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Like a breath of the most refreshing, free-wheeling air possible, HBO’s Betty will soon glide back into our lives. It’s what we really need to heal our pandemic-addled minds, and somehow, Crystal Moselle managed to gather the Skate Kitchen crew back up for a second season and film on the streets of New York City. The main players are all back — Rachelle Vinberg as Camille, Ajani Russell as Indigo, Dede Lovelace as Janay, Moonbear as Honeybear, and Nina Moran as Kirt (“Kirt! Kirt! Kirt! Kirt!”) — and they’re still making the act of gliding through the streets look like the coolest thing on Earth in this teaser.

In their defense, Betty really is the coolest show on TV these days, and we could all stand to live vicariously right about now. Yes, they are very much gathering in these highlighted scenes, yet they’re even making masks look cool. They’ll probably still even mop up the blood when you fall of your own skateboard. From the synopsis:

In season two, our five protagonists are stepping firmly into womanhood and tackling all the challenges it brings. As they navigate the pressures of adulthood, their male counterparts start to step up, step in, and become true allies, forming a united front for the greater good. Set in the last chapter of 2020, the season captures the late summer and early fall COVID-19 months in New York City, where masks and outside activities are the norm.

I’m stoked, but I do need a further update on this note…

Betty will return to HBO in June.

Kevin Love’s emotions got the best of him earlier this week during a game against the Toronto Raptors. Love stood out of bounds and inbounded the ball by casually slapping at it as the referee gave it to him, letting it bounce onto the floor for Stanley Johnson to scoop up. He then opted to walk away from the situation, letting Johnson kick it out to Malachi Flynn for a wide open three.

It was a situation where Love, who is expected to be the leader of the young Cleveland Cavaliers, came out looking pretty bad. But the following day, he apologized to the team, and on Wednesday, Love sat down with the media and addressed everything, taking responsibility and saying that this had nothing to do with his teammates or any sort of disrespect of the game.

Love went on to explain that this was a culmination of frustrations coming to a head, then made clear that he has to start holding himself to a higher standard because he understands his role in Cleveland.

There have been a few moments in the post-LeBron James years in Cleveland where Love’s gotten visibly frustrated on the court, with this being the latest example. He handled the aftermath of this about as well as he could, but he also has to know that he can’t let this stuff happen going forward.

Ever since Eilish revealed she had swapped her neon green and black hair dye for a platinum blonde look, fans suspected it was only a matter of time before she would start sharing new music. The theory was confirmed Tuesday when Eilish revealed concrete details about her sophomore album, titled Happier Than Ever. Now, Eilish is giving fans a taste of the effort’s lead single, “Your Power.”

Sharing a nine-second snippet of the song on social media, Eilish revealed that the track will premiere Thursday morning alongside an official video. Judging by the preview, it seems as though Eilish took a more stripped-down approach to the track, opting to showcase her moving vocals over a simple acoustic guitar. The snippet is taken from the upcoming visual and shows a scenic shot of picturesque mountains.

Alongside her album announcement Tuesday, Eilish said that she’s overjoyed to finally share new music with her fans. “this is my favorite thing i’ve ever created and i am so excited and nervous and EAGER for you to hear it,” she wrote. “i can’t even tell you. i’ve never felt so much love for a project than i do for this one. hope you feel what i feel.”

Watch Eilish’s “Your Power” teaser above.

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

When TDE CEO Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith tweeted “THE WAIT IS OVAH!!!” with a video showing a release date of May 7, he set Twitter ablaze with speculation about just which TDE-instigated “wait” would be concluding next week. A resounding consensus has emerged favoring Kendrick Lamar — who last released a full-length album in 2017 — making “Kendrick” one of the top trends on Twitter just an hour after the tweet.

However, some were skeptical about the possibility that it’d be the Compton rapper, as TDE has had follow-ups for a handful of projects in the works, including Isaiah Rashad’s 2016 album The Sun’s Tirade and SZA’s 2017 debut CTRL, which were both critically acclaimed fan favorites.

Meanwhile, some seemed resigned to the possibility that it might not be any of the “big three,” considering the label’s gift for constantly upending expectations. A few fans seemed less excited, skeptically preparing themselves for May 7 bringing disappointment instead.

One thing seems to remain certain: Even without revealing a single detail about whatever is coming on May 7, TDE’s roster collectively has enough pull to dominate the discussion, meaning that whenever any of the speculated albums actually do release — whether that’s in May or another time entirely — they’ll surely be able to capture fans’ attention all over again.

It’s been nearly 100 years since F. Scott Fitzgerald published his masterpiece The Great Gatsby. Since then, the book has been examined by high school classrooms, turned into two movies, a TV show, and served as inspiration for themed parties. Now, it looks like the story is getting turned into a Broadway musical with the help of Florence And The Machine singer Florence Welch.

Dubbed The Great Gatsby, A New Musical, the play’s music is being written by Welch and Grammy Award nominee Thomas Bartlett, who previously worked with Welch on Florence And The Machine’s track “Jenny of Oldstones.” The timeline for the musical’s release is still in the works, but the musical will feature a book by Pulitzer Prize winner Martyna Majok and will be directed by Olivier Award nominee Rebecca Frecknall.

Expressing her excitement about the project, Welch said she’s been a longtime fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s writing: “This book has haunted me for a large part of my life. It contains some of my favourite lines in literature. Musicals were my first love, and I feel a deep connection to Fitzgerald’s broken romanticism. It is an honour to have been offered the chance to recreate this book in song.”

The Great Gatsby, A New Musical producers Amanda Ghost and Robert Fox echoed Welch’s sentiment and complimented her songwriting abilities. “Florence’s passion for Gatsby and exceptional musical storytelling will bring this iconic love story to life in ways we have never experienced before,” they said. “Martyna and Rebecca are two of the most exciting theatre artists of their generation and, together, this extraordinary team brings a thrilling new perspective to one of the most culturally significant books of all time. It’s been 100 years since The Great Gatsby was published and there could be no better time for a new musical adaptation of the greatest party America ever threw.”

The Eternals trailer needs to come out ASAP. It’s a Marvel movie with a stacked cast, including Angelina Jolie, Kumail Nanjiani, Brian Tyree Henry, Salma Hayek, Gemma Chan, and both Robb Stark and Jon Snow, which is already plenty exciting. But the real standing ovation moment will be the trailer saying “from Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao” (much better than “visionary director”). That’s something everyone can get behind.

Over the weekend, Zhao won Best Director at the Academy Awards (only the second woman and first woman of color to do so) for her film, Nomadland, which was also named Best Picture. How did she celebrate? “This afternoon I’m going back to Disney to work on Eternals,” she told Variety on Monday. “I’m probably late.”

Zhao’s currently in the editing process for Eternals, which Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige teases will look more real than other Marvel movies. He praised Zhao for “really fighting for practical locations.” When he showed a rough cut to “Disney higher-ups,” Feige “had to keep saying, ‘This is right out of a camera; there’s no VFX work to this at all!’ Because it was a beautiful sunset, with perfect waves and mist coming up from the shore on this giant cliffside. Really impressive stuff.” It wasn’t until he saw Nomadland (which, pre-pandemic, was supposed to come out after Eternals) that he realized, “That is not just what she wanted to bring to Marvel. This is a signature style.”

A Marvel movie not filmed in an airplane hangar or field in Georgia or soundstage (or at least not entirely)? There’s another reason to be excited for the Eternals trailer.

Eternals comes out on November 5.

(Via Variety)

LeVar Burton is proving that we can actually have good things by scoring that Jeopardy! guest-hosting gig, even if it’s not actually happening until July 26 (boooo). Still, he gave fans a little taste to tide them over by appearing on The View. Naturally, this meant that we got to see how LeVar handled a Meghan McCain question. Those tend to lead to controversies, yet that really didn’t happen here, and it wasn’t because of any grand effort on McCain’s behalf. Nope, she asked him (starting at 4:15 above) all about what he thought about the pulling of six Dr. Seuss titles (by Dr. Seuss Enterprises) due to insensitive messaging and the potential effects of so-called “cancel culture.”

The Reading Rainbow host, who recently did some voiceover work for the Seuss Foundation, was prepared. As he told McCain, Dr. Seuss isn’t simply a publishing house that’s making arbitrary decisions. “That man, Theodore Geisel, is responsible for generations of wholesome, healthy, wonderful, creative content for children of all ages. So, I think we need to put things in perspective,” he remarked. He also believes that “cancel culture” is misnamed. Instead, “I think we have a consequence culture, and that consequences are finally encompassing everybody in this society, whereas they haven’t been ever in this country.” (Man, Donald Trump Jr. is not gonna like to hear that one.)

Burton added that he felt optimistic about the positive upswing with such consequences, which he believes “has everything to do with a new awareness by people who were simply unaware of the real nature of life in this country for people who have been other-ed since this nation began.”

Aaaaand Burton also articulated his desire to become the next permanent Jeopardy! host. Make it happen.

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

On his new album Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Mama, New Jersey rapper Topaz Jones tries to address some heavy questions. Five years removed from his solitary 2016 hit “Tropicana,” Jones pondered the implications of possibly having a platform with no substance; that isn’t to say that he didn’t have an interesting story to tell, he just had to figure out how to tell it.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, he said, “Now that I have a platform to tell my story, [I had] to really reckon with, well, ‘What is my story? What made me the person I am? What things about myself come from me directly? What things are passed down from my relatives? What’s my generational trauma?’ That was a whole lot of shit to balance out.”

Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Mama is the result of that introspection, and the method by which Jones ultimately resolved how to best answer those questions: A short film of the same name, detailing his upbringing in Montclair, New Jersey, combining magic realism, documentary, and even edutainment television to place his life in historical, familial, and cultural contexts.

The album, sprinkled with audio clips from the film in which his family members recount beloved anecdotes and dynastic legends, spins out of those ideas to verbally expound Jones’ thoughts on subjects like love, legacy, history, racism, hustling, and dreaming of a better life. Over the 13 whimsical, groovy, lush, and occasionally disorienting tracks, he doesn’t necessarily find all the answers, but then again, this was always more of a “finding yourself in the journey” proposition anyway.

Production-wise, Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Mama is something of a masterpiece. It’s rare that any artist puts so much thought into instrumentation and expansive genre exploration — especially with how much territory technology has opened up. Jones charts paths through spacey grooves on “Baba 70s,” “Gold,” and “Blue,” incites some hip-wiggling on the dancey “Amphetamines” and “Herringbone,” and stank faces his way through a thicket of throwback, funky hip-hop on “Who?” with Maxo and Phonte Coleman and album closer “Buggin’.”

The live instrumentation evokes smokey lounges, and darkened basement parties from the 1970s, only more timeless. Musically, the technique reinforces the lyrical links Jones traces throughout his family history and nostalgic narratives. The exquisite soundscapes could easily overwhelm a less adept lyricist, but Jones has clearly been using the time since his 2016 album Arcade to sharpen his pen game.

On “Buggin’,” Jones deftly details a twitchy tableau that could just as easily be a scene set in any hood in America, threading a neat metaphorical connection to insects throughout the narrative the way an auteur might draw the eye to a physical placeholder for a conceptual thought — as only befits a rapper turned director turned back to rapper, explaining his vision with dense wordplay and scintillating twists of the tongue.

Likewise, Topaz lets the syllables spill over each other in his verses on “Mirror,” a self-effacing reintroduction to both longtime listeners and potential new fans that highlights his polished gift for both setting a scene and impressing with dazzling displays of verbose wit. On “Herringbone,” he describes a family reunion in such charming, achingly familiar terms, you might be able to taste the collard greens and smell the macaroni baking in the oven.

Throughout the album, the rhymes sit so snugly within the pockets of the soulful beats that listening becomes nearly interactive; Topaz invites you in, and rewards your interest in every unexpected turn of phrase and tempo change. The tales he tells are personal but relatable; he could just as easily be telling any listener’s story, or that of a cousin, brother, or neighbor at a family reunion, recounting the events of the spell since the last get-together.

And that’s really the answer, told both through the film and the album. Our experiences are universal because the same things move us. The same things are important to us. We can put ourselves in Topaz’s shoes just as easily as he can put himself in ours; the same holds true across generations, geography, and any other line we can draw between ourselves and anyone else. Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Mama is a story about the stories we tell each other and ourselves, the ones that are told to us, and the ones that tell us who we are.

Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma is out now via New Funk Academy / Black Canopy. Get it here.

Since 2010, nearly a dozen video games have left their respective discs and cartridges and made their way on to the big screen, and this migration isn’t slowing down anytime soon. With over 30 game based movies and television shows currently in development, we’re merely at the beginning of a video game movie renaissance. And despite their rocky history, we’re excited to see just what comes of it. In celebration of the recent release of Mortal Kombat, we’ve decided to take a look at some of the best video game movies you can watch right now. From The Angry Birds Movie to Resident Evil, this list has something to offer gamers and movie fans of all ages.

1. Detective Pikachu (2018)

Run Time: 104 min | IMDb: 6.6/10

After the launch of Pokemon Go back in 2016, Pokemon became big in the United States in a way we hadn’t seen since the late 90s and early 2000s. As a result, interest reignited in the idea of creating a live-action Pokemon movie and seeing all our favorite cute creatures come to life — enter Detective Pikachu. Based on the 2016 video game of the same name, Detective Pikachu follows Tim Goodman (Justice Smith), a young, jaded insurance agent who has given up his dream of being a Pokemon trainer after the death of his father. After a talking Pikachu enters his life, however, Tim sets off on a mission to figure out just what the deal is with this unusual pokemon as well as the truth about his father’s mysterious death. Aided greatly by its skillfully realized world of humans and Pokemons as well as the chemistry between Smith and Ryan Reynolds, who voices Pikachu, this film is atop a new generation of video game-inspired films that are poised to shatter the stereotypes born from some of the other entries on this list. And a lot of the ones that aren’t on this list.

How to watch: Rent on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, YouTube, or Google Play for $3.99

2. Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)

Run Time: 99 min | IMDb: 6.5/10

Much like Detective Pikachu, the Sonic the Hedgehog movie is, quite simply, a lot of fun. Jim Carrey’s performance as the villainous Dr. Robotnik is both zany and engaging, harkening back to some of the classic, over-the-top comedic performances from his prime. James Marsden fits well as leading man Tom Wachowski while Ben Schwartz adds to his growing resume of fantastic voice acting performances, creating an endearing and ceaselessly energetic portrayal of the speedy blue Sega hero. Despite the dramatic backlash towards the studios original artistic direction for the film, Sonic the Hedgehog is a good example of how to make a fun and charming video game movie for the whole family.

How to watch: Stream for free on Hulu or Amazon Prime

3. Tomb Raider (2018)

Run Time: 119 min | IMDb: 6.3/10

Staring Alicia Vikander, this 2018 reboot of the popular Indiana Jones-esque series is exciting and peppered with emotional moments made more tender by Vikander’s performance as Lara Croft. The locations are gorgeous and the action is thrilling, and while nothing about the movie is as iconic as Lara herself, it’s a good time and worth a watch.

A sequel was announced (for a March 2021 release target) after the success of the first film, but while that has yet to materialize, there was a late January announcement that Lovecraft Country showrunner Misha Green is set to take the reigns as writer and director, giving fans reason to be excited about the next chapter.

How to watch: Rent on YouTube, Apple TV, Amazon Prime, or Google Play for 3.99

4. Mortal Kombat (2021)

Run Time: 110 min | IMDb: 6.9/10

There was a lot of talk leading up to the new release about if Mortal Kombat would be the film to “free video game movies” from the curse of “mediocrity,” which is a harsh albeit valid question. But while this latest Mortal Kombat movie did nothing to pivot away from the trappings of video game movies, that might be part of its charm. The film is a wild, gory ride with melodramatic characters and a convoluted plot that is as fun to watch as the video game is to play. While the CGI can be a bit rough at times, the movie is pretty and, for the first ten minutes, actually pretty poignant.

How to watch: Stream for free on HBO Max

5. Monster Hunter (2020)

Run Time: 103 min | IMDb: 5.3/10

Director Paul W.S. Anderson is no stranger to video game movies. The Resident Evil series and 1995 Mortal Kombat filmmaker knows how to embrace the qualities that make game-based movies fun, and actress Milla Jovovich — who married Anderson back in 2009 — is seemingly always eager to accompany him on the ride. Here, the Resident Evil duo reunite for a movie based on the popular Capcom series of the same name and create a movie entirely driven by intense action sequences and gigantic beasts. While the plot is not particularly inspired or intricate, it’s a fun enough monster movie, which is essentially what to expect based on its name, if we’re being honest.

How to watch: Rent on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, YouTube, or Google Play for $5.99

6. Angry Birds (2016)

Run Time: 97 min | IMDb: 63/10

As famous as the mobile game is that inspired this movie, it pales in comparison to the film’s cast. Staring the voice acting talents of Jason Sudeikis, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Bill Hader, Peter Dinklage, Keegan-Michael Key, Sean Penn, Kate McKinnon, Tony Hale, Hannibal Buress, and, believe it or not, more, this movie is genuinely loaded with talent. While adults will spend the whole film giddily identifying who’s voicing who, The Angry Bird Movie is a vivid and vivacious treat for children, with plenty of silly jokes to keep them giggling as well.

How to watch: Stream for free on Hulu

7. Resident Evil (2002)

Run Time: 100 min | IMDb: 6.7/10

Apart from the Super Mario Bros. movie — which I was embarrassingly into as a geeky child — Resident Evil is the first video game movie I remember watching. And while it’s very different from the source material, it’s still one of the most engaging ones around. The movie follows amnesiac covert ops specialist Alice (Milla Jovovich) as she regains her memory, teams up with other operatives, and infiltrates an AI-controlled underground bunker filled with the undead. If you like zombie movies, there’s a lot to like here as this hits all the notes from gore-y violence, to a little dark humor, a lot of ridiculous fun, and some emotional moments sprinkled in as the team is slowly diminished and disillusioned.

How to watch: Rent on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, YouTube, or Google Play for $3.99 (but it’s coming to Prime for free at the start of May)

8. Prince of Persia (2010)

Run Time: 116 min | IMDb:6.6/10

Prince of Persia tried very hard to be something similar to Pirates of the Caribbean but unfortunately fell a bit short. That doesn’t stop it from being fun to watch while existing in a similar vein to titles like Van Helsing or The Mummy, which a lot of people like for the unplugged fun that can be had while watching. While Jake Gyllenhal’s casting as the Prince of Persia himself is certainly a bit problematic (and something he, himself, seems to regret while categorizing it as a learning experience), he still delivers a typically solid performance. The film, itself, is filled with adventure, parkour, romance, and roguish charm, giving it some redeeming qualities even if it was a miss at the US box office.

How to watch: Stream for free on Disney+

9. Rampage (2018)

Run Time: 107 min | IMDb: 6.1/10

At its core, Rampage is essentially a kaiju movie, albeit not as strong a contender as some of the more famous ones. If you like big monsters, burly men, explosions, and high-stakes action, you’ll find plenty to enjoy in this scientist-turned special-ops story. Dwayne Johnson has improved a lot since his Doom days, a video game movie that, while streaming, didn’t make the list despite how hard Karl Urban tried to redeem it. The actor’s charm does a lot of heavy lifting here, and his fans will find more of that good ‘ol same in Rampage.

How to watch: Stream for free on HBO Max

10. Silent Hill (2006)

Run Time: 125 min | IMDb: 6.5/10

Much like Resident Evil, Silent Hill is an absolutely iconic horror series that is a treat to see come to life, even if it’s not the greatest adaptation. However, Silent Hill actually gets more right than Resident Evil, in my opinion, and is therefore probably more of a treat for fans of the video game series. In addition, Silent Hill is more than a zombie flick and is more deeply horrific, with an eerie atmosphere and monsters such as the undead nurses and Pyramid Head standing out among them. While Silent Hill is certainly not “prestige horror,” it’s a compelling movie that will definitely leave you a bit tense.

How to watch: Rent on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, YouTube, or Google Play for $3.99

Last night, Lana Del Rey announced that she’s releasing a new album called Blue Banisters in July. Perhaps the biggest takeaway from Del Rey’s post sharing the news, though, has been the reactions to the cover art. They have not been kind. While Del Rey’s other studio albums feature what appear to be professionally taken photos, the art that Del Rey shared for Blue Banisters is an edited version of a selfie she has shared multiple times on social media. The art also features a curly blue font and white framing around the image.

In the hours following the reveal, fans have decided to have fun with this style of album art by creating new parody covers in this aesthetic for other albums. For example, here’s somebody’s take on Lady Gaga’s Chromatica:

Here’s an imagining of what it might look like if Del Rey designed the cover for a re-recorded version of Taylor Swift’s 1989:

Somebody else went ahead and remade Del Rey’s own album Honeymoon in this new style:

Outside of these renderings, the reaction was also not positive. Some people decided to mock up their own alternate album covers for Blue Banisters, most of which look more professional than slapping filters on a selfie. Meanwhile, others told Del Rey to stay away from phone-based editing apps, while others yet were just left wondering what Del Rey was thinking.

Check out some more reactions below.