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Well, perhaps superhero fatigue is a real thing. Also, the reviews were pretty meh to not good. Perhaps it’s a combination of both, but whatever the reason, the masses are not flocking to the box office to see The Marvels.

Reports the Hollywood Reporter:

Based on Friday earnings of $21.5 million, the Marvel Studios and Disney superhero tentpole is headed for a domestic opening of $47 million to $52 million to rank as the worst start in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The box office stink bomb could mark the nadir of Kevin Feige’s reign — it stands to be the Disney/MCU’s lowest opening weekend box office ever. Interestingly, the Rotten Tomatoes audience score is pretty good, perhaps signifying that the (likely) hardcore Marvel fans who are seeing the movie are actually liking it, which is something our Mike Ryan alluded to in his review — it’d be appealing to hardcore Marvel fans only.

Even though there are some fun scenes with The Marvels trio, I’d be hard-pressed to recommend this to anyone who isn’t an MCU superfan. Again, even *I* was a bit lost with the latest in the Kree and Skrull political relationships — I felt lost by it all and I’ve seen every movie. I bet a pretty straightforward plot involving the main three characters would have gone a long way.

In other news, Netflix’s The Killer dropped yesterday and is very good, as is just about everything from David Fincher.

The 2024 Grammy Awards nomination list continues to stir up fierce debates online. These discussions are incredibly sharp in hip-hop spaces, considering the genre celebrated its 50th anniversary in August. Although Drake is the most nominated in the rap categories with a total of four nods (Best Rap Performance, Best Melodic Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, and Best Rap Album), artists and fans alike aren’t pleased with what works are being spotlighted.

Yesterday (November 10), Lil Yachty, who was notably absent from the nominees lists, was asked to share his thoughts on the current state of hip-hop. According to Complex, he was frank during Rolling Stones’ Musicians on Musicians event, saying it is in “a terrible state.”

“Hip-hop is in a terrible place. The state of hip-hop right now is a lot of imitation. It’s a lot of quick, low-quality music being put out. It’s a lot less risk-taking, it’s a lot less originality…People are too safe now. Everyone is so safe. I’d rather take the risk than take the L,” Yachty declared to the Brooklyn crowd.

Lil Yachty greatly respects many rap artists, including his longtime friend/collaborator Drake, J. Cole, and Tyler The Creator. But he has been vocal about how the genre is viewed and the limitation placed on rappers, which pushes artists out to regain their creative freedom. Lil Yachty’s latest psychedelic rock-infused album, Let’s Start Here, was his way of breaking out of that music box.

Yesterday (November 10), Meek Mill and Rick Ross’ joint album, Too Good To Be True, hit streaming services. To celebrate the milestone, both rappers gave an all-star performance of the project’s lead single, “Shaq & Kobe,” on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon.

As veterans in hip-hop and longstanding collaborators, Meek and Ross’ high-energy set wasn’t just limited to their latest body of work. The duo decided to surprise viewers with a performance of Meek’s 2012 “Ima Boss,” featuring Ross.

Ross shared what led to their collaborative album during an appearance on The Morning Hustle. “This was the right time,” he replied. “We’re both solo artists and both doing our thing. I’m building MMG, and he’s building Dream Chasers [Records]. I felt like this was the right time. You know what I mean, it just came together. So we spent a little time together and got into the studio. Sh*t just came together too easily; it just flowed,” said Ross.

Watch Meek Mill and Rick Ross’ full performance above.

Too Good To Be True is out now via Maybach Music Group / Gamma. Find more information here.

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

The Memphis Grizzlies continue to struggle at the start of the 2023-24 NBA season. The team lost Friday night’s In-Season Tournament game against the Utah Jazz, 127-121, to fall to 1-8 on the year. They’re still searching for their first win at home during the campaign, and between long-term injuries and the suspension to Ja Morant, it’s hard to see help coming any time soon.

Friday featured things boiling over a bit. During the third quarter, Jaren Jackson Jr. played through some contact and scored but did not get a call. While expressing some frustration, Jackson received a pair of technical fouls, which led to his night coming to an early end.

This moment, along with a pretty stark free throw disparity, came up in Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins’ postgame press conference. Jenkins did not mince his words, as he called the officiating “f*ckin’ atrocious,” made it a point to defend Jackson, and stressed that he understands the league office is not going to be happy about how he’s going about expressing his frustration.

“Our guys are competing their tails off, and we gotta play better,” Jenkins said. “We gotta coach better, we gotta play better. But I don’t get tonight whatsoever.”

In particular, Jenkins pointed out his frustration between the interactions between his team and the officials, which led to him using the words “stern, nothing, stonewall, ignoring.”

The Memphis Grizzlies continue to struggle at the start of the 2023-24 NBA season. The team lost Friday night’s In-Season Tournament game against the Utah Jazz, 127-121, to fall to 1-8 on the year. They’re still searching for their first win at home during the campaign, and between long-term injuries and the suspension to Ja Morant, it’s hard to see help coming any time soon.

Friday featured things boiling over a bit. During the third quarter, Jaren Jackson Jr. played through some contact and scored but did not get a call. While expressing some frustration, Jackson received a pair of technical fouls, which led to his night coming to an early end.

This moment, along with a pretty stark free throw disparity, came up in Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins’ postgame press conference. Jenkins did not mince his words, as he called the officiating “f*ckin’ atrocious,” made it a point to defend Jackson, and stressed that he understands the league office is not going to be happy about how he’s going about expressing his frustration.

“Our guys are competing their tails off, and we gotta play better,” Jenkins said. “We gotta coach better, we gotta play better. But I don’t get tonight whatsoever.”

In particular, Jenkins pointed out his frustration between the interactions between his team and the officials, which led to him using the words “stern, nothing, stonewall, ignoring.”

James Harden‘s going to go down as one of the strangest players in NBA history. While he is unquestionably one of the most efficient offensive players to ever live and his best years led to him being named league MVP multiple times, his postseason shortcomings and the ways his stints with multiple teams ended have led to him receiving a whole lot of criticism.

Most recently, Harden left the Philadelphia 76ers and got his long-awaited trade to the Los Angeles Clippers. The team dropped its first two games with Harden in town, and on Friday night, L.A. went up against the Dallas Mavericks in an In-Season Tournament contest. Before the start of the game, Mavericks broadcaster Brian Dameris took some time to address Harden directly by staring directly into the camera and spending nearly two uninterrupted minutes laying out why, in his words, “you’re not The Beard, you’re not the system, you’re the problem.”

It’s all criticisms that you’ve probably heard of Harden before, and they go back to the early days of his tenure with the Houston Rockets. Still, the whole thing ends with a pretty stark warning for Harden, who is slated to hit unrestricted free agency at the end of the 2023-24 season.

“If this doesn’t work, this year, in this system, with this team, then you’re gonna go and point fingers at everybody else,” Dameris said. “And you’re gonna go back home, and you’re gonna start swiping right for another team, and there’s not gonna be anybody left.”

After this rant, the Clippers fell to the Mavs, 144-126. Harden had 14 points on 3-for-6 shooting with five rebounds, three assists, and two steals in 29 minutes of work.

Lana Del Rey, like a lot of musicians earlier this morning, got some great news when the 2024 Grammy nominations were unveiled. After releasing her album, Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, earlier this year, she is now up for five awards. Well, as she points out in an interview with Rolling Stone, technically seven — as she sings on both Taylor Swift’s and Jon Batiste’s albums that are also in the running for Album Of The Year.

“It’s just such a fun day,” Del Rey said. “It’s really just about how excited everybody else is. And everybody calling and getting in touch and saying hi. So, all about the process. It’s just one more exciting thing that’s happening so genuinely touched.”

Then, in typical Del Rey fashion, she revealed that she might have only just found out she had to submit her work to get a nomination from the Recording Academy.

“Thank you to everybody who nominated us,” she added. “I, in fact, only learned this year that you have to submit now if you want to be nominated, so even that was out of my wheelhouse, but I did do that. The best part of all of it is just even being able to put yourself out there, which I did. And that sounds so cheesy, but all the same.”

Fans will be able to tune back in on February 4, 2024 to see if Del Rey wins.

Over the past few years, book bans have been happening in public libraries and schools across America. In the 2022-2023 school year alone, over 3,300 books were banned in 182 school districts in 37 states.

Most books that have been banned deal with LGBTQ and racial themes. According to a report from PEN America, Florida has been the most aggressive state regarding book bans, accounting for about 40% of those taken off the shelves.

On November 5, Collier County, Florida, announced that it was banning 300 books from its school libraries out of an effort to comply with state law HB 1069, which says books that depict or describe “sexual content” can be challenged for removal.

Among the books banned by the school district was “Shopgirl,” a novella by author Steve Martin published in 2000. Martin is also the star of the hit Hulu show, “Only Murders in the Building,” featuring Martin Short and Selena Gomez.

Upon hearing about his book being banned, Martin responded with his iconic wit on Instagram, saying, “So proud to have my book Shopgirl banned in Collier County, Florida! Now, people who want to read it will have to buy a copy!”

See on Instagram

“Shopgirl” is a story about a young woman who works in a luxury department store and has an affair with a wealthy older man. It was made into a movie in 2005 starring Claire Danes and Martin. It’s believed the book was banned for its mild sexual content. On Amazon, the book is recommended for readers ages 13 and up.

As the nominations for the 2024 Grammy Awards were rolled out today, Victoria Monét shared an emotional video of her watching the livestream with her loved ones. Given that her debut album, Jaguar II, dropped in August, she was a strong contender for at least one nod — and she very much surpassed that.

Each time Monét’s name was called over the television, she gasped in shock as those around her cheered. At times, she falls on the floor and is crying at a different moment. The video then cuts to an image of “On My Mama” being nominated for Record Of The Year.

At the end, one of Monét’s group members reads off that she was nominated for seven total Grammys, including Best New Artist, Best R&B Album, Best R&B Performance, Best R&B Song, Best Traditional R&B Performance, and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.

She hugs members of her group and as expected, is extremely happy about the results. Since seeing the video on social media, fans have loved just how pure the joy is from Monét and those finding out she is nominated a ton.

“I am in complete shock and total gratitude for what has happened for us today!!!!” she captioned on Instagram.

Check out Victoria Monét‘s Grammy nomination reveal video below.

You know, it’s been a few days since we’ve done a post about something silly that Victor Wembanyama did during an NBA game. Let’s change that, shall we? Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs played host to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night in their first game during the Play-In Tournament, and while the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft did plenty of incredible stuff on the night, one stuck out above the rest.

San Antonio tried to make their way back into the game in the fourth quarter while trailing by double-digits. Getting the ball to your best players is normally a pretty good way to do that, and Doug McDermott managed to do just that when he got the ball on the wing and saw Wembanyama dive to the rim. McDermott decided to just lob the ball towards the paint, presumably because he thought Wembanyama would get it and go up with it.

Instead, Wembanyama decided to skip a step. With his back turned to the basket, he grabbed the ball while he was in air and converted a reverse alley-oop.

Maybe one day watching him do this stuff will become more normal. Until then, I highly recommend just enjoying the ride.