According to Deadline, Gina Carano is back and taking the lead role in a currently untitled action-thriller in which a woman teams up with a truck driver to get revenge on the serial killer who attempted to murder her. This is the first role for the former MMA-star-turned-actress since she was let go from Star Wars spin-off series The Mandalorian earlier this year. Carano was dropped from the project following her posting a photo to her Instagram with a caption claiming the mass genocide experienced during the Holocaust was no different than how modern day conservatives are treated. So, you know, normal things.
So, where do you go after that? To Ben Shapiro, of course. Carano’s upcoming film is part of a joint project between her and conservative media company The Daily Wire, which was founded by Shapiro back in 2015. The Hitcher and Near Dark writer Eric Red has already written the script for film, which is based on his novel White Knuckle. White Knuckle follows a woman who survives an attempted murder by a mass-murdering truck driver referred to as “White Knuckle” and subsequently partners up with another truck driver to hunt the man down.
Carano is set to produce and will star in the movie while the team negotiates with a director and other castmates. Filming is scheduled to take place in Tennessee, Utah, and Montana beginning in October with the studio aiming for a release early next year.
Last week, it was announced that Kawhi Leonard made up his mind on his free agency and opted to return to the Los Angeles Clippers. The only thing that was unclear was whether or not he’d sign a short-term deal that gives him the flexibility to survey the landscape of the league a little sooner or a long-term deal to give himself financial security, and on Thursday afternoon, we learned that Leonard will opt for the latter.
According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, Leonard and the Clippers came to terms on a four-year deal that features a player option in its final year. This means that the 30-year-old Leonard would not be able to return to free agency until after the 2023-24 campaign. Shams Charania of The Athletic brings word that Leonard will make more than $170 million over the life of the deal.
Source: Kawhi Leonard is signing a four-year, $176.3 million deal to return to the Los Angeles Clippers.
The big question regarding Leonard is whether or not he’ll play this season after he suffered a partially torn ACL during the Western Conference Semifinals against the Utah Jazz. He was magnificent this past season, though, averaging 24.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.6 steals in 34.1 minutes per game. He’s not the only Clipper to get a big money deal in recent months, as Paul George agreed to a four-year extension back in December.
However, he doesn’t seem happy about it. The documents reportedly insist that there are “no actual grounds for suspending or removing Mr. Spears as the Conservator of the Estate” while speculating that “it is highly debatable whether a change in conservator at this time would be in Ms. Spears’ best interests.” But after those salty comments, the filing makes it clear that Jamie is pretty much fed up with the public pressure.
“Nevertheless, even as Mr. Spears is the unremitting target of unjustified attacks, he does not believe that a public battle with his daughter over his continuing service as her conservator would be in her best interests,” it reads. “So, even though he must contest this unjustified Petition for his removal, Mr. Spears intends to work with the Court and his daughter’s new attorney to prepare for an orderly transition to a new conservator. Regardless of his formal title, Mr. Spears will always be Ms. Spears’ father, he will always love her unconditionally, and he will always look out for her best interests.”
Meanwhile, Britney’s lawyer replied, “We are pleased but not necessarily surprised that Mr. Spears and his lawyer finally recognize that he must be removed. We are disappointed, however, by their ongoing shameful and reprehensible attacks on Ms. Spears and others. We look forward to continuing our vigorous investigation into the conduct of Mr. Spears, and others, over the past 13 years, while he reaped millions of dollars from his daughter’s estate, and I look forward to taking Mr. Spears’s sworn deposition in the near future. In the interim, rather than making false accusations and taking cheap shots at his own daughter, Mr. Spears should step aside immediately.”
The movement to #FreeBritney gained momentum last year with the release of the Framing Britney Spears documentary on Hulu, which recast the singer’s difficulties throughout the 2000s in a new light in which an unsympathetic press threw her under the bus as she suffered through anxiety, instability, and industry sexism.
Genre-bouncing polymath Jean Dawson has a new video for his Pixel Bath single “Pyrotechnics” out today. Visually, it’s a lot to absorb, portraying the highly artistic performer getting buried alive (then exhumed), driving through darkened streets as fireworks bang overhead, singing through gritted gold grillz, and joining a band of purple-smoke anti-fascist ghosts. (Among other things.) Check it out above.
As noted back in June, Dawson initially caught peoples’ attention with his 2020 sophomore album (the aforementioned Pixel Bath), which moved between genres like hip-hop, pop-punk (Travis Barker is a noted fan), and hyperpop. Come February 2022, he’ll be performing some dates with Brockhampton.
“When I’m making music, I think less about genre more so than a feeling because it feels like it belongs together,” Dawson told Nylonearlier this year about his creative process. “When I think of my sound as a home, I use genres as rooms within the home; where I live within that home is in the living room where all genres can sit, have their own sections but at the same time they live under one roof; when conversation starts in the living room there is a perspective in each room that comes into play in one way or another. When people ask me what genre I would classify my music as, it’s really hard because I’m not actively thinking about it! The best I can describe it is pop music from different generations. I’m an artist that is still trying to figure it out!”
A mother in Oklahoma traumatized a group of young children after inviting an actor dressed as “Mrs. Bigfoot” to her daughter’s sixth birthday party.
The girl’s mother originally planned to have a fancy birthday cake at the party but when that fell through, they went to plan B: Bigfoot. “We just thought, I mean she came with balloons and a bow and a tutu, so I thought ‘oh this will be cute and fun,'” Brett told 2 News Oklahoma.
“Well my kids did not have that reaction,” she admitted.
All hell broke loose at the party when Mrs. Bigfoot, who goes by the nickname Cinnamon, poked her head in a widow at the party, terrifying the children. In the video, the kids can be heard screaming for their dear lives.
That one time we hired Bigfoot Schenanigans to surprise our sweet girl for her birthday party and it went epically wrong!!! 😂 #bigfoot #parentfail
The good news is that when Cinnamon made it into the house the children calmed down and eventually warmed up to the most elusive creature in all of American folklore.
However, next time, Brett will probably order a princess or Spider-Man if she’s going to have an actor come to the party because the Bigfoot was a bit too scary. “I would just recommend it for a good time because obviously by the video my kids thought so too,” Brett said.
“But they don’t want her to come back though,” she said.
Noted longtime comic book fan Boosie (he wrote as sarcastically as humanly possible) apparently has thoughts about the recent DC Comics news that has been circulating the blogosphere this week: the reveal that one of Batman’s small fleet of sidekicks is bisexual. Of course Boosie has thoughts about this news, it involves his favorite topic. No, not superhero comic books, which I doubt he’s purchased at any point over the last 20 years. The other thing. You know, other people’s sexuality, which doesn’t affect him at all. That thing.
Posting a screenshot from an Instagram user’s Story on his Twitter, Boosie performatively wrung his hands about “protecting the children,” which is rich coming from someone who admitted to paying a grown woman to sexually abuse his own teenaged child. Meanwhile, the comic book in question, Batman Urban Legends, follows multiple other Bat-Family characters, so it’s unlikely that this storyline, in which Robin #3, Tim Drake, agrees to go on a date with a longtime friend (so far, this is all that’s been published, but clickbait gotta clickbait), will take up too much page space in forthcoming issues.
Meanwhile, if anyone cared to get into it, there’s already tons of scholarship about the homoerotic undertones of Batman’s relationships with the various Robins (mostly the original, Dick Grayson) — most of which already betray a lack of understanding of the two characters’ (ahem) dynamic, given that one’s a pre-teen when introduced and the gay panic surrounding it mostly had to do with the lack of pants on Robin’s uniform. More recent Robins have all dropped the leotard for full leggings so even that’s outdated now.
But none of that will ever stop Boosie from sharing his homophobic opinions, something he’s done for years and which kicked into overdrive this month after DaBaby was booted from a slate of summer festivals over his own homophobic comments.
On the latest episode of People’s Party with Talib Kweli, Talib Kweli and Jasmine Leigh sat down with Chattanooga rapper Isaiah Rashad for an in-depth interview hot off the release of Rashad’s highly anticipated (and much beloved) sophomore effort, The House is Burning. In this 1+ hour conversation, Kweli and Rashad broke down the TDE rapper’s biggest influences, running through the genius of Lil Wayne, and the importance of Outkast until they finally came to the subject of Timbaland’s old rapping partner, Magoo.
“Before streaming, you might hear… a verse and not even know who it is, it be the craziest shit, Stat Quo was like that for me, and Magoo,” Rashad says before Kweli jumped in.
“Okay,” he said, “we’re not going to have this fucking conversation right now.”
What ensued was a back and forth about the genius of Magoo and whether or not the Virginia rapper deserves the respect that everyone around the age of 30 in Kweli’s orbit seems to hold for him, with Kweli concluding: “No disrespect to Magoo as a human being… I’m just saying Q-tip bro. That’s all I’m saying.”
And yet… by the end of the convo, Kweli — the ultimate hip-hop lover — finds his opinion flipped. Or at least shifted.
To hear the full conversation, watch the clip at the top of this post, and then let us know where you stand on the great Magoo debate.
Ahh, Greece, a land of ancient ruins, dazzling white architecture, azure blue seas, and proto-fascists trying to murder you. Finally, a movie attempts to depict this land of contrasts in its full complexity.
For most of its runtime, Beckett is an intense and compelling thriller. It throws its one-named protagonist, Beckett, into a nightmare scenario and then we take the ride along with him, trying to survive a chase through a foreign land that’s as hard for him to blend into as it is to understand. It’s a movie that’s great at building intrigue as we try to figure out what the hell is going on, sifting through tantalizing clues. It’s the answers that aren’t very satisfying.
John David Washington plays Beckett. We don’t know much about him, but the other characters in the film never let us forget that his name is Becket. Beckett. Beckett? Beckett… BECKETT!
When we catch up with him, Beckett is on vacation in Greece with his girlfriend, played by Alicia Vikander. The two seem to have a loving, if slightly obnoxious relationship, creating imagined backstories for other tourists and gently chiding each other over their personality quirks — he’s an underplanner, she’s an overplanner, etc. Let’s call the whole thing off! Is there an undercurrent of tension in their actions or are we just imagining things?
They’ve had to reroute their stay in Athens to the mountains, thanks to some kind of political protest in the city square. On a drive to their new hotel, Beckett dozes off and their car flies off the road, crashing into a house. Beckett survives the crash, but when he returns to the scene the next day, one of the local cops who questioned him after the accident is suddenly trying to kill him. Oops, now what? Where can Beckett go? To whom can Beckett turn? BECKETT!
Specifics make a story sing, and Beckett, directed by Ferdinando Cito Filomarino (previously a second unit director on Call Me By Your Name and Suspiria) is strong on those. “How do you outrun corrupt cops when you’re marooned in the Greek countryside but don’t speak Greek and try to blend in when you’re a black man wearing a cast?” isn’t a question I’ve seen posed in other movies. It turns out to be a pretty intriguing one.
Beckett seems to have gotten himself caught up in some kind of political intrigue, the clues to which are the rally in Athens, the organized nature of the people hunting him, and a leftist opposition leader named Karras, whose kidnapped son’s face graces walls all over town. The people are all fired up protesting the EU’s austerity measures. At one point, Beckett makes his way to the American embassy, where there’s a framed picture of Obama on the wall.
It’s at this point, more than halfway into the film, that we’re given to realize that we’ve been watching a period piece this whole time. That not only is Beckett about a black man with a cast on his arm on the run in Greece, it’s also set some time in 2008-2012 or so. This is a remarkable level of specificity for what has, up until that point, mostly taken the shape of a chase film. I’m a sucker for any film set in a very specific time and place, and an American movie that utilizes the particular politics and geography of another country is always a welcome change. At a basic level, I’d rather look at the hills of Athens than downtown LA, even if it functions only as window dressing.
Yet the quilt of interconnected events that Beckett seems to be sewing for the whole movie never really comes together in the end. Even aside from the geopolitical intrigue, Beckett the movie fails utterly at giving us any meaningful sense of Beckett the character. Who is this guy? Why is he in Greece? What is his relationship like with his girlfriend? Early on, the film feints towards interesting answers, but in the end it sort of just takes those quilt patches and crudely duct tapes them together. Its central failing is that in a film that had to be set in Greece in a very specific time period, the protagonist could’ve been anyone.
To some extent, Beckett has a hole in it that probably no actor could fill. But there are times it seems to require character choices that John David Washington can’t or doesn’t make. Does this guy have anxiety issues or is he just in love? Is he angry, sad, or confused? When he says he’s a software salesman, is that the truth or sarcasm?
Mostly, Beckett treats Washington like Wile E. Coyote, bouncing him from once ass-kicking to the next as he becomes almost comically bandaged, a la Ken in A Fish Called Wanda. This worked as a joke in A Fish Called Wanda and as a plot element in John Wick, because Keanu Reeves plays a comically tough retired hitman. But who is Beckett? “The Everyman?” The character’s dogged durability seems more like a writing crutch, a way to keep its lead at the center of a plot without having to finish the work of writing him.
‘Beckett’ releases globally on Netflix August 13th. Vince Mancini is on Twitter. You can access his archive of reviews here.
In a very on-brand rant for the bonkers Texas congressman (one of a few of them), Louis Gohmert warned that the Green New Deal will lead to an epidemic of exploding birds, and therefore has to be stopped. Gohmert’s warning happened during a Thursday interview One America News Network, where the congressman started ranting about the “huge solar farm” in California and Nevada that gets so hot, it’s liquifying birds right out of the sky in a grotesque display of avian carnage.
Rep. Louie Gohmert warned OAN viewers about the “hundreds and thousands” of “Flamers,” aka birds who survive windmills but wind up spontaneously combusting after flying over solar farms in the Southwest US. This is how the green new deal will bring the nation down. pic.twitter.com/FYaw8ivElT
“They weren’t anticipating hundreds and thousands of what they would call ‘flamers,’” he said. “Because when the birds fly through, if they survive the windmills, then they hit that magnified sun, explode in flame, and down they go, bird guts all over the mirrors. So that takes some cleaning up.”
Gohmert then said that this supposed wave of bird explosions proved that this “green stuff” is “out of control.”
Gohmert’s bird rant is yet another recent example of the congressman’s penchant for latching onto any conspiracy theory or right wing talking point under the sun. He was last seen teaming up with fellow Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, and Paul Gosar as the bumbling quartet attempted to protest the conditions of inmates who are being held on charges related to the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol building.
However, the publicity stunt went up in smoke as the group was immediately stopped by a no-nonsense prison guard, who threatened to have them arrested for trespassing. It was a humiliating defeat that arrived just 24 hours after Gohmert and friends were forced to flee a press conference outside the Department of Justice because protestors wouldn’t stop whistling or yelling (at Gaetz), “Are you a pedophile?”
Christopher Osburn has spent the past fifteen years in search of “the best” — or at least his very favorite — sips of whisk(e)y on earth. He’s traveled to over 20 countries testing local spirits, visited more than 50 distilleries around the globe, and amassed a collection of bottles that occupies his entire basement (and infuriates his wife).
In this series, he cracks open his worn “tasting diary” and shares its contents with the masses.
If you’re anything like me, you like to keep a well-stocked bar cart. But picking the right bottles isn’t always easy. You need to have a nice mix of lower-end expressions to use for cocktails as well as a few higher-end picks for slow sipping neat or over ice. Eventually, you’ll want to have multiple bottles of rum, tequila, various whisk(e)ys, gin, and vodka on hand. You’ll need a few mixers, too.
Today we’re going to help with your all-important whisk(e)y selections. I’ve listed ten bottles from the main categories/regions of whisk(e)y. I keep them all on my personal bar cart, but I’m also a whiskey writer. You’ll probably want to just pick one or two to get you rolling.
If you want to grab any of these up without leaving home, click on the prices to give them a shot!
If you’re going to have a single malt on your bar cart, it should be GlenDronach 12. This non-chill filtered highland malt is aged in both Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez sherry butts from Spain. The result is a truly special whisky that leans into what makes sweeter scotches so enticing.
Tasting Notes:
Take a moment to give this whisky a proper nosing and you’ll find aromas of sweet cinnamon, dried apricots, and brown sugar. The sip delivers notes of buttery caramel, sweet cherries, toasted marshmallows, and a subtle nutty sweetness. The last drop is warming, long, and ends with a final kiss of sweet treacle.
Bottom Line:
Sherry has a long history in Scotch whisky (sweet and smoky alike). One of the best for the money and most easily findable is GlenDronach 12. Buy one bottle and this will instantly become your go-to sipper.
WhistlePig is truly an international whiskey. This rye whiskey is first distilled and aged in Canada before being matured again in Vermont at WhistlePig’s farm. It spends a total of ten years in the barrel, giving it a nice combination of peppery rye and sweet caramel.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find hints of toasted marshmallows, berries, charred oak, and peppery rye. On the palate, you’re gonna get flavors of allspice, sticky toffee pudding, creamy vanilla, and a nice kick of peppery rye to finish it all off. The end isn’t too long but definitely settles in your senses with all that spicy warmth and sweet nuances that make it so popular.
Bottom Line:
There’s a reason WhistlePig has almost universal name recognition and so many awards. It’s a special rye whiskey that deserves a spot in your mixing and sipping rotation.
There are a ton of bourbons we could put here. But we believe Old Forester’s entry-level bourbon is the right pick. It’s made up of 72 percent corn, 18 percent rye, and ten percent malted barley. That classic mash bill gives the juice a perfect, well-rounded flavor just as suitable for mixing into your favorite cocktails as drinking neat.
Tasting Notes:
Before taking a sip, breathe in the scents of caramel corn, brown sugar, and dried fruits. The first sip yields buttery caramel, molasses, charred oak, and a nice hint of spicy cinnamon. The finish is long, warming, and ends with a note of sweet brown sugar.
Bottom Line:
Old Forester 86 is a high-quality, reasonably priced bourbon that’ll suit any bar cart. It’s on par with the likes of Buffalo Trace, Maker’s Mark, and Bulleit but a little cheaper (and pretty easy to find).
Your bar cart needs a good, blended whisky. Monkey Shoulder is a blend of whiskies from three Speyside distilleries in the William Grant portfolio — known widely for single malt classics like Glenfiddich, The Balvenie, and Kininvie. This blend is noted for its easy-to-drink and easy-to-mix flavor profile.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll likely get hints of dried orange peel, cinnamon, charred oak, and sweet vanilla. Take a sip and you’ll be immersed in a world of clover honey, caramelized sugar, dried fruits, and winter spices. The finish is medium in length and ends with a final flourish of oak and caramel.
Bottom Line:
Monkey Shoulder will become your go-to cocktail mixer. Use it for penicillin, Scotch sours, and rusty nails — or any other cocktail that you’re hankering for.
For a long time, there was only one name in the Tennessee whiskey landscape: Jack Daniel’s. But for me, it’s George Dickel that I want on my bar cart. Its No. 8 is its flagship whiskey. Made by Master Distiller Nicole Austin, the whiskey is known for its double distillation, charcoal mellowing (the famed Lincoln County Process), and high-corn flavor.
Tasting Notes:
Take a moment to breathe in the aromas of charred oak, subtle vanilla, and spicy cinnamon. The palate is piled high with notes of butter cookies, allspice, and creamy caramel. A nice, warming finish of subtle cinnamon and brown sugar closes things out peacefully.
Bottom Line:
If you’re looking for something from Tennessee, Dickel will not disappoint. This easily findable whiskey is cheap, sweet, and perfect for mixing.
There are much better-known Japanese brands than Mars Shinshu, but most of them are also a lot more expensive. This offering has gained a following in the last few years because of its well-balanced, fruity flavor that appeals to scotch, Japanese whisky, and bourbons fans.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’re met with scents of caramel apples, dried fruits, and sweet vanilla. The palate swims in brown sugar, creamy caramel, sweet chocolate, and sticky toffee pudding depths. The finish is long, filled with pleasing heat, and ends with a nice final note of caramelized sugar.
Bottom Line:
If you’re going to add a Japanese whisky to your rotation, grab a bottle of Mars Shinshu Iwai 45 before demand drives up the price. The whisky really highlights the subtlety of the style while also serving a solid mixer and sipper.
Ask any bartender for a bargain, bottled-in-bond selection and they’ll mention Old Grand-Dad. A member of Jim Beam’s “The Olds” expressions (along with Old Overholt Rye and Old Crow), this bonded bourbon is a must-have for your bar cart because of its versatility and mixability thanks to a slightly higher ABV and a hefty rye measure in the mash bill.
Tasting Notes:
Your nose will be greeted with hints of candied orange peels, toasted vanilla beans, and a big ol’ dose of charred wood. The palate is a menagerie of crème Brulee, citrus zest, buttery caramel, and, to finish, a subtle dose of cracked black pepper.
Bottom Line:
It’s always good to have a high-proof whiskey in your bar cart for mixing into old fashioneds, Manhattans, whiskey sours, and every other mixed drink you enjoy. This also works well on the rocks or with a splash of Coca-Cola or ginger ale.
It should be noted that peated whisky isn’t for everyone. It’s smoky, rich, and a little over-the-top for some drinkers. If you already enjoy peated scotch, we think you can’t do much better (for the price) than Lagavulin 16. While it is squarely in the peat arena, it still has a complex mix of whisky notes that keep us coming back again and again.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find scents of herbal tea, sweet vanilla, and a healthy dose of rich peat smoke (think a campfire by the beach). The sip serves up notes of dried cherries, raisins, and sweet treacle. A final, warming gulp of brine, peat, and smoky charred oak comes at the close.
Bottom Line:
If you’re a fan of smoky whisky, you should have a bottle of a Lagavulin 16. It’s a nice, smoky, warming dram on a cool night. If you’re not a fan of smoky whisky (or not sure), this is still a good place to enter the peaty side of the whisky world.
Historically, Canada hasn’t received much respect in the whisky world (even though the much-beloved WhistlePig is mostly Canadian whisky … go figure). That’s been changing over the past few years, thanks to a handful of distillers, tasters, and blenders cranking out award-winning expressions. Pike Creek 10 is one of those offerings. It’s aged for ten years before being finished in rum barrels.
Tasting Notes:
Give this whisky a proper nosing and you’ll find notes of spicy rye, sweet caramel, and a nice, nutty sweetness. Take a sip and you’ll be treated to hints of creamy vanilla, spicy cinnamon, allspice, and a nice, gentle, sweet rum finish.
Bottom Line:
If you want to up your Canadian whisky game, grab a bottle of this complex, highly sippable expression. It’s also a very affordable whisky, with a lot going on — making it a great workhorse whisky for your mixing and sipping.
Teeling is a big name in the Irish whiskey world. Its Small Batch is their flagship expression. This blend of grain and malt whiskeys is aged in ex-bourbon casks before finishing in rum barrels. The result is a well-rounded, sweet, smooth whiskey that belongs in a permanent position on your bar cart.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll be greeted with aromas of baked apples, dried fruits, cinnamon, and orange peels. The palate is ripe with creamy custard, lemon zest, cooking spices, and buttery caramel. The finish is long, warming, and ends with a final note of brown sugar and spice.
Bottom Line:
Always keep a reasonably priced Irish whiskey like Teeling Small Batch on hand for sipping, mixed drinks, and a classic Irish coffee.
As a Drizly affiliate, Uproxx may receive a commission pursuant to certain items on this list.
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