Category: Viral

New movie Fridays have largely gone away in the age of quarantine, as darkened theaters mean new releases are few and far between. Disney+ seems intent upon bringing movie night back, however, as it announced on Monday that it would release content new to the service following a “Movie Night” format throughout the summer. The service released a video highlighting the new movies hitting Disney+ this summer, starting with Friday’s premiere of Hamilton.

The video deemed it the “summer event you’ve been waiting for,” and for good reason. With theaters still closed in most states, the release calendar is barren until at least the end of July, and things might get pushed even further back as coronavirus cases continue to rise in the South. Here are the movies the trailer teased:

The Greatest Showman
Hamilton
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against The Universe
Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Beauty and the Beast
Avengers: Infinity War
The Mighty Ducks
X-Men: Days Of Future Past
The One And Only Ivan
Solo
The Incredibles 2
Artemis Fowl
Ant-Man and the Wasp

It’s not entirely clear if movies will come out each Friday, but the video promises new content every week in the summer. And while movies like Solo and Infinity War were already available streaming on another service (Netflix), that won’t rain on Disney’s parade of new content this summer. It’s still a lot more than what you’ll see in theaters this year.

This week represents the 10th anniversary of the beginning of 2010 free agency when the dynamics of the NBA shifted and the era of superstars teaming up began in earnest, as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh joined forces in Miami.

The announcements of Bosh and Wade came on July 7, with LeBron making “The Decision” on July 8, but the wheels were in motion long before that. Even though there had been discussion amongst themselves about playing together, with a bond that was formed most notably during their summers with USA Basketball, there was still work to do in selling the group on joining forces — and that Miami was the right destination.

The Bulls were heavily in the mix, trying to pitch Dwyane Wade on coming back home, and were willing to look at moving Luol Deng to create the requisite space for all three players. However, it was Pat Riley and the Heat that got the three players on board, with Riley using his championship pedigree as his biggest bargaining chip. As Chris Bosh recalled to Brian Windhorst of ESPN for a 10-year retrospective on that free agency summer, Riley broke out his collection of championship rings, kept in a velvet bag similar to a Crown Royal bag, and even went so far as to give Bosh a 2006 Heat championship ring with a promise that he’d return it once he won one of his own.

However, as Bosh says, he still has that ring as Riley may have forgotten about their deal.

“Oh, yeah, Pat brought his rings out. It looked just like a Crown Royal bag,” Bosh said. “He puts it down, like boom. Big boy talk. When he ended the meeting, Pat gave me a 2006 Heat championship ring.”

“Take it. Keep it. Give it back to me when you win one,” Riley said to Bosh.

“I still haven’t given it back,” Bosh said. “I wonder if he even remembers that? I think I mentioned it once, like, ‘Yo, do you want that ring back?’ And he said, ‘What are you talking about?’ And I kept it moving.”

That means, technically, Bosh has as many Heat title rings as Wade and one more than LeBron, thanks to a somewhat forgetful Pat Riley. It’s a hell of a pitch from Riley to hand over a ring and say “keep this til we win one,” which shouldn’t be a surprise given their bombastic “not four, not five, not six” introductory speech. The Big 3 Heat would win two titles of their own, making four Finals in their four years together, and their lasting impact may be how the three players worked together to make the financials work and sacrifice what was needed to make a potential dynasty happen.

While pairing stars wasn’t new, how the Heat did it was and it has had a huge impact on team-building going forward, with star players seemingly having more influence on personnel and working behind the scenes to get themselves paired up with friends and preferred teammates. Windhorst’s look back includes some fascinating insight into the chase for LeBron, Wade, and Bosh, from missteps by the Bulls — who still believe they were closest to the trio behind Miami — to the Knicks and Nets meetings with LeBron.

For years, fans have wondered when former Cash Money collaborators Lil Wayne and Mannie Fresh plan to release a joint album. The chemistry between the rapper and producer is undeniable, resulting in two decades of hits reaching back to Wayne’s start in the rap game as a member of Hot Boyz and including “Bring It Back” from Tha Carter, “Go DJ” from Tha Carter II, and “Mahogany” from Funeral. Those fans now have a better idea of when that joint project will land thanks to the latest episode of Lil Wayne’s Young Money Radio podcast.

Video-chatting with his longtime friend, Lil Wayne brings up the fans who have been clamoring for the project for the past several years. “Everybody knows the chemistry started with me and you,” he says, “And they always wanna know when we gonna have the actual Wayne/Fresh project.” Mannie excitedly replies that he’s already “packing up computers” to come to Wayne as soon as the rapper’s schedule is cleared. “If that don’t work, come out here,” Fresh says, enticing Wayne with the prospect of “the whole backyard” to record and skate in.

The two explain why there’s been a relative dearth of songs featuring them both in recent times — mostly owing to saving those records for a potential joint project — before solidifying their plan for the project. “2021, after this whole coronavirus bullsh*t is over with, we will drop the album,” Fresh promises. “Only me and him.” Wayne admits he can’t wait to hear it, and that sentiment is likely shared by fans.

So for the love of Wayne, Fresh, and good hip-hop, please wear your mask so coronavirus can go away and we can get this project.

Watch a clip of Mannie’s interview with Wayne above.

If nothing below suits your sensibilities, check out our guide to What You Should Watch On Streaming Right Now.

I May Destroy You (HBO, 9:00 p.m.) — UPROXX recently named this one of the best shows of 2020, so no pressure HBO. Tonight’s episode takes us back to London nearly two months after the incident as Arabella, on the advice of her therapist, comes up with new ways to cope with her trauma while managing the pressures of a book deadline.

The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons – Ever! (ABC, 8:00 p.m.) — Jojo Fletcher’s Bachelor career was a bit of a rollercoaster and tonight, the show’s looking back on how it all went down. From a tearful goodbye to Ben Higgins to the emergence of a new Bachelor villain and the introduction of Wells, her season had a ton of drama and we’re sorting through it tonight.

The Titan Games (NBC, 8:00 p.m.) — More action from the West Division tonight as Victor Cruz and stunt woman Jessie Graff ready to take on the competitions next batch of winners on Mt. Olympus.

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (Netflix) — In case you missed it over the weekend, this Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams-starring comedy is, as the youths say, fire. The two take on the planet’s most-watched singing competition with this campy romp about an Icelandic duo named Fire Saga set on achieving glory on the world’s biggest stage. Ferrell and McAdams play Lars Erickssong and Sigrit Ericksdottir, artists chosen to represent their nation in the Eurovision Song Contest, a real competition that features musicians from all over the world, often performing in wild get-ups. Apparently, people are just now cluing into how terrific a comedic actress McAdams truly is, and this movie’s to thank for that.

Justice League star Ray Fisher has been a supporter of the “Release The Snyder Cut” movement since the beginning, so the Cyborg actor has been understandably pumped ever since Zack Snyder announced that his director’s cut will be arriving on HBO Max. However, Fisher is now taking his excitement perhaps a little too far.

As the official story goes, Avengers director Joss Whedon was brought in to complete Justice League after Snyder exited the film following a family tragedy (his daughter’s suicide). While promoting the film at Comic-Con in 2017, Fisher voiced his support for Whedon when asked about the director taking over for Snyder. “Joss is a great guy, and Zack picked a good person to come in and clean up and finish up for him,” Fisher said.

However, on Monday, the Cyborg actor posted a clip of his support for Whedon with a very pointed caption that makes it clear he didn’t mean a word of it. “I’d like to take a moment to forcefully retract every bit of this statement,” Fisher tweeted.

You can see the clip and Fisher’s caption below:

The Release The Snyder Cut movement has been notably criticized for the actions of some of its toxic members, which has led to HBO Max execs fielding questions on whether they feel that releasing the cut sets a precedent by emboldening aggressive fan campaigns down the road. So, Fisher’s swing at Whedon wasn’t the most diplomatic move. The tweet is also ill-timed considering, just last week, Snyder expressed gratitude to his fan movement for raising money for suicide prevention. It was a positive moment that showed the Snyder Cut movement is mostly a group of passionate fans with good hearts. With Fisher’s latest tweet, that image may be hard to maintain.

(Via Ray Fisher on Twitter)

J Balvin released his highly-anticipated record Colores back in March. While the Colombian singer can’t tour behind his album due to the pandemic, Balvin has found creative ways to stay engaged with his fans. The singer has shared a visual to nearly every one of the tracks off Colores. Following the animated visual to “Azul,” Balvin returns with another animated effort, “Negro.”

Directed by Colin Tilley, the animated video places the singer in a Gotham-style city. The visual imagines Balvin a post-apocalyptic world overrun by miscreants. But the singer has no need to fear, as he’s riding on the hood of a tank armed with three dinosaurs as bodyguards.

In an interview with Apple Music alongside his record’s release, Balvin detailed the inspiration behind “Negro” and said it was one of his favorite songs off of Colores: “This is one of my favorite songs on Colores because it has malianteo, the flavor that made me fall in love with reggaeton. It reminds me of the days of Hector El Father; it makes you want to grab a bat and head out to the streets. The lyrics are brutal. The color and what the song inspires are brutal. Dee Mad made a beat that really hit.”

Watch J Balvin’s “Negro” video above.

Colores is out now via Universal. Get it here.

Summer Walker has new music on the way. She previously teased that an EP was “coming soon” on her Instagram in May, but now we know what the EP is called and when it will arrive. The Atlanta-born R&B star followed up a standout performance at the 2020 BET Awards with the announcement that a new EP, Life On Earth, would be released in the coming month, on July 10.

Even as Walker’s profile has risen in recent months, she warned fans to enjoy what new music they get from her because she plans to quit the music business after 2020. Despite being tapped for high-profile events like the BET Awards and The Roots Picnic, Walker has detailed her distaste for the industry grind repeatedly in the last year or so, from venting about the tribulations of fame and the demands of overzealous fans to accusing her label of trying to censor her on social media due to her love of posting conspiracy theories.

However, if she really does follow through with her threat to give up stardom, she’ll leave behind an impressive catalogue, with singles featuring stars like Usher, Khalid, 21 Savage, and Drake, as well as her fan-favorite albums Last Day of Summer and Over It.

Life On Earth is due 7/10 via LVRN/Interscope Records. Pre-save the album here.

It’s no question the music industry has been greatly impacted by the coronavirus. As the music industry suffers, as does music journalism. That’s why the veteran indie outlet Stereogum has launched a new compilation series in order to help them stay afloat. Titled Save Stereogum: An ’00s Covers Comp, the publication has tapped many big-name musicians, like Run The Jewels’ El-P and The National, to offer covers from throwback songs as part of the compilation.

Stereogum founder Scott Lapatine recently outlined how the pandemic has affected their publication in a Twitter thread. Lapatine bought the site back from former parent company Billboard in January, just months before the pandemic hit the US. “We risk shutting down before we even got a chance to get going as an independent entity,” Lapatine wrote. “We have a plan to modernize and just need to survive this tough time in order to execute it.” Now, Stereogum’s founder has asked 44 of his favorite musicians to share covers and help crowdsource funds for their website.

Along with El-P and The National, the list of 44 musicians includes the likes of Waxahatchee, Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard, Mac DeMarco, Soccer Mommy, Car Seat Headrest, and many more. Those who donate to Stereogum’s crowdsourcing campaign will receive the compilation, artwork, and liner notes.

Check out the list of artists above.

Donate to the Save Stereogum: An ‘00s Covers Comp crowdsourcing fund here.

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

After forty years of eluding law enforcement, Joseph DeAngelo pleaded guilty in court on Monday to being the Golden State Killer. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, DeAngelo, a former police officer, accepted a plea deal that will allow him to avoid the death sentence. In return, the 74-year-old has confessed his guilt to not only the crimes he’s been charged with but also to sexual assaults whose statute of limitations had run out by the time he was apprehended. He’ll be sentenced to life without parole.

DeAngelo was charged with 13 counts of murder, with additional special circumstances, as well as 13 counts of kidnapping for robbery in six counties, including Contra Costa County in the Bay Area. Investigators believe he was responsible for more than 60 rapes, including some in Santa Clara and Alameda counties as well, but the statute of limitations expired on those crimes.

DeAngelo’s court appearance arrived the day after HBO aired the first episode of its new docu-series, I’ll Be Gone in the Dark. The series focuses on the book of the same name by the late crime writer Michelle McNamara, who passed away during her investigation into the Golden State Killer. Her widowed husband, comedian Patton Oswalt, worked with McNamara’s co-investigators to complete the book and, in a bittersweet ending, two months after it was published the police captured DeAngelo.

In his reaction to the guilty plea, Oswalt joined I’ll Be Gone in the Dark director Liz Garbus in emphasizing that the focus should remain on the survivors of DeAngelo’s heinous crime spree. “All present, all staring directly at that zilch of a human being, and he can’t return their gaze,” Oswalt tweeted. “That’s what I’m focusing on.”

You can see his full reaction below:

Oswalt’s focus on the victims echoes the thoughts he recently shared in an interview with UPROXX shortly before I’ll Be Gone in the Dark‘s premiere. When asked about his on-screen participation, the comedian said he didn’t want to be heavily featured because the focus should be on the survivors along with his late wife and her team of investigators that cracked the case.

(Via Patton Oswalt on Twitter)

Donald Trump has made a habit of running afoul of various social media pages’ terms of service, and it seems at least one has taken action by suspending his account. Gaming streaming site Twitch on Monday temporarily banned Trump’s Twitch channel, saying it violated its terms of service.

It’s the latest channel to see a ban as the service has cracked down on channels for content and copyright. Earlier in June, thousands of users saw streams taken down for music or other copyright material in their video material, even if songs were for example playing in the background while users were playing a game. Another controversial streamer, Dr. Disrespect, was mysteriously banned from Twitch over the weekend, though neither the streamer nor Twitch have given a reason for the ban.

According to The Verge, Trump’s ban comes after a rebroadcast of his widely mocked Tulsa speech was flagged for hate speech on the platform.

Twitch has temporarily banned President Donald Trump, in the latest surprise and high-profile suspension from the streaming service. Trump’s account was banned for “hateful conduct” that was aired on stream, and Twitch says the offending content has now been removed.

One of the streams in question was a rebroadcast of Trump’s infamous kickoff rally, where he said that Mexico was sending rapists to the United States. Twitch also flagged racist comments at Trump’s recent rally in Tulsa.

If you visited Trump’s Twitch page, which his campaign started last October, on Monday you’d get the following where content would usually play.

The move came on a day when Reddit banned thousands of subreddits from its site in a similar crackdown. That included the unaffiliated subreddit The Donald, where many Trump supporters would gather to share racist content and conspiracies. Trump’s Twitch channel is essentially a place to rebroadcast content from other places, but it’s a sign social media sites are looking at his content more critically when it comes to their terms of service. Twitter, his preferred social media platform, has begun to flag some tweets with warnings about content and fact checking information, while Facebook has largely held off on removing misinformation despite mounting pressure from ad buyers to boycott the site until it does.