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Before his shocking death at 54, Matthew Perry seemed like he was gearing up for a comeback. He’d released a hit memoir, which not only had great stories but was bracingly honest about his struggles with addiction. Now we’re learning he had more big ideas, including one he pitched Anchorman and The Big Short director Adam McKay: a semi-autobiographical superhero movie.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, Perry approached McKay while filming a small role in his climate change satire Don’t Look Up.

“It’s about this guy,” Perry said, according to McKay. “You’d recognize him. His name is Matt and he’s very famous and about 50 years old. His life is a little bit of a mess. He’s lost. Out of the blue a distant relative dies and leaves him $2 billion — and he uses to become a superhero.”

The movie was to be called Mattman, and it woud have starred Perry himself, in a role with some crossover with his real life.

McKay said he was fascinated by the pitch, though he countered with his own, less high-concept version, according to THR:

“My idea was just to do a show about being this incredibly popular, well-known TV guy who’s dealing with addiction,” McKay says. “Because the world has changed. You could actually do that show now. Ten years ago, people would have said you’re crazy. But now people can be more upfront about their mental health issues, their addiction issues, and it’s kind of wonderful.”

“Why don’t we just do a show that’s a fictional version of what you’ve struggled with,” he pressed on with his pitch to Perry. “The idea that everywhere you go, people yell your catchphrases a little bit of your past, the addiction, what it’s like, because everyone views you through this lens of this cheery, bright, multicolored show. And then, meanwhile, you’re a human being who’s dealing with real addiction, real pain. It could be an incredible show. It could be really funny. It could really affect people’s lives.”

Neither project ever materialized, but either version sounds like it would have been interesting. It seems Perry was still thinking about the idea before his death. In what became his final Instagram post, which featured a picture of him in his hot tub, the caption included the words “I’m Mattman.”

Perhaps Perry was influenced by the Oscar-winning Birdman, in which Michael Keaton played an actor who’d become famous playing a Batman-like superhero and was wrestling with that history. A handful of years later Keaton wound up playing Bruce Wayne all over again.

In the wake of Perry’s passing, many stories about him, previously not made public, emerged. For instance, he saved Friends from enraging its legion of fans after he put the kibosh on a controversial twist involving Chandler and Monica.

(Via THR)

One of the biggest risers up NFL Draft boards this season has been Shedeur Sanders, the quarterback for the Colorado Buffaloes who has done an impressive job making the jump to Power 5 football after being a standout at Jackson State. While Sanders has stuff he needs to work on — his propensity for holding onto the ball, especially behind a leaky Buffaloes offensive line, has made him the most sacked QB in the country — he’s made a real case for being picked in the top-10 next spring.

There’s just one problem: His dad expects him back in Boulder next year. Colorado coach Deion Sanders appeared on The Dan Patrick Show on Tuesday, and after explaining why he doesn’t believe he can be an NFL coach, Sanders was asked if making the jump to the league is more appealing if he does it alongside Shedeur. He was quick to make clear he has two sons on the Buffs, then told Patrick that he has another year in Boulder alongside both of them.


“Don’t forget Shilo, by the way,” Sanders said at the 13:30 mark of the video. “Don’t forget Shilo, he’s a dog. They’re gonna come out the same year, next year. They’re not trying to leave daddy this year, by the way.

“I’m not thinking down the street that far,” he continued. “I haven’t thought like that. That’s a great thought process, though.”

Sanders has expressed in the past that he wants his sons coming back for the 2024 campaign. While it is a bit more difficult to project out Shilo’s Draft future by nature of his being a safety, it might make sense for Shedeur to wait until 2025 to enter the league. Next year’s Draft has two quarterbacks, Caleb Williams and Drake Maye, who are viewed as locks to go in the top-5. That’s not necessarily the case in 2025, as there’s no clear-cut QB1. Should Shedeur come back and play well, he’d have a real chance of being the first quarterback — and, by extension, first player — selected.

Colorado has struggled mightily after a 3-0 start to the year. The team has lost five of its last six games, and after Saturday’s matchup in Boulder against Arizona, the Buffaloes will end their season with back-to-back road tilts against Washington State and Utah.

Time was that video game movies were cursed. Remember 1993’s Super Mario Bros., starring an appalled Bob Hoskins? Jump three decades to the present and Hollywood has finally (mostly) figured out how to make the genre work. The biggest grosser that’s not Barbie is, as it happens, the second stab at a Super Mario Bros. movie. Somehow it took about six months for Nintendo to greenlit a big screen take on another of their deathless franchises. That’s right, there’s finally going to be a Legend of Zelda movie. And people are already trying to cast it.

Per Variety, on Tuesday gaming legend and Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto took to social media to reveal that, after working on a live-action Zelda movie “for many years,” he’s teaming with super-producer Avi Arad (of, among others, the last three iterations of the live-action Spider-Man) to belatedly make it a reality. Miyamoto warned Zelda fans that it “will take time until its completion,” but that the wheels are officially in motion.

The Legend of Zelda movie even already has a director: Wes Ball, of the Maze Runner trilogy and the forthcoming Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

Details are thin on the ground, though based on an interview Miyamoto did with Variety earlier this year, maybe don’t expect it to be a straight-up take on the 1986 original. “Just following the plot points of the video games will never work as a movie,” he said, arguing that the games’ plots are all about the player moving through a world. “Without the involvement of the player, it won’t meet expectations.”

Also up in the air? Who will play hero Link, or baddie Ganon, or the titular absconded princess Zelda. But when the news broke, a lot of people assumed the role would go to cinema’s most popular young actor, Tom Holland.

Another no-brainer: Chris Pratt, whose Mario casting was controversial when first announced. Then again, he might be a bit too old to play so young an adventurer.

Or what about Pratt for not just Link but all the major roles?

Or why not both Tom Holland Chris Pratt?

There were so many Tom Holland and Chris Pratt posts that eventually people made jokes about that.

One person had a very outside-the-box suggestion: Give Link to Nathan Fielder.

Seriously, make Nathan Fielder play Link.

(Via Variety)

(WARNING: Spoilers for Swagger season two will be found below.)

Swagger made its debut on Apple TV+ back in 2021 and since then it’s grown to be a standout on the platform as it caters to basketball fans as well as those who like a good coming-of-age story. The show stars Oshea Jackson Jr. as Ike “Icon” Edwards and Isaiah Hill as Jace Carson. Other notable actors in the show include Shinelle Azoroh as Jenna Carson (Jace’s mother), Tessa Ferrer as Meg Bailey, and Quvenzhané Wallis as Crystal Jarrett (Jace’s best friend and love interest). Swagger was created by Reggie Rock Bythewood and it turns out that a notable NBA player serves as the inspiration for the show.

Is Swagger Based On A True Story?

Swagger is loosely based on the experiences of NBA star Kevin Durant who also serves as an executive producer on the show. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Bythewood recalled taking a 45-minute flight from Los Angeles to Oakland, California (Durant was playing for the Golden State Warriors at this time) to meet with the star athlete and discuss an idea that turned into what we now know as Swagger.

“I was blown away by the vulnerability that he relayed to me,” Bythewood said. “The game changer was I found an emotional connection to his story with mine.”

In another interview with Boardroom, Bythewood explained how Durant’s true experiences were used in the show.

“Any sort of real-life events from KD’s life that I wanted to pull from, they gave me access to, but they also gave a lot of room and space and encouragement to pull from other places,” Bythewood said. These other places included Bythewood’s children, like his younger son who recently completed his freshman year at UCLA, the same school that Jace is eyeing a scholarship from during season two.

Seasons one and two of ‘Swagger’ are available to stream now on Apple TV+.

The Houston Rockets are enjoying a 3-game winning streak after back-to-back blowout wins over the Sacramento Kings, but they’re going to get tested in a big way this week with the Lakers, Pelicans, and Nuggets all coming to town.

Dillon Brooks is enjoying a strong start to his tenure in Houston, as he’s taken advantage of a fresh start after the way things ended in Memphis. Brooks is enjoying a highly efficient first two weeks of the season, averaging 16.3 points per game on 59.3/56.6/93.8 shooting splits, and has seemingly fully bought into his role with the Rockets as an off-ball player so far. On defense, he’s doing what he always does, applying pressure on the ball and looking to frustrate opponents — and, aside from his preseason debut, has avoided the shenanigans.

However, Wednesday’s game might be the first test of the new and improved Brooks, as he faces the foe that effectively ousted him in Memphis in LeBron James and the Lakers. Brooks rather famously called James old, then hit LeBron below the belt and got ejected from Game 3, and saw James put the dagger in the Grizzlies by going right through him at the end of Game 4. Even Brooks’ teammates thought his poking of the bear helped breathe some life into James and the Lakers, but it doesn’t appear that was the takeaway from Brooks.

On Tuesday, the veteran wing said he was “ready to lock him up” when asked about matching up with James, noting the league’s all-time leading scorer is playing great this year but it’s his job to tire him out and make him work.

Nothing he says here is particularly inflammatory — and everything after “ready to lock him up” is absolutely true and what he should be trying to do. The issue comes in those first five words, which again, aren’t crossing any lines or anything like that but just seem to be asking to put a larger target on your back.

That said, he could’ve kept quiet as a church mouse prior to this game and if LeBron went off everyone would’ve gotten their jokes off, so I guess you might as well double down. As always, it’ll come down to who comes out the winner on Wednesday night.

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

Since the last update of this weekly R&B column, we’ve received plenty of music and news from the genre’s artists.

Lucky Daye made his return with his steamy “That’s You” single and SZA revealed how her “Slime You Out” collaboration with Drake came together. Ty Dolla Sign’s “multi-stadium listening event” with Kanye West for their upcoming album was reportedly delayed and The Roots teamed up with LL Cool J to make an anthem for the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament. Elsewhere, Jazmine Sullivan and HER were among the artists who honored Chaka Khan for her Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction.

Here are some more releases on the new music front that you should check out:

Majid Jordan — Good People

Majid Jordan’s third album, 2021’s Wildest Dreams, arrived four years after their second album. This time around, the Canadian duo only took two years to deliver another body of work. It’s a short one with just nine songs, but Majid Jordan makes the most of it from start to finish.

Ciara — “How We Roll (Remix)” Feat. Lil Wayne & Chris Brown

This past summer, Ciara delivered her CiCi EP and now she’s back with an update to one of the project’s standout records. “How We Roll,” which featured Chris Brown, now gets an update with an additional verse from Lil Wayne as he kicks off the remix with a string of slick bars.

Robert Glasper — In December

Legendary producer Robert Glasper gets a jump on the Christmas season with this Apple Music exclusive project In December. For this seven-song project, Glasper mixes classics like “Joy To The World” and “Little Drummer Boy” with a set of originals. “The intention for this album was less about Christmas songs and more about songs that feel good during the holidays,” Glasper said about the album.

Ne-Yo — “Link Up (Remix)” Feat. Fabolous

Days after summer came to an official close, Ne-Yo checked in with his summery single “Link Up.” A little over a month later, he’s back with a new remix alongside Fabolous. It feels like the mid-2000s with a Ne-Yo and Fabolous collaboration, but we’re here for the nostalgia.

Eric Bellinger — “All For Me”

Certified R&B workhorse Eric Bellinger pours his heart out to a special lover on his new single “All For Me.” He declares his love for the woman in question and celebrates the fact that she’s all for him to enjoy.

Ryan Trey — Streets Say You Miss Me

St. Louis, Missouri’s own Ryan Trey checks in with his third project Streets Say You Miss Me. Across 14 songs and features from Mariah The Scientist, Vory, NoCap, and Chase Shakur, Trey guides us through the ups and downs of romance with R&B- and hip-hop-inspired sounds.

Q — Hello, Everyday Changes

Months after sharing his Soul, PRESENT project, Brooklyn singer Q keeps the fire alive with a new batch of tunes. His Hello, Everyday Changes EP is his latest genre-bending presentation in a year that also saw him hit the road with Baby Rose.

Jon Vinyl — Heartbreak Hill

Toronto singer Jon Vinyl arrives with his debut album Heartbreak Hill. Through eight songs, Vinyl experiences a variety of emotions on his Heartbreak Hill, but his silky smooth vocals make for a soothing experience for listeners. Heartbreak Hill is a coming-of-age love story that runs through fear, regret, and impulsive thoughts with brute honesty.

Dee Gatti — “No Favors”

I hope that Dallas native Dee Gatti has a project on the way, and her newly released single seemingly confirms that possibility. Gatti drops “No Favors” as follow-ups to “Either Way” and “Timeless” and as a record bathed in honesty as she questions a former lover’s continued presence in her life despite them failing to prove that they can be the supportive companion she needs them to be.

Titose — “Star”

With her All Things Considered EP out later this month, Botswana singer Titose delivers another preview of the project with “Star.” The tender and optimistic single takes a moment to honor her companion’s effortless shine while also showing her commitment to their growing relationship.

FrvrFriday — “Reach U”

Four months after dropping his Cruise Control project, Rwandan-Canadian singer FrvrFriday returns with his second single since the project’s release. “Reach U” captures FrvrFriday’s attempts to strike up some romance with a woman who he feels has yet to experience love in the right way.

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

(WARNING: Spoilers for the most recent Power Book IV: Force episode will be found below.)

After being cut out of the Flynn family organization and a partnership with her brother Vic, Claudia Flynn has been left to fight on her own to establish a name for herself in the Chicago. It was a struggle at first but thanks to a partnership with Elise, a friend from the past who is also her new lover, as well as Shanti, a leader in the Chicago drug game, Claudia has been able to bounce back on her feet in season two of Power Book IV: Force. One thing that’s helped her is a an established presence in Chicago’s Viagra Triangle, but where is that exactly?

Where Is Chicago’s Viagra Triangle From Power Book IV: Force?

The Viagra Triangle is a district in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood in the city’s north side. The triangle is formed by State and Rush streets coming together with Bellevue Street being its base. Viagra Triangle got its name as it has always been known as a place where “older” men in the upper class would either hang out or go on dates with younger women in their 20s and 30s. It’s this area and this demographic that Claudia uses to re-establish her presence in the city’s drug game.

Claudia’s expansion into the Viagra was first introduced in episode seven of season two as an idea from Elise. Claudia initially turned it down saying, “My father always stayed away from those clubs because of a deal with one of his old cronies.” Elise reminded her that Walter is dead and added that her mother is a silent parter at the club and just like that Claudia was all in. Shanti was later informed about the move, and she was initially upset that Claudia and Elise did not tell her about it first before making a decision. Nonetheless, she signed on and trio got the ball rolling.

New episodes of ‘Power Book IV: Force’ are available on the STARZ app on Fridays at 12:00 am ET/PT and on the STARZ TV channel at 8:00 pm ET/PT.

On Sunday Stephen A. Smith was in Philadelphia to watch the Eagles beat arguably their biggest rival, the Dallas Cowboys, with a final score of 28 to 23. Good for him (and them)! Unfortunately, Smith did it while wearing a particularly mockable form of headwear.

Per Complex, the ESPN star and Swiftie posed for a photo with a Philly sports die-hard who was clad in Eagles regalia. Smith, meanwhile, was wearing a Jordan brand baseball cap. Why was he wearing a basketball hat to a football game? Alas, that wasn’t the sartorial choice that nabbed people’s attention. It was a) the size of the cap, which was clearly too big for his head, and b) the insanely sculpted brim, which looked like Smith had spent the last few hours pressing it until it looked like a perfect V.

Smith’s brim drew a lot of jokes.

Others dwelled on the immense bagginess of the hat, which seemed large enough to consume his head.

All in all the hat didn’t make Smith look like a normal sports fan.

As for Smith, he didn’t notice or care that he had on an ill-fitting hat, and just went on enjoying the Eagles crush the Cowboys, as one does.

(Via Complex)

November 7, 2020 was a day that shall always live in infamy, thanks to Rudy Giuliani’s committed status to undoing his reputation as America’s Mayor. That fateful day in history was when he, while representing the Trump campaign, called an important press conference during his boss’ quest to overturn democracy.

This, of course, was very funny stuff. Presumably, they meant Four Seasons hotel, but for some reason, Rudy mucked things up, and the Trump campaign showed up at Four Seasons Total Landscaping in Philly. There’s a sex shop next door, and now, the place is now infamous as a tourist attraction. They also sold merch, and good for them on milking a lasting effect.

That day, however, was quite a trip. Screenshotted Donald Trump tweets show how his “Four Seasons” tweet was updated from an 11:00 am time slot to 11:30 at the “Four Seasons Landscaping!” He did that like nothing was amiss, but that extra 30 minutes was presumably to allow the press and MAGA attendees to scramble to a different venue than was very clearly the original intended destination.

Today is the third anniversary of that momentous event, and the (alleged) Four Seasons Total Landscaping Twitter account is enjoying people tagging them in celebratory fashion: “Will always be funny no matter how old we get… Like a well-timed fart.”

Another relic from that day: Carly Aquino’s fabulous TikTok vid, in which she couldn’t stop laughing while attempting to recount what Rudy did.

It’s still contagious.

Drake’s love of basketball is well-documented, from his friendships with NBA stars to his noted gambling habit to his alleged purchase of $100,000 rings to celebrate a championship win in his rec league.

So, it’s only natural that his clothing line with Nike, NOCTA, would eventually get a line of basketball apparel and gear, along with a campaign featuring NBA all-star Kevin Durant. Durant previously appeared in Drake’s “Laugh Now, Cry Later” video featuring Lil Durk, which was shot at Nike’s Oregon headquarters campus. Here’s how you can get your hands on the new collection before it inevitably sells out and ends up on StockX for triple the price.

You can pull up (heh) on Nocta.com to check out the options currently in stock, which include basketball jerseys (of course) and shorts (absolutely), basketballs (naturally), shoes (they are Zoom Flight 95s, fam, just get those instead), base layer tops (why not), shooting sleeves (alright), socks (sure), and a “sideline trench” jacket (oh… kay). There are also tights, briefs, and caps if you want to go all out on the Drake-branded apparel thing, and a $400 Goretex rain jacket, which — where the hell are you planning to play? The usual assortment of sweats, tees, and the like are also on display, including pants with a Swarovski crystal Swoosh logo.

Dog, I swear, if you show up at a run with those on, you better play like Kevin Durant. Guys around my way aren’t having it.

Starting November 8 at 7 am PT / 10 am ET, you can also grab everything (except those crystal pants, I’m warning you, don’t do it) on the SNKRS app.