Category: Worldwide

The Brooklyn Nets lost Kyrie Irving in the second quarter of Game 2 after he suffered a sprained ankle landing on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s foot in the lane, and suddenly found themselves without two of their Big 3, as James Harden sat on the bench in street clothes due to an aggravation of his hamstring injury in the first minute of Game 1.

On Monday, the Nets listed both Irving and Harden as officially out, and it seemed like they’d enter the pivotal Game 5 with just Kevin Durant leading the way. Then, on Tuesday morning Harden was moved to doubtful and later upgraded again to questionable after going through another workout in the afternoon, and it became apparent that the Nets’ star guard had a very real chance of making his return.

The Athletics’ Shams Charania brought further word that Harden “plans to play” provided he doesn’t suffer a setback in pregame.

It would be great news for the Nets if Harden can go and be anything close to his normal self, but there is obviously concern about whether he’s hurrying back and could aggravate it again as he did in the opener. Steve Nash insisted the team wouldn’t let him rush back at risk of longterm issues, but with the importance of Game 5, Harden clearly wants to do everything in his power to play. That he was initially listed as out raises eyebrows though, as it’s quite the rare shift to go from that to questionable in under 24 hours.

Ever since Nintendo first announced The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 back in 2019 there has been eager anticipation for more news about it. The first Breath of the Wild game was beloved by not only Zelda fans, but video game fans as a whole. It won numerous game of the year awards and was considered an absolute masterpiece of a game. So of course everyone wanted a sequel.

On Tuesday, during Nintendo’s E3 Presentation, fans finally got the teaser trailer they’ve been wanting for so long. While it didn’t give us all the details we could want, it was enough to tide us over until we get more info at a later date. More importantly, we have an idea of when the game is coming. 2022. As long as it doesn’t get delayed, we should all be exploring Hyrule again by the end of 2022 at the latest. It can’t come soon enough.

Of course, since this is a sequel, we do want to see some changes in the upcoming game and the trailer did give us a tease of what it may look like. A big part of the first Breath of the Wild was the ability to climb and go anywhere the player wanted. The detail was incredible with every piece of the world having something in it and no piece of land going unused. So there wasn’t much more the developers could do with the land itself. So where could they go? In the sky of course!

The trailer featured Link gliding through the sky, giant continents floating in the air and clear use of more verticality in the map. This gives the developers infinite room to work with and some of the new tools we were teased complimented this new vertical approach. One, which had Link phasing through solid matter, looked particularly fun to use.

Two aspects of the game they didn’t show that is going to make or break this game for a lot of traditional Zelda fans are the dungeons and weapons. The first game allowed Link to use all kinds of weapons, but they would break after being used too long forcing the player to go find new ones. This, and the lack of major themed dungeons, turned off a lot of longtime Zelda fans from the first Breath of the Wild game. It will be interesting to see if the developers stick to the formula of the first game or try to appease some of the original fans with a more traditional Zelda game.

Rick Ross is well-known for his luxury lifestyle raps and his big-money boasts, but as it turns out, he has a very responsible outlook toward spending and saving his money, sharing some of his cost-cutting, money-making hacks with Forbes magazine in a new interview. For one thing, all of his investments are in stable markets like real estate, thanks to some advice from his hard-working mom.

“When I became a young millionaire for the first time, I went to my mother because she had always been a registered nurse and worked two and three jobs,” he recalls. “She always bought real estate. She came from Clarksdale, where the real estate was a lot cheaper. She would just keep buying houses. And I would say, ‘Mom, what do you think about the stock market?’ And she would say, ‘Son, I don’t really rock with the stock market. I don’t know much about it, but I know about real estate . . . So when you buy something, make sure you can touch it.’”

However, some of his other tactics are a bit unexpected for a big-time rapper who’s appeared on Forbes’ Hip-Hop Cash Kings list. After buying his 235-acre estate in Georgia from boxing champion Evander Holyfield in 2008, he not only turned the acquisition into a money-maker by renting it out to movie productions like the one for Coming 2 America, but he also saved money by mowing the lawn himself.

“When I bought the Fayetteville estate, locals would see me walk out of a restaurant and scream, ‘You know Holyfield spent $1 million a year to cut the grass,’” he admits. So I decided that I was gonna cut my own grass… I went down to John Deere and asked to see the biggest tractor, the most efficient tractor. I told them I had 200-plus acres that I wanted to keep cut, and they pointed out the right tractor. I bought it right then and there. I bought the extended attachment on the back that would cut even wider. Once I got it back home, I filled it up with gas. I may have sat in the same spot for two hours before I got everything working, but once I got it going, I didn’t stop. I cut grass for about five hours.”

He further explains how he finds the process therapeutic, spending time “connecting with the estate and the animals and the birds and the wildlife.”

Ross also lets it slip that he’d rather buy antiques at swap meets than spend a lot decorating and that he flies commercial instead of owning a private jet. Even a boss keeps to a budget — that’s how he stays a boss.

If there is one thing Nintendo is known for it’s their legendary IP’s. The franchise that created Mario, Zelda, and yes even Metroid. However, many Metroid fans will be quick to tell others about how Nintendo has frequently left them feeling forgotten and underappreciated compared to some of Nintendo’s other franchises. Despite being loved, and creating an entire genre of games, Nintendo has historically been hesitant to release new Metroid games. That said, we know Metroid Prime 4 is in development and they did release Metroid: Samus Returns back in 2017. So everyone’s favorite space bounty hunter has been getting a little more appreciation as of late.

Even with the recent love for the Metroid franchise, nobody expected Nintendo’s announcement during their E3 Nintendo Direct. A new 2D Metroid game, Metroid Dread. While not many details were given, it seems pretty clear that this is a sequel to Metroid Fusion. You know, the Game Boy Advanced game that came out back in 2002. To say that this caught everyone off guard would be an understatement!

The gameplay we saw in the trailer was everything we’d want to see in a 2D Metroid game. Exploration, a large map to explore, and power-ups. However, it’s been almost 20 years since the last official 2D Metroid game and that means that everyone is expecting something a little more modern. The trailer gave us a few signs that we will be getting a modern experience with cutscenes and a couple of cool uses of 3D here and there.

While everyone was expecting Metroid Prime 4 news, this caught all of us off guard and it’s a welcome surprise. The Prime games are really fun first-person adventures, but there’s a whole army of Metroid fans who grew up playing the original 2D games and have been asking for a sequel to Fusion for years. Metroid Dread is the gift we always wanted but never expected to get and that’s awesome.

With her debut album Stranger In The Alps and her 2020 sophomore effort Punisher, Phoebe Bridgers cemented her brand of cathartic songwriting. While her songs have become popular for their relatability, there were moments when the people around her were genuinely concerned about her music’s lyrical content — especially her mom.

The singer recently sat down with W Magazine to chat about the absurdity of hearing her music play during yoga class and growing up as a theater nerd. But she also touched on her vulnerable songwriting, saying her debut album was “so depressing” that her mom nearly intervened. “I play stuff for my mom and my friends,” she said. “After my first record, my mom thought she was going to have to intervene, because every song was so depressing. In fact, I probably needed that, but hey…”

Elsewhere in the conversation, Bridgers mentioned the dangers of building a musical identity around sad music:

“The whole narrative around catharsis is complex. Sometimes it can put you in a box, where you feel like you can’t write anything but heartfelt songs that offer an emotional release. The other day, Lucy Dacus posted this thing about how capitalism commodifies women’s pain. That being said, I started out by copying music that I loved—people like Elliott Smith and Merle Haggard, to name just two. When you write music, if it’s true, it’s useful. But if it starts to feel like you’re playing a character, I think it can get dangerous. Especially if that character is very, very sad.”

Punisher is out now via Dead Oceans. Get it here.

Zoë Kravitz is making her directorial debut, and she’s bringing Channing Tatum along for the ride. In the boldly titled Pussy Island, Kravitz has written a story about a Los Angeles cocktail waitress named Frida, who’s fallen for a tech mogul played by Tatum. After working her way into the tech giant’s inner circle and scoring an invite to his private island for a wild gathering, Frida can tell something is definitely not right under the surface.

According to Kravitz, she’s been working on the story for Pussy Island since 2017 when the #MeToo movement exploded, and she hopes to confront the reality that things still aren’t quite right after Hollywood’s supposed come-to-Jesus moment. Via Deadline:

“As a woman in general, and a woman in this industry, I’ve experienced some pretty wild behavior from the opposite sex. The title was kind of a joke at first, this place where people would go, bring women, party and hang out. The story evolved into something else, but the title wound up having multiple meanings. And it alludes to this time and place we claim to not be in anymore, in terms of sexual politics. People are evolving and changing but there is still a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths from past behavior. It’s a nod to that, but it’s also playful, and a really playful film in a lot of ways.”

While the lead sounds like something that Kravitz could easily handle, she will be handing the role over to another actress so she can focus on directing the film, which will go into production in early 2022.

(Via Deadline)

Vin Diesel is in three of the 10 highest-grossing movies of all-time: Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War as the voice of Groot and Furious 7 as Corona-drinking family man Dominic Toretto. Endgame was the highest-grossing movie ever but it was supplanted by a re-release of Avatar. Sensing an opportunity to reclaim his rightful box office throne, Diesel is hinting that he’ll appear in at least one of the Avatar sequels.

In an interview with MTV News’ Josh Horowitz, Diesel was asked about the rumors that he might “pop up” in one of director James Cameron’s many planned sequels. “I have spent time with him, but I have not filmed yet,” he responded. When pressed further, Diesel, after taking a long pause, added, “I love James Cameron and I love the series. I think it’s safe to say that we will be working together.” The key word in his answer is “yet,” as in, maybe he hasn’t joined Guardians of the Galaxy co-star Zoe Saldana on the Avatar set yet… but he still might. There’s plenty of opportunities.

Avatar (Avintar?) is a natural fit for Diesel. He could seamlessly transition from Groot, a tree, to voicing the Tree of Souls, which we obviously all remember from the first Avatar movie. I can’t go a day without someone making a Tree of Souls reference.

Dana Carvey brought his spot-on Joe Biden impression back to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Monday night, but this time, he did it in character. In an interview with Carvey’s Biden ahead of the upcoming G7 Summit where the president is scheduled to meet with Vladimir Putin after referring to the Russian dictator as a “killer,” the comedian rolled out his bumbling, yet affectionate take on the current occupant of the White House.

While talking to Colbert, Carvey’s Biden frequently said, “C’mon,” before every topic, and often mixed up names as the real Biden has done for most of his political career. In fact, here’s how Carvey’s Biden described words, which was a word he also couldn’t remember.

“They’re like Republicans. They don’t wanna work with me, but I keep trying anyway,” he said as Colbert tried to keep his composure. The comedian put a couple digs in at Trump though. While talking about “the other guy,” who was “bananas,” Carvey’s Biden promised that he’s not going to be all “herky-jerky.” While gently moving his hands in front of the camera, Carvey’s Biden said, “I’m slow and easy, slow and easy.”

Carvey had rolled out the impression back in March, and while it does poke fun at Biden’s mannerism and his gaffe-prone speaking style, Carvey made sure to note that he isn’t mocking the president. It’s just fun to imitate the guy who Carvey referred to as the “father of the country” right now. Biden has that dad energy where he likes to list things and, occasionally, go off on tangents, as dads do.

A few days ago, a Tyler The Creator billboard popped up in Hollywood and it featured a phone number, 1-855-444-8888. Calling the number previously played a message, but today, Tyler again tweeted out the number and the audio on the other end has been updated. After calling the number, a 20-second snippet of funky music plays, after which the call is disconnected.

Previously, the number played a recording of Tyler’s mother saying, “I’d kill a mothaf*cka over this one right here, n****. I’d stand in front of a bullet, on God, over this one. My son used to record me beating b*tches’ ass. I would beat your whole family and didn’t give a f*ck. They’d be like, ‘Tyler’s mama crazy. Tyler’s mama crazy.’ Yep. F*ck with my kid. Tyler would be like, ‘Get ’em, mom.’ They’d be like, ‘No, don’t do it.’”

The call then ended with a snippet of new music, which Uproxx’s Aaron Williams noted is “very much in the mode of the synth-heavy style that has defined Tyler’s music since Cherry Bomb.”

Meanwhile, Tyler teased his new era yesterday with a video that stars himself, Helena Howard, and former Odd Future member and current Dave actor Taco.

There are countless adorable pets belonging to celebrities. Some like Megan Thee Stallion are dog lovers, while others like Taylor Swift prefer cats. There are also a handful of celebrities who have some unconventional pets, like Ariana Grande’s pig named Piggy Smallz. But Salma Hayek’s treasured animal is perhaps the most surprising — a pet rescue owl. As Hayek knows all too well, having a pet owl isn’t always easy, like the one time it apparently vomited on Harry Styles‘ head.

Hayek recently sat down with Ellen DeGeneres to chat about the ups and downs of her unorthodox house pet, Kering. Hayek said she sleeps with Kering in her room. The owl can be sweet, but sometimes mistakes Hayek’s toes for prey and attacks them in the middle of the night.

But perhaps the most unpleasant experience is when Kering vomits up a hairball. “There’s this ball of hair that comes out of their mouth,” she says of her owl as Ellen notes that the hair comes from consumed animals. “One time there was a very important celebrity, I will not say his name, and he was really excited about the owl and was hoping that the owl would go on his head because it was on me. He was like, ‘I need an owl in my life. How do you do that?’”

Hayek continued: “The minute he least expected it, he came on his head but then he did the thing and this thing came out, this ball of rat hair was on his head.” Ellen pressed Hayek for details, and she finally admitted that the celebrity in question was Styles. “He was super cool, by the way,” she said. “He was super cool, even with that happening. He’s so good. He’s the best.”

Watch Hayek’s full interview on Ellen above.