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Jimmy Butler Met The Fans Who Traveled 4,405 Miles To Watch Him Play In A Game He Missed

Jimmy Butler didn’t play in the Miami Heat’s game against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night. Miami made up a double-digit fourth quarter deficit against the defending Eastern Conference Champions to pick up a 98-95 win, which was good news for everyone in South Beach, even a pair of Heat fans who were a little disappointed earlier in the evening because Butler watched at home due to a back issue.

A 12-year old fan named Felipe and his sister, Zoe, went to the game with a sign asking Butler for either a photo or a Big Face Coffee. They ran into the problem of Butler missing the game entirely, and when Felipe got word of this, he was understandably devastated.

While Felipe and Zoe were able to get some gear during the game from the Heat and went on the floor to meet Gabe Vincent, Jamal Crawford brought word that Butler saw everything and was able to get their information. Butler also posted on his IG Story a clip of the two and simply said “i got you.”

Fast forward to Wednesday and Crawford posted on Instagram that Butler was able to meet Felipe and Zoe at Miami-Dade Arena, which included the pair getting to go into the Heat’s locker room.

There is no word, however, on whether or not Felipe and Zoe got their hands on some Big Face Coffee.

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Something Kind Of Incredible Happened On The Season Premiere Of ‘9-1-1: Lone Star’

There was a whole actual plot in the season four premiere of 9-1-1: Lone Star. Romantic entanglements, drama, Rob Lowe buying a motorcycle, all of it. And you are welcome to watch for yourself and read other recaps elsewhere and do whatever you like with that information. I would never get in the way of you having a little fun. But we are not going to talk about that here. We are going to focus, as we usually do, on one of the ridiculous emergencies the first responders on the show get called in to deal with. Sometimes it’s a yard blowing up or a bus launching into a building. This time, it’s a flying toilet. A portable one. At a fair. With a person stuck inside it. What a lovely television show.

Context will help, in small doses. Here’s what you need to know:

  • We open on a county fair in Texas
  • Foul weather is coming in the form of a huge storm
  • A young couple is walking around, the girl holding a giant stuffed bear and the guy talking about some disgusting fried fair food he just ate and is chasing with ice cream

A really solid foundation to build upon. Also, as they’re walking around, the guy says this…

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FOX
911
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911
FOX

… which is, by itself, just about enough to get a B or B- on a short story assignment in a creative writing class. But that’s not the point. The point is that, just after this, there is some rumbling. First, from his tummy, on account of the fried fair food, which leads to this statement and a frantic dash to the row of portable toilets.

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FOX

And then more rumbling, this time from the skies as the storm approaches, which leads to… well, this.

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A few notes here:

  • Yes, he is still in the portable toilet
  • It is also sweltering in there due to a rapid rise in temperature from the storm
  • The storm also sucked water out of a nearby pond and sent from into the sky, and then the frogs all fell from the sky and one of them got lodged in a man’s windpipe and his daughter called 911 and said her daddy couldn’t talk because he had “a frog in his throat”

Perfect. No notes. Prestige television at its finest. Anyway, the kid calls 911 from the toilet. Also, the toilet has splash-landed in some body of water and he’s still stuck in it and it’s filling up with water laced with poop and chemicals. Also, the lady he’s talking to on the phone Googles the portable toilet to see if there’s an emergency hatch and, I swear to god, this is the name of the portable toilet company.

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FOX

So Rob Lowe — Rob Lowe plays the captain on 9-1-1: Lonestar, which we have established many times but is still a lot of fun to type, so here we are — and his crew show up at the fair to try to help this poor doofus. But they can’t find him. All they know is that there’s a kid stuck in a portable toilet that flew away in a storm and landed in water somewhere and if they don’t find him soon he’s going to drown. And this leads to Rob Lowe saying a line of dialogue that has to be a very early contender for Television Sentence of the Year.

It’s so good.

Are you ready?

Are you, honestly?

Because here it is.

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FOX

Here’s what I need you to do: Click on that image and save it to your phone and/or computer and send it to one or many of your friends. Do not explain it. Just send the picture with no words. It’ll be fun. You deserve to have a little fun.

But we’re getting off-topic. We have a missing toilet that is filling with water and a scared young man with furious bowels stuck inside. They have to find him. But where could it be? A lake? A pond? A river? What body of water could he have flown into?

Hmm.

Hmmmmmmmmm.

GUESS

GUESS WHERE THE TOILET LANDED

GUESS

….

DID YOU GUESS “IN THE FREAKING DUNK TANK”?

I BET YOU DID NOT

DO NOT LIE TO ME

LOOK AT THIS

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FOX

So, a few more things, via bullet point once again:

  • I am not joking at all when I say that this stupid reveal made me laugh harder than almost anything from almost any actual comedy in the last few months
  • They cut him out with a chainsaw — let’s be very clear here: “they chainsaw the portable toilet that flew through the air and into the dunk tank” — and hit him with the defibrillator to save his life
  • There are better shows on television but almost none with more episodes that feature airborne portable toilets, which is something worth noting somewhere

But now you’re wondering, “Hey, what do you think your first words would be after the fire department chainsawed you out of a portable toilet that flew into a dunk tank with you in it and almost caused you to drown in chemically treated water that may have had your own poop in it from the fried fair food you ate and chased with ice cream?” It’s a fair question. And the answer is, well…

911
FOX

Just a beautiful piece of business all around.

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Fresh Off Her ‘Glass Onion’ Success, Janelle Monae Returns To Music With The NSFW Teaser For ‘Float’

Despite getting rave reviews for her role in Glass Onion, Janelle Monae recently said she doesn’t consider herself a serious actor. That’s understandable, as the multi-hyphenate triple threat originally got her start as an inventive singer and songwriter, garnering warm receptions for high-concept projects like The ArchAndroid, The Electric Lady, and Dirty Computer.

Now, with the press run for Glass Onion behind her, Monae is apparently kicking off the rollout for her fourth studio album, teasing a new single apparently titled “Float” with a spicy video compilation of her recent post-birthday vacation. In the new video, collage-style cutouts of Monae and her friends appear over beautiful shots of the vacation venue. And like the photos posted from her birthday party, she’s topless in many of the shots, making the video pretty NSFW (depending on your workplace’s policies about gold pasties).

The song finds Monae feeling herself, boasting that where she once walked into rooms with her head down, “I don’t walk, now I float.” It’s another stylistic departure for her, incorporating triumphant brass like a mid-2000s trap anthem and some rumbling 808 backline that promises the single will be an exuberant, standing-on-the-couches-ass club banger.

Although the single hasn’t been given a release date just yet, it’s a promising sign that Monae is ready to enter a new, carefree era — and bring us all along with her.

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One Of Taylor Swift’s Video Co-Stars, A ‘Friday Night Lights’ Actor, Somehow Didn’t Know Her Name On Set

Back in 2011, Taylor Swift filmed the “Ours” music video alongside Friday Night Lights actor Zach Gilford. However, over a decade later, he made a recent appearance on the Ladygang podcast to reveal that he didn’t know her name at the time.

In the timeline of Swift’s life, she was already practically a household name with several Grammy awards under her belt.

“Here’s the thing… I’m just so out of touch,” Gilford admitted.

“They were doing all this behind-the-scenes footage on that music video, and they’re interviewing me and I’m really bad with names and I wasn’t sure if her name was Taylor or Tyler,” he added. “I’d go, ‘Ms. Swift. She’s so great. She’s so sweet. She’s so great to work with.’ And I was terrified. […] I would have been the first person ever canceled if I said her name wrong.”

Despite his confusion, he also said that Swift gave him a gift during the process of making the video together.

“This was the nicest thing,” Gilford also shared. “She gave me, like, a handwritten note of ‘Things To Do In Nashville.’ It was so sweet and thoughtful, and I think there were like little hearts over the I’s. It was really cute.”

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Sorry, But You Won’t Be Able To See The NC-17 Cut Of ‘Infinity Pool’ In Theaters

The version of Infinity Pool that premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival is not the version of Infinity Pool that’s coming to theaters this weekend. The Sundance cut, so to speak, was rated NC-17, and “shocked” festival-goers with drugs, orgies, adult breastfeeding, and a scene where “Alexander Skarsgård’s character ejaculates, with his member in full view of the camera.” Sounds like a bunch of squares to me.

Some of the “gloriously perverse” hedonism will remain in the theatrical cut, but not all of it, considering the film is only (“only”) rated R.

“The U.S. has a sort of particular issue because of the NC-17 rating,” director Brandon Cronenberg explained to Collider. “NC-17 was an attempt to rebrand the X rating, but they didn’t do it successfully, and it came with all this stigma. You can’t actually market a film if it’s an NC-17 rating. So specifically in the U.S. that means that you can’t really have a theatrical release of any size.” In other words, if Infinity Pool had an NC-17 rating, like the Oscar nominee Ana de Armas-starring Blonde, it wouldn’t be playing at your local AMC. That’s the kind of heartbreak Nicole Kidman should have been talking about.

Cronenberg continued:

“But I knew that going into it, and it’s not a problem everywhere and usually there’s a plan to release the full film. The R-rated version isn’t hugely different, I should say. I would love people to just see it in theaters and not worry about the versioning. It’s fine.”

Mia Goth is delightfully unhinged in both versions. Infinity Pool comes out on January 27.

(Via Collider)

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Bizarrap Made History With His Top 10 Debut On The ‘Billboard’ Hot 100 Chart Alongside Shakira

Shakira is not the only one breaking records with “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53.” Her collaborator, Argentine producer Bizarrap, also made history when their song debuted within the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week.

Yesterday, Shakira and Bizarrap debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53.” Bizarrap made history with the first song from an Argentine artist to debut and appear in the top 10 of the chart. Many people from Argentina celebrated Bizarrap’s milestone on Twitter. In memes, his feat was liked to another win for Argentina after the country claimed the World Cup last year.

With the success of “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” Bizarrap also became the first Argentine artist to cross over 50 million monthly listeners on Spotify. He is currently sitting at No. 35 among the most-streamed artists on Spotify. Shakira has climbed to the No. 5 spot on the list, surpassing Bad Bunny, Rihanna, and Drake.

Shakira released “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53” on January 11 as a diss track against her ex-partner Gerard Piqué and his current girlfriend, Clara Chía Marti. The song became her first top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 15 years. The last time she was in the top 10 was alongside Beyoncé for their duet “Beautiful Liar.”

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Chlöe Announces Her New Single, ‘Pray It Away,’ The First From Her Debut Album, ‘In Pieces’

New music from Chlöe is officially on the way. Ahead of her upcoming debut solo album, In Pieces, Chlöe has taken to social media to announce the lead single from the album.

The upcoming single, which is set to arrive later this week, is called “Pray It Away.” On the single cover, she is seen surrounded by candles in what looks like the chapel of a church. In the post’s caption, she noted that “Pray It Away” would be the “1ST PIECE” of In Pieces.

Yesterday, during a discord following the announcement of In Pieces, Chlöe revealed that none of her previously released solo singles — “Have Mercy,” “Treat Me,” “Surprise,” and the Latto-assisted “For The Night” — will be on the album.

While we don’t really have an idea of what to expect from “Pray It Away,” Chlöe spoke with Uproxx for our cover story, saying that the album will sound different from the music she makes with her sister, Halle Bailey, as duo Chloe X Halle.

“I’m a brand new artist and I haven’t had a body of work out [yet], so it’ll be the first thing people hear from me, really,” she said. “So I think that’ll be surprising in itself.”

Check out the cover art for “Pray It Away” below.

chloe bailey pray it away 2023
Parkwood and Columbia

In Pieces arrives in March via Parkwood and Columbia. You can pre-save it here.

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Here Are All The ‘Glass Onion’ Easter Eggs And In-Jokes That You Probably Missed

With his follow-up to Knives Out, writer/director Rian Johnson not only delivered a hilarious and scathing murder mystery in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, but he packed the thing full of clever Easter eggs. Everything from the title of the film to pieces of art in the background not only hinted at Glass Onion‘s secret, but there were also some clever nods to the previous film and a Brad Pitt reference for good measure.

If you missed some of these the first (or second or third) time around, don’t worry, we got you covered. Here’s a full list of the sly little hints peppered throughout Glass Onion.

The Title

Throughout the film, Craig’s Benoit Blanc repeatedly references the literal glass onion that sits atop Miles Bron’s beach house and how its contents are hidden in plain sight. According to Johnson, he got the name from an old Beatles song and a quick Google search.

“I’m always fishing for something fun that Blanc can grab onto as an overwrought metaphor that he can beat to death,” Johnson told Tudum. “This is all in plain sight from the very start. So, the idea of glass came to me, something that’s clear. I’ll be very honest. I literally got out my iPhone and searched my music library with the word glass.”

Miles’ Knick-Knacks

Not content with just using the Beatles song as a title and metaphor for the film, Johnson also peppered the movie with little nods to the “Glass Onion” lyrics. There’s a statue of strawberries, a nod to the line “I told you about Strawberry Fields,” and a little porcelain statue of a jester, a reference to the “fool on the hill” in the song.

The “Hourly Dong”

During the film, Miles boasts that the hourly dong on his private island was composed by Philip Glass. In reality, it was performed by longtime Rian Johnson collaborator Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Daniel Craig Isn’t The Only Returning Actor

While Johnson has touted Glass Onion as a completely separate mystery from Knives Out and that Craig is the only connection to the previous film, that’s not entirely true. Throughout the film, Derol (played by Noah Segan) can be seen milling about Miles’ mansion, just having a beer and seemingly oblivious to the murder mystery unfolding around him. However, this isn’t Segan’s first Benoit Blanc mystery. The actor played Trooper Wagner in the previous film. Like Joseph Gordon Levitt, Segan is also a frequent Rian Johnson collaborator and has appeared in Brick, Looper, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Serena Williams’ Book

Tennis star Serena Williams makes a cameo in the film where she apparently offers real-time training advice to Norton’s billionaire. During her brief appearance, she’s seen holding a copy of Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow. In the first film, Benoit Blanc quipped to Ana de Armas’ Marta that no one has ever actually read the book.

Benoit Blanc’s ‘Among Us’ Crew

In the early scenes of the film, a bored and despondent Benoit Blanc can be seen playing the hit video game Among Us with Stephen Sondheim, Natasha Lyonne, and Angela Lansbury of Murder, She Wrote fame. However, the scene is more than just an opportunity for clever cameos. In the game, players have to deduce the identity of a killer among them just like the plot of the film.

More Clues In The Bathroom

The Among Us scene also contained another little Easter egg. Lying on the floor of Blanc’s bathroom is a copy of the 1930 murder mystery Cain’s Jawbone. Like the film, the story is told out of order thanks to a clever printing trick.

Benoit Loves Him Some Stephen Sondheim

The legendary composer’s Among Us appearance wasn’t just a clever cameo. In Knives Out, Blanc can be seen singing a tune from Follies while navigating the first film’s mystery.

“Fool’s Mate”

When Miles’ guests all receive their intricately designed mystery box, it appears to be an array of mentally taxing puzzles. However, one of the games is a telling reveal that Miles isn’t the genius he pretends to be. In the chess box, the pieces are set to what’s known as “Fool’s Mate,” one of the least complicated and easiest positions to score a checkmate.

“Duke Don’t Dance With Pineapple”

In yet another hint that Miles’ plot really was simplistically “stupid,” he literally asks his quests for dietary restrictions in his invitation and then uses that information to murder Duke.

Miles Is A Tom Cruise Wannabe

During one of the film’s flashback scenes, Miles can be seen looking a whole lot like Tom Cruise’s character in Magnolia. Turns out, this was intentional. According to costume designer Jenny Egan, this was a deliberate choice to show that Miles is not the most original dude, so of course, he stole Andy’s business plan.

Add Brad Pitt To That List

If the shirtless portrait of Miles looked familiar, that’s because it’s a clever nod to Norton’s role in Fight Club. The painting is actually Norton’s head on top of Brad Pitt’s body. Whether that means the movie exists inside the Glass Onion universe makes our head hurts, but is a cool little callback to one of Norton’s most famous roles.

Yes, That Was Kanye In A Toga

This little Easter egg is actually Edward Norton’s favorite. Included in Miles’ extensive portrait is a painting of Kanye West as a Roman senator, and the actor can’t believe more people haven’t pointed it out.

Have We Mentioned Miles Is An Idiot?

Despite his seemingly impressive art collection, which notably includes the actual Mona Lisa, Miles truly has no idea what any of it means. According to Rian Johnson, one of the paintings from artist Mark Rothko is actually hanging upside down because, again, Miles is a moron.

Maybe Benoit’s A Little Like Batman

During the film’s reveal that Helen (Janelle Monae) is actually Andy’s twin sister, Benoit offers to help her infiltrate Bron’s island getaway. However, he notes, “I am not Batman,” which is slightly undermined by the score. As Benoit formulates a plan to catch Miles, a small sample of Danny Elfman’s iconic score from Tim Burton’s Batman can be heard.

Andi’s Full Name Was Very Fitting

While pulling double duty as twins, Janelle Monae’s Cassandra Brand was a deliberate nod to the Greek myth of Cassandra whose prophecies were ignored despite her divine gifts. In the film, Cassandra/Andi warns about the volatile nature of Bron’s new energy project, Klear, and is not only ignored but murdered for threatening his company.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is available for streaming on Netflix.

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Bas’ ‘Diamonds’ Video Is A Tragic Cautionary Tale Of The Pursuit Of Happiness

Ari Lennox isn’t the only one over on Dreamville Records with a banger on her hands. Rapper Bas is back with new music since his joint project with Gunna, Pick Me Up, which was released back in April 2022. The Queens, New York representer teamed up with producers Linden Jay, Paul Castelluzzo, and Joe Harrisson to churn out his haunting new single, “Diamonds.”

The highly sought-after gem may be marketed as a girl’s best friend, but in hip-hop, we’ve seen time and time again that the more a rapper acquires these jewels, the bigger the target is on their backs for potential harm from those wishing to take it for themselves. On the track, Bas explores this sentiment but from a different angle.

Expressed in the stanza, “Wonder where the day goes, I been out of line / If love is all you need, then let me spend my pain / You n***a make it rain on / Hunnid on my wrist just to make it rain on / Look at all the whips, spick and they span / And you feel like you the man / But you cannot rub the stain off / No, you can not rub the stain off,” Bas details just how the relentless pursuit of these material possessions are often a front musicians put on to mask other much deeper emotional wounds rather than surface level vanity.

The track’s official video, directed by Ryan Doubiago, demonstrates just one tragic tale of how this plays out as Bas serves as the actor stuck in this mindset. The grayscale video opens with the quote, “we only talk about real sh*t when we’re f*cked up,” as Bas is seated on an opulent leather couch smoking and drinking dark liquor.

As the scenery rotates through several different social scenarios repeating Bas’ lifecycle, he becomes less and less connected to himself, his surroundings, and his former lover, which serves as a metaphor for the emptiness those tethered to this quest feel. Bas recklessly falls back into the party crowd when the scenes transition from the home-like setting when his former fling confronts him. But in the end, instead of being helped by this mysterious lady, his supposed saving grace, his chain ends up being his ultimate downfall.

The chain turns into a rope and hangs Bas (a metaphor for the flashy life ultimately being the death of him) as both his love interest and the world watch. Instead of intervening, the crowd pulls out their smartphones to record it with the intent to share it with the world as a piece of entertainment rather than the horror film it is.

When asked about the inspiration behind the track, Bas told Complex, “‘Diamonds’ stems from the stark realization that, as artists in the public light, our pains and traumas are consistently up for the public’s consumption.”

Bas has a solution for the problem, “We have to continually explore and give more of ourselves to feed the insatiable appetite of the audience. We experience and watch our peers go through life-altering and irrevocably damaging moments that just end up as clickbait or social media fodder. We make public appearances and wear masks in order to be who the public wants us to be. Shine bright for them. Yet our inner turmoils just fester underneath it all. The trappings of the life we chose and the dreams we pursue can often be the cause of our downfall.”

Watch the full video above.

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Brendan Fraser Crashed A Screening Of ‘The Mummy’ To Thank The Fans (And The British)

Sometimes it takes a little bit of time for people to jump on the bandwagon and finally celebrate actors who have been around for some time. Even though Brendan Fraser has been churning out hit films since the early ’90s, the actor has only recently been acknowledged as someone who is very good at their job, and he recently secured his first-ever Oscar nomination.

But he never forgot his humble beginnings as Rick O’Connell, the witty explorer in The Mummy franchise. And he is really proud of that movie! So proud that he decided to crash a screening of the 1999 action flick in London last week, much to the delight of everyone in the theater.

“I am proud to stand before you tonight,” Fraser began after hopping on stage wearing a look inspired by his Mummy character. He was met with a standing ovation. “This is a film that was made in Britain. You should know that! Even the second one, too. Be proud. Thank you for being here.” Even though it was filmed in Britain, the movie actually takes place in the fictional Hamunaptra, the City of the Dead, but we all know what he means.

The Mummy starred Fraser as the fast-talking adventurer who sets out to find the lost city. The movie became a moderate hit and spawned two sequels before Tom Cruise tried to reboot it in 2017. It’s clearly still a beloved film, which is why they were showing it in theaters on a random January evening.

Fraser then went on to explain the process of filming the movie in Britain, which famously underwent many rewrites and reshoots, and how they really had no idea what they were dealing with. “We had no idea what kind of movie we were making when we shot this. We didn’t know if it was a drama or a comedy or straight ahead action or romance or horror picture … all the above. We had no idea until it tested in front of British audiences. Thank you for that,” he added in between cheers from the audience.

Thanks to his buzzy performance in The Whale, Fraser has been having a moment in Hollywood after taking years away from the spotlight. He will next star in Martin Scorsese’s upcoming AppleTV movie, Killers of the Flower Moon, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, be he has also expressed interest in returning to The Mummy because it “sounds fun.” And it does.

(Via EW)