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Last weekend, in the wake of the Supreme Court dismissal of a Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, the Proud Boys gathered in Washington D.C. for a “Stop the Steal” rally. The irony in the slogan being lost on them, the far-right group took to the streets, and in the process, showed the world that they really are as racist as they are accused of being.

The Proud Boys frequently insist that they are not racist and not the same as white nationalists. They are a male-only group that describes themselves as “Western chauvinists,” which essentially means they whine about equality movements infringing on their identity as the obviously superior descendants of Western Civilization’s founders—which is a roundabout way of saying “yeah, we’re pretty much racist.”

The group tries to shield itself from accusations of racism by highlighting the racial identity of their Afro-Cuban chairman, Enrique Torres, in the organizational equivalent of “I can’t be racist—I have Black family members!” But considering the fact that a previous Proud Boy member posted a whole screed about staging a coup in the group to officially recognize it as anti-Semitic white nationalists…welp.

Besides, it’s pretty hard to argue that you’re not racist when you gleefully vandalize Black churches, tearing signs that say “Black Lives Matter” off of them and then celebrating as you desecrate them. The Proud Boys engaged in this vandalism at two Washington D.C. churches, including the oldest Black Methodist church in the city. They ripped down large Black Lives Matter banners, breaking some apart, stomp all over one of them, and setting another one on fire.

Asbury United Methodist Church issued a statement from Senior Pastor Rev. Dr. Ianther M. Mills that highlights the history of racism with the church, which was founded decades before the Civil War. It’s a beautiful message of resilience, but it’s infuriating that it had to be written in the first place. It reads:

Since 1836, Asbury United Methodist Church has stood at the corner of 11&K Streets NW, Washington, DC. We are a resilient people who have trusted in God through slavery and the Underground Railroad, Jim Crow and the Civil Rights Movement, and now as we face an apparent rise in white supremacy.

Last night demonstrators who were part of the MAGA gatherings tore down our Black Lives Matter sign and literally burned it in the street. The sign burning was captured on Twitter. It pained me especially to see our name, Asbury, in flames. For me it was reminiscent of cross burnings. Seeing this act on video made me both indignant and determined to fight the evil that has reared its ugly head. We had been so confident that no one would ever vandalize the church, but it has happened.

We are a people of faith. As horrible and disturbing as this is for us now—it doesn’t compare with the challenges and fears the men and women who started Asbury, 184 years ago, faced. So, we will move forward, undaunted in our assurance that Black Lives Matter and we are obligated to continue to shout that truth without ceasing. We are assured that our church is surrounded by God’s grace and mercy.

Sadly, we must point out that if this was a marauding group of men of color going through the city, and destroying property, they would have been followed and arrested. We are especially alarmed that this violence is not being denounced at the highest levels of our nation and instead the leaders of this movement are being invited to the White House.

Asbury United Methodist Church abhors violence of any kind. We call upon all to join us in prayer for our community, church, and the people who are responsible for this hateful behavior. We believe this is a wakeup call for all to be more vigilant and committed to anti-racism and building a beloved community, and we invite you to join us. Our congregation will continue to stand steadfast—”we will not be moved.” We press on in the name of the Lord!”

The question of whether these acts are racist isn’t up for debate. If your understanding of Black Lives Matter is so skewed that you decry it as a “Marxist” organization or movement—which is how Tarrio himself describes it—then you either haven’t been listening to enough voices in the anti-racism world or you’ve been taken by racist propaganda. And if you do understand that the phrase Black Lives Matter literally just means that Black people’s lives do not matter less than other people’s, and you choose to destroy any and all expressions of that phrase, that’s most definitely racist. There’s a reason the incidents are being investigated as hate crimes.

For those who feel tempted to say, “Well what about the destruction of property that ANTIFA/BLM engaged in?” here are some thoughts on that whataboutism:

First, let’s be clear that the Black Lives Matter and ANTIFA movements are two entirely separate things. And Black Lives Matter isn’t one monolithic thing, but rather a broad movement that includes some organizations that bear the name, and a whole lot more people who support the message of anti-racism. As far as violence, the BLM protests this spring and summer were enormous, widespread, and almost entirely peaceful. The individual spates of rioting and looting, despite being broadcast all over the media and pushed hard by certain right-wing outlets, were not a defining feature of the BLM movement at all—especially considering how much of the violence was actually carried out by white supremacists and Boogaloo Bois intent on undermining the BLM message.

ANTIFA, on the other hand, is its own movement with its own ideology and methods. For those who don’t understand what those are, the gist is “Fascism needs to be fought by whatever means necessary.” You don’t have to agree with their methods—I myself don’t—but being against ANTIFA’s ideology is basically like saying “Nah, fascism is fine!”

While all acts of violence and destruction are wrong and ultimately counterproductive, they’re not all equivalent. Some acts of violence are just dumb humans being dumb humans, regardless of identity or ideology, but some are purposeful statements. There’s a difference between a historically oppressed people making a statement about ongoing injustice by desecrating a symbol of their historical oppression, and a group of people making a statement by desecrating messages of equality and justice from the churches of historically oppressed people. One is an expression of liberation from the chains of injustice; the other is an intimidating rattling of those same chains. While I don’t condone violence or destruction of any kind, it’s disingenuous to create false equivalencies between people who are fighting for equality and justice and people who are fighting against it.

And for a final look at how the Proud Boys operate, check out how they reacted when they thought people who actually think Black lives matter were coming toward them.

If this is what “being proud of Western Civilization” looks like, that’s a sad statement about Western Civilization. These actions should be condemned by all.

Oneohtrix Point Never’s Daniel Lopatin released his brooding album Magic Oneohtrix Point Never back in October and it featured some big-name stars. Caroline Polachek lent her vocals on “Long Road Home” and The Weeknd hopped on the dreamy track “No Nightmares.” Following up the album’s release, Lopatin tapped a longtime collaborator to share an animated visual alongside his The Weeknd-featuring track.

Directed and animated by Nate Boyce, the “No Nightmares” visual takes the viewer on a journey through a dream-like state. It opens with a character waking up from a dream and astral-projecting into a different plane of consciousness. The Weeknd makes a brief CGI cameo in the visual, depicting his head as an old-fashioned movie projector.

Speaking about the visual in a statement, Boyce explained the concept behind the visual:

“Dan initially sent me an excerpt of ‘Fear Of The Inexplicable’ by Rilke as a prompt to start working on our idea of a debased animation. Abel and Dan traverse psychoanalytically charged scenarios and spaces that evoke a lurid mix of art and architectural references. Eventually I started to associate the implications of the Rilke poem to the biblical story of the Binding of Isaac, an anxiety inducing story I hated as a kid that became a subtext for the latter half of the piece. Despite the fact that Abraham is thwarted by divine intervention, I was terrified by his incomprehensible zealotry and willingness to sacrifice his own child, who I identified with. This story ensured my eventual atheism, but also my ongoing fascination with how these archaic stories, symbols, and motifs have continued relevance even now, and in many ways still structure our experience. So, as it happens in the animation, this process of individuation through archetypal projection starts with heroic ideations that devolve into anxiety and fear, culminating in a carnivalesque mockery of the faith required to confront these fears.”

Watch The Weeknd and Oneohtrix Point Never’s “No Nightmares” video above.

Magic Oneohtrix Point Never is out now via Warp. Get it here.

Afro-fusion star Burna Boy is a model of success in his celebratory “Way Too Big” video, which continues the promotion cycle for his 2020 album Twice As Tall. Opening with a shot of a young boy in Lagos, Nigeria encountering a statue of Burna Boy as a boxer, the video imagines an entirely different path for the African Giant, who defeats an opponent in the ring, becoming the same massive star he is now. As he sits atop a billboard in Lagos, traffic stops to take in the sight. The message is clear: No matter what his path, Burna believes he’d have been a success story.

He has exhibited that same confidence throughout his album’s rollout, from the “Real Life” video to the “Monsters You Made” video. Burna’s goal is to depict different models of leadership for African youth and speak out for a unified continent strong enough to become a major world power. He also speaks out against injustice on the album, and in the song “20:10:20,” with which he decried the Nigerian Police Force’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad and its legacy of violence and suppression.

Watch the “Way Too Big” video above.

Twice As Tall is out now on Atlantic Records. Listen to it here.

Burna Boy is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The first reviews for Wonder Woman 1984 are rolling in, and critics seem to be here for the latest outing from director Patty Jenkins and star Gal Gadot. Thanks to the pandemic, the highly-anticipated sequel has seen its release shifted a few times before becoming the first Warner Bros. movie to break the seal on a simultaneous HBO Max and theatrical release, which would soon become the studio’s controversial strategy for its entire 2021 film slate. But now that it’s here critics seem to agree that Wonder Woman 1984 is a much-needed dose of escapism during a time when audiences need it the most (as of this writing, the reviews of the film are 89% positive, according to Rotten Tomatoes). The film is also being favorably compared to the ’80s classics of yesterday like Raiders of the Lost Ark and Richard Donner’s Superman.

But don’t take our word for it. Here’s a sampling of what the reviews are saying, and don’t worry, each excerpt is spoiler-free.

Mike Ryan, Uproxx:

Wonder Woman 1984 is like eating dessert. There’s really nothing here that’s particularly healthy or substantial – even for a superhero movie. There’s no secret green bean hidden under all the gooey, colorful, and brightly lit frosting. No, Wonder Woman 1984 is pure sugar. But here’s how I’m looking at it: Dammit, we all deserve dessert right now.

Brandon Davis, Comic Book:

Wonder Woman 1984 learns from the critiques of its excellent predecessor, delivering a much more contained finale by comparison to its extravagant and over-sized blow-out third act in the first movie. … The team delivers an exciting and inspirational new tale, with a surprising level of worldly commentary considering when it was shot, along with a much-needed message of hope.

Peter Dubrege, Variety:

Wonder Woman 1984 accomplishes what we look to Hollywood tentpoles to do: It whisks us away from our worries, erasing them with pure escapism. For those old enough to remember the ’80s, it’s like going home for Christmas and discovering a box full of childhood toys in your parents’ attic.

Nicholas Barber, BBC:

A funny, sweet-natured, brightly-coloured standalone adventure, it is so reminiscent of the likes of Raiders of The Lost Ark and Ghostbusters in its jokes, its plotting, its locations and its general atmosphere that it fills you with the same warm feelings that they did – one of those feelings being wonder.

Brian Truitt, USA Today:

Throw in a soaring Hans Zimmer score and together the two lovebirds [Gadot and Pine] give the film an exciting, earnest vibe that’s the closest recent DC superhero projects have come to Christopher Reeve’s original Superman.

Mary Sollosi, Entertainment Weekly:

Who better to swoop in and remind us of the thrill and possibility of movies, to offer us hope right here on the precipice of a much newer New Year than most, than Wonder Woman herself? That may sound like an unfair demand of a film that was finished before 2020 began, intended for a traditional release in a traditional year. But if any movie is up for the task of taking on more, this would be the one.

Wonder Woman 1984 hits theaters and HBO Max on December 25.

Giannis Antetokounmpo will be with the Milwaukee Bucks for the foreseeable future after putting pen to paper on his 5-year, $228 million supermax extension, with an opt-out for the fifth year. Giannis joins a short list of players that have signed the supermax deal and puts to rest the rumors that have swirled for a year-plus about his potential future outside of Milwaukee.

That incessant conversation on sports television, radio, and beyond has been frustrating for many fans who have grown tired of the constant discussion of a star player’s future, particularly those in small or non-glamorous markets who are so often projected to leave for the league’s flagship franchises. So, when SportsCenter called up Jay Williams for his thoughts on Giannis’ extension, Bucks fans found themselves rolling their eyes when the conversation turned to whether he can win a title in Milwaukee.

Williams responded with something that is very viable, which is for the next few years LeBron James and Anthony Davis stand in the way of anyone looking to win a championship, but his discussion of the Lakers depth took a decidedly shocking twist as he brought up second-year man Talen Horton-Tucker, who has been great this preseason but, again, it’s the preseason.

Again, the general premise here isn’t wrong. The Bucks won’t be favorites this year or, likely, any year until after they’ve won a championship already or made another big move, simply because the Lakers exist and have two of the league’s five best players. That said, when discussing why the Lakers are an impediment to anyone’s title dreams, I beg of you, the first name out of your mouth cannot be Talen Horton-Tucker, who seems to be a nice young player but figures to be maybe the 11th man off the bench in L.A. this year.

Annie Clark has kept busy with one endeavor or another since releasing her most recent St. Vincent album, 2017’s Masseduction. She has confirmed now, though, that a follow-up to that album is finally coming in 2021.

In a new interview with UK magazine Mojo (via r/indieheads on Reddit), Clark confirmed a new album currently planned for late spring or summer, saying:

“It’s locked and loaded, and I’m American so I will only use gun metaphors. [The album marks] a tectonic shift. I felt I had gone as far as I could possibly go with angularity. I was interested in going back to the music I’ve listened to more than any other — Stevie Wonder records from the early ’70s, Sly And The Family Stone. I studied at the feet of those masters.”

She also noted in the piece that she thinks her next tour is going to look different than he previous one, saying, “My last tour was a whole bunch of production and high-concept video and razzle-dazzle and I can’t go any further with that. I’m going to come down and just play. I don’t think high-gloss sheen is going to be that resonant with people because it will feel very much ‘let them eat cake.’”

St. Vincent re-confirmed the news on Twitter today, writing, “The rumors are true. New record ‘locked and loaded’ for 2021. Can’t wait for you to hear it.”

Elsewhere in the Mojo piece, Clark talked some about her upcoming film with Carrie Brownstein, so read the whole thing here.

The Jurassic World movies (and the Jurassic Park installments that came before them) can’t go wrong by continually returning to one core certainty. That is to say, much like Jeff Goldblum finding a way to unbutton his shirt and life finding a way, people will find a way to keep f*cking with nature. And nature will f*ck with them right back, which is why Netflix’s animated Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous series put its collection of Isla Nublar campgoers in peril with a cliffhanger. As I wrote of the show’s first season, it’s a visual feast and thrill-ride for (almost) all ages, and Netflix has rallied with a second season that will arrive mere months later (in January).

Surprise, surprise. The trailer picks up with the kids awaiting rescue after the camp’s destruction when the dinos all escaped from their cages. The kids are dodging dinosaurs who are alternately doing their best Zoolander faces and trying to gobble up humans in their path, and it’s a disaster. Somehow, the kids realize that they’re not all by their lonesome, too. Has help arrived, or does the logline’s description of something that “not only threatens their rescue but may uncover something more sinister” give us a better clue? This series takes place at the same time as the first Jurassic World flick, so let’s hope that the “sinister” thing isn’t a pair of Bryce Dallas Howard’s old high heels.

Once again, the show’s arriving on Netflix with visuals that are courtesy of DreamWorks Animation (at the behest of Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment). It’s a gorgeously rendered series, and Steven Spielberg, Colin Trevorrow, and Frank Marshall are all on board as executive producers. One certainly can’t complain about the swift TV pace here, given that franchise fans won’t see Jurassic World: Dominion in theaters until June 10, 2022.

Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous Season 2 arrives on January 22, 2021

It’s been just about ten months since Kevin Parker released Tame Impala’s fourth studio album, The Slow Rush. The album took five years to complete and debuted alongside extensive touring plans, which were completely scrapped just a month after its release. To suffice, Parker has offered videos alongside several of his The Slow Rush tracks and brought the songs to a handful of late-night talk show performances. Now, seemingly out of nowhere, Parker has shared an animated video for his album’s fan-favorite “Breathe Deeper.”

The visual, directed by Butt Studio, reflects the song’s washed-out, disorienting sound with equally convoluted animation. It follows the perspective of a dragonfly escaping the jaws of a predator and embarking on a psychedelic journey across a swampy landscape.

Ahead of the video’s release, Parker opened up about his songwriting process on The Slow Rush, saying “Breathe Deeper” was actually inspired by walking around stoned in public. “I’ll do anything that gets me inspired, causes those lightning bolts,” he said. “And, with this album, I was doing things that made me uncomfortable just for the purpose of being creative. Because I’m the most creative when I’m uncomfortable. Like I hate being stoned in public. So I’ll get stoned and go to the shops.”

Watch the “Breathe Deeper” video above.

The Slow Rush is out now via Modular. Get it here.

In her first briefing with the media in 13 days, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany declined to acknowledge Joe Biden as the President-elect, despite even Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulating Biden. She instead ranted about the “continuation of power,” and when asked for Trump’s thoughts on the Electoral College making the election result official on Monday, McEnany replied, “The president is still involved in ongoing litigation related to the election. Yesterday’s vote was one step in the constitutional process, so I will leave that to him and refer you to the campaign for more on that litigation.” As press secretary, she is part of the campaign, but alas.

The contentious briefing ended with McEnany calling out the mainstream media for not covering the Hunter Biden “scandal” more, if at all (probably because it’s a non-story). “Really interesting turn of events, and good for those who covered what was a story all along and not Russian disinformation,” she said, walking off the podium without fielding any more questions. But that didn’t stop CNN’s Jim Acosta from asking one more: “Isn’t it hypocritical of you to accuse others of disinformation when you spread it every day?”

A good question; an even better comeback. McEnany did not respond.

Acosta later offered a factcheck…

… and his tenacity was appreciated on social media.

(Via Mediaite)