Category: Worldwide

LeBron James did not responded to remarks from Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva last week connecting James’ rhetoric about police brutality to the recent shootings of two sheriffs in Compton, but James did take the chance after Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday night to reiterate why he sees police violence as a systemic, racist problem in America.

“I’ve never, in my 35 years, ever condoned violence. Never have,” James told reporters. “But I also know what’s right is right, and what’s wrong is wrong, and I grew up in [an] inner city, in a Black community, in what we call the hood or the ghetto, however you want to picture it. And I’ve seen a lot of counts, first-hand, of a lot of Black people being racially profiled because of our color. And I’ve seen it throughout my whole life. And I’m not saying that all cops are bad, because I actually, throughout high school and things of that nature, I’m around them all the time and they’re not all bad. But when you see the videos going on — you can see all over, not only in my hometown but all over America, you continue to see the acts of violence toward my kind — I can’t do nothing but to speak about it. And see the common denominator, but not one time have I ever said let’s act violent toward cops.”

Earlier this week, James had offered his condolences to the two injured sheriffs, who both survived the shooting. James also maintained that he hopes no one gets hurt as the city of Los Angeles and the broader United States try to fix the systemic problems that afflicted James as he grew up and continue to disproportionately affect Black people and people of color in the country.

Like the women of the WNBA in their war of words against U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler of Georgia, James is not looking to get pulled down to the level of the individual whose No. 1 priority appears to be to prod him into a response that makes him look bad. Instead, the platform being provided by nature of being a professional athlete is being used to explain the problem at hand by bringing perspective to the issue.

Guapdad 4000‘s name has been the subject of confusion and conversation among hip-hop fans since he started accumulating attention for his music after releasing Scamboy Color in 2017. While he’s got an explanation for it — it was Kehlani who inspired the name, based on his AIM Messenger handle — fans can’t help theorizing how he settled on 4000. One fan’s theory even drew the attention of the man himself, earning an “automatic W” and a free merch bundle for their (frankly insane) level of effort.

Settling on the “simplest” solution, the fan posited that there must have been a Guapdad 1, 2, 3, and so on before Guapdad 4000, and then began counting — then wrote out an entire thread of every Guapdad number all the way up to 4000. Guapdad, who regularly searches his name for trolls to troll back, found the tweet and expressed his approval, telling the fan to “DM ME YOUR ADDY” so he could “SEND YOU FREE MERCH.”

Meanwhile, the man himself has been on a break after releasing a string of weekly tracks in his Falcon Fridays series and compiling them as The Platinum Falcon Tape, Vol. 1 and Platinum Falcon Returns.

Guapdad 4000 is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Editor’s Note: This story will be updated as events are developing.

A grand jury in Jefferson County, Kentucky has formally charged a former Louisville police officer with with three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree for his conduct in the shooting that killed Breonna Taylor. According to the Washington Post, the jury said Brett Hankison “wantonly and blindly” shot 10 times into the apartment where Taylor was sleeping.

The indictment comes six months after the killing of Taylor, which has sparked national outrage and played a major role in demonstrations around the country in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Last week, the city of Louisville entered in a $12 million settlement with Taylor’s family over the fatal shooting.

We’re still awaiting official word from Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron. You can watch a livestream where Cameron is expected to speak.

In advance of the ruling, officials in Louisville declared a state of emergency, a 9pm curfew and called in the National Guard to help maintain some semblance of order in anticipation of major protests in response to the ruling.

The Courier-Journal reported on how the city was preparing for the verdict:

“Louisville was placed under a state of emergency Tuesday as city officials closed down a more than 25-block perimeter to traffic. Most city administrative buildings and other businesses were boarded up in anticipation of the decision. Protests in Louisville related to Taylor’s death in March have been taking place for more than 100 consecutive days.”

CNN reported on how other Southern cities have been preparing for fallout from the verdict.

Taylor’s death has inflamed political passions across the spectrum. In the days following her death, many people noted that gun rights activists were silent on the killing, asserting that groups like the National Rifle Association to not speak out when Black gun owners are killed in incidents of police misconduct, as opposed to incidents involving white victims.

Kelly Lee Owens released her brooding record Inner Song last month. The album was entirely solo besides “Corner Of My Sky,” her high-profile collaboration with Welsh musician John Cale. The song was particularly special for Owens, so when it came time to brainstorm a visual to the track, Owens asked fellow Welsh actor Michael Sheen to star in the production.

In the “Corner Of My Sky” video, Sheen portrays a despondent man who suddenly finds himself at odds with a surreal toaster. Sheen continuously places bread into the appliance before releasing the slices disappear into thin air. When Sheen’s curiousity gets the best of him, he enlists an unassuming delivery man to validate his experience. While the delivery man also notices the bread disappearing, he’s more concerned with distancing himself from the seemingly deranged Sheen than he is curious about where the bread is being transported to. Eventually, the mystery is revealed — but only in part.

About the video, Owens explained how her collaboration with Sheen came about:

“I knew I wanted a visual for ‘Corner Of My Sky’ and having been connected to Michael Sheen earlier in the year, I dared asked if he would like to be involved. Luckily he said yes! In Wales we live by the sentiment that ‘If you don’t ask, you don’t get.’ And so a true welsh collaboration in the form of John Cale, Michael and I was formed. The idea for the video was changed (very) last minute by Kasper, a Norwegian director who I have worked with on my last few videos including ‘Throwing Lines’ and ‘On’ and it was weird, trippy and hilarious – the perfect combo! Michael’s performance alongside John’s vocals and the magic toaster portal is gold and something I’m very happy to have out in the world.”

Echoing Owens’ statement, Sheen said he’s a fan of her music and jumped at the offer to star in the visual: “I’ve loved Kelly’s music for a while now and the opportunity to be part of a Kelly-John Cale-magic toaster holy Welsh trinity was too good to miss!”

Watch Owens’ “Corner Of My Sky” video above and revisit our interview with the musician here.

Inner Song is out now via Smalltown Supersound. Get it here.

Helstrom is the end of an era.

The Hulu series is the last remaining Marvel live-action show (following Daredevil, Jessica Jones, The Punisher, and the recently-wrapped-up Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., among others) to launch outside of Disney+, the MCU home of WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki. But first, Helstrom! The trailer for the standalone Marvel Television and ABC Signature Studios co-production quickly lays out its premise: “For centuries, we’ve been fighting and keeping track of different things that move in and out of this world. The most dangerous ones we find a way to contain.”

Helstrom is less superheroes and more supernatural, with an emphasis on one family’s “unnatural behavior.” There’s also a dramatic cover of Arcade Fire’s “My Body Is a Cage” and way more blood and bodies (and bloody bodies) than you might expect from a Marvel show. It looks more like Saint Maud than Iron Fist. This is not a bad thing.

Here’s the official plot synopsis.

As the son and daughter of a mysterious and powerful serial killer, Helstrom follows Daimon (Tom Austen) and Ana Helstrom (Sydney Lemmon), and their complicated dynamic, as they track down the worst of humanity — each with their own attitude and skills.

Helstrom, which also stars Elizabeth Marvel, Robert Wisdom, Ariana Guerra, June Carryl and Alain Uy, premieres on Hulu on October 16.

The whiskey world has had its eyes opened wide this week. The language and metaphors employed by acclaimed whisk(e)y reviewer Jim Murray, author of the Whisky Bible, have come under scrutiny after a post by Becky Paskin — a world-renowned whisky journalist, educator, and the co-founder of Our Whisky — highlighted 34 overt, gendered sexual references among the tasting notes of Murray’s newly released Whisky Bible 2021.

What started as a straightforward critique has quickly become a flashpoint for broader conversations about sexism in the spirits industry. Beam Suntory, Diageo, and Chivas, along with a wide-range of whiskey-focused organizations and publications, have expressed their disappointment in the language used in the guide, which includes passages like the following:

Have I had this much fun with a sexy 41-year-old Canadian before? Well, yes I have. But it was a few years back now and it wasn’t a whisky. Was the fun we had better? Probably not.

As of this morning, Beam is reviewing any planned media slated to highlight its “World Whiskey of the Year” winning rye — indicating that they may choose not to use Murray’s praise in trades ads at all. In response to Paskin’s posts and the broader discussion, Murray told The Times, “This lady is entitled to her opinion, just as I am, about a whisky.” In fact, he and Paskin are aligned on that point. As Paskin said to me over the phone, “Jim Murray is free to write about whatever he wants in whatever way he wants… but that doesn’t mean that the whiskey industry needs to support it.”

As a whiskey writer and a woman of color, I have also voiced my outlook on the industry — which I’ve personally found to be a friendly place that still has lots of room for improvement when it comes to inclusivity. Is it welcoming to read a book that associates whiskey with the explicit sexualization of women? For some, maybe. But not for me, Becky Paskin, and plenty of others throughout the spirits industry.

All of this lends itself to a broader conversation about the fine line between freedom of speech and condoning problematic language. And while this viral moment might get lazily categorized under the #CancelCulture banner, it’s important to recognize how the turns of phrase used in the Whisky Bible might reinforce sexism. To dive deeper, I spoke with Paskin over the phone about these subjects and her larger hopes for the whiskey world.

…

Do you think that whiskey is welcoming?

In what respect?

In terms of inclusivity.

I think generally whiskey is a very welcoming spirit, in terms of the people who work in the whiskey industry are extremely welcoming. They’re very kind, they’re very warm, and it doesn’t matter where you are on your whiskey journey. There’s always information that you can acquire in a really, really, really nice way. People in the whiskey industry are great at being able to educate and teach people, no matter where they are in their whiskey journey about any aspect of whiskey.

I think it could do better. I think the whiskey industry could be better at being welcoming — certainly for women and people from different ethnic groups as well — because I think that there is this common perception that whiskey is still a man’s drink. And I think a lot of that perception can be changed, but it’s a very slow burner.

I know you co-founded Our Whiskey, and you’ve definitely been a champion of being the voice of inclusivity. So what do you think is a way that positive change can come about and help form a more inclusive industry?

So… I think historically whiskey has always been marketed to men. Particularly white men. And so it’s now got this reputation as being something that only really men can get into, and that’s kind of made women maybe perhaps feel like it’s something that they can’t even, or they shouldn’t even bother trying. Now I’ve had countless discussions with some of my friends where they’ve told me, whiskey isn’t really a drink for them. And I’ve asked them why. They go, “Oh, it’s too strong. Oh, it’s too manly.” And I think that’s just… it’s a sad response because, of course, anyone can drink anything they want to. Our preference for flavor isn’t defined by our gender. And already there is this barrier to entry where women feel like it’s not something that they can get into.

Let’s take the example of a brand like the Glenlivet. If you look at the marketing campaign that has been running in the US — all of its branding has been gender-neutral, particularly on Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve. So in the US, the gender split on whiskey is around 35% women. And the Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve has a gender-neutral positioning. It’s targeted at both men and women. It’s gender-neutral coloring, and there are men and women featured in its advertising campaigns and its marketing campaigns and people of color as well.

And what they found in the US is that Glenlivet actually has a 50-50 gender split in terms of its audience. So when you actually market towards a different demographic to the one you’ve already been marketing to, you’re naturally going to bring people into that product. Consumers tend to buy into brands when they see themselves reflected on screen. If you don’t see yourself reflected, why would you feel like that’s a product for you?

You take the example of things like cars and watches that have been traditionally marketed at men. Women aren’t necessarily going to feel like that’s a product that they can enjoy and get into because it’s always just marketed at men. It’s the same with whiskey. If you start to include more women in your campaigns, actually showing the face of the modern whiskey drinker — because let’s be honest, women do enjoy whiskey, it’s not a unique niche thing. Women do enjoy whiskey. Let’s start showing more of them in marketing campaigns, and hopefully, that will start to encourage more women to realize that it is something that they can enjoy as well.

I found it very interesting that Glenfiddich did an Instagram post backing your response to Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible. So, let’s get into that. Most people and I have noticed this within the industry — not only just industry people but whiskey fans, in general — haven’t actually read the book. So, how did you come across these 34 different references to women and sex in the book?

I, like most people in the whiskey industry, hadn’t read the book. But I was aware of the reputation that Jim Murray has, and I was aware of some of the remarks that had been made in certain guidebooks, but I hadn’t really given it a second thought.

It was actually another journalist named Felipe Schrieberg. He writes for Forbes, and he contacted me. He’s a good friend of mine. He contacted me and said, “I want to write an article about some of the sexist remarks in Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible, but I don’t have a current copy of the new one.” So, I used some of my contacts to find a copy in PDF form, and I sat on a train coming down from Scotland to Brighton, where I live, sat with my mask on, as you do on a train. And I sat, and I went through the PDF of the Whisky Bible [2021] searching for as many crude terms as I could see, which wasn’t pleasant. And I feel sorry for other people in the carriage because every now and then they heard me go, ‘Oh my god!’ when I came across another entry that was pretty vulgar.

So that’s how I found all of the terms. And anyone who has a copy, a PDF copy, of the book will be able to do the same thing as well. It’s in black and white.

Specifically, in Murray’s response, a couple of things I noticed he said. He said that it’s an “attack on free thought and free speech” [and] it’s “straitjacketed dogma.” What’s your response to this? And how do you think we can create a balance as journalists?

To the point about this being an attack on free speech — well, I’m also exercising my free speech. So I don’t see that there is an issue there. That kind of negates the point. I didn’t start out to campaign against him. I said my opinion publicly. I just put it on social media. This wasn’t something published in a magazine or this wasn’t a call to arms. This was just my opinion.

Now from that moment, what I didn’t realize was how much support my opinion had and how much it was also shared with a lot of other people in the industry. That’s where the groundswell of support has come from. And it’s only from that point where people started to come out with their own thoughts and opinions and stories, did we, myself, and lots and lots of hundreds of other people, and I’ve been messaged by probably thousands of people now, Gabby, in support of what I have written. And all of them calling for brands to not support the Whisky Bible.

My work has been, both as a journalist and as a campaigner and an educator in whiskey, to make whiskey feel as welcoming as possible to anybody. And I feel like if anyone was to pick up a copy of the Whisky Bible and read that whiskey is comparable to having sex with women in the most vulgar terms, is that really accessible for a woman picking that up?

I feel that it’s extremely disrespectful, not only to female whiskey drinkers, it’s disrespectful to the people who have made that whiskey as well. The blenders, the distillers, the people behind the brands… By objectifying us in such vulgar terms in a whiskey review book where it has no place anyway — again, that’s my opinion — it objectifies women and basically says, “Well, you’re not of any consequence in this industry.”

My mom always said, “You can do whatever you want, of course. You can say and do whatever you want, but you cannot pick the consequences… or the repercussions.”

Exactly. And I think all it would have taken was for Jim Murray to have said, “I’m sorry. I realize now I shouldn’t have said those comments or maybe they aren’t fitting for today’s whiskey consumer. The whiskey consumer has changed since I first started publishing the Whisky Bible, and they may have been accepted then, but they aren’t accepted now. I’m sorry. I won’t use that language again.” And the fans would have said, “Okay, forgive, and move on.”

But the fact that he does not want to change, and he has publicly said that he doesn’t want to appeal to anyone who is “woke,” which — I think is a good thing to be woke. Currently, it’s a negative term. But I think he’s kind of put the nail in his own coffin a little bit.

Have you had any backlash to what you’ve said? Have you experienced anything from readers on his side that feels like you’re out of line?

I have seen some negative comments from people in the whiskey community. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, of course. I don’t think there’s a need for name-calling. I certainly haven’t called Jim Murray any names at all. I tend not to read too much into it. I think people have followed Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible for a really long time. So they obviously enjoy it, and they see him as a kind of hero, I suppose. But I guess this term “cancel culture” keeps popping up a lot and this idea of being against freedom of speech. I don’t see it as being decent excuses for condoning sexism.

I think either you are a feminist or you’re not, and if you’re not feminist, then well, fine, say these things. But, yeah, there have been negative comments. But I don’t pay attention to them.

That’s important. I mean, you have to do that for your own mental well-being, I’ve learned. For my last question, what is the desired outcome? What ultimately would you like to see occur from this situation?

I would like to see whiskey, as a whole, move forward with the understanding that there is no room for sexism within this industry, among consumers, or among people who are working within the industry themselves. I think there are learnings to be taken from this incident. I think what happened online, the reaction that occurred online to the posts that I made is the result of a lot of underlying tension among whiskey consumers and people in the whiskey industry who are tired, just tired of this attitude towards women in the industry.

A lot of it is unconscious bias. Some of it is outright sexism, and some of it is really inappropriate. But it’s there, and it still exists. And I think, for too long, the industry has, while saying that they don’t condone it, not really done anything about it. What I would like to see is some real action going forward for the whiskey industry, as a whole on a global level, to really stamp out sexism and to make it a truly inclusive product that anybody, regardless of race or gender, can enjoy.

That’s what I want to happen because I love whiskey. I love the industry. I think it’s amazing. I just want it to do better. I want it to be the best it possibly can be.

The spooky season has arrived, and Netflix fully embraces the upcoming witching hours with coffins coffers full of content, including the non-supernatural variety.

Plenty of original offerings are on the way, including Adam Sandler’s return to his usual comedic stomping grounds after Uncut Gems with a Halloween movie that promises to be as silly as you want it to be. The Haunting anthology series brings another chapter, and Aaron Sorkin’s throwing out Oscar vibes with his Netflix film. Not only that, but a Darren Star series is coming to give you wanderlust, and Anya Taylor-Joy stars as a chess-playing prodigy in a series that is far more addictive than expected from the description. Oh, and expect more Unsolved Mysteries and My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman, along with the final season of Schitt’s Creek.

Here’s everything coming to (and leaving) Netflix in October.

Hubie Halloween (Netflix film streaming 10/7)

You may have heard that Halloween has sort-of been cancelled this year. Talks are ongoing. Gatherings are bad. We know this, and one more thing is super clear: staying home to stream an Adam Sandler Netflix film is a lot safer than what’s outside, and on that note, he’s helping us out. He plays an obsessive defender of Halloween safety who embroiled in real murder investigation, and yup, this movie looks blissfully ridiculous in the fine Adam Sandler tradition of Happy Madison movies.

The Haunting of Bly Manor (Netflix anthology series streaming 10/9)

Creator Mike Flanagan and producer Trevor Macy are swinging back with a taste of Henry James’ The Turn Of The Screw following this anthology series’ first chapter, The Haunting Of Hill House. You’ll see many familiar faces from the first round, who are (of course) all in fresh roles. Set in 1980s England, this season promises more chilling gothic romance at a home where the dead aren’t necessarily gone, given that the house hides centuries worth of love and loss.

The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix series streaming 10/23)

Get ready for an unusual, unnerving tale about the true cost of genius. Godless director Scott Frank brings us this limited series, starring Anya Taylor-Joy, that bases itself upon the 1950s-set Walter Tevis novel of the same name. It’s not only a coming-of-age story but also a meditation on addiction and danger, given that Taylor-Joy’s Beth (a orphan/prodigy, not quite a prodigal orphan) becomes dependent upon tranquilizers while battling towards a chess championship title. It’s not exactly the underdog story that we’re all accustomed to seeing onscreen, which should give it an edge with those who don’t favor the frequent action-movie approach to such a story.

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix film streaming 10/16)

Aaron Sorkin’s new movie is looking like another Oscar contender for the streaming giant. Starring Emmy winners Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Jeremy Strong, the film follows the fallout over turmoil at the 1968 Democratic Convention when a group of anti-Vietnam War protestors were slapped with federal charges including conspiracy and the inciting of riots. With a script from Sorkin and dramatic turns from Sacha Baron Cohen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Keaton, and Eddie Redmayne, this movie is stacked to the brim.

Emily In Paris (Netflix series streaming 10/2)

Darren Star, king of soapy primetime escapism (Younger, Melrose Place, Sex and the City), is getting into the streaming game now. This series stars Lily Collins as Emily, who is (in fact) in Paris. The premise isn’t shocking at all, but the execution is delightful. The right mix of romance and comedy looks like it’ll really hit the spot when Americans can’t exactly fly away to France for play (and even for work in most cases), so yes, cue your travel envy, but it’s a good thing that this show is arriving soon.

Here’s the full list of titles coming to Netflix in October:

Avail. 10/1
Oktoberfest: Beer & Blood
Pasal Kau / All Because of You
The Worst Witch: Season 4
A.M.I.
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
Along Came a Spider
Bakugan: Armored Alliance: Season 2
Basic Instinct
Black ’47
Cape Fear
Code Lyoko: Seasons 1-4
The Dukes of Hazzard (2005)
Employee of the Month
Enemy at the Gates
Evil: Season 1
Familiar Wife: Season 1
Fargo
Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma: The Second Plate
Free State of Jones
Ghost Rider
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
Gran Torino
Her
House of 1,000 Corpses
Human Nature
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
I’m Leaving Now
The Longest Yard (1974)
The Parkers: Seasons 1-5
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Carlos Almaraz: Playing with Fire
The Prince & Me
Poseidon (2006)
The Outpost
Stranger than Fiction
Superman Returns
Sword Art Online: Alicization
Troy
The Unicorn: Season 1
WarGames
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Yogi Bear
You Cannot Hide: Season 1

Avail. 10/2
A Go! Go! Cory Carson Halloween
Ahí te encargo / You’ve Got This
The Binding
Dick Johnson Is Dead
Emily in Paris
Òlòtūré
Serious Men
Song Exploder
Vampires vs. the Bronx

Avail. 10/4
Colombiana
David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet

Avail. 10/6
Dolly Parton: Here I Am
Saturday Church
StarBeam: Halloween Hero
Walk Away from Love

Avail. 10/7
Hubie Halloween
Schitt’s Creek: Season 6
To the Lake

Avail. 10/9
Deaf U
Fast & Furious Spy Racers: Season 2: Rio
The Forty-Year-Old Version
Ginny Weds Sunny
The Haunting of Bly Manor
Super Monsters: Dia de los Monsters

Avail. 10/12
Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts: Season 3

Avail. 10/13
The Cabin with Bert Kreischer
Octonauts & the Great Barrier Reef

Avail. 10/14
Alice Junior
BLACKPINK: Light Up the Sky
Moneyball

Avail. 10/15
A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting
Batman: The Killing Joke
Half & Half: Seasons 1-4
Love Like the Falling Rain
One on One: Seasons 1-5
Power Rangers Beast Morphers: Season 2, Part 1
Rooting for Roona
Social Distance

Avail. 10/16
Alguien tiene que morir / Someone Has to Die
Dream Home Makeover
Grand Army
In a Valley of Violence
La Révolution
The Last Kids on Earth: Book 3.
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Unfriended

Avail. 10/18
ParaNorman

Avail. 10/19
Unsolved Mysteries: Volume 2

Avail. 10/20
Carol

Avail. 10/21
My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman: Season 3
Rebecca

Avail. 10/22
Bending the Arc
Cadaver
The Hummingbird Project
Yes, God, Yes

Avail. 10/23
Barbarians
Move
Over the Moon
Perdida
The Queen’s Gambit

Avail. 10/27
Blood of Zeus
Chico Bon Bon: Monkey with a Tool Belt: Season 4Vilas: Serás lo que debas ser o no serás nada / Guillermo Vilas: Settling the Score

Avail. 10/28
Holidate
Metallica Through The Never
Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight
Secrets of the Saqqara Tomb

Avail. 10/30
Bronx
The Day of the Lord
His House
Somebody Feed Phil: Season 4
Suburra: Season 3

Avail. 10/31
The 12th Man

Here’s the full list of titles leaving Netflix in October:

Leaving 10/1
Emelie
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Sleeping with Other People

Leaving 10/2
Cult of Chucky
Truth or Dare

Leaving 10/6
The Water Diviner

Leaving 10/7
The Last Airbender

Leaving 10/17
The Green Hornet

Leaving 10/19
Paper Year

Leaving 10/22
While We’re Young

Leaving 10/26
Battle: Los Angeles

Leaving 10/30
Kristy

Leaving 10/31
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Burlesque
Charlotte’s Web
Clash of the Titans
District 9
The Firm
Fun with Dick & Jane
The Girl with All the Gifts
Grandmaster
Highway to Heaven: Seasons 1-5
The Interview
Just Friends
Magic Mike
Nacho Libre
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
The NeverEnding Story
The NeverEnding Story 2: The Next Chapter
Nights in Rodanthe
The Patriot
Set Up
The Silence of the Lambs
Sleepless in Seattle
Sleepy Hollow
Spaceballs
The Taking of Pelham 123
The Ugly Truth
Underworld
Underworld: Evolution
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
Zathura

Tyrod Taylor was a late scratch from Sunday’s game between the Los Angeles Chargers and the Kansas City Chiefs. It wasn’t clear exactly what happened, outside of the fact that he needed to go to the hospital for a chest problem, and while rookie Justin Herbert performed admirably after getting thrust into the starting spot on short notice, there was plenty of concern about what happened that led to Taylor before the game.

Thanks to Adam Schefter of ESPN, we now know: Taylor suffered a punctured lung. Even worse, this happened on accident as a result of the team’s doctor trying to give him a pain-killing injection.

Obviously this is horrifying, and fortunately, Taylor seems to be doing better, although he had been listed as week-to-week and doesn’t look like he will line up under center this week.

As is oftentimes the case when news from out of left field hits Twitter, the primary reaction was to get off a number of jokes. This time, it was people saying that the Chargers’ doctor was Dr. Nick Riviera, the lovable but extremely bad doctor from The Simpsons.

In a less meme-driven analysis of the injury, one doctor explained that this sort of injection is really tricky to pull off.

In Taylor’s absence, Herbert, the No. 6 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, completed 22 of his 33 pass attempts for 333 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also punched one in the the ground. It wasn’t quite enough, though, as the Chiefs erased a fourth quarter deficit to win in overtime, 23-20.

YG’s latest video from My Life 4Hunnid, his upcoming final album on Def Jam, is “Out On Bail.” True to its theme, the video finds YG leading a police chase and participating in all the activities one would expect of a recently-released former resident of the criminal justice system. He visits the strip club, kicks it with it his homies, and laments friends he’s lost along the way: “Beefin’ with my homies, all I think about is Nipsey,” he intones on the hook.

The video is also filled with police imagery, surrounding the rapper with squad cars that seem to be closing in on him. It’s a fitting reflection of his mindstate over the past year, which saw him arrested for alleged involvement in a robbery and reminiscing on being threatened by cops’ guns with his kids nearby. His own experiences with law enforcement intertwined with a growing sentiment of resentment toward police and their methods on his song “FTP,” although YG drew criticism for using footage of a vigil for victims of police violence in his video for the track.

My Life 4Hunnid is the last album of YG’s Def Jam contract. It’s due 10/2.

Watch YG’s “Out On Bail” video above.

After HBO’s Watchmen swept the Emmys on Sunday night, showrunner Damon Lindelof sat down with Variety to talk about the groundbreaking limited series and how his experience on that show compared to the last time he scored big at the Emmys with another hit: ABC’s Lost.

For starters, going into the Emmys with Watchmen sounds like it was a lot more enjoyable. When the first season of Lost won, Lindelof had little time to savor the surprising moment (The show was not a favorite to win.) because he was knee-deep in making new episodes for season two due to the show’s frantic production schedule. With Watchmen, the series was already wrapped, and Lindelof has been steadfast on not returning for another season.

However, the whole experience of working on Watchmen and sweeping the Emmys has Lindelof reflecting on Lost, and he shared that his biggest regret is giving into the idea that the finale didn’t stick the landing. Via Variety:

“I didn’t invent the narrative that the finale was empirically bad, but I amplified it,” he says. “The fact that people feel the need to say to me, ‘Hey, I actually kind of liked the way that it ended.’ Or the expectation some people have that ‘I have to know going in that the ending is going to be disappointing.’ The fact that I told people what to think about ‘Lost’ is a big regret that I have.”

In recent months, Lindelof has spoken more positively about the controversial ending to Lost. While he admits that show went overboard with stacking mysteries that would never be fully solved, he’s still very proud of the “flash-sideways” that the writers were able to pull off in the final season. The narrative trick involved writing backwards for the last three seasons after getting the all-clear from ABC to end the series, which was no easy feat. The network wanted Lost to air for years to come, but fortunately, Lindelof and the other creators were able to convince ABC to give the show a cohesive ending, rather than run the characters’ journey into the ground.

(Via Variety)