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During the current worldwide pandemic, movie studios are no longer providing box-office figures because theaters have been shut down around the nation and the world. Because we are less interested in the actual figures themselves and more interested in what people are watching over the weekends, each week we will dive into Most Streamed and Bestseller Lists on Fandango, iTunes, Netflix, and Hulu to pinpoint the weekend’s most watched films.

While Christopher Nolan has been angling over the course of the pandemic to make Tenet the first major release after theaters reopen, the much smaller Solstice Studios has been planning all along to open Russell Crowe’s Unhinged two weekends before Tenet as a sort of test case for theaters. We are now less than two weeks away from the release of Unhinged, which I suspect will be when we start to finally get some real box-office numbers.

In the meantime, theater openings continue to progress in China. Now in its third weekend of release, Robert Downey Jr’s Dolittle, which was a bomb in the states, is now the top film of 2020 in China. Granted, it has only earned $15.4 million, and it only had to surpass the animated Spies in Disguise (a Christmas release in America), but at least RDJ can brag — for now — that he has the top movie of the year in the country with the second biggest box office in the world. In the meantime, the Interstellar reissue also opened in China as a tease for Tenet (and will also do so here in two weeks), and it earned $10 million at the box office, which is not bad for being in the middle of a pandemic.

Back in the states, it’s another fairly ho-hum week on the VOD and Netflix charts, as most of the buzz this weekend has been occupied by Seth Rogen’s American Pickle, which HBO Max snatched away from theaters to make available to home viewers (having seen it, it feels like a movie far more suited to the couch than the big screen, anyway). Critics so far have given it strong scores (75 percent), although audiences aren’t as keen on it (48 percent audience score). When a critical and audience split is that wide it is usually because the movie provides something that audiences aren’t expecting, and for those expecting a traditional, raunchy Seth Rogen comedy, American Pickle is decidedly not that — it is far more low-key and sweet than the comedies we typically associate with Rogen.

On the other streamers, Beyonce’s Black is King is no doubt continuing to play well on Disney+; it doesn’t appear anything has come along on Hulu to supplant Palm Springs as its top movie; and while it is hard to say what the top movie is on Peacock, The Big Lebowski is the top featured film on the service at the moment.

Meanwhile, on the VOD charts, Shia LaBeouf’s Tax Collector has taken the top spot on iTunes despite bad reviews (21 percent on RT) and some controversy surrounding the casting of LaBeouf in the David Ayer film. I haven’t seen the film yet, but I like to imagine that it belongs in the same universe as Ben Affleck’s The Accountant, and that the third in the series will be, The Insurance Adjuster.

Meanwhile, Capone jumped to number two on iTunes thanks to the $.99 rental charge, followed by The Outpost and Trolls World Tour. In at number five is Made in Italy, a film starring Liam Neeson and his son with his late wife, Natasha Richardson, Michael Richardson (reviews have been modest, 56 percent on RT).

On Fandango’s VOD charts, meanwhile, Katie Holmes’ The Secret: Dare to Dream — based on the self-help book, The Secret, is now the top film, despite being terrible. There’s not much else to report on that chart (Kevin Bacon’s You Should Have Left is number two followed again by Deep Blue Sea 3), except for those wondering what happened to Josh Hartnett. This mustache happened to Josh Hartnett, whose Most Wanted is #16 on the charts.

Finally, the Netflix charts this weekend are just weird, and very kid-and-teen friendly. The top film is a Netflix original dance film, Work It, which actually has very good reviews (80 percent on RT) based on a limited review count (15). 1993’s Dennis the Menace is number two, for some reason, followed by the original Jurassic Park (another 1993 movie), a Netflix original for kids called Malibu Rescue: The Next Wave and then Adam Sandler’s Mr. Deeds

Mid-August is usually dog days for films during normal times, and that hasn’t changed during the pandemic. Next weekend’s big feature film? Project Power on Netflix, starring Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Dominique Fishback. It’s about a magic pill that gives you superpowers … for five minutes.

Source: Deadline, Fandango, iTunes,

Man, Luka Doncic is really good at basketball, isn’t he? Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks took on the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks in the final game of Saturday night’s slate in the NBA’s Orlando bubble. Despite a fully-healthy Bucks squad, double-doubles by Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, and a huge evening from Brook Lopez, Dallas was able to gut out a 136-132 win in overtime.

The main reason why was the play of Doncic, who had perhaps the best game of his NBA career. The 21-year-old Slovenian standout scored 36 points on 12-for-24 shooting with a career-high 19 assists and 14 rebounds. It marked his 17th triple-double of the season, the most in the league this year, and he became the third Maverick to have at least 19 assists in a game, joining two other dudes who were quite good at passing the basketball.

The thing that is oftentimes so impressive about Doncic is the total control he is able to exert on games when he’s at his best. Everything happened at the pace he dictated, something that is oftentimes the case when the Mavericks win. He especially turned heads with his final assist of the evening — Doncic came off of a screen set by Maxi Kleber, who immediately dove to the rim.

With Antetokounmpo’s eyes locked on Doncic, the reigning Rookie of the Year laid off a cheeky between the legs pass to his big man, who dunked, made his way to the free throw line, and put the exclamation point on Dallas’ win.

Doncic was asked about the assist after the game, and like many great passers, he did not have a logical answer for why he made this happen. Instead, he gave an answer to gets to the heart of what makes him so good at setting up his teammates: he was able to immediately process what was happening and trusted his otherworldly instincts.

The performance was big for the Mavericks insofar as they have a chance to make a move up the Western Conference, although that is a bit unlikely. Currently locked in seventh, Dallas is two games behind the Oklahoma City Thunder in fifth and the Utah Jazz in sixth, and while their next game is against Utah, it would take quite a bit for them to make up that gap.

What made it a big performance, though, was it highlighted how when Doncic is at his best, Dallas is going to have a chance in any game it plays, even if it’s against the best team in the NBA. Perhaps this is something that matters more down the road — when Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis are a little older, and the franchise maybe adds a third star alongside them, and the top of the Western Conference isn’t as cluttered — but right now, the Mavericks are a dangerous group, thanks in large part to their All-Star guard.

Donald Trump’s attempt to ban TikTok has turned into a bidding war of sorts to acquire the United States portion of its operation. The Chinese-owned social media platform has become an antagonist of sorts to the president, and his apparent concerns over privacy issues has sparked an interesting digital conversation, especially on his favorite platform: Twitter.

That discussion took a turn on Saturday, though, when the Wall Street Journal reported that Twitter is a long-shot bider to buy the US operation of the social media network. Microsoft has already shown interest and is apparently the frontrunner to buy TikTok from ByteDance, the network’s owner, but Twitter thinks it has at least one advantage in negotiations.

It is not clear what the valuation of TikTok’s U.S. operations would be, but estimates run into the tens of billions of dollars, which raises questions about how Twitter would finance any deal. Twitter’s market capitalization is about $29 billion and Microsoft’s is more than $1.6 trillion.

Because it is much smaller, Twitter has reasoned that it would be unlikely to face the same level of antitrust scrutiny as Microsoft or other potential bidders, said people familiar with the discussions.

Twitter buying TikToK, though, drew another social network to mind for many people: Vine. The six-second-or-less video platform was bought by Twitter in 2012, but abruptly shut down four years later with its apparent cost to keep going a concern. It’s still beloved by plenty of those online, and is remembered fondly in YouTube compilations and articles memorializing great Vines.

In many ways it’s generally believed that TikToK’s rise in popularity occurred as a direct result of Vine shutting down, as some creators moved to the platform and young people were attracted to the lip synching and dancing videos that populated TikTok. So when news of Twitter on the hunt for another video platform to buy spread, many made the same joke about TikTok and that it may share the same fate as the last one the company bought.

Vine’s death by Twitter’s hands made its original owners warn people not to sell their companies. In this case, though, it doesn’t seem like ByteDance has much of a choice. If they do pick Twitter, though, hopefully the company doesn’t have the same fate as Vine.

One of the biggest titles on the (approximate) calendar for video game fans this fall is Halo Infinite, which fans got a good look at in late July at the Xbox Series X games event. Fans got a cinematic trailer and a look at a significant portion of the game’s campaign, which saw Master Chief land on a Halo ring and start taking care of business against the covenant.

While we still don’t know much about Halo Infinite‘s multiplayer — other than that it will have a free-to-play aspect on the Xbox Series X — we have seen the game in a totally new way. Thanks to YouTuber Hoolopee, who has done a bunch of neat gaming trailer remixes including a PS1 version of the Death Stranding trailer. Their latest work is a remix of the Halo Infinite trailer as an Nintendo 64 game, and it’s something else.

Some gaming fans were critical of the new Halo‘s graphics compared to other next-gen titles we’ve seen, but this game certainly goes back a few console generations. It also contains some classic video game tropes, such as the narrative pop-ups on the bottom of the screen that accompany the real audio with the character’s face. There was also a more retro-themed start screen as well.

It’s a really charming result. Whereas seeing the Halo ring in the Infinite trailer sparked some considerable nostalgia, it really is fascinating to see Master Chief’s gun and the Halo scenery rendered with much more pixelated graphics.

The trailer doesn’t give us anything new to learn from the actual game coming this holiday season, but it’s definitely a fun distraction while we wait.

The Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz squared off in a game with gigantic implications for seeding in the Western Conference playoff picture. In what might go down as the game of the year, regardless of whether or not it took place in a bubble at Disney World, the two teams threw haymakers for 58 minutes, with the Nuggets barely holding on to come out on top, 134-132, in double overtime.

Denver looked like it was going to see out a win in regulation, so long as Donovan Mitchell did not catch fire in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for them, with 10.8 seconds left in the fourth quarter and the Jazz down by five, Mitchell stepped to the free throw line and knocked down both. Some mild chaos broke out from there — including those free throws, Mitchell went on a 7-2 run in those final 10.8 seconds. He did this by drilling a three from the top of the key off an inbounds pass and a coast-to-coast layup where he sliced through Denver’s entire defense.

Mitchell stayed hot during the game’s first overtime. He scored eight points in the extra frame, which included a pair of cold-blooded contested jumpers. The first came on a deep, deep three, while the other was a silky pull-up from the free throw line.

The unfortunate thing for Mitchell is that he wasn’t the only All-Star on the floor. The Nuggets were able to answer his shot making with some brilliance from Nikola Jokic. When Denver needed points, Jokic made them happen, whether it was by digging deep into the bag of tricks to foul out Rudy Gobert or blowing by Royce O’Neale to make a second overtime inevitable.

Denver looked it was going to take care of business in double overtime. Between Jamal Murray hitting shots — including a gorgeous step-back triple to beat the shot clock — and an exclamation point dunk by Jerami Grant with a touch over 20 seconds left, the Nuggets found themselves in the driver’s seat up by six.

And yet Utah kept fighting admirably. Mike Conley hit a pair of triples in the final minute to keep the Jazz in striking distance, while Mitchell hit a three with five seconds left that pulled them within two. Murray took and missed a pair of free throws to crack the door open, and right as the buzzer sounded, Mitchell tossed up a prayer from half court that just narrowly was not answered.

Mitchell’s 35 points led all scorers, while he chipped in eight assists and six rebounds for good measure. Conley had a 20-5-5 outing, while Gobert had 22 and 13 before fouling out. Jokic stuffed the stat sheet with 30 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, and three steals, Murray scored 23 points with 12 boards and eight dimes, and Michael Porter Jr. contributed 23 points and 11 rebounds. With the win, Denver gave itself some breathing room in the race for third in the Western Conference, as it now sits two games above the Houston Rockets. Utah, meanwhile, is in the six seed, sitting one game back of the Rockets and in a tie with the fifth-place Oklahoma City Thunder, which have the edge based on a slightly higher winning percentage.

Through three seasons, Ozark has followed the Byrde family through some pretty harrowing stuff.Thought some may not think the show is nearly Ozark-y enough, fans of the Netflix show have grown used to seeing some brutal moments on screen. That includes the untimely demise of some very important members of the family. Spoilers coming here, obviously, but the arrival of Wendy’s brother, Ben, set up one of the most heartbreaking scenes of the show’s latest season.

Ben’s struggles with mental health and inability to stay inconspicuous as the Byrde family’s tenuous place in the cartel shifted forced Wendy to make a harrowing decision, but Ben’s death was not actually shown on screen. Given all the other deaths we’ve seen happen with the cameras rolling, some fans had held out hope that Ben was still alive at the end of Season 3, which meant that actor Tom Pelphrey could return for the final season and deliver more moments like this.

And despite some fan theories that Ben survived his cartel encounter, Ozark showrunner Chris Mundy put an end to any speculation that he is alive during the show’s PaleyFest panel. According to TV Line, the breakout star of Season 3 was, indeed, killed.

“I love the fact that people love [Ben] enough to come up with that theory,” Mundy said according to TV Line. “I wish it were true. But it ain’t true.”

It’s not a surprising confirmation, but it does mean Pelphrey will only return to the show in flashbacks at most. His impact, however, will remain on the show in what is expected to be its final season. Mundy said the decision to let the cartel exact their pound of flesh on their own family will weigh heavily on them in Season 4, and impact who else may see their end before the show ends its run.

[via TV Line]

The Los Angeles Clippers took down the Portland Trail Blazers, 122-117, in a game that had major implications in the race for the 8 and 9 seeds in the Western Conference on Saturday afternoon. It was a scintillating game, one in which the Clippers were shorthanded and rested Paul George down the stretch but still managed to come out on top, in large part because the usually reliable Damian Lillard missed a pair of free throws down the stretch while the Blazers were down by one.

Lillard rarely ever misses free throws like that, but as the second one hit the rim and fell to the ground, one person in particular was quite happy: Clippers guard and noted agitator Patrick Beverley. While he did not play due to a calf injury, Beverley had quite the reaction to Lillard missing his free throws.

While it’s unclear if this sparked Beverley’s reaction, Lillard did seem to challenge him after hitting a three earlier in the game.

Lillard is one of the league’s more proud players, so it’s no surprise that he wasn’t a big fan with what Beverley had going on. After the game, Lillard was asked about this, and while he took the reaction as a sign of respect, he speculated that Beverley had his reaction because he saw “first-hand” what Lillard is capable of during his second year in the league, when Lillard eliminated Beverley’s Rockets from the playoffs with a buzzer-beater three.

Lillard also made it a point to mention his other buzzer-beater that won a series: the one from last postseason, which eliminated George’s Thunder and saw the All-Star wing to request a trade that summer. Oklahoma City eventually sent him to the Clippers as a result, and the two had a bit of a back-and-forth over whether Lillard took a “bad shot.”

Things eventually spilled into the Instagram comment section. Bleacher Report posted an image that included Lillard’s quote. Soon after that, Beverley, George, and Lillard began commenting, with Lillard accusing George of “running from the grind.”

So far, the bubble hasn’t featured too much beef to this extent, but it’s obvious that these three dudes really want to get back onto the floor with one another — the only way that can happen, though, is if the Blazers get the 8-seed and then make a run to the conference finals, with the Clippers doing the same from the 2-seed.

In an era of music, hip-hop especially, where the success of rap groups is far and few, the YBN collective — comprised of YBN Cordae, YBN Nahmir, and YBN Almighty Jay — seemed to be well on their way to achieving such success with their arrival in 2018. After initially finding a foothold with “Rubbin Off the Paint” in 2017, YBN Nahmir would repeat with “Bounce Out With That” at the top of 2018.

With YBN Almighty Jay by YBN Nahmir’s side in the collective, the duo would eventually be introduced to YBN Cordae who helped elevate the group’s name with his solo work including his “My Name Is” and “Old N****s” remixes and his debut album, The Lost Boy. Despite this, it seems like the group is no more following an announcement from Nahmir.

Taking to Twitter to voice some frustration with the group’s current status, Nahmir revealed in a tweet that the group had disbanded saying, “They left this YBN sh*t in the gutter. Remember that. I’ll turn it up myself.” When questioned by a fan if that meant the group had split, Nahmir replied with “Yea it’s only me kid.” The group’s departure comes nearly two years after the collective shared their debut project, YBN: The Mixtape.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Major League Soccer will resume its 2020 regular season in teams’ home markets following the end of the MLS is Back Tournament, the league announced Saturday. The first game is scheduled for Aug. 12, the day after the tournament ends, and will feature a showdown between FC Dallas and Nashville SC.

The league’s 25th season began on Feb. 29 and was suspended on March 12 as many sports leagues around the world shut down operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The MLS is Back Tournament, which began on July 8 has been played entirely at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex just outside Orlando, Florida, is set to culminate on Aug. 11 with a final between the Portland Timbers and Orlando City SC. While the single-site environment worked for the tournament, the league has decided not to continue with that format and will instead take a multi-phased approach toward resuming the 2020 regular season.

“What drives MLS is this soccer culture and getting into our markets and getting our players back and getting them home, getting them to play in their stadiums and being able to train in their training grounds,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said during halftime of the MLS is Back Tournament semifinal match between the Portland Timbers and the Philadelphia Union on Aug. 5.

The group stage games of the MLS is Back Tournament will count toward the regular season, and the revised, phased schedule will see each team will play an additional 18 regular season games, resulting in a 23-game season. FC Dallas and Nashville SC were both forced to withdraw from the tournament after experiencing a significant number of positive COVID-19 tests. To make up the three group stage games they missed, the two sides will play each other three teams ahead of the league’s first phase.

Due to travel restrictions between the U.S. and Canada, the league’s three Canadian teams will play against each other during the first phase of the schedule, and it is unclear how they will play out the rest of the season. The regular season will end on Nov. 8, with 18 teams to qualify for the playoffs which will culminate with the MLS Cup final on Dec. 12.

According to its plan, MLS will continue to work closely with the league’s infectious disease advisors and will test players and staff every other day, including the day before each game. In continued efforts to adhere to health and safety guidelines, teams will travel by chartered flight or bus, planning to arrive on and depart location on match day to minimize the amount of time spent away from their home market.

The “majority” of games are expected to be played without fans in attendance, but MLS said that it is working with individual clubs, local health authorities and government officials on a plan for limited capacity at certain games where allowed. FC Dallas announced that it intends to allow fans at its games against Nashville SC with capacity capped at 1,500 people, but Garber said those plans have not yet been approved by the league.

Late last month, Michelle Obama announced she would be launching her own podcast, Higher Ground: The Michelle Obama, which would stream exclusively on Spotify. Shortly after the podcast’s first episode was released, which featured husband and former president Barack Obama and found the couple in conversations about community, their love for each other, and what they’ve been up to since their departure from the White House. Celebrating the podcast’s first episode, Michelle took to social media to share a new playlist of songs that helped inspire the podcast itself.

Comprised of 41 songs, Michelle posted a tracklisting of the playlist to her social media, one that is “filled with incredible new artists and a whole lot of #BlackGirlMagic” as she described in her post. Across the playlist’s 41 songs, appearances from Teyana Taylor (“Lowkey” and “Made It”), Beyonce (“Black Parade”), Chloe X Halle (“Do It”), SiR (“Still Blue” and “Hair Down”), Jhene Aiko (“B.S.”), and more can be found.

The playlist is not the first time Michelle has used her platform to shine a light on some of music’s best talent. Back in January, she shared a workout playlist that saw appearances from Cardi B, Lizzo, Nipsey Hussle, and more.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.