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For as much as being a part of the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe can bog down some of its more stellar films (see our Black Widow review), there’s one way in which being an MCU movie is a huge asset to all their beloved characters: spinoff series. While not every hero and villain is lucky enough to get their very own solo film, Black Widow star David Harbour (who you might also know as Stranger Things‘ Hopper) has his fingers crossed.

According to an Insider interview, Harbour is hoping to reprise his role as the Red Guardian and is “down for more” appearances in the MCU. When asked just where he’d like his character’s story to go, Harbour even offered up a few ideas:

“I have two ideas. One is seeing Red Guardian back in his prime. That’s interesting to me. But the other is going off this story, having this experience with Natasha and having this beautiful end when he takes her hand and says “I can’t even speak to you because I would mess it up.” When he finds out that she was on that cliff with Hawkeye and maybe the version of the story he hears is that Hawkeye pushed her off or something, it’s a moment when Red Guardian turns back to the guy he was. He now wants vengeance for her. That I feel would play well.”

Considering Black Widow broke pandemic box office records and had some pretty major stars in its supporting roles (Florence Pugh, Rachel Weisz…), it might not be too much of a stretch to assume they will be popping up again in the coming years. Who knows, we could even see David Harbour make an appearance in the upcoming Hawkeye series coming to Disney+ which, thanks to Black Widow, we now know more about — including why Black Widow‘s Yelena (Pugh) will be in it. In the meantime, it looks like we’ll have to binge a whole lot of Stranger Things and watch Black Widow on repeat to get more of Harbour killing it as everyone’s favorite awkwardly charming fathers.

In 2018, Nicole Austin landed a hell of a gig at Cascade Hollow Distilling (formerly George Dickel Distillery) — taking on the dual role of General Manager and Head Distiller. This dream job didn’t come through happenstance. Austin has a degree in Chemical Engineering from Manhattan College, which led to her becoming the Master Blender for Kings County Distillery in New York in 2010 — where she helped define the award-winning whiskey’s style. Her whiskey knowledge runs deep and her time at Cascade Hollow has already helped reshape the future of one of the most iconic Tennessee whiskey brands.

Austin’s got her work cut out for her, though, as George Dickel’s path has been pretty bumpy over the years. The former late-1800s grocery store blend saw great highs pre-Prohibition. But over the past century, it’s been shuttered, born again, shuttered a second time, and changed hands. In Austin, the company has found a leader who is cognizant of its history while remaining tapped into the 21st-century whiskey scene. She’s also willing to take risks — a spirit that was underscored by the release of George Dickel Bourbon just this year, though the shingle has long been associated with “Tennessee whiskey.”

When you speak to Austin about the juice coming off her stills and resting in rickhouses in Tullahoma, Tennessee, you can feel that you’re speaking to someone who is craft-oriented. Recently, I chatted with her about how she navigates warehouses full of whiskey she didn’t make but has to blend, the state of whiskey’s regionality, and what excites her on the horizons.

What’s the difference between Cascade Hollow Distilling and George Dickel?

It’s a good question. The distillery is in a valley, called Cascade Hollow, which is the site of the original distillery. George Dickel, the Tennessee Whiskey brand, has been around since 1870. And George himself actually ran the general store in the city of Nashville. He was a German immigrant and he and his wife, Augusta, ran the store together. And as was quite common at that time, the folk would buy whiskey and spirits from local distilleries, small farm distilleries, or larger operations all over. And they would blend it or flavor it at the store and sell it under their own brand. This was very typical in the mid to late 1800s.

So George Dickel Tennessee Whiskey is the brand, right?

Right.

The distillery, Cascade Hollow, produces whiskey mainly for George Dickel, but of course, you can have other brands that come out of there. That’s particularly common in the U.S. — to have several different whiskey brands that originate from the same distillery. They could be made the same way and blended differently, or possibly the distillery could run different mashes at different times to make different things.

So when you’re looking at your operations, you know George Dickel’s going to take up X amount of time, but then also we have to get enough barrels for other products or brands. How do you look at your day-to-day when you’re balancing all of that?

It’s one of the most challenging things. For a year, you’re making a plan of how to make Tennessee whiskey, what we need, how much time could we spend making other things? And you kind of have to predict — because whiskey takes a long time — so you have to predict five, ten, 20 years in the future what you think you’re going to need and produce against that.

It’s actually quite a complex process. Obviously, you lose whiskey every year. It’s just evaporation that’s called the angel share. So you have to plan, how much do I need to distill today to sell the amount I think I’ll need to sell of that product in four years? And that’s different than the amount you need to distill today to sell something in eight years since the angel’s share is going to be different.

When you look at the older barrels in your warehouses, you’re dealing with juice that was laid down before you were the distiller. Do you ever go back into those and sort of find, “I get what you were going for here, but this isn’t quite what we’re going for now”? Or are you surprised by all the gems? How do you process dealing with some else’s whiskey that you have to build your whiskey on?

It’s a bit of both. Plans change, right? And when you look into the crystal ball and try and predict the future, we’re hardly ever right. So you always have to deal with that.

It’s always the question of, “how do you take what you have and try and do the best job you can do to make it fit the whiskey that you want to make today?” And some of that is exactly as you describe it, discovering some gems, that you’re like, “man, those barrels have been sitting there for a while. Just because they didn’t fit Dickel 12, they’re still lovely!” So, maybe I can come up with a brand that could utilize them better.

And then sometimes it’s instances of balance, right? What’s important right now, and how do I use the whiskey to its best potential?

So how does that apply to George Dickel in the bottle?

I would say at George Dickel, we have some extra challenges because this distillery has such a checkered history. It’s been shut down, then turned back on at various times. It’s passed through different ownership. And it’s always been a little bit of an underdog, sort of under-appreciated brand.

That all makes the challenge particularly difficult in this case — because it’s not an even, steady supply, which makes it even harder to sort those things out. This is why I’ve done a lot of one-offs, limited-time offerings. Those are the whiskeys that I can be confident in the quality of but wasn’t necessarily making any promises about repeatability. That’s one of the reasons I could release the Dickel Bourbon, because I had to get to that place of being confident that not only could I make this one blend once, but that I had the whiskey to be able to repeat that again next year.

What was the process behind you putting together a bourbon, as opposed to a Tennessee whiskey release?

When I took the role here, my job didn’t exist before. Various people have held different titles, like Head Distiller over the years. But this particular role of being a General Manager and Distiller has responsibilities on the brand, marketing, and sales sides, as well as production. Because of that, I had this unique position and this unique opportunity to make sure that nothing changes — make sure that Dickel 12 stays the same every year and that Dickel classic tastes the same every year, which is actually quite hard to do. When I came in, I had to look holistically at everything and think about what’s the best way to use this whiskey?

So I did a massive review of literally every aging lot that we had in our warehouse that was over four years old. It was thousands of samples, which was fun. But on the back of that, I was able to get a better understanding of what we had and what these whiskeys might be capable of.

I didn’t come in necessarily with any ideas of what I wanted to achieve. What I wanted to understand was what do we have in our warehouses, and then start to make notes and kind of think about where that could lead.

I started to notice we had a lot of whiskeys that, to me, reminded me a lot more of a typical balanced lovely bourbon. I think that had I not come around, their destination would have been to be blended in against those bigger, bolder barrels and sort of lost forever. I thought, what a shame. They’re really lovely on their own. They deserved their own bottle to shine.

So because I had the opportunity, also as the general manager, I was able to make that happen. I said to the team, “I think we should go create this new brand of Dickel Bourbon.” I chose to use that word because I felt like it was the most honest description of what’s in the bottle, it tells someone who’d buy it exactly what they can expect it to taste like, which is a lovely balanced bourbon, vanilla forward, toffee, some fruit and cherry notes. It’s what you would expect from a nice bourbon.

I’m a huge fan of Tennessee whiskey. I grew up in the era where Tennessee whiskey is what you had on your home bar, and Kentucky bourbon is what you kept in the garage under the sink for when you were on your own.

The good old days.

There was a clear differential in the quality and there still is that today, no matter how much marketing from Kentucky is used. Do you feel like you’re fighting against the barrage of how mammoth Kentucky bourbon has become? Or are you just like, “Fuck it, I’m doing my own thing and the whiskey is going to speak for itself?” Or is it even something you worry about?

I definitely do worry about and pay attention to that. I will fully admit that when I was first becoming really passionate about whiskey, Tennessee whiskey was not a category that I really paid much attention to. I really wasn’t paying much attention to it until where we were trying to create our own regional designation in New York in the form of Empire Rye. And that really forces you to sit down and really think about what the value of a regional identity really is.

It’s really quite hard to do. So that’s when I looked at Tennessee whiskey because they had historically been so successful at it. But in some ways, I think they were almost too successful at separating themselves from bourbon. Because, of course, Tennessee whiskey is bourbon, right?

Right.

The foundation of the Tennessee whiskey’s rules literally copies and pastes the bourbon statute. So Tennessee whiskey is a regional identity of bourbon that utilizes the Lincoln County Process and is made in the state of Tennessee. And I think that thread was lost a little bit.

I’ve been talking about that for a few years, but I think a lot of real bourbon enthusiasts are maybe missing out on some of these really excellent, beautiful bourbons because they’re sold under the “Tennessee whiskey” moniker, and they think that that’s somehow something different. So I think that connection has value, and I definitely believe there’s room for everything to exist in the world. I think it’s exciting that the shelf is getting more diverse.

We’re getting all these regional designations, it’s fun. It’s more good whiskey in the world. Why would you not want that?

You come from the craft world and you can see what’s happening in Washington, Texas, back in New York, Indiana, etcetera. What have you seen recently that’s excited you about the direction of whiskey or distilling?

You know what excited me recently, I was a judge for the American Craft Spirits Association for their competition and there was a whole category of hopped whiskeys. There are a lot of historic roots of using hops in whiskey. But I totally admit, I always kind of rolled my eyes at it. It was like, these don’t taste good and they’re never going to taste good. And I was judging them and there was one that was amazing, Wigle Hopped Whiskey. It tasted so good.

That’s what I love about what’s happening in American craft spirits right now: It’s surprising. For everything you think you know right now about whiskey, there’s probably someone out there right now plotting how to defy you. I take great delight in that. I love to be proved wrong.

Chvrches have unveiled a new single, “Good Girls.” It’s the latest preview of their highly anticipated fourth LP, Screen Violence, and follows earlier single “How Not To Drown” featuring The Cure’s Robert Smith.

A glistening, reverb-heavy track containing feminist themes, “Good Girls” appears to echo the lyrics from Frankie Valli’s “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” with lead singer Lauren Mayberry singing, “Good girls don’t cry / And good girls don’t lie / And good girls justify but I don’t / Good girls don’t die / And good girls stay alive / And good girls satisfy but I won’t.”

Opening up about the single, Mayberry said in a release:

“The opening line (‘killing your idols is a chore’) was something I wrote after listening to some friends arguing about the present day implications of loving certain problematic male artists — I was struck by the lengths that people would go to in order to excuse their heroes and how that was so juxtaposed to my own experiences in the world. Women have to constantly justify their right to exist and negotiate for their own space. We’re told that Bad Things don’t happen to Good Girls. That if you curate yourself to fit the ideal — keep yourself small and safe and acceptable — you will be alright, and it’s just not f*cking true.”

Check out “Good Girls” above.

Screen Violence is out 8/27 via Glassnote Records. Pre-order it here.

There’s some unofficial rule out there in the comic-book movie realm that says this: part of the game of playing a superhero (or supervillain or antihero) means that Instagramming one’s “jacked” physicality is part of the game. Well, The Rock (who is generally ripped already, every day) is taking those “jacked” photos very seriously. He recently posted a rear view photo of his pumped-up state, and his legs are looking more ripped than usual, and it’s (partially) because he’s finally shooting his long-gestating Shazam! spinoff, Black Adam.

The Rock previously wrote that he’s invested “[a]lmost two years of hard core, intense training, diet, character prep and execution” on this antihero role, and now, The Rock’s getting real by ever-so-slightly shading those who cut corners to look jacked in their superhero costumes. Yep, he’s posting another view from the back to do so, although this one isn’t as cheeky. More relevantly, he’s pointing out the “the intricate and beautiful textured detail” of Black Adam’s body suit while adding that “(this is not your typical DC or Marvel padded muscle suit).”

Well… fair enough? Sure, it sounds a little braggy, but The Rock is nonetheless beloved. People love him when he’s in the ring calling people “jabronis” and shouting about what he’s “cooking.” They’re still gonna love him when he’s bragging about his muscles because, hey, he does the work. However, I find it very hard to understand what’s going on in the below photo. The Rock made sure to tell everyone that he got up early enough to smile at 3:46 am, which is… whew. I hope The Rock finds some time to relax.

There are plenty of absurd dating shows in paradise to watch these days, with the Bachelor franchise dipping into that aesthetic yearly and Too Hot To Handle horning it up on Netflix. But HBO Max wants in on the mix, which is why they sent Nikki Glaser to paradise with a bunch of dudes to film FBoy Island.

We now have a trailer for FBoy Island, and boy does it live up to the expectations the subject matter requires these days. There are hunky dudes in swim trunks, eligible ladies picking between them, and a “twist” of sorts: some of these guys are nice, while the other ones aren’t nearly as nice!

“He’s really cute but he looks like he’s going to ruin my life,” one of the three women tasked with nice guy-hunting says at one point.

There’s lots of fella footage here while Lizzo’s “Boys” fittingly plays in the background. And while there’s a montage of guys saying “bro” and astute observations like “he looks like a guy that has two phones” there’s also a brief clip of a man apparently smashing a mango, or some sort of stone fruit, with just his bicep.

I mean, what more do you really need to see here? Sure, there’s a cash prize on the line, which means deception and what will almost certainly be a thorough exploration of who is Here For The Right Reasons. But if we’re going to see fruit explode due to muscle twitches in the trailer, the sky’s the limit to the shenanigans here.

FBoy Island starts streaming on HBO Max on July 29.

On July 13 and 14, BTS will enjoy a two-night run on The Tonight Show, guesting on both the Tuesday and Wednesday episodes this week. It turns out that when they visit Jimmy Fallon tomorrow, the group will still have the No. 1 song in the country: On the newest Billboard Hot 100 chart, dated July 17, “Butter” is still No. 1 and continues its seemingly unending run.

The song is now in its seventh week in the top spot. During the tracking week reflected on the chart (ending July 8), “Butter” enjoyed 29.1 million radio airplay audience impressions (an increase of 6 percent) and 10.8 million streams in the US. Additionally, it sold 108,800 copies.

The band wrote on Twitter, “We can’t believe this is really happening to us [crying emoji] Thank you SO MUCH x.”

Aside from BTS, another group that’s excited about the success of “Butter” is the American Butter Institute. Alan Bjerga, the institute’s Chief of Communications, recently told Billboard, “My main reaction was, ‘Great!’ It obviously doesn’t hurt to have your product associated with the top band’s song of the summer. […] The future of US butter sales is in exports, and to have arguably the biggest band on the globe giving a thumbs-up in song can’t be anything but good.”

It’s always interesting to look at the best-selling spirits in the world. In part, because the numbers may surprise you. Case in point, the world’s best-selling American whiskey is outsold by White Claw almost six-to-one. To put that in a different light, that same whiskey was only the 14th best-selling alcohol or spirit in the world in 2020. American whiskey doesn’t even break into the top ten on the world stage. In fact, there are shingles from Kentucky and Scotland that seem huge but fail to crack the top 150 best-selling booze brands worldwide.

Today, we’re looking at the eight U.S. whiskeys among the top 150 brands sold, globally. This isn’t about hype or exposure. This is about the actual bottles of whiskey going out into the world and available on shelves.

We’re also calling out our favorite expressions from each specific brand, if the brand produces multiple bottles. Yes, that’s slightly confusing. Look at it this way: Beam Suntory is a company that owns a lot of distilleries. One of those distilleries is Jim Beam, which makes several brands of whiskey. The only one of those brands to make this list, according to global sales, is Jim Beam Bourbon, which has a few expressions it sends out under that exact brand name. (Whereas you might see all “Jim Beam” as one brand, the company doesn’t.)

If any of these expressions from the big brands pique your interest, click on their prices to give them a shot yourself. You know they’re all easy to find.

8. Wild Turkey (1.7 million cases) — Rare Breed

ABV: 58.4%

Average Price: $50

The Whiskey:

This is the mountaintop of what Wild Turkey can achieve. This is a blend of the best barrels that are married and bottled untouched. That means no filtering and no cutting with water. This is a classic bourbon with nowhere to hide.

Tasting Notes:

Crème brûlée greets you, paired with a nice dose of Christmas spices, mild pipe tobacco, orange zest, and a distant hint of fresh mint sprigs. There’s a pine resin nature to the woody flavors on the palate that accents the orange oils, spices, vanilla, and sweetness. The sip takes on a Christmas cake-feel late, with a velvet finish that embodies just the right amount of everything you want from a bourbon.

Bottom Line:

While Wild Turkey’s line is full of greats, this really is the best of the best. This is one of the most sippable, deeply flavored, and accessible bottles on this list. It’s also easily half the price of what it should/could be for the quality alone.

7. Bulliet Frontier Whiskey (1.8 million cases) — Bulleit 10

ABV: 45.6%

Average Price: $50

The Whiskey:

This is classic Bulleit Bourbon that’s aged for ten years. The juice is still sourced (likely from Four Roses) and is crafted by Bulliet’s master blenders in-house. There’s really not much more to say than that those extra years really dial this bourbon into something unique and very tasty.

Tasting Notes:

This is bourbon with a capital “B.” There are rushes of Christmas spices next to savory herbs, butter-soaked sourdough, and cinnamon-baked apples in maple syrup. Hints of vanilla, toasted oak, and maybe even dried flowers lurk beneath the surface as all that spice, buttery toffee, and soft-yet-sweet fruit fill your senses.

Bottom Line:

This is an easy-sipper to have on hand. It has those classic bourbon characteristics that will feel familiar while still offering a little more.

6. Seagram’s 7 (1.9 million cases) — Seagram’s 7 Crown Blended Whiskey

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $15

The Whiskey:

Seagram’s 7 Crown is an old-school blended whiskey. The blend is 25 percent bourbon cut with 75 percent neutral grain spirit. That’s then vatted and cut down to a very palatable 80 proof.

Tasting Notes:

This is a little warm on the nose with touches of Granny Smith apples, cinnamon sugar, and a touch of lemon oil. The flavor stays hot on the tongue with a little bit of that citrus coming through, not unlike a vodka, with a touch of the apple. The end is short and hot and leaves you with a tinny bitterness.

Bottom Line:

This has its place as a mixer with sugary soda and… that’s about it. It tastes and feels like it was created for a different era and it’s hard to go back that far to understand why.

5. Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey (2 million cases)

ABV: 35%

Average Price: $38 (one-liter bottle)

The Whiskey:

Jack Daniel’s starts by making a honey liqueur. They then add in their signature Tennessee whiskey to create a mixing liqueur with a touch of whiskey taste.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a lot of vanilla cream on the nose. In fact, it’s almost exactly like a box of Jell-O vanilla pudding but thin like it was made with skim milk. The taste is not that at all — it’s all about the very sweet honey hard candies. The mid-palate lurches back towards that vanilla cream which doesn’t feel quite right with the honey candy. The end is very short and very sweet but more vanilla than honey.

Bottom Line:

If you dig overly sweet-flavored whiskey, then this might be your jam. It is sweet but does have clear notes of both honey and vanilla that feel very real. Still… it’s saccharine as Saturday cartoons.

Note: Jack Daniel’s Tennesse Honey is actually a standalone brand with only one expression to its name. In fact, stand-alone brands from Jack Daniel’s actually make the list four times (two of them are ready-to-drink premixes), affirming Jack Daniel’s power worldwide to still pull serious name recognition.

4. Maker’s Mark (2.4 million cases) — Maker’s 101

ABV: 50.5%

Average Price: $42

The Whiskey:

This is Maker’s Mark classic wheated bourbon that’s bottled at “a higher proof” to bring about a “richer flavor.” Well, that’s what the label says anyway.

Tasting Notes:

This is a bowl of stewed apple over vanilla ice cream that’s been drizzled with extra caramel. The taste really focuses on that caramel, with hints of oak next to roasted almonds, cinnamon, nutmeg, and dry wicker.

Bottom Line:

This wheated bourbon really shines with a higher proof. The classic Maker’s elements are all in play but are slightly brighter. This is also a great crossover whiskey between on the rocks sipper and a wonderful cocktail base.

3. Evan Williams (3 million cases) — Evan Williams Bottled-in-Bond

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $18

The Whiskey:

The juice is standard Evan Williams that’s barreled in a federally overseen warehouse. Then, after those barrels are blended, the juice is just brought down to 100 proof, allowing a bit more of that Heaven Hill craft to shine in the bottle.

Tasting Notes:

This opens with a dry cornmeal base next to salted caramel, rich vanilla, and a touch of oak. The palate adds in whiffs of black pepper next to musty cellar wood and a hint of spicy, chewy tobacco. The end is short-ish while highlighting the sweet cornmeal, spicy tobacco, and rich vanilla.

Bottom Line:

You can’t go wrong with this cheap, everyday bottle. It’s a great shooter, highball base, and cocktail mixer. It also wins in that you can drink it on the rocks and never be disappointed.

2. Jim Beam (10.7 million cases) — Jim Beam Bonded

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $22

The Whiskey:

This bourbon is Jim Beam’s high watermark when it comes to Kentucky bourbon. The juice is aged in a bottled-in-bond facility for four years where it’s also bottled at 100 proof with no bullshit. This is the standard Beam bourbon mash bill (77 percent corn, 13 percent rye, and ten percent malted barley) but there’s just something extra happening that makes this expression shine.

Tasting Notes:

This bourbon beckons you in with notes of toasted oak, red cherry, and vanilla. That leads to fresh honey, sweet caramel corn, rich toffee, bold vanilla, crisp apple, more of that red cherry, peppery spice, and a note of fresh mint. With a little water, the dram edges towards bitter dark chocolate with a nice billow of pipe tobacco while holding onto the mint, toffee, and vanilla oakiness.

The end is long, meandering, and full of warmth, fruit, spice, and bourbon goodness.

Bottom Line:

This takes Beam to the next level for a seriously cheap price. It’s refined in the sense that it knows exactly what it is and holds on tightly to its signature Beam characteristics while making each one shine a little more vividly.

1. Jack Daniel’s (12.3 million cases) — Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Barrel Proof

ABV: Varies

Average Price: $65

The Whiskey:

Where the Single Barrel Select is cut with soft limestone water to bring it down to proof, this is the straight juice from the barrel. These barrels are all hand-selected from the rickhouses. What’s left from the angel’s share then goes straight into the bottle.

That means the ABVs and tasting notes for this bottle will vary depending on which bottle you snag.

Tasting Notes:

Expect an experience that’s full of rich vanilla, caramel, and toasted oak, next to a rush of spice. The sip should have a mix of that vanilla, oak, and spice with a nice dose of bright fruits and a texture that’s more velvet than liquid. The end really holds onto that vibe as the mild spice, toasted oak, rich vanilla, and almost maple syrup sweetness slowly fade across your senses.

Bottom Line:

There’s a fair amount of Jack Daniel’s to sip on (and mix) out there. This is the high-water mark from the entire company. This bottle is endlessly sippable and just affordable enough to make for a killer mixer for any cocktail.

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As a Drizly affiliate, Uproxx may receive a commission pursuant to certain items on this list.

Shohei Ohtani has become baseball’s biggest star in 2021, as he does things for the Angels that no one has done in MLB since Babe Ruth, leading the league in home runs with 33 while posting a 3.49 ERA in 13 starts on the mound. He is a two-way superstar, earning an All-Star nod as both a pitcher and position player, and is also going to compete in the Home Run Derby, making it one of the most anticipated Derbys in recent history. He’s also going to start as the American League’s pitcher and bat leadoff on Tuesday.

All of this is to say, Ohtani is a superstar and every time he hits another mammoth home run it gets shared far and wide across social media. With ESPN set to carry the Derby where he is the undoubted face, one would think they’d look to their biggest program to build more excitement for the Ohtani show. However, on First Take, the debate on Monday wasn’t about Ohtani’s skills on the field but instead Stephen A. Smith offering a xenophobic argument that it’s bad for baseball that he’s the face of the sport when he communicates to English-speaking reporters through an interpreter.

The full segment, which can be viewed here, isn’t any better, and Smith’s comments immediately went viral for all the wrong reasons and have brought rightful fury his way for trotting out old, racist tropes about foreign players. ESPN’s Joon Lee, in particular, offered a thread explaining exactly why Stephen A.’s comments were so hurtful and wrong.

Others also chimed in, pointing out how dreadful the First Take segment was and how Smith’s comments also were just flat-out wrong given the immense popularity of Ohtani and how he’s brought more eyes to baseball by the sheer magnetism of his play on the field.

Many pointed out that Smith had a segment on his ESPN+ show last week talking about how baseball wasn’t doing enough to market Ohtani, and then turned around on the show where he has the biggest platform and trotted out this horrible argument as to why it’s bad for baseball that Ohtani could be the face of the sport.

There are a lot of things that could’ve been said in this space that would’ve been far more productive. Hell, just talking about how great Ohtani is for five minutes over clips of all of his ridiculous home runs and his filthy pitching would’ve done plenty to help out baseball in marketing its best player, which Smith seems so incredibly concerned about. That he at one point even asks how many times they’ve talked about him on the show only further proves how disingenuous his point is, as they could very easily talk about Ohtani more if they simply wanted to.

Instead, they crossed the line into the ugliest side of the sports discourse in America when it comes to foreign players, which so often focuses on language barriers when what we are told is so great about sports is that it transcends boundaries and backgrounds. What you do on the field is supposed to be the thing that matters the most, and Ohtani does things no one has seen in this lifetime, so why not celebrate those and enjoy that he is clearly a larger than life personality who has such clear joy for the game while on the field that we don’t need him to necessarily articulate that to us afterwards — which he also happily does through an interpreter, which isn’t a difficult thing to deal with at all despite what some will try to tell you.

After having to postpone last year’s “Tour For You” due to the pandemic, Tinashe has announced “The 333 Tour,” kicking off this September. Rei Ami will join the R&B star as an opener on all dates. The experience also be available to watch for those not in attendance; wrapping up the dates will be a “worldwide digital experience,” aka “a full-length creative production specially crafted for at-home fans around the world, in partnership with Moment House.”

Last week, Tinashe released “Pasadena” featuring Buddy, the duo’s second collaboration following last August’s “Glitch.” In the press release for the video, Tinashe said she “felt a very strong calling to release music that feels like joy, excitement, and freedom” after the past year “to contribute positive energy to the universe.” “I wrote and recorded the song Pasadena in my home in Los Angeles with a bold, bouncing tempo that makes me want to dance,” she recalled. “The song is about growth, family, and the feelings I get when I visit the area I grew up in — energetic and nostalgic, but hopeful.”

Tickets to ‘The 333 Tour’ go on sale starting 7/16, and pre-sale tickets & VIP packages go on sale 7/13. Get tickets here and find the full list of dates below.

09/16 — Houston, TX @ House of Blues
09/18 — Austin, TX @ Emo’s
09/19 — Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
09/21 — Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
09/22 — Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave
09/24 — Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
09/27 — Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre
09/28 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Roxian Theatre
09/29 — Boston, MA @ Big Night Live
09/30 — New York, NY @ Terminal 5
10/03 — Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
10/06 — Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theatre
10/07 — St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
10/09 — Denver, CO @ Summit
10/10 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
10/12 — Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
10/14 — Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
10/15 — San Diego, CA @ The Observatory
10/16 — Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory
10/17 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Novo
10/19 — San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
10/21 — Seattle, WA @ Showbox SODO
10/24 — worldwide @ Moment House

Despite widespread rumors to the contrary, Black Widow was noticeably free of Avengers cameos as the film stood strong on its promise of delivering a truly standalone story featuring Scarlett Johansson‘s Natasha Romanov. Well, as standalone as you can get in the Marvel Cinematic Universe considering the movie takes place between the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. That’s a delicate needle to thread, but director Cate Shortland pulled it off as she weaved a tight family drama into the backdrop of the MCU.

In a new interview, Shortland praises Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige for making the call to not burden Black Widow with MCU cameos, which were in the mix. Notably, there were online reports of Robert Downey Jr. making an appearance, and more fittingly, Jeremy Renner‘s Hawkeye was also rumored to show up in a flashback that would explore the infamous Budapest mission that was referenced in the first Avengers film. Ultimately, neither cameo happened, and Shortland explains why the movie was stronger for it. Via Total Film:

“Initially, there was discussions about everything, about all of the different characters,” she tells GamesRadar+ and Total Film. “What we decided was, and I think Kevin was really great, he said, ‘She doesn’t need the boys.’ We didn’t want it to feel like she needs the support. We want her to stand alone. And she does.”

To Feige and Shortland’s credit, Black Widow flew into theaters and immediately knocked out F9 to become the highest-grossing movie since the pandemic started. It also brought an impressive haul on Disney+ with Premier Access, which could have a big impact on hybrid release strategies and theatrical windows moving forward.

(Via Total Film)