Category: Worldwide

There have been rumors swirling this week and Future and Lil Uzi Vert (who turns 26 years old today) would be dropping a collaborative project today. On Wednesday, DJ Akademiks declared that the two were releasing a mixtape. A rumored tracklist also surfaced, which included features from Drake and Travis Scott.

However, midnight came and went without a new project from the two. Fans were upset, despite the fact that Akademiks issued an update on the situation yesterday afternoon, tweeting, “The Uzi x Future music tonight may end up being a single and not an tape… I’m told they had a tape together and it was originally suppose to drop today.. I know something with Uzi n future suppose to drop tn. Most likely a song which a lot of ppl have heard.”

Rumors that the two are up to something have actually been around for weeks now; towards the start of the month, the pair was seen filming something together. Whatever the case may be, the fact remains that the pair haven’t released anything new today (so far as of press time), and that has left people angry.

Fans have taken to Twitter with reaction memes and backhanded birthday wishes for Uzi, so check out some of the reactions below.

Kanye West is an artist with a complicated legacy. In recent years, every loyal fan of Mr. West has found themselves, at one point or another, in the awkward position of having to act as a spokesperson to explain the megastar’s antics and justify why he said a certain thing or thinks a certain way. It’s a weird position to be in. And while there are legitimate arguments to be made for why an artist’s work should be separated from their bad behavior, there are solid counter-arguments too, about how supporting and endorsing an artist helps to support and endorse said antics.

Part of the reason Kanye West won’t just “go away” is because from the time Ye dropped his debut single “Through the Wire” in 2003 until the release of his best album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in 2010, he could do no wrong. In that time, Kanye established himself as the artist of a generation and defined the sound of modern hip-hop in such a way that his influence is still felt today. But just like many of the once-in-a-generation artists who preceded him, Ye’s trajectory in the decade following his career apex has only managed to muddy his legacy.

For all his flaws, Kanye has also done the nearly impossible — becoming iconic in two fields via his Yeezy brand. His successful pivot from an artist at the top of his game to a household sneaker icon gives him more in common with Michael Jordan than any of his music-making contemporaries (save for Travis Scott who is building on the Yeezy legacy with his own Cactus Jack label). A lifelong sneakerhead who used to get in trouble for sketching sneakers during class in middle school, Kanye built Yeezy with Air Jordan as an obvious influence. He even met with key Air Jordan architect Tinker Hatfield before launching the label in 2009 with Nike.

Due to creative differences and Nike’s unwillingness to pay royalties, Ye left Nike and brought the label to its new home at Adidas in 2013, where it has since become one of the most successful sneaker brands of all time. And while Kanye West might not be the greatest artist in hip-hop anymore, he continues to solidify himself as one of the biggest names in sneakers with design and colorway innovations that jumpstart industry-wide trends.

In celebration of the brand, we’re listing off all the best sneakers ever to don the name “Yeezy.” That means you won’t find any Kanye Louis Vuitton or BAPE collaborations here. You won’t even find every Yeezy silhouette ever made. There isn’t a single Yeezy slide or a Foam Runner, and you won’t see every colorway of the Yeezy 700, 500 or BOOST 350 v2 (there are just too many). Instead, we put the focus on design to create a list of the 15 best sneakers — whether silhouettes or colorways — to carry the name “Yeezy,” in chronological order.

Check our picks out below!

Nike Air Yeezy 1 Blink, 2009

We aren’t going to focus as heavily on the Air Yeezy silhouettes as we are on something like the Adidas Yeezy BOOST 350 v2, but Kanye’s early collaboration with Nike still deserves mention as it was where the Yeezy brand first took shape. Developed between 2007 and 2009 by Kanye West and Nike Creative Director Mark Smith, the Air Yeezy pulled inspiration from the bold and bulky design of the Nike Air Tech Challenge 2 sneaker, with details borrowed from the Air Jordan III and IV.

This shoe isn’t a far cry from some of the Yeezy boots Kanye would go on to make with Adidas but truly feels like a design from another era. A sneaker designed by the old Kanye. Every release after the Air Yeezy would see Kanye’s designs get more and more minimalistic. Compare the Nike Air Yeezy to the Adidas Yeezy Slide and you’ll never believe the same guy was behind both pairs.

Repping the sneaker on our list is the sneaker’s best colorway, the Black/Pink iteration often dubbed the “Blink.” In an interview with GQ in 2020, Kanye signaled that he was open to Nike doing a rerelease of the sneaker, so fingers crossed.

Nike Air Yeezy 2 Red October, 2014

One of the benefits of doing this list chronologically rather than ranked was being able to avoid the headache of having to find a place for the Air Yeezy 2 Red October. Yeezy die-hards still consider this the holy grail of the brand, but by modern sensibilities, I don’t even think it belongs in the top five. The lasting popularity of the Air Yeezy 2 Red Octobers, released in 2014 when Ye already had a new home at Adidas, is a reminder that Nike could’ve solidified themselves as the greatest shoe brand of all time, the home of both Jordan Brand and Yeezy — but they blew it by not thinking as creatively about contracts as they do about design.

Created with Nathan VanHook, the Air Yeezy 2 is truly a transitional design between what Ye did with Nike and what he’d come to do with Adidas. It’s slimmed down and more minimalistic than the Air Yeezy 1, ditching the bulky padding in the original’s upper, but more intricate than anything from the Adidas Yeezy line — sporting ridged animal-print inspired detailing and strong design lines. This makes it one of the more unique designs in the Yeezy lineage, and while we’d like to spend more time exploring some of the other great colorways, no iteration could ever represent the shoe as strongly as the Red Octobers.

Adidas Yeezy BOOST 750 Triple Black, 2015

The final colorway of the Yeezy Boost 750, the Triple Black, is the sneaker’s best. The 750 is Kanye’s debut sneaker with Adidas and you can still see some of the remnants of the Air Yeezy in its high top design and mid-foot strap. Although the silhouette has since been abandoned, the 750 really set the precedent for the stripped-down design that future Adidas Yeezys would take.

The 750 featured a full suede upper atop a simple BOOST midsole with a full-length zip heel and has only dropped in four colorways, beginning with the Chocolate, followed by the Glow in the Dark, and the Light Brown/Carbon White, and Triple Black.

We wouldn’t be opposed to a 750 v2, but since it hasn’t happened yet we think it’s safe to say Kanye has moved on from this particular look.

Adidas Yeezy BOOST 350 Turtle Dove, 2015

While the 750 carried some resemblance to Nike’s Air Yeezy line, the Yeezy Boost 350 was truly something new from both Adidas and Kanye, and really solidified the look of the brand. The sneaker’s debut colorway, the Turtle Dove, remains one of the finest iterations of the sneaker, which featured a jagged striped Primeknit upper, a distinct white TPU sole wrap, a white and heel tab with red stitching. It also holds the distinction of being Ye’s first low top sneaker.

Adidas Yeezy BOOST 350 Pirate Black, 2016

It was a hard choice between the Pirate Black, Moonrock, and the Oxford tan colorways that followed the Turtle Dove, but we had to go with this all-black iteration of the 350 as one of the two best in silhouette’s lineage. While the Moonrock and Oxford Tan signaled the type of muted earth-toned colorways that have since defined the Yeezy brand, the Pirate Black just looks so damn cool.

A fan favorite, this colorway still fetches prices nearing $1000 on aftermarket sites like StockX.

Adidas Yeezy BOOST 350 v2 Beluga, 2016

We’re skipping right past the military boot-inspired Yeezy 950 and going straight to the 350 v2. Quite possibly the most popular silhouette in the entire Yeezy line, the 350 v2 kicked off with a gunmetal grey with a red-orange stripe that read “SPLY -350.”

The first 350 v2, known as the “Beluga” differed from the original 350 by slimming down the design considerably, ditching the heel tab, and adding the Virgil Abloh-esque product model number along the stripe. In 2017, Ye would go on to release a Beluga 2.0 that restored the heel tab and replaced the red stripe with red lettering. We prefer the OG.

Adidas YEEZY BOOST 350 v2 Zebra, 2017

We’re going to keep seeing the 350 v2 on this list, not because it’s the most popular, but because there are so many damn colorways and subtly different variations. The black and white Zebra colorway set the design precedent followed by the Beluga 2.0, with a restored matching heel tab, red lettering in lieu of a stripe, and a translucent BOOST midsole.

This shoe builds on the design that the 350 Turtle Dove made famous, but holds up so much stronger.

Adidas Yeezy BOOST 700 Wave Runner, 2017

Still considered one of the greatest pairs of Yeezys ever, the 700 Wave Runners were a divisive sneaker at the time of their release. In 2017, so-called “ugly shoes” that your dad would wear were all the rage, and the Wave Runner was one of the ugliest and most daddy. By 2020 standards, the Wave Runner is far from ugly (which goes to show how popular ugly sneakers have gotten), with a mixed leather and suede upper, a chunky running inspired sole, and a beautiful mix of grey and black with distinct teal and orange accents.

The 700 never had a better colorway than the Wave Runner and it puzzles us as to why all the later iterations of the 700 dropped the four color design.

Adidas Yeezy 500 Desert Rat Blush, 2018

Like a lot of sneakers to bear the Yeezy name, the release of the 500 in its original Blush colorway was divisive. Hell, to this day this sneaker is still pretty divisive, with a weird alien-like design that still looks pretty futuristic two years after its initial release. It would begin a trend in Yeezy design that Ye still hasn’t gotten over — an obsession with challenging the traditional shapes that naturally come to mind when we think about sneakers.

The 500 laid the groundwork for the unconventional shapes of the 380, 500 High, and 700 v3.

Adidas Yeezy 500 Salt, 2018

The 500’s best colorway (though the Stone is also up there) the Salt doesn’t differ in any way aside from color from the original Blush. Like the original, the upper is composed of a mix of premium suede and mesh and features an entirely monochromatic design. While the Yeezy brand is often criticized for its muted colors, the Salt is something special, with a calming blue undertone that causes the sneakers to linger in your memory.

Adidas Yeezy BOOST 700 v2 Static, 2018

Unlike the Yeezy BOOST 350 v2, the second version of the 700 silhouette did little to improve upon the design that preceded it. In an effort to clean up the design, the 700 v2 removed the 700’s more elaborate paneling and added subtle reflective detailing with a premium leather upper. It’s a little sad that the 700 didn’t have a stronger follow-up and even sadder that the best version of the sneaker to date was its debut Static colorway.

Adidas Yeezy BOOST 700 Inertia, 2019

Released in 2019, a year after the introduction of the 700 v2, Yeezy went back to the 700 to drop a few more iterations and we couldn’t be happier about that. While it doesn’t quite reach the heights of the Wave Runner, the 700 Inertia is the silhouette’s second-best colorway. The Inertia features light reflective details, a grey upper on a chunky grey midsole with peach accents that almost look as cool as the 700’s orange counterparts. Almost.

Here is to hoping the next decade brings a colorway that can truly rival the Wave Runner.

Adidas Yeezy BOOST 380 Alien, 2019

One of the weirder Yeezy silhouettes, the 380 Alien almost didn’t make the list. However, as far as Alien-inspired out-there designs, this is one of Ye’s best. The 380 was originally teased as the third version of the 350 silhouette, and we’re kind of glad it ended up being its own offshoot. While the 380 is interesting, to say we love it would be an outright lie.

To date, the silhouette has dropped in its debut Alien colorway, as well as Mist reflective and non-reflective iterations, and a Blue Oat colorway that landed this year. It borrows several design traits of the 350, like the sock-shoe construction, Primeknit upper, and a lateral window for an added splash of color via your sock choice.

Adidas Yeezy BOOST 350 v2 Cloud White 2019

Released in both a reflective and non-reflective iteration, the Yeezy BOOST 350 v2 in Cloud White is proof that the 350 is still pumping out top tier colorways four years into its life. A triple white colorway, the Cloud White is the greatest modern 350 v2 on the market. Now that the sneaker has decided to drop the heel tab permanently and ditch the “350 SPLY” branding, it’s finally hitting its stride and feels like the best colorway for the silhouette is still yet to come.

Adidas Yeezy BOOST 700 v3 Azael, 2019

Kanye West went from designing sneakers that looked like the landscape of Calabasas to designing sneakers that resembled the topography of Calabasas…or maybe Mars. The third version of the 700 silhouette — and a marked improvement on the v2 — still doesn’t improve upon the original 700 design, but at least it does its own thing.

Alien-like, the Azael features an outer RPU shell that gives the sneaker a futuristic quality and adds structure and durability, as well as reflective detailing, an EVA midsole, and an upper composed of monofilament mesh. It feels like the logical progression from the original 700 and we’re excited to see what Ye does with the design moving forward.

To date, the Azael is the only colorway of the 700 v3, but a second colorway, Azareth, is due for release this summer.

It was only a matter of time until DaBaby released a deluxe edition of his 2020 album Blame It On Baby. With seemingly every other artist in music releasing bulked-up versions of their 2020 projects after a few months — or even just a week, as in the case of Lil Uzi Vert’s deluxe edition of Eternal Atake/Lil Uzi Vert Vs. The World 2 — it was inevitable that Blame It On Baby would get the same treatment. After all, it was one of 2020’s most successful projects, debuting at No.1 despite a lukewarm reception from fans and spawning a No.1 hit single in “Rockstar” featuring Roddy Ricch.

DaBaby is growing rather comfortable at the top of the Billboard charts this year, as he became one of only a handful of artists to land three songs in the Hot 100’s top ten thanks to “Rockstar,” his feature on Jack Harlow’s “What’s Poppin” remix, and his feature on Pop Smoke’s “For The Night.” Not bad for an artist who started the year defending himself from criticism that he never changes his flow and claiming that he would lose millions of dollars as a result of COVID-19 precautions.

Blame It On Baby deluxe edition is due 8/4 via Interscope Records.

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

The experience of watching sports in empty stadiums can be a bit jarring. Beyond the fact that games are happening without fans — a visually strange experience, albeit one that teams in soccer and hockey have tried to fix by having banners unfurled over the empty seats — sounds of the game have varied based on what you’re watching and who is broadcasting. Some leagues/networks have opted for natural sounds to lead the way, while others have decided to use artificial crowd noise in an attempt to give a more authentic experience.

The results have been mixed. While some view it as a welcomed addition, others haven’t particularly enjoyed something so inauthentic, particularly when the potential other option is something as interesting as athletes communicating on their playing surfaces with one another. While this is probably a nightmare for whomever has to make sure the FCC is happy stateside, for fans, it’s an opportunity to get a glimpse into everything — the verbiage, the banter, etc. — that you can normally only get by sitting right next to a game.

ESPN, which has some experience in this field due to its role in broadcasting the MLS Is Back tournament alongside Fox Sports, is opting to go with an approach that makes these unusual games feel a little more familiar, according to Mike Shiffman, the network’s Vice President, Production.

“It’ll be a mix of some of the crowd noise that’s natural to who the home team is, along with music and prompts, along with obviously the sneaker squeaks which are really cool as the NBA put more than 30 microphones beneath the court, and of course, the talk and chatter from the players,” Shiffman told the assembled media during a Zoom call earlier this week.

Shiffman is part of ESPN’s sizable contingent down in the bubble. The Worldwide Leader is, of course, not the only network tasked with airing games, as Turner will split seeding games and postseason tilts up until the Finals roll around, at which point ABC will broadcast everything across its airwaves. As Shiffman says, the undertaking has been gigantic to get up to this point, and praises the league for doing “a remarkable job” both when it comes to putting together an environment conducive to basketball and one that keeps individuals safe amid a global pandemic.

“Mid-to-late June, myself, Tim Corrigan who is our lead NBA producer and of course produces the NBA Finals, and Jimmy Moore, who is a director and works alongside Tim on the NBA Finals and our biggest games, came down here to Orlando with folks from the league and folks from Turner for a site survey,” Shiffman recalls. “And we literally went arena-by-arena with drawings and went through what was possible.”

The result is a multi-stadium operation, one that will help broadcast games on regional sports networks. As part of this broadcast, ESPN is going to use a rail cam, which shows the game from a slightly different angle.

All of this is part of making the experience unique, something that is rarely afforded to broadcasters due to the inherent nature of how we consume sports. Broadcasts go the way they go because they work best this way, arenas are built to accommodate that specific thing. That familiarity will be lost, of course, in this environment, but as Shiffman notes, the league is going to try to use audio to give some semblance of familiarity to those tuning in.

“One of the things the league has done really well here is that they’re making it sort of natural to who the home team is,” Shiffman says. “So if it’s a Lakers game, it will sound like Staples, whether it be the music being played, the PA, or what the fans would sound like in Staples, which may be different from Milwaukee and Boston, etc. I think that’s been, to me at least, it feels authentic in that way in that it sounds like what a Laker home game would sound like.”

Anyone who has followed along with the various soccer leagues restarting knows that using these noises can be unpopular. Shiffman says that ESPN has a team that is constantly evaluating how these sorts of new ideas are being received, and that after Friday’s games, it’ll be evaluated alongside what the league and Turner believe based on their feedback, too.

That feedback isn’t just important for this season, either. In Shiffman’s eyes, while this is something they’ll discuss down the road, the bubble presents ESPN the opportunity to test things out for a little farther down the road.

“We’ve started those conversations of ‘What can we take from what we’re doing here and apply to future years?’” Shiffman says. “I don’t know if we have any set plans, we haven’t done a full-on regular season game yet. But obviously knowing that when there are fans back — some of these opportunities do come because there aren’t fans in the arena — that when there are fans in the arena, are there things we can take to that blueprint of fans in the arena.”

After releasing a stream of videos for his 2020 album Funeral, Lil Wayne has seemingly moved on from the project with the video for “Thug Life,” his new single featuring Young Money rappers Jay Jones and Gudda Gudda. Filmed in Lil Wayne’s home skate park just like his quarantine friendly video for “Piano Trap,” “Thug Life” is a straightforward look at a group hang among the longtime friends and collaborators as they race through their respective verses and smoke a thick haze into the room around them.

Ever since his Young Money label became fully independent, Lil Wayne has stepped up his visibility tremendously. Over the past year, he started his immensely successful Young Money Radio podcast, interviewing guests like Drake, Eminem, Kid Cudi, Mannie Fresh, Nicki Minaj, and YBN Cordae, he’s participated in one of the bigger hits of the year in Jack Harlow’s “What’s Poppin” remix alongside DaBaby and Tory Lanez, and he delivered a poignant homage to the late, great Kobe Bryant during the BET Awards. In addition, he’s continued to release Funeral videos at a steady clip, including looks for “Mama Mia” and “I Don’t Sleep.”

Watch Lil Wayne’s “Thug Life” video featuring Gudda Gudda and Jay Jones above.

The case against alleged Jeffrey Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell reached a new peak on Thursday night with the unsealing of explosive documents that revealed allegations against Bill Clinton, Alan Dershowitz, Prince Andrew, and more. Maxwell remains behind bars while awaiting trial for her role in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking ring (strangely, she has recently been discovered to have a secret husband, whose name she will not reveal), and the unsealed documents source back to a 2015 lawsuit from Virginia Giuffre, who recently told CBS This Morning that Maxwell is “a monster… she’s worse than Epstein.” She also called Maxwell “vicious” and “evil” and reprehensible on another level as a woman who actively participated in the sexual abuse of other women.

Guiffre has faced a long and difficult road in pursuing justice against Epstein and Maxwell, who allegedly forced her to be a “sex slave” while she was a teenager. CNN details the psychological toll of the sexual abuse that Guiffre says she suffered at the hands of the pair, including how (during a deposition) she had a difficult time processing the “large amount” of people that Maxwell instructed her to have sex with, including, uh, the owner of a huge hotel chain:

Giuffre is pressed by attorneys to provide additional names of men who Maxwell “directed her” to have sex with. The attorney conducting the interview names several, including Prince Andrew, former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, and an individual described as “another prince,” and another individual described as “the large hotel chain owner.”

“Look, I’ve given you what I know right now,” Giuffre said in response. “I’m sorry. This is very hard for me and very frustrating to have to go over this. I don’t — I don’t recall all of the people. There was a large amount of people that I was sent to.”

Her response suggests plenty of lingering trauma after being allegedly forced to have sex with so many people that she couldn’t name them all while being pressured. Still, Maxwell’s attorney attempted to discredit her as an “unreliable narrator” due to discrepancies involved with exact dates, and so on. Guiffre was able to detail her surroundings at Epstein’s private Little St. James Island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which she described as a series of “constant” orgies, in which Maxwell had sex with girls (as young as 15) and women. She alleges that Epstein and Maxwell fulfilled their own sexual fetishes by flying in a whole group of European models (who sounded like they spoke Russian or Czechoslovakian) on one occasion. Via the NY Post:

“There’s just a blur of so many girls,” Giuffre told Maxwell’s attorneys when asked if she could name girls she saw Maxwell have sex with. “There were blondes, there were brunettes, there were redheads. They were all beautiful girls. I would say the ages ranged between 15 and 21 … The island was a place where orgies were a constant thing that took place.”

Guiffre alleges that, during one of these orgies, she was forced to have sex with Guislaine, Epstein, and another girl “in this blue, outdoor — I don’t know what you want to call it. Cabana, that… just a bed could fit in.” When pressed to name the precise number of orgies that she allegedly witnessed or was forced to participate within, Guiffre could only state, “it’s impossible to know how many,” which speaks to the enormity of what she claims to have endured.

It’s important to note that Guiffre is not the only accuser who appears in these court documents — she’s simply the only accuser who has consented to have her name revealed. The others wish to maintain their privacy, although, if Maxwell had her way, that wouldn’t be the case. Epstein’s ex-confidante made a bid to have the names of all of her accusers publicly revealed, and a Manhattan judge shut down the request, according to the New York Daily News.

(Via CNN, NY Post & New York Daily News)

Historically, musical artists have been known to go a few years without releasing a new album. That still happens often today, although as technology evolves, musicians are prone to putting music out more regularly. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek believes that way of doing things is the future, and said that artists who only put out an album “every three to four years” shouldn’t expect to thrive in the streaming landscape.

In an interview with Music Ally, Ek said:

“Some artists that used to do well in the past may not do well in this future landscape, where you can’t record music once every three to four years and think that’s going to be enough. The artists today that are making it realize that it’s about creating a continuous engagement with their fans. It is about putting the work in, about the storytelling around the album, and about keeping a continuous dialogue with your fans.”

He also discussed the viability of streaming music as a sole source of income for some artists, which he says is becoming a more common reality:

“It’s quite interesting that while the overall pie is growing, and more and more people can partake in that pie, we tend to focus on a very limited set of artists. Even today on our marketplace, there’s literally millions and millions of artists. What tends to be reported are the people that are unhappy, but we very rarely see anyone who’s talking about… In the entire existence [of Spotify] I don’t think I’ve ever seen a single artist saying, ‘I’m happy with all the money I’m getting from streaming,’ stating that publicly. In private they have done that many times, but in public they have no incentive to do it. But unequivocally, from the data, there are more and more artists that are able to live off streaming income in itself.”

Read the full interview here.

“Today is Opening Day, which means it’s a great day to arrest the killers of Breonna Taylor,” the Tampa Bay Rays tweeted on the first day of the new MLB season. You’ve probably seen numerous versions of this sentiment on Twitter, and while it’s well intentioned and Breonna Taylor’s killers should, in fact, be arrested, The Daily Show host Trevor Noah wants people to stop turning her death into a meme.

“If you are online a lot, you’ve probably seen Breonna Taylor being turned into just another meme. You know, whether it’s putting her name on a picture of Rihanna’s ass, or mentioning her death in some caption of a random selfie,” Noah said during Thursday’s episode. “You have maybe well-intentioned people who want to keep the name trending and they want to see Breonna Taylor get justice, but now [they’re] essentially using her name as a punchline.” Memes, Noah pointed out, aren’t the best way to honor someone, which is why “Obama didn’t dab at John Lewis’ funeral today.”

After playing numerous clips showing “the story of Breonna Taylor,” not as a slogan but as a human being, Noah ended the segment with the following words: “What happened to Breonna Taylor wasn’t a failure of the system, it was the system working as it’s intended. And that is why people are fighting for the system to be changed.”

You can watch the entire video above.

The Star Wars Original Trilogy doesn’t get enough credit for its use of The Force. Or, more specifically: its lack of its use of The Force. In the original Star Wars, a case can be made that The Force doesn’t even exist at all. Everything can be explained away. Nothing levitates and almost every use of the Force – from Luke’s training with a remote, to Luke blowing up the Death Star – can be looked at as “luck” (which Han Solo does both times). The closest the original movie comes to using actual magic is when Vader chokes Admiral Motti during a meeting on the Death Star. But even that could be explained as a combination of mind games and intimidation. (If Darth Vader started yelling at me during a work meeting I might have the same reaction, Force choke or not.)

Han Solo is the biggest skeptic. It’s only been 19 years since Jedi were running around everywhere doing magic tricks, yet Solo doesn’t believe the Force exists at all. This is a big reason Solo’s character works so well in the first two movies. He’s skeptical of all of this, just as a viewer should be. (Also, I think Han Solo plays into Gen X’s skepticism of pretty much everything. It’s a quality I possess and am often dumbfounded Millennials don’t share this. But this is probably also why Millennials like the Prequels more than we do. Anakin wears his heart on his sleeve. Han Solo thinks everyone is stupid.)

But a great thing the original movie does is not having a moment where Han Solo figures all this out and looks on with whimsical joy as something Force floats by him. At the end of Star Wars, we find out he does have a conscience but certainly doesn’t believe in The Force. That moment comes in The Empire Strikes Back, but it’s done in such a clever way, we don’t talk about it near enough.

But, first, let’s talk about my least favorite scene in all of the Prequel Trilogy. One of the things I dislike about the Prequel Trilogy is how The Force went from this “mysterious entity” to just a thing the Jedi use to speed up even minor inconveniences.

(Unrelated, I will admit since The Rise of Skywalker, my opinion of the Prequels has gone up in comparison. At least the Prequels have a point of view and a pretty good story. It’s just the execution of the story that’s the problem. But it’s not difficult to point at a few things in the Prequels and go, well, if that were done differently, and that, it would greatly improve the whole thing. With The Rise of Skywalker, where do you even begin? When the story itself is lousy, there’s no real fix.)

Anyway, the scene that bothers me to no end happens in Revenge of the Sith. Obi-Wan has just stowed away on Padmé’s starship on its way to Mustafar. He finds a small room or closet or whatever to hide inside of. Instead of just pushing the button to close the door, he uses The Force. C’mon. So over the course of six movies, the Force went from this sacred, mysterious thing to something Jedi use when they don’t feel like reaching for something. I mean, sure, that’s what I would use it for, but if I were a Jedi my story would be pretty boring and no one would make a movie about it. My point is, when you’re using the force just to close doors that don’t need urgent closing, maybe it’s time to dial back on how often your characters are using the Force?

Now, back to Han Solo. In The Empire Strikes Back, the first no doubt about it the Force is real” moment is when Luke’s lightsaber travels across the Wampa’s ice cave to his hand. We are over a full movie into this story before we see definitive proof of the Force. Of course, only the Wampa is around to see it, and Luke quickly murdered any witnesses.

Han Solo’s first interaction with The Force came on Cloud City during the dinner scene. (I’ve written about this scene before from Vader’s perspective and I still think it’s just the funniest thing. It’s so choreographed and elaborate! And you know as Lando was leading our heroes to dinner, Vader had to say, “Places, everyone!”) In one of my favorite moments of a Star Wars movie, Han sees Vader, doesn’t hesitate, and just starts shooting. (Contrast this with Obi-Wan in Revenge of the Sith, who has a whole meaningless conversation with Grievous before fighting, even though Obi-Wan briefly had the element of surprise.)

Seriously, this scene would never happen today. No catchphrase. No witty remark. Just Han Solo acting like the character actually would: fight or flight kicking in and he picked a fight. Vader deflects some blaster fire with his hand, then uses the Force to snag Han’s blaster right out of his hand. It’s played so well by Harrison Ford here, almost too well. Just a look of utter shock as the blaster is ripped out of his hand, then the bewilderment of a bunch of events all happening at once. Over the span of five seconds, Han realizes the Force is real, his buddy Lando just betrayed him (which, actually, I kind of understand when you take into account these war criminals just “showing up” unannounced, jeopardizing the people of the city he runs), and now they are prisoners of the Empire – as Darth Vader taunts him by making jokes about having dinner.

Compare this to the scene people do talk about a lot (and makes gifs of) in Return of the Jedi when Leia tells Han that Luke is her brother. Ford, famously not a big fan of this particular installment, makes a wacky face. (Though, I always kind of wish that scene were a bit longer as Leia tells Han, “Well, that’s the good news. There’s, unfortunately, a little more to this story.”

Look, I just love that Empire dinner scene. And it reminds me that when Star Wars movies work, they really work. After the original movie, we’d never envision a scene with Darth Vader and Han Solo at a dining table together in a weird, all-white room. Or if we could envision it, it would be corny. But there it is and so many things all happen at once and it’s played perfectly. What a scene! And if we are studying Solo’s arc, it’s a huge moment for him that, like I said, we just don’t talk about enough. For one moment, on Han’s face, we see him learn that “hokey religions” are indeed a match for a blaster at your side. (Oh, yes, that callback finally paid off in this scene, too.)

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

The Milwaukee Bucks entered the 2019-20 season with a clear vision and expectation. Nothing less than a championship would do for a team with the league’s reigning MVP, a second All-Star, and a deep supporting cast that happily knew and filled their roles with aplomb.

When the NBA went on hiatus in March, Milwaukee had done nothing to shake those expectations and, if anything, made them stronger. Giannis Antetokounmpo, unfathomably, was playing better than in his MVP campaign, becoming a more deft distributor, trusting even more in those pieces around him to help lift him up, rather than him trying to always shoulder the load. Khris Middleton took another leap in his second straight All-Star selection, finding a way to bring back the efficiency he showed as a role player to his starring role, knocking down threes and midrange shots at clips that were both near the top of the league.

Around them, veterans and young players alike fit snugly into their roles. Eric Bledsoe pacing the offense, balancing a role as a distributor with violent attacks on the rim. Donte DiVincenzo emerging as a reliable two-way sixth man, George Hill providing a steadying influence of the bench, and the Lopez brothers tag-teaming opposing centers. The Bucks were a juggernaut, but for some, belief in this team won’t come until they’ve proven it in the playoffs and are in an NBA Finals.

ROSTER

Giannis Antetokounmpo
Thanasis Antetokounmpo
Eric Bledsoe
Sterling Brown
Pat Connaughton (not yet in the bubble)
Donte DiVincenzo
George Hill
Ersan Ilyasova
Kyle Korver
Brook Lopez
Robin Lopez
Frank Mason
Wesley Matthews
Khris Middleton
Marvin Williams
D.J. Wilson

SCHEDULE

Friday, July 31 — 6:30 PM — vs. Boston Celtics
Sunday, August 2– 8:30 PM — vs. Houston Rockets
Tuesday, August 4 — 1:30 PM — vs. Brooklyn Nets
Thursday, August 6 — 4:00 PM — vs. Miami Heat
Saturday, August 8 — 8:30 PM — vs. Dallas Mavericks
Monday, August 10 — 6:30 PM — vs. Toronto Raptors
Tuesday, August 11 — 9:00 PM — vs. Washington Wizards
Thursday, August 13 — TBD — vs. Memphis Grizzlies

STANDINGS

1. Milwaukee Bucks: 53-12
2. Toronto Raptors: 46-18 (6.5)
3. Boston Celtics: 43-21 (9.5)
4. Miami Heat: 41-24 (12.0)
5. Indiana Pacers: 39-26 (14.0)
6. Philadelphia 76ers: 39-26 (14.0)
7. Brooklyn Nets: 30-34 (22.5)
8. Orlando Magic: 30-35 (23.0)
9. Washington Wizards: 24-40 (28.5)

X-FACTOR

Eric Bledsoe has struggled in both of the Bucks playoff exits the last two years, and they need him to play like the regular season version of himself if they’re to march to a championship. It’s not impossible to see how the Bucks could overcome another rough postseason from Bledsoe to win a title, but it makes life much, much more difficult on Giannis and Middleton. We know that teams are going to try and force the Bucks “others” to beat them and make Giannis’ life miserable every time he tries to enter the paint. Giannis’ passing this season has been much better, finding his teammates beyond the arc when defenses collapse and being more willing to kick out rather than charging into a wall of bodies, but that only works if guys hit shots. Bledsoe has been horrific shooting in the postseason the last two years — a year ago he hit just 23.6 percent of his threes in the playoffs — and teams will make sure his and others confidence is put to the test yet again. When he’s good and makes teams pay for sending so much attention to Giannis and Middleton, Milwaukee is damn near unbeatable.

BIGGEST ON-COURT QUESTION

It’s the same question for the team as a whole as it is for Bledsoe: Can you be the same team in the playoffs you are in the regular season? We know Giannis is going to show up, but he’s going to need the rest of the team to show up and simply do what they have been all season. There’s not suddenly some tremendous ask of role guys once the playoffs rolls around in Milwaukee, they have their Hercules who is ready to shoulder that burden. However, when teams throw everything they can at him and he flings the ball out to the perimeter, will they be ready to knock down the same shots they did in the regular season? That question will determine whether they’re lifting a trophy in October or not.