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Weekend Preview: ‘The Vast Of Night’ And ‘Space Force’ Take Flight, And ‘Ramy’ Returns With Mahershala Ali

Social distancing continues this weekend amid the global pandemic, and several new TV seasons are here for the binging. If nothing here suits your sensibilities, check out our guide to What You Should Watch On Streaming Right Now.

The Vast Of Night (Amazon Prime movie, Friday) — Our own Josh Kurp loved this movie, calling it a “fun, genre-heavy, impressively acted, darkly-but-beautifully lit throwback that starts slow, but once you realize what going on, things begins to click like an old-fashioned remote control.” The story takes place in 1950s New Mexico, where two young people observe (and investigate) a mysterious frequency that descends upon their community. It’s a tense and entirely watchable movie, great for kicking off your weekend.

Space Force (Netflix series, Friday) — The Office duo Steve Carell and Greg Daniels reteam for another workplace comedy that bounces off the real-life birth of the sixth branch of the U.S. Armed Services. The huge cast — including John Malkovich (!), Ben Schwartz, Jimmy O. Yang, Tawny Newsome, Lisa Kudrow, Jane Lynch, Patrick Warburton, and Noah Emmerich — doesn’t find the spectacular material that it deserves here, but the show has some fine moments. Overall, the show works best when it’s not attempting to recapture the spirit of its predecessor.

Ramy: Season 2 (Hulu series, Friday) — Ramy, the critically acclaimed Muslim-American comedy series from Hulu (produced by A24), is back with “Hot Sheikh” Mahershala Ali, who joins the cast to give spiritual guidance to the title character. Naturally, we should also expect Ramy’s love life to rear its head again, given that the show often embraces horniness, all while Ramy attempts to find a manageable balance between his status as a 28-year-old millennial man and the tenets of his religion.

Defending Jacob (Apple TV episode, Friday) — The season finale for the Chris Evans-led series is here to tie a bow on proceedings, as the Barber family struggles to find a happy ending to their ordeal. A few more twists still remain, so tune in.

Here’s the rest of this weekend’s notable programming:

Friday Night In with The Morgans (Friday, AMC 10:00 p.m.) — Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Hilarie Burton are back, hopefully with more insight into The Walking Dead.

Betty (Friday, HBO 11:00 p.m.) — This week, Kirt is turning to “alternative medicine,” if you know what I’m saying, as Skate Kitchen director Crystal Moselle (The Wolfpack) brings back her O.G. crew for this funny and freewheeling series.

Stargirl (Sunday, CW 8:00 p.m.) — Courtney’s encounter with a member of the Injustice Society of America prompts Pat to give a history lesson. Meanwhile, Barbara’s just happy to see the two of them get along.

Billions (Sunday, Showtime 9:00 p.m.) — Chuck’s plotting against Axe with some assistance, and Axe must face his past to move into the future. Oh, and Nico the artist is making some moves.

Killing Eve (Sunday, AMC 9:00 p.m.) — The third season finale has arrived with multiple characters on the brink of life and death, along with Villanelle and Eve coming face to face again.

Snowpiercer (Sunday, TNT 9:00 p.m.) — The train’s black market receives focus from Layton and Till while Layton’s intents continue to evolve.

Supergirl (Sunday, CW 9:00 p.m.) — A pair of Obsidian contact lenses helps Alex visit a virtual National City, and William’s investigating Lex Luthor.

I Know This Much Is True (Sunday, HBO 9:00 p.m.) — Mark Ruffalo’s devastating portrayal of twins sees even more misery with Dominick struggling to recover from his accident while heavily medicated.

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels (Sunday, Showtime 10:00 p.m.) — An interrogation of Diego is the name of the game with Maria also tracking down Mateo.

Insecure (Sunday, HBO 10:00 p.m.) — Issa and Lawrence have a catch-up session on happiness, mistakes, careers, and all-around life matters.

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Hugh Jackman May Have Abandoned His ‘Ceasefire’ With Ryan Reynolds By Weaponizing A Birthday Cake

Well, that lasted a month.

After agreeing to a “temporary ceasefire” in April, Hugh Jackman has fired the first shot in restarting his long-standing “feud” with his X-Men Origins: Wolverine co-star, Ryan Reynolds. While commandeering a photo of a child’s birthday cake on Instagram (damn, Hugh), Jackman couldn’t resist letting everyone know that Wolverine mops the floor with Deadpool.

“Sam celebrated his 8th birthday with dueling #wolverine and #deadpool cakes,” Jackman wrote in the caption. “I think it’s crystal clear who won the battle. Don’t you?”

As of this writing, Reynolds has yet to respond to the latest barb, but we’re sure it’s only a matter of time until he fires back at his long-time adversary. Then again, the actor might have been caught off-guard considering that, just a few weeks ago, Jackman told TODAY that he’d be giving Reynolds a reprieve out of respect for Blake Lively who’s trapped inside with the mouthy Deadpool actor:

“It is not over. But look, we’re in extraordinary times. [My wife] actually said to me, really, this is a time to rethink all that and maybe it’s time to build a bridge. I wasn’t ready for that, but then Blake [Lively] reached out. Blake and Deb have been brokering this thing and we came up with participating in the All In Challenge. We’ve been reaching out to Blake, we talked to her, ’cause can you imagine quarantine, stuck in the house with Ryan? It must be brutal for her.”

Not only did Jackman and Reynolds pause their “feud,” but they teamed up together and joined the All In Challenge by offering one fan a chance to run a lemonade stand for a day with the two actors, which sounds like fun — if they can get along.

(Via Hugh Jackman on Instagram)

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Lil Yachty’s ‘Demon Time’ Video With Draft Day Celebrates His ‘Lil Boat 3’ Release

On Friday, Lil Yachty shared his feature-packed album Lil Boat 3. The final installment in his Lil Boat series, the album boasts verses by big names like Drake, DaBaby, Young Thug, and ASAP Rocky. To reign in the record’s release, Lil Yachty tapped up-and-comer Draft Day for a video accompanying their joint track “Demon Time.”

In the visual, Lil Yachty links up with his childhood friend and fellow rapper along with some of their crew to have a good time. The duo posts up in Yachty’s bright red Jaguar sportscar, flaunts an obligatory stack of cash, and rides around with the top down, all while keeping up with each other’s fast-paced flow. “I look up to Mom and Mom only / I ran up a sack in some orange grey Saucony’s / My bitches give love, but I’m still feelin’ lonely / My heart got a space the same size as a condo,” Yachty raps.

Lil Yachty’s record arrives after the rapper attempted to keep himself entertained in quarantine through a series of antics. Along with jokingly selling a $500 roll of Bape toilet paper, Yachty began paying fans to enact dares live on camera. Yachty paid a fan $200 to shave their eyebrows on his Instagram Live stream and offered another $500 to do something much more unspeakable.

Watch Lil Yachty’s “Demon Time” video above.

Lil Boat 3 is out now via Quality Control Music/Motown Records. Get it here.

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Bartenders Tell Us Their Fears And Concerns About Reopening

Around the country, bars, restaurants, distilleries, and breweries are either in the process of reopening or, at the very least, preparing to. Most are also currently offering pick-up, delivery, and curbside options to stay afloat. Sometime soon they’ll be able to open their doors to customers again (though whether they do or should is a different matter).

If/ when bars do reopen, they’ll be opening themselves, their staff, and their customers to a new world of regulations, safety precautions, dangers, and fears. What will the socially-distanced seating system look like? How many people can enter at once? Are masks required? These are tricky waters and people’s lives are at stake — surely, within that context, we can all manage to drink beer at home. Even from an economic perspective, a second wave of COVID-19 cases could lead to another full-blown quarantine. These aren’t choices to be taken lightly.

To get a better idea of just how complicated the prospect of reopening is, we’ve asked a handful of bar professionals to tell us how they’re surviving through the crisis and what their plans are for the future.

Jacob Cantu, tasting room manager at West Fork Whiskey Co. in Indianapolis, Indiana

Cantu says that he and others in the distilling world have spent the past few months waiting. “Indianapolis has not given a clear description for when bars can reopen.” He adds, “Guidelines are in place for restaurants reopening, but we are behind the current state plan that has been administered.”

While he waits, he says his staff is ready to work. “Most of our staff is comfortable with reopening. We will be limiting the number of essential associates while the bar is open and operating.”

While they haven’t been able to have customers in their tasting room or bar area, West Fork has been open throughout the crisis as a bottle shop for pickups.

“We designed craft cocktail mixers for at-home cocktail development during this quarantine to pair with our whiskies,” Cantu notes.

The demand for liquor and at-home drinks has pushed the bottle shop to remain open seven days a week with a new online ordering platform.

“Balancing extra days with increased work and limited staff creates some resolvable issues from time to time. Our production team has also been working at capacity to fulfill liquor and canned cocktail orders for grocery stores.”

When they do reopen to the public, much of Cantu’s concern revolves around social distancing.

“The biggest worry is crowd control during service. Do we need more staff or to reconfigure responsibilities during service? The extra measures needed to be put in place and potential lack of business levels have also been topics of discussion.”

Cantu wants all visitors to read instructions before entering any establishment. “Many businesses have taken their own measures depending on staff levels and operation, so be aware of signs, be aware of your surroundings, and be courteous.”

Nate Simmons, bar manager at Garden & Grain in Pensacola, Florida

Simmons says that fear of the unknown is the hardest aspect of reopening a bar. “Just the unknown of what today brings,” he says. “Unknown brings anxiety. When are we opening? What’s next?”

He’s focused heavily on daily communication — upping his managerial and all-staff contact with Zoom meetings and group texts to help keep all employees on the same page. So far the biggest problem Simmons has faced is the ever-changing adjustment of hours for employees.

“We were pivoting our business model basically overnight from on-premise sales to becoming exclusively to-go,” he says.

Garden & Grain’s products changed, their top sellers changed, and their packaging changed. “But mostly the unpredictable juggling of schedules week to week has been difficult. Now, as we get back into the swing of things, we are now open later and adjusting to being comfortable with guests’ needs.”

Like many bars, breweries, and distilleries, Garden & Grain completely changed its business model to stay relevant. “We’ve been focused on to-go and virtual happy hours, and our community has supported us so much,” Simmons says. “We understand that this can’t go on forever. We are definitely ready to get back to full occupancy but we will balance that with the need to keep distance and keep our customers safe.”

Kurt Bellon, restaurant manager and beverage director at Chao Baan in St. Louis

Bellon, says that the biggest challenge is re-calibrating the business operations to adjust to the new challenges. These challenges are mainly centered around the supply chain. But he’s also anticipating a major adjustment period for the new expectations of his guests.

“It’s a good feeling to know that we can seek control on our side by implementing the most intentional and helpful strategies for reopening safely for our guests,” he says.

Chao Baan’s curbside service has been efficient during the lockdown so Bellon isn’t in a rush to change that. “We started offering curbside Thai cocktails to-go and they’ve been a huge hit with guests so while we are reopening to welcome our guests back, we were in more of a rush to implement curbside offerings at the onset to stay afloat.”

Overall, Bellon is most worried about the long-term timeline of the societal changes that bars will continue to face. “This requires long-term strategies now and thinking that still needs to be flexible enough to react to day-to-day developments that are still occurring.”

His goals for reopening are simple, “Consistent sales while also avoiding doing too much that could jeopardize any ability to deliver a safe and timely product. Safety and quality of product and service remain the top priority.”

Bellon says that Chao Baan is lucky to not have to worry yet about permanent closure. “But the unknown variable of the length of this period and long term shift in consumer behavior will likely affect any established business model’s feasibility going forward.”

Before customers return, Bellon wants them to know a few things. “You have to know the difference in the service steps and extra precautions we are talking as well as precautions that we expect of our guests.” He adds, “We’re all going to have to work together to achieve the common goal of keeping our diners and staff in a safe environment.”

Kelly Hogrebe, operations director at 200 South Restaurant Group in Pensacola, Florida

For Hogrebe reopening is a slow process that definitely shouldn’t be rushed. “Our customers’ safety is extremely important to us and we want to make sure we are taking all precautions for that. We are lucky to have so much outdoor space that we can utilize and spread people out between.”

Like the others on this list, 200 South adapted to fit the current needs of its customers. “We have tried to be innovative and use our outdoor space to the best of our ability as well as modify our ordering areas so we can service people in an acceptable, socially distant way.”

Hogrebe says that the staff of 200 South has gone to painstaking measures to organize clean and dirty pens, and systems to sanitize properly — new ways to set up to be more efficient, new merchandise ideas to help drive revenue. She says that when customers visit, they should be prepared for things to be a little bit different.

“We have rearranged all our furniture, changed equipment around. Our staff is doing everything in their power to provide a great experience. Just… please be patient.”

Throughout all of this, Hogrebe says that the bar staff’s main goal is to stay positive. “We have held staff meetings to keep staff informed, hosted car washes to help staff make money, and found any way we can to continue to support our staff along the way while so many of them are not making any or only very little income.”

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Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon Wants To Help Minneapolis Protesters By Providing Audio Equipment

The death of George Floyd has led to outrage nationwide, and on a local level in Minneapolis, the city is currently in the midst of massive protests. Plenty of sympathizers have offered words of support, but Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon — who is from nearby Eau Claire, Wisconsin — wants to provide more than that. Vernon has declared that he wants to help protestors, and his idea is to give them audio equipment so they can be better heard.

For the past day and change, Vernon has taken to his personal Twitter account (@blobtower) to express his extreme disappointment about the Floyd situation. He began yesterday morning by tweeting, “I’m out of words. Don’t know what to do. I’m so so so so angry. I want to do something.”

He then presented an idea: “For the organizing protestors in MPLS , I am in possession of a very very large PA system .. I could get it on the back of a trailer and bring it up … MAKING your voices louder … and blast the right music … hit me.” Vernon added, “Please , help spread the word… I want to help on the front lines.”

Vernon went on to note that he’s in the process of trying to figure out how to best transport his gear to Minneapolis, tweeting, “writing some audio companies … I have no trailer to get mine to Minny today … anyone with outdoor audio chops or gear hit me let’s get his going.” He added, “I’ve never seen a good audio system at any protest I’ve ever been to … we should get music involved … and loud human speakers,” and, “A large audio platform can help keep folks stay safe distances, encourage unity and non violence and really, really Disturb the ‘peace’…”

A few hours after that initial batch of tweets, Vernon offered a status report, writing, “Working on the Mobile PA thing still … need a custom trailer and an engineer … but workin on it. […] Figuring out how to transport it. Needs a crew to set it up And rig it so it can be mobile I’m working on it.”

This afternoon, over the past few hours, Vernon has sought help from his fellow Eau Claire residents, asking, “Anyone in EC have a 8000+ watt generator,” and, “Anyone have a hay cage they could let us use ? Thinking that could strap down a generator and PA system. I’d drive it up with a hitch.” He then shared a photo of the sort of trailer he was looking for.

He then put out another call for help, looking for the right people to whom to bring his audio set-up: “Mpls / ST Paul please let us know if there organizers that need a PA system. We have one and running on a generator and want to deliver it to the appropriate voices … Please respond with legit contacts only.”

As of this post, that Vernon’s most recent update on the situation. Regardless of whether or not Vernon is able to pull this off, at the very least, he has displayed a genuine drive to make a tangible contribution to the situation.

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Report: The NBA Views July 31 As A ‘Target Date’ For Play To Resume

The 2019-20 NBA season has been on hiatus since early March due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, and the league has since been considering all sorts of ways to resume play. Since March 12, there have been some steps toward resumption with the league, Board of Governors, and Players’ Association finding themselves in frequent discussion recently regarding how to proceed safely.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the NBA is currently targeting July 31 as a date to resume the season. It is unclear what format the season will assume, although reports of a bubble league in Orlando seem to be leading the way.

The news comes after ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted that the Board of Governors had a two-hour call with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to discuss proposals for the rest of the season. Earlier today, Charania also tweeted four competition scenarios for restart that the Board of Governors discussed in that call. Additionally, an ESPN report was published on Friday, which found that a majority of NBA general managers favored restarting the season by going straight into the playoffs.

While there is no guarantee that games will tip back off on July 31, this is the first date we’ve seen thrown out for when we could get back to games. We’ll have to see if that holds firm, and Wojnarowski reported on Friday that a decision is expected “inside the next week.”

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17 Celebrity #TBT Photos You Might Not Have Seen This Week


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Don’t Feel Bad, ‘Tenet’ Star Robert Pattinson Didn’t Understand ‘Tenet,’ Either

It’s been a week since Tenet dropped its mind-bending new trailer, and if you’re still confused by cars moving backwards and cryptic lines like, “You’re not shooting the bullet. You’re catching it,” don’t feel bad. Robert Pattinson stars in the eagerly anticipated Christopher Nolan film, and even he doesn’t entirely know what the movie is about.

While providing quotes for an in-depth Esquire profile on Tenet star John David Washington, the former Twilight heartthrob revealed that he was generally clueless about exactly what was happening while filming, and he would often rely on Washington to help him out, which resulted in Pattinson having doubts about whether he completely misunderstood his own character.

“I mean, there were months at a time where I’m like, ‘Am I . . . I actually, honestly, have no idea if I’m even vaguely understanding what’s happening.’ And yeah, I would definitely say that to John David. On the last day, I asked him a question about what was happening in a scene, and it was just so profoundly the wrong take on the character. And it was like, ‘Have you been thinking this the entire time?’ . . . There’s definitely a bond in the end in kind of hiding the fact that maybe neither one of us knew exactly what was going on. But then I thought, Ah, but John David actually did know. He had to know what was going on.”

Of course, these quotes arrive on the heels of Pattinson’s now-infamous GQ interview where he claims to be eating out of cans and not working out for The Batman before setting his microwave on fire trying to cook pasta. He also makes similar remarks about not even knowing the plot of Tenet, which prompts GQ writer Zach Baron to reach out to Nolan who… kind of sets the record straight?

“The interesting thing with Rob is, he’s slightly f*cking with you,” Nolan said. “But he’s also being disarmingly honest. It’s sort of both things at once.”

An ambiguous answer about an ambiguous film. Very on brand.

(Via Esquire)

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All The Best New R&B From This Week That You Need To Hear

Sometimes the best new R&B can be hard to find, but there are plenty of great rhythm and blues tunes to get into if you have the time to sift through the hundreds of newly released songs every week. So that R&B heads can focus on listening to what they really love in its true form, we’ll be offering a digest of the best new R&B songs that fans of the genre should hear every Friday.

This week, Giveon revamps “Favorite Mistake” with just a guitar, DaniLeigh taps Fivio Foreign for “Dominican Mami” and 6lack blesses fans with his “ATL Freestyle.” Check out the rest of the best new R&B songs below.

Giveon — “Favorite Mistake”

Giveon took an already beloved track from his album Take Time, “Favorite Mistake,” and delivered a remodeled, acoustic dream. Giveon‘s rich vocals are crystal clear, with the sound guitar filling out it’s divine energy.

DaniLeigh — “Dominican Mami” Feat. Fivio Foreign

DaniLeigh is following up her hit collab “Levi High” featuring DaBaby with a Fivio Foreign collab titled “Dominican Mami.” The song is expected to live on the Miami native’s forthcoming album.

6lack – “ATL Freestyle”

6lack‘s “ATL Freestyle” is a mellow, musical journey through Zone 6. The Lvrn artist rap-sings over melodic trap production about riding around the city while listening to Gucci Mane and touting the title of “hood love therapist.” He just launched his new website 6lackbox.com filled new music as well as a note remembering the lives of George Floyd, Ahmaud Abrery and Breonna Taylor.

Derek King — Let’s Be Honest

Derek King’s EP Let’s Be Honest has arrived 11 songs deep with guest appearances from E-40, King Combs, MarMar Oso, and JGreen. The Bay Area native manages to stay sonically stay true to his roots while also appealing to a broader taste. Tracks such as “Dior Kisses” and “Enough” are evidence of this.

PJ — Waiting In Paris

Waiting In Paris is PJ‘s first project in a longtime. Born, Paris Jones, the award-winning singer-songwriter is making her return to remind everyone of her singing prowess and doing it with pure confidence.

Rmr — “I’m Not Over You”

Off Rmr’s forthcoming EP Drug Dealing Is A Lost Art, is the trap-country hybrid track “I’m Not Over You.” The song is produced by the legendary Timbaland, so here’s hope to more music from Rmr and Timbo in the future.

Ali Gatti — “Running Through My Mind”

Ali Gatie‘s “Running Through My Mind” is a sweet, ethereal reverie and the Toronto sensation is celebrating his birthday with the song’s early release. The crisp track is just the follow-up to his global hit “What If I Told You That I Love You,” and truly lives up to expectations.

Robin Thicke — “Forever Mine”

This one is for the late Andre Harrell. Robin Thicke has dedicated his latest release, “Forever Mine,” to the fallen Uptown Records founder and it’s a smooth, jazzy jam brimming with love and memories.

Saint Jhn — Roses (Remix) Feat. Future

Just when it was apparent Saint Jhn‘s viral smash “Roses” couldn’t get any better as a remix (shoutout to DJ Imanbek), the Brooklyn musician introduces another version and this time it’s with Future. It’s truly something special; just press play on this one.

Check out this week’s R&B picks, plus more on Uproxx’s Spotify playlist below.

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

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Lady Gaga And Postmates Celebrate The Release Of ‘Chromatica’ By Donating Money To Charity

Lady Gaga wants fans to listen to her newly-released album while also helping her raise money for charity. The singer has teamed up with food delivery service Postmates to commit to donating money to a non-profit organization that delivers meals in places affected by natural disasters.

Gaga released her highly-anticipated record Chromatica today. To reign in the release, Gaga and Postmates joined forces. For every meal ordered through the delivery service, Gaga and Postmates will donate $1 to the charity organization World Central Kitchen and have committed to donating up to $100,000. In a statement alongside the partnership announcement, Postmates gushed over Chromatica: “Celebrate by dancing to her latest bops and, after you work up an appetite, order in on Postmates, and enjoy.”

Gaga’s Postmates charity commitment is her latest in a string of philanthropic work. The pop star recently gathered many big names in music, like Lizzo, Taylor Swift, and Beyonce, for an epic One World: Together At Home livestream. The event garnered many viewers and raised an impressive $125 million for coronavirus relief. $55.1 million of the money raised was allotted to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund while the remainder of the donations were given to local and regional responders.

Chromatica is out now via Interscope. Get it here.

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