperor! Oh, wait…
The Darth Vader Superstar is set to drop on September 17th for a retail price of $120. Pick up a pair at the Adidas webstore.
The best new hip-hop albums coming out this week include projects from Ashton Travis, Big Sean, Blxst, Lil Durk, and Phil Augusta Jackson.
After last week’s ultra loaded New Music Friday, this week we’re getting a little bit of a reprieve with only five projects, most of them (relatively) short. The quick runtimes of newcomers Asthon Travis, Blxst, and Phil Augusta Jackson’s projects leave plenty of time to chew through the mega sized Detroit 2, which has a whopping 21 tracks.
Even if a few of those are “stories” like the interludes from the original Detroit mixtape, it’s still a schedule clearer, for sure — especially with all the rewinding we’ll all be doing to catch all the double entendres sure to infest “Friday Night Cypher.” We don’t know much about Lil Durk’s project, other than it’s likely being released to spite Windy City enemy Tekashi 69, whose own project TattleTales is also coming out this Friday. As you can see, it’s not represented on this list, for reasons which should be obvious.
Signed to Def Jam early last year, he’s a singer/rapper combo from Houston whose style pays homage to both old school legends like DJ Screw and contemporary stars like Don Toliver and Travis Scott (for whom he is supposedly named). A Howard University dropout, the crooner addresses relationship issues and personal growth with smooth vocals, sticky melodies, and woozy instrumentals. His debut is well-worth the playthrough.
Big Sean — Detroit 2
The obvious highlight of the week, Sean returns to what many consider his best project (which, tragically, is still somehow not available on streaming services) for inspiration, landing upon an extensive tracklist packed to the brim with both high-profile features and close friends coming through to pay homage to his long-awaited comeback. Sean considers himself in the best mindstate of his recent life, so don’t be surprised if this one lives up to expectations and finally shushes the critics.
Blxst — No Love Lost
West Coast native Blxst has low-key been all over the place this year, dropping both well-received solo singles and featuring on underground hits from local faves and fellow newcomers like Eric Bellinger, Bino Rideaux, and 1TakeJay. With a laid-back, melodic style, this sing-rapping hybrid artist is positioning himself to follow in the footsteps of favored chorus composers Bellinger and Ty Dolla Sign. His debut is one you’ll be returning to a whole bunch in the future, guaranteed.
Lil Durk — The Voice
Durk already released a well-received project earlier this year, as well as a deluxe edition, so his abrupt announcement for this project seemed to come out of nowhere. However, he’s currently receiving the greatest mainstream attention of his surprisingly long career thanks to placements with Nas on King’s Disease and with Drake on the overnight hit “Laugh Now Cry Later,” netting Durk his first No. 2 single ever. Why not strike while the iron is hot? While his plans of thwarting Tekashi 69 with only a week’s notice seem… unlikely… he’s a consistent force, so we feel comfortable putting this here, even with so little information (not even an album cover!).
Phil Augusta Jackson — The Redondo Tape (EP)
Yes, this one is a little bit of a left-field inclusion, but when one of Insecure‘s executive producers announces an EP, you have to at least give it the one curiosity play. Knowing this, Jackson capitalizes on The Redondo Tape, offering a flurry of competent rhymes, some down-to-earth perspective, and yes, I do have a little bit of local bias as well. If you read this column with any regularity, you know I rep my stomping grounds — New Yorkers have done it for years. But hey, Jackson turns out to be a versatile, engaging artist in his own right and it’s clear he knows his stuff from the Insecure soundtracks he helps to curate every season, so hopefully, your curiosity is piqued as well — and satisfied.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
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Shit!
