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The first thing you notice after walking through the warp pipe is how colorful everything is. It’s overwhelming — the red of the Piranha Plants, the yellow of the Question Blocks, the green of the adorable animatronic Yoshi, the ominous silver of Bowser’s Castle — but you’re not overwhelmed. You feel joy.

You feel joy all throughout Universal Studios’ Super Nintendo World, whether you’re eating the Fire Flower Spaghetti & Meatballs while surrounded by digital Toads at the Toadstool Cafe, or buying a Chef Toad toy (I really like Toad, now in Chef form) at the 1-UP Factory, or walking the incredible queue of Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge. The ride itself could use some fine-tuning, but whatever, I still found smiling while driving on (and off) Rainbow Road.

I found myself smiling throughout The Super Mario Bros. Movie, too. It’s not Best Animated Feature-worthy or anything, and as far as video game adaptations in 2023 go, I’ll stick with The Last of Us. But it was nice to see all my friends (Peach, Shyguy, Toad) visualized on the big screen. It’s good to see them on bath products, LEGOs, and bottles of Truff hot sauces, too. I realize this makes me sound like a corporate shill. I’m not, but if Nintendo wants to pay me in gold coins, my email address is easier to find than a Cheep-Cheep in World 2-2. My fondness for the #brand comes from my love for the characters that dates back decades, but this is no case of unnecessary nostalgia.

The movie and the theme park land, and the happiness that they bring, only exist because of the video games. And Nintendo has kept the quality of the series remarkably high. At least one Mario masterpiece has been released every decade since Jumpman was introduced in 1981’s Donkey Kong. The 1980s: Super Mario Bros. (among others). The 1990s: Super Mario Bros. 3 (in the United States), Super Mario World, and Super Mario 64. The 2000s: Super Mario Galaxy. The 2010s: Super Mario Odyssey. And that leaves out the Mario Kart and Mario Party series, the arguably superior Super Mario Galaxy sequel, and even the Mario + Rabbids games are better than they have any right being. It’s not quite “all bangers, all the time,” but it’s close. That consistency has kept Mario relevant through the generations.

It also helps that you don’t have to make excuses for your love of Mario. Being a fan of Harry Potter, for instance, in the 2020s seems… complicated. No one is getting a Wario tattoo removed from their body (unless it was after a drunken night; in the stone-cold-sober morning, you regret not getting Pauline on your lower back). A case could even be made that no modern media franchise has brought more joy, more consistently, with less controversy, than Mario. I will not be the one to make this case, because I don’t want toxic Star Wars fans yelling at me. But you’re welcome to do so in your free time. Unless you’d rather play Super Mario 3D World instead. I wouldn’t blame you.

When asked about the ever-present popularity of Mario, Shigeru Miyamoto, the character’s creator, told NPR, “You know, before, when I was asked this question, I thought that it’s perhaps because the game sold well. And a lot of people have this experience of playing this game and playing it over and over, that it becomes commonplace for them.” He feels different now, however. “Mario is kind of like your avatar or the person that represents you in this world. And that experience is, you know, because it’s been around for so long, an experience that can be shared multi-generations, you know? A father and their children can share that experience,” he explained. Mario, as a franchise, as a character, as a spokesperson for Italian plumbers, transcends nostalgia. The things you appreciate about Mario as a child are different from what you value as an adult, but what matters is the appreciation itself.

When I was a kid, Jumanji was one of my favorite movies. I’m sure if I re-watched it now, I would still enjoy it, but it wouldn’t be the same. I would find the flaws. I saw Jumanji at the right time, which is the same reason why people think The Sandlot is a classic (I’m sorry but it’s fine). Compare that to Mario, which has no “right time.” Any time is the right time for Mario.

The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday afternoon to secure the 8-seed in the West and give themselves two cracks at a playoff spot via the play-in tournament.

Their first chance will come in Los Angeles on Tuesday night when they face the Lakers for the 7-seed, but they will make that trip without one of their stars. Rudy Gobert will not be with the team in L.A. as the organization has suspended Gobert one game after he got into an altercation on the bench with Kyle Anderson and threw a punch at Anderson’s chest.

The altercation continued in the locker room, with Anderson reportedly telling Gobert “I’ll knock your ass out,” and tensions appeared to be running very high in Minnesota. After that — and the loss of Jaden McDaniels to a fractured hand after he punched a wall — the Wolves still managed to come back from a double-digit deficit to win the game on the backs of tremendous performances from Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards. They’ll be banking heavily on those two performing well once again on Tuesday night in L.A. if they are to have any chance of taking down the suddenly red-hot Lakers. Losing Gobert for the game is not insignificant, but they’ve proven they can win without him and if they manage to do so again to make the playoffs, you can be sure the chatter about Gobert’s impact in big games will not get any quieter.

An otherwise perfectly good weekend was ruined when Entertainment Tonight exclusively reported that Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn broke up after six-plus years together.

Neither Swift nor Alwyn have publicly addressed whether there’s validity to their updated relationship status, but People published a new report on Monday, April 10, with more insight into what could have gone wrong.

The reported breakup happened “a few weeks ago,” and an unnamed source described as close to Alwyn and Swift told the publication their split was “largely caused” by “differences in their personalities” because they “weren’t the right fit for one another.”

“They’ve had rough patches before and always worked things out, so friends thought they would take some time apart but eventually come back together,” the source said, additionally noting, “They had plenty in common and fell in love in a safe bubble while she was retreating from the world during Reputation. Then the pandemic hit, and they were locked down together and able to continue growing their relationship in this insulated way. But he didn’t really ‘know’ her yet outside of that bubble.”

Lil Uzi Vert is almost as well known for their outrageous style and tattoos as they are for their infectious hit records like “Futsal Shuffle” and “Just Wanna Rock.” For a while, Uzi walked around with a massive pink diamond in the middle of their forehead, although it kept getting yanked out, prompting Uzi to let the spot heal up.

Still, that blank canvas wasn’t going unused; Uzi debuted a new forehead piercing in a video posted by a fan on social media. However, you might not immediately notice it thanks to Uzi’s other new piercing, which also gets prominently displayed in the video. This one just might push the boundaries of good taste — sorry, I’m not sorry. The tattoo is on Uzi’s tongue, and you want me NOT to write a pun about it? This might not be the site for you, buddy.

As you can see, the new tat fits pretty neatly into Uzi’s well-established motif of provocative/borderline sacrilegious imagery and fascination with occult iconography. The inverted cross, also referred to as the “Cross of Saint Peter” or “Petrine Cross,” was originally a traditionally Catholic symbol associated with the martyrdom of Peter the Apostle. However, it was later coopted occult leaders and became more commonly recognized as a satanic symbol — which Uzi has no problem displaying.

He might not beat the Satanist allegations anytime soon thanks to this new tat, but with his Pink Tape being finalized, fans will likely be too busy with new music to do much witch-hunting.

Lil Uzi Vert is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Losing a child is tragic no matter their age, and many parents would do whatever they could to preserve their child’s memory or fulfill their final wishes. If you ask Spanish TV star, Ana Obregón, that’s exactly what she did when she decided to welcome a grandchild through surrogacy.

The actress’s decision is causing a lot of conversation and backlash for multiple reasons. In Spain, surrogacy is illegal and the sperm of a deceased loved one can only be used to impregnate the widow up to 12 months after the husband’s death, according to CNN. This detail didn’t deter Obregón.

The grandmother used a surrogate and egg donor from the United States, where surrogacy is legal, and Obregón’s grandchild is an American citizen. Ana Sandra Lequio Obregón was born in Miami, Florida March 20, Obregón told Hola! magazine.

The discussions in Spain, aside from the ethical concerns, are related to the legality of bringing a baby born via surrogate back to Spain where the procedure is illegal. It seems that Obregón will not be in any legal trouble though, as the baby is legally her daughter, though biologically her granddaughter.

While people may be perplexed or even uncomfortable with the dual title of Obregón, it should be noted that grandparents legally adopt their grandchildren all the time if circumstances warrant it. This then gives the grandparent who adopts dual titles as parent and grandparent. One of the most famous examples of this situation is Olympic athlete Simone Biles.

“This girl isn’t my daughter, but my granddaughter,” Obregón told Hola! “She is Aless’ daughter and when she grows up I will tell her that her father was a hero.”

But some people in Spain are having strong feelings about the morality of conceiving a grandchild in this manner, with a philosophy professor likening it to an episode of “Black Mirror,” according to CNN. The naysayers aren’t deterring the new grandmother’s excitement, though. Obregón told Hola! it took three years to conceive her grandchild, explaining that though it was a long process, it is what has kept the 68-year-old alive.

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In the caption of her Instagram post sharing the interview, Obregón wrote, “My Aless: I swore I would save you from cancer, and I failed you. I promised you I’d bring your daughter into the world and here she is in my arms.”

“When I hug her, it’s an indescribable feeling because it’s as if I were hugging you again,” she continued. “I swear that I will take care of her with the infinite love that I have to give, and from heaven, you will help me.”

The new grandmother finished her heartfelt post, written in Spanish, by saying that her son was the love of her life in heaven while his daughter is now the love of her life on Earth.

While the process to have a grandchild through surrogacy isn’t something that is traditional or common, it seems to be what worked for Obregón. She’s even open to having more grandchildren via surrogacy since her son reportedly wanted a large family.

The grandmother and granddaughter are still in the United States awaiting the baby’s American passport to fly home to Spain. In the meantime, here’s hoping for safe travels, a happy healthy baby, and hopefully a nanny because sleep deprivation at 68 is probably a whole different level of exhaustion.

Chlöe released In Pieces, her debut solo album on March 31 after building anticipation with singles such as “Pray It Away” or “How Does It Feel” featuring Chris Brown.

After the album’s arrival, fans were treated to the video for “Cheatback” featuring Future. They’re also still waiting on an official video for “Told Ya” featuring Missy Elliott.

All of that culminated in In Pieces debuting at No. 119 on the Billboard 200 albums chart dated April 15. As noted by Chart Data, it marks Chlöe’s first time charting on the Billboard 200 as a solo artist.

Chloe X Halle peaked at No. 16 and No. 139 for Ungodly Hour and The Kids Are Alright, respectively.

Chlöe referenced her musical beginnings with her sister, Halle Bailey, while addressing the criticism she has endured in the wake of In Pieces.

“The thing is, the same people who say that weren’t fans of Halle and [me] when we had our Ungodly Hour album out, The Kids Are Alright, so, it’s a bunch of people who are just putting in their two cents now just to really say things,” she said during an appearance on Atlanta’s Majic 107.5 radio station. “Because Sis and I, we’ve been underground for a minute, and the same people who talk, they weren’t around then or giving us our props then. It’s like, now they want to talk trash for some reason.”
Missy Elliott is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Succession had its own “Red Wedding” episode this week, bidding goodbye to Waystar Royco titan Logan Roy in the most unceremonious (and, frankly, unbelievable until about 40 minutes in) way possible.

The Roy family patriarch died as he lived, estranged from his closest family members and in pursuit of another billion-dollar business deal that would engrave his name in the highest echelons of media magnates. But what caused his seemingly untimely demise and how the show has been building to it since its first season, is worth a closer look.

How Did Logan Roy Die In Succession Season 4, Episode 3?

At the beginning of the episode, Logan eschews attending his son Connor’s wedding in favor of meeting with GoJo CEO Lukas Matsson. Their acquisition deal is in jeopardy thanks to the kids scheming and Logan wants to smooth things over in person — while asking for a bit more cash to sweeten the pot. We see him directing Tom and Roman to fire Gerri while brushing off concerns about bailing on the nuptials. (He sent a gift, people!) After witnessing him board the plane, the next update we get on the Waystar Royco tyrant comes from 30,000 feet in the air, when Tom, who’s been trying to get in touch with Shiv, ends up connecting with Roman over the phone. He tells Roman and Kendall that their dad is “very sick,” revealing he collapsed in the onboard toilet and the cabin service staff gave him chest compressions. Shiv, Roman, and Kendall all have a chance to speak to him — well, they speak while Tom puts the phone to his ear — but it’s clear that his heart and breathing have stopped.

Logan likely died from a heart attack, perhaps brought on by the added stress of trying to push the GoJo deal through and his recent falling out with Shiv, Roman, and Kendall. But we’re not placing all of the blame on them.

How Succession Hinted At Logan Roy’s Death In Season 4

Despite seeming to be this invincible force wielding absolute control over his media kingdom, Logan Roy has been flirting with death from the beginning. We first met him as he stumbled around in his penthouse bedroom, looking for a corner to piss in. By the end of that episode, he’d had a stroke and a brain hemorrhage, forcing Kendall to take the reigns of the company. When he fought his way back to the top-dog seat, Logan still suffered from medical issues — heat exhaustion, a nasty UTI that put the company’s future in question, a medicinal regimen that needed to be overseen by his son and his executive assistant. Logan Roy was not a picture of health by any means, but this season saw him finally confronting that fact.

At his birthday party in the season four premiere, Logan skips out on the festivities to take a lonely walk in the park before hitting up a diner with his security guard to muse about death and the afterlife. He’s depressed his children aren’t celebrating with him and worried about what comes next. When the GoJo deal seems to be all but confirmed, Logan has a moment of panic, refusing to contemplate retirement and instead, prowling the ground floor at ATN, promising a reinvention of the news network with him at the helm.

Logan Roy has been in the throes of an end-of-life crisis since the opening credits of this show, so while deposing of him early on in its final season was a shock to the system for fans, it fits with the grander theme of this story. Who can follow in a man like Logan Roy’s footsteps? We’re about to find out.

Normally, a death in the family serves as an acceptable excuse to postpone a wedding, but this is Succession, and presidential candidate Connor Roy isn’t going to let a tiny thing like the sudden passing of his estranged father interrupt his happy nuptials. He rented a brass band, for god’s sake.

In season four, episode three’s “Connor’s Wedding,” as the Roy siblings convene on the high seas for their eldest brother’s ostentatious celebration, family patriarch Logan Roy was fighting for life at cruising altitude. After skipping his son’s big day to iron out an acquisition deal with GoJo CEO Lukas Matsson, Logan was surrounded by the usual Waystar-Royco bottom-feeders when he suffered a massive heart attack and died onboard his private jet. While Shiv, Roman, and Kendall had the opportunity to say a final farewell via phone, Connor was told of his father’s passing after the fact, a cruel bit of treatment that hammers home just how low he sits in the family hierarchy. But, despite his siblings quickly slinking away to command press conferences and control the narrative surrounding their dad’s death, Connor decided to continue on his matrimonial voyage.

Why? Because he deserves a win, dammit.

Despite all of the chaos and emotional turmoil following Logan Roy’s death, a bright spot in the aftermath came when Connor and his fiance, Willa, finally had a heart-to-heart that clarified their relationship. What started out as a transactional arrangement has morphed into one of the healthiest romances on this show, and that fact was cemented when the pair’s sit-down led them to reveal some tough truths to one another. For Connor, the death of his father forced him to confront his own age, and the gap in years between himself and his bride. He admits to Willa that he’s worried if they don’t marry now, despite everything, that they never will. He fears she’ll leave him for someone younger, someone she actually loves. And, he questions whether she’s just with him for his money. For someone so purposefully ignorant about the world around him, facing these fears head on felt like a turning point for Connor.

In turn, Willa — who’s always been cagey about her desire to stay with someone so unlike herself — took Connor’s confession as an opportunity to admit some truths of her own. Yes, the money and safety that comes with their relationship is a driving factor behind their marriage, but she’s also happy, content with the life Connor is able to give her. It’s not some sweeping declaration, but for a man who delivered a depressing monologue about learning to live without familial love — likening himself to a plant that lives on rocks and feeds on insects — just one episode ago, it’s the closest Connor is likely to get.

The pair end up getting married after all, in a scaled-down ceremony that’s less impressive but somehow more meaningful than the grand celebration Connor originally planned. And in doing so, the show gives Connor a needed win. While his siblings continue to chase after their dad, hoping to impress him and earn his favor even in death, Connor is finding ways to be content without that toxic validation. It’s a rare moment of happiness that probably won’t last long, so let’s let him enjoy it, huh?

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander told the NBA world before the season that after two tanking seasons, his intentions were to start winning games in Oklahoma City again. It would have only been normal to disregard his confidence as bravado or bluster. But SGA has answered his own call, getting the Thunder to the Play-In Tournament ahead of schedule and producing at an All-NBA level.

The fifth-year star has done it without No. 2 overall pick Chet Holmgren and with the second-youngest roster in league history, made up largely of guys who are on their first NBA contract. Gilgeous-Alexander is a contradiction of hoops history. He has risen to among the best players in the NBA with a throwback style that excels within a modern squad. He was traded suddenly to Oklahoma City despite showing promise with the Los Angeles Clippers, and yet has embraced the Thunder’s rebuild and reconstructed the exuberance associated with Oklahoma City dating back to when the Kevin Durant-led squad made the move to Oklahoma.

Gilgeous-Alexander has cut back on his three-point attempts and upped his free-throw rate during his breakout campaign. With the understanding that individual counting numbers are better than ever, there is little precedent in NBA history for a guard who gets to the line 10-plus times per game, hardly ever turns the ball over, and makes more than half his shots overall. You have to go back at least a decade to find any.

Gilgeous-Alexander is operating this way not by blending into the confines of league trends, but by bucking up against them — he’s behind only Luka Doncic in terms of frequency and efficiency on isolations. With 1.06 points per possession in isolation, SGA is more efficient than superstars like Jayson Tatum, Trae Young, and even Kevin Durant when he goes one-on-one.

As a driver, he’s is even better. SGA is leading the NBA in drives per game for the third straight season, and scoring 17.1 points per game off those drives — the best mark in the NBA by almost three points. He also possesses the lowest turnover rate on drives of any of the most prolific downhill scorers in the league.

This is possible in large part because of how Oklahoma City has been built around him, as the team emphasizes ball movement and spacing. They force turnovers on defense and are elite at turning steals into offense on the other end. They get to the line and are fairly adept at getting offensive rebounds. Yet the Thunder aren’t even in the top half of the league in three-point frequency — their spacing is a product of brute force and the quick, crisp way they move the ball. SGA can get one of the team’s many wings the ball and watch them find an opening inside and power through the opponent.

When teams sell out to guard Gilgeous-Alexander’s drives, packing the paint and daring younger scorers like Josh Giddey or Jalen Williams to shoot, SGA has mastered the dance of scoring in no man’s land. He draws fouls on more than 20 percent of Thunder possessions, but his style is far from cheap, as he has made 46 percent of his midrange jumpers this season and is shooting a career-high 64 percent at the rim. In an era of pull-up threes and pick-and-rolls, SGA uses the almost postmodern, positionless roster the Thunder have assembled to free himself up to play basketball like it’s 2003 again.

At the same time, Gilgeous-Alexander is the face of a budding Thunder team that would remind any hoops fan of 2009. SGA was a casualty of the NBA’s megatrade era, in which roster-building became less about planning for free agency and more about nailing huge transactions. SGA came to Oklahoma City alongside a number of first round picks and swaps in return for Paul George, the golden ticket for the Clippers to woo Kawhi Leonard in free agency.

The past two seasons, the Thunder have shut him down early to rehab physical issues. It’s hard to say from afar what is going on with a player’s body, but considering Oklahoma City’s concerted tank job in recent seasons and accumulation of young players and draft picks, it at least seems that maximizing SGA’s availability wasn’t in the larger interest of the front office. He took it all in stride, never publicly complaining or disagreeing, then came back last fall very clearly ready to turn the page and start winning again.

So no, Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t choose this. Like Brandon Ingram, Mikal Bridges, and Lauri Markkanen, the new face of the Thunder arrived as a domino that fell from the departure of a franchise centerpiece. He’s has made that departure sting significantly less, become a leader for the Thunder, and has perhaps already surpassed George’s tenure in OKC.

In this second chapter of NBA megatrade life, how the trading team fares can be determined by lottery balls and draft picks, sure, but also in large part by how the blue chipper they got back performs on the court. Gilgeous-Alexander is the product of this modern trend in the league, yet has transformed the Thunder back into something wholly recognizable.

It’s rare for a player, especially one so young, to make an All-NBA team on a squad hovering around .500. Typically, voters and NBA fans are in unison casting down such players as having empty stats or needing to further prove something before they are rewarded. Perhaps as an emblem of our collective appreciation of his unusual circumstances and unique talents, SGA looks like a lock for All-NBA honors. He has blown past the usual doubts, as the Thunder’s stature as the 10-seed in the West is on the backs of his nightly Herculean performances. He has become a franchise icon for the future, today’s star, and yesterday’s hooper.

Lil Nas X turned 24 over the weekend (on Sunday, April 9), and to celebrate, he set up a racy, Playboy-inspired photoshoot that saw him embracing his inner femme and reproducing the magazine’s January 1986 Cover Girls cover. The rest of the photos Nas posted to Instagram see him perusing the pages of his custom issue with a mischievous grin.

Nas, decked out in bunny ears — which served a double purpose, considering Sunday was also Easter — stockings, and heels, lounges on a silk sheet surrounded by old Playboy magazines. A header reads Batty Boy, which is a pejorative term for gay men in Jamaican Patois; leave it to Nas to reclaim a slur in a way guaranteed to set off those most likely to use it.

The “Industry Baby” rapper has been having a lot off fun challenging critics of his queer identity lately. In March, he clapped back at a troll who accused him of only pretending to be gay for engagement, while earlier this month, he joked that he would indeed be reverting to heterosexuality after finding out Saweetie called him her celebrity crush.

Still, it’s clear from his birthday photos he isn’t really switching up for anyone and remains committed to living out loud, regardless of what the haters have to say.