GoneTrending

The NBA’s celebration of its 75th anniversary season has included the much talked about 75 Greatest Players list that was unveiled the first week of the season, as well as new retro mashup uniforms for 28 of the 30 teams, a new logo, and more.

On Wednesday, the league announced the community element to the 75th anniversary celebration. The NBA will do three legacy projects in honor of the 75th anniversary season, starting in New Orleans where they partnered with Rebuilding Together’s Disaster Readiness and Recovery program to aid in the continued efforts to recover from Hurricane Ida.

The NBA will also work with Kaiser Permanente, the league’s official healthcare partner, on three league-led legacy projects. The first project will be unveiled in New Orleans today during NBA Cares Season of Giving, officially tipping off the season-long initiative. Working with Rebuilding Together’s Disaster Readiness and Recovery program – which has served New Orleans for more than 30 years by providing disaster mitigation, preparedness, response and long-term recovery support to families and communities affected by natural disasters – NBA Cares and Kaiser Permanente will refurbish the Livingston Collegiate Academy High School gymnasium and repair three homes in New Orleans East in need of critical repairs following Hurricane Ida in August 2021.

Along with those projects, the NBA will continue its Live, Learn or Play initiative, with the dedication of its 2,000th NBA Cares Center in Cleveland during All-Star Weekend, and all 30 teams will create new Live, Learn or Play Centers in their communities this season (with more than 50 planned in total).

With more and more evidence coming to light that shows Donald Trump and his cohorts had specific plans for January 6, up to and including an actual PowerPoint presentation on staging a coup, MAGA world has pivoted to damage control. As part of that effort, Lara Trump visited with Fox News’ Sean Hannity Wednesday night, and she actually tried to argue that the former president wanted a peaceful protest and somehow warned Nancy Pelosi that things would get out of hand:

“These people know. Whether it’s Adam Schiff, whether it’s Liz Cheney, whether it’s [Adam] Kinzinger, they all know that Donald Trump didn’t orchestrate this whole thing. He didn’t tell people to the Capitol and break in. He said let’s peacefully and patriotically make our voices heard. But he tried to warn them. So many people tried to warn Nancy Pelosi. Why didn’t they have the adequate security there?”

Of course, this flies in the face of everything the January 6 committee has revealed so far. Specifically, texts from Hannity himself along with other Fox News personalities and Donald Trump Jr., who all frantically tried to get Trump to intervene to stop the violence, which he obviously did not do. There’s also the “MAGA Bonnie and Clyde” who were directly involved in the planning of the “Stop the Steal” rally, and are now singing like canaries about what they saw in the lead-up to the riot. None of it points to Trump warning anybody about anything.

(Via Acyn on Twitter)

The Lost City of D is now just The Lost City, but don’t hold that against it.

The film still has Sandra Bullock as a romance novelist and Channing Tatum (in his first starring role since 2017’s Logan Lucky) as a Fabio-like cover model who become embroiled in a jungle adventure straight out of her books. Also along for the ride is Daniel Radcliffe as an eccentric billionaire (the only good kind of billionaire), 2021 MVP Patti Harrison, High Fidelity scene stealer Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and Brad Pitt as a long-haired survivalist. It’s like Romancing the Stone — but with more thirst traps.

Here’s the official plot summary:

Brilliant, but reclusive author Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock) has spent her career writing about exotic places in her popular romance-adventure novels featuring handsome cover model Alan (Channing Tatum), who has dedicated his life to embodying the hero character, “Dash.” While on tour promoting her new book with Alan, Loretta is kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire (Daniel Radcliffe) who hopes that she can lead him to the ancient lost city’s treasure from her latest story. Wanting to prove that he can be a hero in real life and not just on the pages of her books, Alan sets off to rescue her. Thrust into an epic jungle adventure, the unlikely pair will need to work together to survive the elements and find the ancient treasure before it’s lost forever.

The Lost City, which was directed by Adam Nee and Aaron Nee with a screenplay from the Nees, Oren Uziel, and Dana Fox, opens on March 25, 2022.

There are other famous people named Keanu out there, but (with all due respect to Dallas Cowboys linebacker Keanu Neal and TikTok star Keanu Bruijnen) only one that matters. Keanu Reeves is a good guy with a great name, but before he was KEANU REEVES: INTERNATIONAL MOVIE STAR, he considered changing his name.

“I’m 20 years old, I’m in my first car, I wanted to be in movies, I went to Hollywood. And I get there and they’re like, ‘We wanna change your name.’ I’m like, ‘Why?’ And they’re like, ‘Keanu, maybe it’s a little too exotic.’ And so, yeah, I did,” The Matrix Resurrections star told Michael Strahan on Good Morning America. What did he consider changing his name to? “Chuck Spadina,” he answered. “I just came up with ridiculous names.”

Chuck Spadina is a next-door neighbor. Chuck Spadina works in construction. Chuck Spadina is the first boy you dated in middle school. But Chuck Spadina is not a movie star name. But Keanu Reeves? There’s a movie star name. “I just actually couldn’t do it,” Reeves said about the name change, and he’s “happy” that he isn’t Chuck Spadina.

We are, too. “Have you seen the new Chuck Spadina movie?” No, thanks.

You can watch the Good Morning America interview above.

Ben Affleck is “happy to be sad Batman” (which he says around the 3:00 mark above) and alright with seeing those memes of him visiting Dunkin,’ but he’s pushing back at coverage of his remarks about alcoholism and his marriage to Jen Garner. Affleck, who promoted The Tender Bar with a Wednesday night visit to Jimmy Kimmel, also attended to a necessary response to what happened after his recent Howard Stern interview.

What a mess. Affleck and Garner share three children from their marriage after splitting in 2018. They have reportedly remained close while co-parenting, so it came as a not-so-fantastic look when those remarks to Stern included Ben’s insight over how he wrestled with leaving the marriage because of his kids. The suggestion there was that he was unhappy and felt “trapped” and that’s “part of why I started drinking.”

While speaking with Kimmel, Affleck maintained that these remarks were part of a two-hour, wide-ranging interview, and that people had taken this point out of context:

“One of these websites had done the clickbait thing. I looked on it, and they had literally taken the conversation that I had had for two hours and made it seem as if I was saying the exact opposite of what I had said. I had gone on… said how much we respected each other, cared about each other, cared about our kids, put them first. It said that I had blamed my ex-wife for my alcoholism, that I was trapped in this marriage, just made me out to be the worst, most insensitive, stupid, awful guy.”

Meanwhile, Affleck also wanted to know that he’s fine with a lot of other things said about him online. “Look, I know people do this, I get it. I’m happy to be sad Batman, I’m happy to be Dunkin’ Donuts and the meme, but when it’s about my kids, I gotta draw the line.”

Affleck continued to say that interpretations of his marriage-alcohol remarks got it all wrong. “Like, that’s not true,” he asserted. “I don’t believe that, it’s the exact opposite of who I am, what I believe. And I would never want my kids to think I would ever say a bad word about their mom.”

Kimmel observed, “This really upset you.” To which Affleck remarked that being the subject of “scandalous” stories was part of being an actor, but when it comes to the fam, he won’t tolerate it. “Don’t do that. It hurts me.”

2021 saw Ye (aka Kanye West) focused on his latest album, Donda. As for what he’s up to next, he says he’s working on a performance piece called The Funeral Rehearsal Of Kanye West.

Ye spoke about the endeavor in a new conversation with Tino Sehgal, for German culture magazine 032c. In the print-only interview, which is included as “a special edition booklet” in Issue #40 of the publication (photos of which were shared on Reddit but then deleted), the conversation started with the two exchanging pleasantries and Sehgal asking Ye about a project he was planning to do in Berlin. Ye responded:

“Yeah, but we want to give it some more time. The idea went from throwing a Halloween party to doing a performance piece called The Funeral Rehearsal Of Kanye West. I feel like every artist should design their own funeral rehearsal. And then, when they die, people can do it again. […] It’s also a new language. At this point, every art piece I do is a window, an app, for human beings. 808s & Heartbreak was the app for Drake and The Weeknd, and The Funeral Rehearsal Of Kanye West will be the app for others.”

At another point in the chat, Ye noted, “I was talking to [German designer and Balenciaga creative director Demna Gvasalia] about the costumes for Funeral Rehearsal, and I told him they have to look like they came from a thousand years ago, now, or a thousand years from now. And then it can go other-dimensional. It can’t be overly contemporary.”

He also said:

“I can’t let nobody love me too much, because I’m gonna get into this trap of love. And then I owe it to everyone to be the person that they fell in love with. And I’ll never be that person. I have to always have the freedom of being disliked, so I can always be me. And so, this new piece is the death of Kanye West. It is the death of the ego that separates us — it’s the birth of humanity. Let me start by killing myself. The less you, the more room for God.”

It’s not clear when Ye intends to premiere Funeral Rehearsal, but as he noted, he wants “to give it some more time,” so it could end up being a while before the world sees it. As for the interview, Highsnobiety has some exclusive excerpts of it. The full interview has some more Ye quotes about Funeral Rehearsal and other topics, so find that here.

Netflix wants 2022 to be here as much as you do, and that’s why they’re giving us plenty of TV to look forward to in the New Year as well. The streaming service brings back several new shows in January, including the crowd-pleasing adventures of Marty Byrde and his life of unimpressive crime. He’s really stepped in it, permanently, it seems, and there’s no telling if he’ll make it out alive. Fortunately, we do know that Ricky Gervais’ returning show will be a little cheerier this year, so there’s a some balance at work. Also, the return of a reality dating show will make you very happy that it’s still a great idea to stay inside and ignore the downfall of humanity.

There’s plenty more, including a psychological thriller that makes fun of psychological thrillers. There’s a some revolving doors for vampires, too, with the arrival of Interview with the Vampire and The Lost Boys as well as the departure of The Twilight Saga. See ya, sparkly vamps!

Here’s everything coming to (and leaving) Netflix in January.

Ozark: Season 4, Part 1 (Netflix series streaming 1/21)

The bad news is that Marty Byrde and fam will only be with us for one more season. The good news is that this is a supersized season that will arrive in two halves, so I’m pretending that we’re getting two more seasons. Jason Bateman’s baby has been good to us all, even if it’s been bad for Marty, Wendy, and the kids, and so-so for Ruth. This season, we’ll see what happened after the blood-spattered tarmac happenings. Marty and Wendy were received with opened arms (for a new life in Mexico?) after Helen took a gunshot to the head, and one can bet that this new beginning won’t be any more relaxing than the Byrdes’ money-laundering U.S. life. Luckily, Laura Linney and Julia Garner will still be around to make Marty’s life a little more hellish, and then I hope the ladies can take a nice vacation.

The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window (Netflix film streaming 1/28)

You’ve probably seen the similarly titled Girl On The Train, which has nothing to do with this film, although the spookiness arrives in a darkly comedic manner here. Kristen Bell plays a heartbroken woman, Anna, who sits with her wine in that window of the title. One day, she notices a handsome neighbor (Tom Riley), who move nearbys with his daughter (Samsara Yett), and suddenly, a glimmer of light comes into her life. Then comes murder-time, uh oh.

After Life: Season 3 (Netflix series streaming 1/14)

Ricky Gervais returns as Tony, the widower who decided to not commit suicide out of impression but, instead, to take his angst out in the world. He fancies this attitude to be a Super Power, all while everyone around him grows concerned. This final season sees Tony still struggling with enormous grief but realizing that he actually enjoys making people feel good. It’s both an end and a beginning to this story, and here’s to the celebration of hope.

Too Hot To Handle: Season 3 (Netflix series streaming 1/19)

This reality dating series proves to be an exercise in contestant frustration, and somehow, it’s entertaining as hell to witness. Everyone can look but no one can touch, unless they’re willing to get up all of that prize money. Everyone is objectively beautiful and scantily clad, too, so that feat is easier said than accomplished. The stakes are higher this season, too, but you’ll have to tune in to find out what that means.

Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness: Season 1 (Netflix series streaming 1/28)

The Queer Eye grooming expert switches gear here to explore, well, everything. From gender identity to skyscrapers to snacks, he’s diving into every field with both brains and quirkiness, which will make you year for those days when we could all enjoy the simple things in life while appreciating their complexity.

Here’s everything coming to (and leaving) Netflix in December.

Avail. TBA
All of Us Are Dead
I Am Georgina
Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein

Avail. 1/1
Chief Daddy 2 – Going for Broke
The Hook Up Plan: Season 3
300
1BR
Annie (1982)
Big Fish
Braveheart
Cadillac Records
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
Doing Hard Time
Escaping the NXIVM Cult: A Mother’s Fight To Save Her Daughter
First Sunday
Free Willy
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Geronimo: An American Legend
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
Girl, Interrupted
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
Godzilla (1998)
Gremlins
Happy Feet
Hell or High Water
Hook
I Know What You Did Last Summer
I Love You, Man
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer
Interview with the Vampire
Just Go With It
Kung Fu Panda
Linewatch
The Longest Yard (2005)
The Lost Boys
Midnight in Paris
Monsters vs. Aliens
Nacho Libre
The NeverEnding Story
Paranormal Activity
The Patriot
Road Trip
Runaway Bride
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
Stand by Me
Superman Returns
Taxi Driver
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2007)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie (1990)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Terminator Salvation
The Town
Troy
True Grit (2010)
The Wedding Singer
Wild Wild West
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
Woo

Avail. 1/4
Action Pack

Avail. 1/5
Four to Dinner
Rebelde

Avail. 1/6
The Club: Part 2
The Wasteland

Avail. 1/7
Hype House
Johnny Test: Season 2

Avail. 1/10
Undercover: Season 3

Avail. 1/11
Dear Mother

Avail. 1/12
How I Fell in Love with a Gangster

Avail. 1/13
Brazen
Chosen
The Journalist
Photocopier

Avail. 1/14
After Life: Season 3
Archive 81
BLIPPI: ADVENTURES
BLIPPI’S SCHOOL SUPPLY SCAVENGER HUNT
The House
Riverdance: The Animated Adventure
This Is Not a Comedy

Avail. 1/16
Phantom Thread

Avail. 1/17
After We Fell

Avail. 1/18
Mighty Express: Train Trouble

Avail. 1/19
El marginal: Season 4
Heavenly Bites: Mexico
Juanpis González – The Series
The Puppet Master: Hunting the Ultimate Conman
Too Hot to Handle: Season 3

Avail. 1/20
Midnight Asia: Eat · Dance · Dream
The Royal Treatment

Avail. 1/21
American Boogeywoman
Munich – The Edge of War
My Father’s Violin
Ozark: Season 4 Part 1
Pokémon Master Journeys: The Series: Part 2
Summer Heat
That Girl Lay Lay

Avail. 1/24
Three Songs for Benazir

Avail. 1/25
Ada Twist, Scientist: Season 2
Neymar: The Perfect Chaos

Avail. 1/27
Framed! A Sicilian Murder Mystery

Avail. 1/28
Angry Birds: Summer Madness
Feria: The Darkest Light
Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness
Home Team
In From the Cold
The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window

Here’s the full list of titles leaving Netflix in December:

Leaving 1/1
Snowpiercer

Leaving 1/5
Episodes: Seasons 1-5

Leaving 1/6
A Ghost Story
Ballerina
Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax

Leaving 1/10
Hardy Bucks: Seasons 1-4

Leaving 1/11
Betty White: First Lady of Television

Leaving 1/15
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 2
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Twilight

Leaving 1/17
The Bling Ring
Homefront

Leaving 1/21
The Shannara Chronicles: Seasons 1-2

Leaving 1/31
Bleach: The Entry
Bleach: The Rescue
Bleach: The Substitute
Cloud Atlas
The General’s Daughter
My Girl 2
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: Seasons 1-8
Mystic River
Shutter Island

If there’s one thing Donald Trump cares about more than showing the “losers” and “haters” that he can be president again if he wants to, it’s his hair (it certainly takes priority over his kids). He spent more than $70,000 a year maintaining his unmistakable comb-over coif, and it’s the reason for his bizarre obsession with water pressure. “You turn on the shower — if you’re like me, you can’t wash your beautiful hair properly. ‘Please come out.’ The water, it drips, right?” the weirdest man alive said during an Ohio Whirlpool manufacturing plant visit. The occasional late-night tousle is acceptable, but no one better call Trump’s hair a “mess.” That’s off limits.

Trump is reportedly furious at his former-chief of staff Mark Meadows for writing about his hair in the book, The Chief’s Chief. As the Washington Post reports:

Trump is also particularly upset about a passage in which Meadows describes him sitting in bed sick with COVID-19 in the White House residence, writing that Trump had “red streaks” in his eyes and that “his hair was a mess.”

“This guy is talking about what I look like, in my bedroom,” Trump griped recently to one confidante.

Meadows also revealed that Trump tested positive for COVID-19 before his debate with Joe Biden. On the day of the debate, Trump’s face “had regained its usual light bronze hue, and the gravel in his voice was gone,” Meadows wrote, but “the dark circles under his eyes had deepened. As we walked into the venue around five o’clock in the evening, I could tell that he was moving more slowly than usual. He walked like he was carrying a little extra weight on his back.” He nearly died, but at least his hair didn’t look messy.

(Via the Washington Post)

It was reported in October that Ye (formerly Kanye West) was looking to sell one of his Wyoming ranches. As far as what he plans to do with his remaining homes, he apparently intends to leave himself “homeless in a year” by turning them all into churches, according to a conversation between Ye and British-German artist Tino Sehgal for German culture magazine 032c.

In the print-only interview that’s included as “a special edition booklet” in Issue #40 of the publication (photos of which were shared on Reddit but have since been removed), Ye said:

“The ultimate good life is simpler. It’s for those who are willing to not have any possessions. Your baggage weighs you down.

I’m going to be homeless in a year. I’m going to turn all the homes I own into churches. We’re making this orphanage, and it will be a place where anyone can go. It should be like an artist commune. Food should always be available. The opportunity to make art and be around friends should always be available.”

Speaking of possessions, a bulletproof vest that Ye wore during one of his Donda listening parties was recently sold, alongside an NFT, for a whopping sum of $75,000.

Urban Meyer has finally been fired by the Jacksonville Jaguars after a George Costanza-like run of incompetence that could only be explained as being a man who was actively trying to get canned.

Meyer’s Jaguars were 2-11 and showing little sign of improvement after getting shutout by the Titans in Week 14, and while the on-field performance was bad enough, that was not even the focal point of most stories about the Jaguars, as seemingly every week a new off-field issue involving Meyer popped up. There was him getting danced on by a woman who wasn’t his wife at his own restaurant in Ohio earlier this year, followed by reports of him calling assistant coaches losers and getting in arguments with players. Finally, the last straw seemed to be the allegation from former kicker Josh Lambo that Meyer kicked him during a practice, while calling him “dipsh*t.”

As soon as the Meyer news hit (after midnight on the East Coast on Wednesday night/Thursday morning), Twitter was set ablaze with jokes as the Jaguars had finally done the obvious in firing Meyer, but in an added hilarious manner by doing so in the middle of the night. While there are always some jokes that fly in a situation like this, rarely is there such a loathsome character that is almost universally disliked like Meyer to draw schadenfreude from all corners of the football world.