GoneTrending

As Major League Baseball hits its All-Star break, the topic of the day for many fans around the sport was injuries. Some notable players begged off actually playing in the game, for example, as they want to rest or rehab injuries. And one team hoping to avoid disaster on the field and failing was the Atlanta Braves, who saw star Ronald Acuña Jr. go down on Saturday and need to be carted off the field.

The visuals were awful all around, as Acuña injured his right knee going after a fly ball in right field in the bottom of the fifth inning against the Miami Marlins. Acuña tried to stand and walk off under his own power but could not, bringing concerned members of the team and eventually the injury cart to his spot in the field.

As Acuña lay in pain on the field and a number of other Braves players went over to both check on him and retrieve the ball, Jazz Chisholm Jr. turned the play into an inside-the-park home run. Which is probably why the Marlins tweeted about the run-scoring play, including video of what clearly looks like a pretty serious injury to another team’s opponent with the phrase “Want to see Jazz hit an inside-the-park home run?”

The run made the score 5-3 Braves, but the tweet was widely seen as celebrating the injury of a significant piece to Atlanta’s postseason run and insensitive to say the least.

The Marlins account quickly deleted the tweet, but fans shared screenshots and criticized the account throughout the evening. The post had some extra curious context to it, as earlier in the series, Acuña had complained to umpires after being hit by a pitch. It was the second straight game the star got chin music, adding to the tension between the two clubs to say the least.

Absolutely no one should want to see players get hurt, especially ones as talented and fun to watch as Acuña. Hopefully whoever thought this run was worth celebrating with a post, especially given the context, will give the idea of tweeting something like that a second thought in the future.

Quentin Tarantino is a student of filmmaking as much as he is an actual filmmaker. His astute understanding of the business, for example, is one of the reasons he cites when explaining his impending retirement from directing. And someone as well-versed in cinema history as the Once Upon A Time In Hollywood director certainly understands notable industry trends.

Which is probably why he was asked about Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the HBO Max-launched four-hour epic reframing of the DC Universe team-up film that was the talk of Hollywood earlier in the year. Interestingly, though, the director had a much more positive answer about the whole endeavor than many who’ve publicly commented on the project. And those who have, well, actually seen the Snyder Cut in its entirety.

In an interview with Cinema Blend, the director admitted that he hasn’t seen the Snyder Cut just yet, but he’s interested in seeing it eventually. That’s because he found the whole thing “really groovy” in general.

“Well, I haven’t seen it because I don’t have HBO Max, but that’s something I would like to see. I never saw it when it was at the theaters, but I’d be kind of curious to see this four-hour, you know, his original version on that,” Tarantino said. “No, I actually thought that was really groovy. And I actually thought the fans were really groovy, the fact they kept persisting on it and everything,”

That persistence came by fans essentially tweeting the project into existence after years of social media protesting and pestering to see Snyder’s vision for the film that was first released under Joss Whedon’s guidance after the former left the project. While some may have been bristled by all that “persisting,” Tarantino apparently found the process interesting to watch.

Tarantino understands the value of going back and revisiting old work, though. He revealed recently that he debated remaking Reservoir Dogs as his final film instead of whatever’s coming next for his supposed swan song. Either way, it’s interesting to see Tarantino praise Snyder’s work here, even if he hasn’t actually seen how it all turned out.

[via ComicBook.com]

On Friday, Vince Staples ended the nearly three-year-long stretch that he went without releasing a full-length project to fans. The Long Beach native shared his official third album, Vince Staples, and it arrived following weeks of frequent headline-making comments and interviews from the rapper.

Vince continues that streak with a recent sit-down with The Independent where he shared his thoughts on the current landscape of the music industry and how some rapper use gang affiliation to boost their rise and appeal in hip-hop.

“This is a business where we monetize people’s struggles, pain, death and murder,” he said. “If you’re a kid from a situation, and you feel the only way that you will get out of the situation where there’s immense poverty or bad home life or low self-esteem is by doing this thing that everyone is selling, you’re going to try to sell that thing.”

He added, “We’ve seen people market and distribute death and destruction within our communities for decades; they do these things because it gets attention. What do we really expect when we give people millions of dollars to say they’re tough? They’re gonna say they’re tough. It’s common sense.”

The rapper also pointed out that rather than focus on the individuals doing good, the media instead choose to pay attention to those who fit a “bad boy” image.

“These people who do the wrong thing are always brought up [by the media], but no one who’s done the right things has been mentioned,” he said.

Vince Staples is out now via Blacksmith Recordings/Motown Records. Pre-order it here.

Good news for the Italian national team: Football is not coming home.

Ok, well, that’s not quite true, at least not yet. Frank Skinner and David Baddiel, whose anthemic track “Three Lions (Football’s Coming Home)” has been belted out by supporters of the English national team during its run to the final of Euro 2020, will not be allowed to perform the track at Wembley Stadium prior to Sunday’s match against Italy.

“There was a suggestion that we sang (‘Three Lions’) on the pitch before the final on Sunday and UEFA said it was too partisan and not fair to the Italians to have that,” Skinner told English television show The Last Leg, according to Sky Sports. He did, however, make it a point to mention that “Andrea Bocelli sang ‘Nessun Dorma’” prior to the first match of the tournament, in which the Italians took on Turkey.

The song, originally released in 1996 to celebrate Euros taking place in England that year, has become ubiquitous as the team made its way through group play and the knockout stage. While the vowel at the end of this piece’s author’s last name does, indeed, mean he is biased towards the Azzurri on Sunday, “Three Lions (Football’s Coming Home)” is extremely catchy.

The good news, at least for those who like the track, is that we can expect to hear it on Sunday at Wembley Stadium, regardless. In a comment to Reuters, a UEFA spokesperson said, “The song ‘Three Lions’… is the fan song selected by the English Football Association, and will be played during the players’ warm-up, as has been the case for England’s previous matches.”

We’re still a few weeks away from the arrival of Billie Eilish’s second album, Happier Than Ever. It’s an effort the singer hopes will at least match the level of success of her debut effort, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?. So far the singer has released five singles ahead of her sophomore project’s arrival:“ My Future,” Lost Cause,” “Your Power,” “Therefore I Am,” and her latest effort, “NDA.” The new track came with a thrilling video that captured the singer in middle of a road as a group of cars race by her in different directions.

Just a day after she shared that video, Billie took to Instagram with some behind-the-scenes photos and videos from the video shoot for “NDA.”

“hope u liked it (also pls enjoy the fifth slide of my mom and team losing their minds being scared),” she captioned the post. One image displays the bruises the singer got on her knee as a result of falling down to the concrete in the video. Another slide shows the singer’s mom’s extremely worry as she watches 25 cars zoom by her daughter.

You check out the Instagram slides in the post above and revisit the “NDA” video here.

Happier Than Ever is out 7/30 via Interscope. Pre-order it here.

While legal troubles have kept Pooh Shiesty in the news, the Memphis native isn’t letting it stop him from sharing new content with fans. His latest release comes in the form of a new visual for “Switch It Up” with G Herbo and No More Heroes.

The video is quite the reverent effort as the trio gets busy on both the good and bad sides of the laws They accomplish some light flexing throughout the video while giving viewers a look into the not-so-good deeds they involve themselves in.

The song is housed on Shiesty’s spring deluxe edition of his debut album, Shiesty Season, which he released back in May. The project’s arrival came just before a string of low moments for the Memphis native. In the weeks that followed, the rapper would be arrested and charged for two separate shooting incidents in Miami, for both of which he was denied bond and remains in police custody. The first came during a club event where he allegedly shot someone after money was apparently stolen from him. This led to a charge of aggravated battery. The second came from a 2020 Miami robbery that went wrong and led to the rapper and a friend shooting two men. In this case, he was charged with discharging a firearm during a violent crime, conspiracy, and robbery under a law regulating commerce.

You can watch Pooh Shiesty’s new video above.

Pooh Shiesty is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

While it took him a little longer than he’d have liked, Chris Paul has finally gotten a team to the NBA Finals. And in the eyes of the star of the other team his Phoenix Suns are playing, what Paul has been able to do to get them to this point has been nothing short of amazing.

Giannis Antetokounmpo spoke to the media on Saturday afternoon and praised the way Paul has performed during his first year in Phoenix and his 16th in the league. While he stressed that “we gotta compete against him, we gotta make it as tough as possible for him” when they step onto the floor, Antetokounmpo took some time to marvel at the “high level” Paul’s played at during the Finals.

“It’s amazing, everything that he’s accomplished,” Antetokounmpo said. “It’s amazing that he can still play at a high level. Growing up, we all knew who Chris Paul was, but at the same time, you know you gotta go out there and compete. This is the NBA Finals, it’s the playoffs, you gotta compete against those guys. But, like, he’s a great player, and he’s proven it year after year after year, and he’s helping his team do some great stuff right now.”

Paul’s averaged 19.3 points and 8.7 assists per game this postseason, and while the sample size his small, he’s been even better through two Finals games — 27.5 points and 8.5 assists while connecting on 56.4 percent of his field goal attempts and 58.3 percent of his threes. It has been breathtaking to watch, both for onlookers and, apparently, those who are tasked with trying to beat the Suns.

It didn’t take long for Chris Paul to get used to life in Phoenix. In his first season in his new digs, Paul and the Suns had the second-best record in the NBA and earned a spot in the Finals for the third time in franchise history. Upon getting there, the team won the first two games of their series against the Milwaukee Bucks, with Game 3 coming up on Sunday.

Paul’s been a seamless fit in Phoenix, and seemingly all of his coaches and teammates have made it a point to stress how much they’ve learned from having the future Hall of Fame inductee in town. But during his media availability on Saturday afternoon, Paul discussed the things he’s learned from his teammates and, in particular, Devin Booker.

“One thing about Book is he stays in kill mode all game on, no matter what’s going on,” Paul said. “If you’re thinking you need to hold the ball with, like, 40some seconds left, you might be up four or five, Book’s gonna shoot it. He’s gonna let it ride. That’s just his mindset, which you gotta appreciate.”

Paul then went on to speak about the team more broadly, praising them for stressing the importance of having fun.

“We have a very fun team,” Paul said. “You know, guys who try not to take themselves too serious, and I think that’s what’s really good about our team. One of the things we say before we run out on the court is, you can be so serious and all that, we say have fun, have fun. And I think that’s what keeps us focus, is remembering that this is a game, we gotta go out there and enjoy ourselves.”

The joy that Paul and his teammates play with has been evident all season, and as a result, they’re two games away form the first championship in franchise history.

While it’s been scarce on the music side of things for Travis Scott lately, the rapper has proven himself to be the king of brand partnerships over the past twelve months. He’s teamed up with the likes of McDonald’s, PlayStation, Fortnite, and more to deliver merchandise and content that his fans rushed to get their hands on. Scott looks to continue that streak as he joined forces with marijuana cultivator Connected Cannabis to launch his very own cannabis line, Cactus Farms. The strains are already available in some dispensaries in a few states across the country.

For those who are interested in trying out the Cactus Farms line, they’ll have to stop by dispensaries that stock Connected Cannabis products in California or Harvest dispensaries in Arizona. According to Connected Cannabis, the first strain from Travis’ Cactus Farms line is a hybrid that was hand-picked by the rapper himself. It’s labeled as an “Indica-leaning strain” that features a “dense, purple bud that releases a pungent, funky-sweet gas aroma rounded out by a unique berry twist,” according to NME.

The news comes after a report revealed Travis and Meek Mill had to separate from each other following a verbal altercation at a Fourth Of July event earlier this month. The cause of the fight is still unknown at the moment, but thankfully, the two rappers walked away from each other before things turned physical.

Meek Mill is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Natasha Romanoff, aka Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow, doesn’t have the happiest origin story. It involves being brainwashed at the Red Room, a top secret Soviet training program that turned women into deadly assassins. Among the atrocities inflicted upon those forced into the program — including Natasha’s sister Yelena, played by Florence Pugh — was a hysterectomy. It’s grim stuff, and while the new solo Black Widow movie tries to be one of the funnier MCU entries, there is a darkly comic clapback to the two characters’ unhappy upbringing.

In a new interview with Polygon, director Cate Shortland — previously of dramas like Somersault and Lore — talked about a scene where David Harbour’s Alexi tries to make an old school sexist joke about his two “daughters.” “Why the aggression?” he asks them. “Is it your time of the month?”

But Yelena isn’t having it. “I don’t get my period, dips*it,” she responds. “I don’t have a uterus.”

“Or ovaries,” Natasha adds.

“That’s what happens when the Red Room gives you an involuntarily hysterectomy,” Yelena continues. “They kinda just go in and rip out all your reproductive organs. They just get right in there and chop them all away. So you can’t have babies.”

Thing is, the clapback to their Red Room origins wasn’t in the original script, credited to Eric Pearson. But the time-of-the-month joke was.

“So Eric, who is our writer, had written a joke about women being in bad moods because they have their period,” Shortland told Polygon. “And I remember Florence and Scarlett and I reading it and just being like, ‘Oh, my God, this is ridiculous.’”

Shortland thought about cutting it entirely, but Johansson and Pugh had another idea: They’d “answer” it by delving into their Red Room origins.

“I love it,” Shortland said. “Because it’s like, if you’re gonna make that joke, I’m gonna unleash Florence Pugh on you. She’s gonna Yelena you. It’s one of my favorite moments in the film.”

It was in keeping with Black Widow’s mordant tone. “What we tried to do was use humor to talk to the trauma,” Shortland added. “Most people in this film who’ve been victimized, are actually making jokes about that because they’re trying to overcome it.”

In other words, listen to your actors. They might come up with one of the most talked-about parts of your film.

(Via Polygon)