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The Portland Trail Blazers are in the market for a new top executive after an independent investigation led to Neil Olshey’s ouster last week. Whomever takes over will step into a situation with a superstar who has not been shy about his desire for the franchise to become more competitive, as Damian Lillard stressed on several occasions during the offseason.

That didn’t quite happen — Portland largely opted to run it back with its core players this season with a few changes in its rotation — and now, the team sits 11-14 and is holding onto the final spot in the Western Conference play-in tournament. Lillard hasn’t demanded a trade or anything like that, and according to a new report from Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, he’d actually like a contract extension this offseason, one that would pay him $107 million over two years. This, when tacked onto his current deal, would pay Lillard $51 million in 2025-26 and $55 million, the largest single-season sum in league history, the following year when he would be 36 years old.

According to Wojnarowski, this has actually developed into something that has led to a bit of trepidation among some folks who might be interested in taking the Blazers’ top executive job.

Among several top-level GM candidates who fit the profile of Portland’s applicant pool, there’s no enthusiasm to grant Lillard his massive extension contract through the 2026-27 season. In fact, several executives told ESPN they would be far more interested in the Blazers job with ownership’s blessing to move Lillard sooner than later.

This is the latest bit of news about Lillard’s future in Portland, as it was reported earlier this week that he’d like it if the team pulled off a trade for disgruntled Philadelphia 76ers standout Ben Simmons. Currently, Lillard is sidelined as he works his way back from an abdominal injury.

Thanks to Yellowstone becoming a ratings juggernaut, Taylor Sheridan is dominating the TV landscape, and now, Sylvester Stallone is getting in on the action. In what will be his first lead television role, the Rocky actor has signed on to play an Italian mob boss in Kansas City, a new series coming to Paramount Plus from Sheridan and veteran TV writer Terrence Winter, whose worked on such prestige hits as Boardwalk Empire and The Sopranos.

Via Variety:

The series, set in present day, follows legendary New York City mobster Sal (Stallone), who is faced with the startling task of reestablishing his Italian mafia family to the modernized, straight-shooting town of Kansas City, Missouri. There, Sal encounters surprising and unsuspecting characters who follow him along his unconventional path to power.

Despite a misunderstood Instagram post that found Stallone pegged as a QAnon cultist, which he quickly denied, The Expendables star is moving right along while following up his fan-favorite role as King Shark in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad. Stallone also recently released Rocky IV: Rocky vs. Drago – The Ultimate Director’s Cut, which was an intense passion project for the Rocky creator. Not only did he painstakingly add 40 minutes of newly-restored footage to the ’80s classic, but he also produced a 90-minute documentary on the making of the “Ultimate Director’s Cut” that was chock full of anecdotes from the set of Rocky IV.

In short, there’s a lot of love for Sly out there, so it only makes sense to pair him with the creator of one of the most popular shows on TV right now.

(Via Variety)

The campaign for Halo Infinite will become available to everyone on December 8. We think it’s worth checking out, especially since it’s on Game Pass, but it’s worth noting that a lot of the game feels missing. We already know about certain features that are going to be patched in later, such as Forge and co-op, but it turns out that even more is going to not make it to final release.

After players finish the final mission of the campaign and watch the credits roll, they are given free rein to explore the world as they see fit. This is a great opportunity to clean up any missing collectibles and generally explore. Unfortunately, what the player can’t do is replay already completed campaign missions. So all those missions where the game breaks from the open-world environment and goes back to a traditional Halo experience are gone for good.

While that might be normal in most games, it is not normal at all in the history of Halo. Part of the fun of Halo has always been going back and re-experiencing those old missions after the game is finished. Replaying them is an essential part of the Halo experience. Thankfully, it is currently being worked on and will eventually be patched in. So it’s not gone forever, just temporarily. Via The Verge:

“We haven’t announced a date but that is being worked on,” 343 Industries associate creative director Paul Crocker said in an interview.

“We want to have replay that works well, and when you have a more open game, it gets a lot trickier,” he said. “So we made a decision to improve the quality of the single-player campaign to ensure that, as a foundation, that it’s as strong as it possibly could be so that we could then add the other features back in.”

While this is a bit of a disappointment, this is fairly standard for how Halo Infinite has gone through finishing development. The game was originally slated to release in 2020, likely alongside the release of the Xbox Series X/S, but it was delayed. The delay ended up paying off well, because the game that is there is great, but a lot has been left to be patched in at a later point. Sometimes a difficult decision has to be made in development to ensure that a game releases in a good state and the team at 343 Industries clearly had to make a lot of tough choices to make sure Infinite was as good as it needed to be.

If you were one of the many people a bit too COVID-cautious to hit up a theater earlier this year, we’ve got some great news for you: while it might not be one year later, The Green Knight is returning to theaters on December 10.

Despite the Arthurian arthouse film now being readily available to purchase physically or stream online, beloved indie studio A24 has announced it is bringing David Lowery‘s critically-acclaimed film back to select theaters (via Collider). Considering the film’s inciting incident takes place on Christmas, it seems safe to say the studio is doing this to celebrate the film’s unique “holiday spirit,” as well as give fans who missed seeing The Green Knight in theaters the chance to fully experience the film. The only downside? The film will only be in theaters for one night, so except the fight for tickets to be nearly as vicious as Sir Gawain’s against the The Green Knight himself.

Based on the Arthurian poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Green Knight follows King Arthur’s reckless nephew Sir Gawain (Dev Patel) after he engages in an act of thoughtless violence that has extremely grueling physical and mental consequences. What ensues is an unusual coming-of-age story that pits Gawain up against ghosts, giants, thieves, temptation, and himself. In addition to Patel, Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton, Sarita Choudhury, Sean Harris, Kate Dickie, Barry Keoghan, and Ralph Ineson all star in the film.

Heralded as extremely abstract and “poetically-vague,” it was met with mixed reactions from audiences but received a fair amount of praise from critics. It could be this second theatrical release is a way for A24 to encourage folks to revisit the film, and perhaps even consider nominating it for a few Oscars as awards season draws nearer.

The Green Knight returns to select AMC theaters exclusively on December 10.

The Uncharted series is one of the more interesting franchises out there. Naughty Dog went out to create a clone of the Tomb Raider series, but at some point in development, the game shifted away from puzzle solving and became focused on action. This would turn out to be the best decision they could have made because the Uncharted series ended up being the closest thing players would get to starring in an action movie. Huge set-pieces, exciting gunplay, and a lot of climbing ended up becoming staples for the franchise. After five games, the series appears to have wrapped up but there’s always an opportunity for a sequel.

For now, though, they’re content re-releasing those original games. All of them will be available in the Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection on PlayStation 5 and PC. Not only is this an opportunity for anyone who hasn’t experienced the series to play them all in one place, but shortly after the collection is released we will see the upcoming movie starring Tom Holland hit theaters.

Platform: PlayStation 5, PC at a later date
Price: $70
Release Date: 1/28/2022
Genre: Third-Person Action-Adventure
Developer: Naughty Dog
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Rating: T
Where can I buy this: PlayStation Store, Steam, Epic Games Store, brick and mortar stores
Single Player: Yes
Multiplayer: Possibly
Early Access: No
Microtransactions: No

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene gave a truly bizarre speech on Tuesday claiming that insurrectionists involved in the Jan. 6th attack on Capitol Hill are being treated poorly “because of the color of their skin.”

Greene was joined by fellow far-right lawmakers Matt Gaetz and Paul Gosar as she lamented on the “rights” being denied to the Trump supporters who tried to overthrow our democratic process earlier this year. The trio was part of a Republican-backed report on the conditions faced by MAGA rioters currently being held in a D.C. jail. According to Greene, the criminals who were part of the Jan. 6th insurrection are being treated unfairly compared to other prisoners.

“They were isolated in a separate wing of the jail, where they are abused, where they are ridiculed, where they are mocked because of their political beliefs and because of Jan. 6 and because of the color of their skin,” Greene said after claiming the prisoners were also denied access to education curriculums, job training, and mock-trial exercises provided by visiting law students.

Greene went on to rail against the system for forcing the majority white, male insurrectionists currently being housed in the jail to “denounce President Trump” and for treating the prisoners like cult members.

“They are told that their views are the views of cult members,” Greene said. “These are men that, every single night at nine o’clock, they put their hand over their heart and sing the national anthem voluntarily.”

Yeah … that doesn’t sound like cult behavior at all.

Oddly enough, Greene’s grievance with the prison system seems to be focused on how one jail is treating insurrectionists and not the larger, more perverse problems facing incarcerated individuals of color. That might be because she allegedly helped the criminals housed in the D.C. jail plan their attack on her fellow members of Congress, or it might just be because she hasn’t gotten around to visiting Riker’s Island yet. Who knows?

You can watch the full video below:

(Via Raw Story, Aaron Rupar, and C-SPAN)

Live in Front of a Studio Audience: ‘The Facts of Life’ and ‘Diff’rent Strokes’ (ABC, 8:00pm) — Because we can’t get enough of these live-action specials, it’s time for two 1980s shows to get the retreatment. The first portion will include hosting duties by Jimmy Kimmel and 1970s sitcom king Norman Lear. Jennifer Aniston, Kathryn Hahn, Gabrielle Union, and Alison Tolman will portray Blaire, Jo, Tootie, and Natalie, respectively. Jon Stewart is also on hand, possibly in the handyman role that George Clooney originated?

The Slow Hustle (HBO, 8:00pm) — Director Sonja Sohn (The Wire) does the documentary drill here while exploring the still-unsolved death of a Baltimore police detective. Through a series of candid interviews a deep-dive into the evidence, the mystery of Sean Suiter’s 2017 death leaves no stone untouched. Was it a hit job or a suicide? Multiple theories will surface here, along with a through examination, all while exploring the complex nature of policing in America.

Riverdale (CW, 9:00pm) — Something called “Bailey’s Comet” is afoot while the Blossom women’s tragic stories take central stage as the once-in-a-lifetime sky show goes down.

The Flash (CW, 8:00pm) — Barry is caught by surprise by an unexpected return while Barry also receives advice with a key condition.

The Last O.G. (TBS, 10:30pm) — Tray’s attempting to help Amira discover herself while Amira’s on multiple scenes for college presentations.

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Nicole Kidman, Chloe Grace Moretz, Wizkid

Late Night With Seth Meyers — Halle Berry, Chris Kattan, Rutger Bregman, Nikki Flaspie

The Late Late Show With James Corden — Ansel Elgort

In case you missed this streaming pick from last week:

The Summit of the Gods (Netflix film) — This film adapts the manga series of the same name and follows the discovery of a game-changing camera in the realm of mountaineering. Every climber here is obsessive and hungry for greater heights, and the fate of a missing climber could be the key to ascending, well, “the summit of the gods.”

While it’s not technically an album by The Wrens, Aeon Station’s Observatory will mark the first album from Kevin Whelan, Greg Whelan and Jason MacDonald (3 of the 4 members of The Wrens) in eighteen years. In fact, Uproxx’s Steven Hyden half-jokingly calls it “the most delayed album in indie history.” Fronted by Kevin Whelan, Aeon Station has released a number of singles including the dynamite “Queens,” and now has put out one final track before their album’s release on December 10th.

“Alpine Drive” is a blustery track that was originally written in 2013. In fact, half of the songs on the new album are remixed tracks by the Wrens and the others are originals so the nostalgia for fans i strong with this one. Whelan acknowledged that “Alpine Drive” has a gentle holiday breeziness about it and spoke further about the track in a statement:

“I felt ‘Alpine Drive’ was the perfect song to end the album as it represents an end to a journey. The paths we walk on are unpredictable, complicated, and long but ultimately, we are all striving to find our way ‘home.’ [It] evoked feelings of winter and nostalgia for me. Like old Christmas songs where you hear and feel the longing to reunite with your family, the lyrics described my desire to be home with my wife and kids, especially after a stressful day or long business trip away from them. My journey home to them would always start with a call or text to my wife with the words ‘I’m on my way…’”

Observatory drops on 12/10 via Sub Pop. Pre-order it here.

Everyone knows one of the most exciting aspects of any superhero is their origin story, which might explain why we see characters like Batman and Spider-Man‘s “humble beginnings” unfold in just about every DC and Marvel movie ever made. However, for as oversaturated with origin stories superhero movies are, reading all about your favorite hero’s rise to power has always been a lot more of a challenge thanks to how difficult it can be to find decent copies of older comics. Luckily for us, art book publishing company Taschen took notice of this glaring issue, and has now unveiled a pretty incredible project they’re working on in an attempt to remedy the problem.

Earlier today, Taschen revealed The Marvel Comics Library, an exclusive, long-term collaboration between the publishing house and Marvel that aims to reproduce some of Marvel’s most famous comics in all their original glory. The library will give Marvel fans a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lay their hands on the world’s most desirable comics” now in a new, extra-large format that helps to preserve the integrity of the books’ original artwork. Each volume will also feature an essay by a comic book historian, along with hundreds of photos and artifacts.

The first Marvel superhero to be given The Marvel Comics Library treatment? Why, it’s none other than Spider-Man, of course. In celebration of the webslinger’s upcoming 60th anniversary — and just ahead of the new film, Spider-Man: No Way Home — Taschen is releasing an omnibus entitled Spider-Man. Vol. 1. 1962–1964. The collection contains the first 21 issues of Spider-Man, as well as a historical essay by Marvel editor Ralph Macchio and much more:

“Travel back in time to witness the creation of the world’s favorite web-slinger as dreamed up by comic book legends Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, who redefined what it meant to be a hero. In this Hulk-sized, collector’s dream, the first 21 Spider-Man stories from 1962–1964 have been meticulously photographed from the most pristine copies of these rare comic books—a fine art celebration of the teen super hero in this inaugural volume of TASCHEN’s Marvel Comics Library series.”

If that’s not exciting enough, The Marvel Comics Library also offers some serious incentives to comic book collectors. According to the official Teschen website, the first 5,000 copies of Spider-Man. Vol. 1 will be numbered and released as a “Famous First Edition.” The book will also boast a “Collector’s Edition,” which is limited to just 1,000 copies and features an aluminum print cover tipped into a leatherette-bound spine, foil embossing, and housed in a slipcase. Each book is individually numbered.

In addition to Spider-Man, Avengers, Fantastic Four, and Captain America collections have also been revealed for The Marvel Comics Library. However, this project is apparently running for at least a decade, meaning countless others are surely on the way.

Good eats and great weed go hand in hand. The whole thing about weed giving you the munchies isn’t completely true (some weed does and some weed doesn’t) but one thing is for certain — weed makes food taste better. I don’t just mean marginally better. Eating while stoned can be a downright religious experience. After taking a fat rip you start laser focusing on the varying flavors, textures, and smells of your food. Suddenly a burger goes from a good lunch to a vivid sensory experience that borders on the psychedelic.

I know this because I write about food and weed constantly. So when I heard famed stoner and musician Wiz Khalifa was launching a food concept (appropriately dubbed HotBox) to pair with his Khalifa Kush weed brand, I knew it was something I had to experience.

Made in collaboration with the virtual restaurant brand NextBite, HotBox by Wiz Khalifa is a delivery-only virtual restaurant that is currently available in Miami, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York City, Houston, and more and is actively expanding to additional cities nationwide. The food is sourced from local restaurants that meet the specific ingredients and preparation practices required by NextBite — so the dishes should be pretty consistent, no matter what city you’re ordering from. The menu is a stoner’s paradise of indulgent carb-rich snacks like Hot Cheeto dusted cheeseburgers, zesty buffalo wings, tater tots, mac and cheese, cookies, and more.

None of Wiz’s food is actually infused with cannabis. But the brand and Wiz himself confirmed in a Zoom tasting I attended that they were actively exploring the idea while also looking for ways to offer plant-based options to the menu. The lack of any cannabis-infused treats may seem like a missed opportunity, but I think the food actually stands a chance of tasting better without any infusions. Better, in my opinion, to smoke up and treat this as a post-stoned meal.

Which is exactly what I did.

The Weed: Khalifa Kush

Before we get into the menu, we should probably talk about Wiz Khalifa’s cannabis brand Khalifa Kush — currently available in California in preroll and flower form. The cannabis is sourced from Northern California’s Bay Area by Colorado-based cultivator RiverRock Cannabis and is apparently the only weed Wiz smokes. He affectionately refers to the brand simply as “KK” on social media. I’d call bullshit on that as purely a piece of marketing but, having smoked the brand, I can actually buy it.

Khalifa Kush has a pungent flavor and provides a sensory-enhancing high with a THC level in the mid 20% range. Smoking the pre-roll had me feeling good and hypersensitive to my surroundings, while still keeping me from feeling weighed down and sluggish. It didn’t have the best flavor to it (I was smoking a pre-roll after all) but the high was powerful and definitely lifted my spirits. Not a bad pairing to go with a menu launch… but with all the weed I smoke for work (living the dream over here) my tolerance is through the roof, so I plan to be as harsh with the HotBox food as I am when I’m ranking french fries, chicken sandwiches, or any other food.

Nice try though Wiz!

The Bottom Line

If you want to smoke what Wiz smokes in the studio, this indica-leaning hybrid is definitely worth a pickup.

The Food: Ranked From Worst To Best

5. So Baked Hybrid Cookies

Nope, not hybrid like a weed strain, this is simply a mix of caramel, chocolate, and pretzel, all mixed up into a single cookie that is served with a salted caramel dipping sauce. This cookie is easily the weakest link on the menu. It’s not it tastes bad — it’s a damn cookie we’re talking about — but it’s not really that good either. The cookie is dense, a bit dry and is more cookie than you want in a single sitting (which, consequently, means it’s perfect for being stoned) and despite having pretzel bites and a salted caramel dipping sauce, this thing comes off as much more sweet than it does salty.

A better balance between the salty and sweet flavors might’ve made this cookie a winner but as it stands, it’s just okay. Don’t let those stoner goggles fool you into thinking you actually want to order this. You’re just high.

The Bottom Line

Unless it’s free with the meal, skip this one, you’re not missing out on anything.

4. Taylor Gang Tots

I’m a little torn on these. First of all, tater tots, while delicious, just don’t travel well. When hot and crispy tater tots are trapped in a wax-lined paper box, the heat that emits off of them and bounces off the walls of the container turns what should be a crispy masterpiece into a soggy mess. That’s exactly what happened to these tots so if you really want these to shine you’re going to have to put just a bit of work into it. After a few sad tots, I grabbed my order, spread the tots on a sheet of aluminum foil, and threw that shit into the toaster oven for a good ten minutes until they were nice and crispy again.

The tots themselves are delicous, they’re fluffy, a bit buttery, and full of flavor, but given that they don’t travel well, we can’t rank these much higher than this placement. Especially considering if you’re stoned and hungry, you’re going to be less motivated to put the work into helping these tots shine.

The Bottom Line

Delicious, but tater tots don’t travel well so if you don’t have the patience to reheat these in a toaster oven to get them crispy again definitely skip these.

3. Bigger Blazier Buffalo Wings

My HotBox order came with the Bigger Blazier Buffalo Wings order, not to be confused with the menu’s Bigger Better Buffalo Wings, so I can’t speak to how much “blazier” they are compared to the OG, but as far as buffalo wings go these are pretty excellent. I prefer a crispier exterior, but given the travel time I knew I wasn’t going to get that. I didn’t feel the need to reheat these though like the tots. The chicken is tender and juicy while the buffalo sauce gives a nice zesty and spicy kick. The wings are served alongside a side of ranch or bleu cheese dressing and the ‘ol standard wing accompaniement of carrot and celery sticks.

The HotBox wings match the sort of quality and depth flavor you’d find from a WingStop or Buffalo Wild Wings. It’s not mind-blowing, but the wings are perfectly serviceable and I find little if nothing to complain about.

The Bottom Line

A pretty solid wing effort. Wiz would be wise to add a few more flavors, hopefully a dry rub is in the cards.

2. Fully Packed Bowl

Here is where things get really interesting. Wings and cookies are all fine and good, but the Fully Packed Bowl truly lives up to the stoner food utopia promised by this culinary concept. It comes off as a greatest hits package of the entire HotBox menu, a bed of tater tots is bathed in a blanket of saucey macaroni and cheese drizzled with the same zesty buffalo sauce used on the wings accompanied by crispy chunks of fried chicken and some Hot Cheeto dust sprinkled on top of it all. The bowl has crunch, thanks to the fried chicken (the tots still leave something to be desired) and Cheeto dust combination, and is full of savory salty flavors that serve as the perfect stoner cat nip.

You have to be high to even want to eat this thing, but from your first forkful on you’ll be pleased that you took that big rip before diving in.

The Bottom Line As decadent and delicious as it sounds. The Fully Packed Bowl combines an appetizer sampler’s worth of flavors with the form factor of nachos. It’s the most stoner-friendly item on the menu and a must order.

1. Blazed OG Cheetos Burger

I know I just sang the praises of the Fully Packed Bowl, the best stoner food I’ve had all year, but what really blew me away from the HotBox menu was the Blazed OG Cheetos Burger. I’m not the biggest Hot Cheetos fan — yes, I ranked every single flavor of Flamin’ Hot ever, but I wouldn’t count myself as a true fan and I certainly am not a fan of Hot Cheeto dust in food. I find it incredibly gimmicky. Or I should say, I “found” it incredibly gimmicky, because the Blazed OG Cheetos Burger has completely changed my mind. It might be banned in Europe, but Hot Cheeto dust is a fantastic blend of artifically spicy flavors that deliver on the heat without drowning out any of the other flavors.

Get this dust in the hands of a professional chef ASAP! The Blazed OG Cheetos Burger comes with a thick and juicy burger patty, American cheese with Hot Cheetos dust embeded into it, as well as lettuce, tomato and what HotBox is calling Thrill Sauce on a brioche bun. For whatever reason, my burger didn’t come with the Thrill Sauce but it was so good it honestly didn’t matter.

The beef has a nice depth of flavor, it’s juicy, salty, and perfectly cooked. The burger quality matches the same sort of flavor you’d find at a Fat Burger or Shake Shack. Not quite as juicy, but definitely a contender for best deliverable burger in the fast food space. If you’re going to order one thing off of the HotBox menu I still suggest you try the fully packed bowl, but in terms of which menu item has the best flavor, it’s hard to beat this. Though I haven’t tried the delicious looking chicken sandwich that is on the menu which Wiz counted as a personal highlight.

The Bottom Line So good I wish it was a double!

You can order Wiz Khalifa’s HotBox online at the official website or through third party delivery services like DoorDash, UberEats, Postmates, and GrubHub.