Author: GoneTrending

When Rob Gronkowski retired this offseason for the second time, not many believed he would stay retired all season. The last time Gronkowski called it quits, Tom Brady was able to convince him to come back and, with Brady returning to the Bucs, the expectation was, eventually, Gronk would to.

However, to this point, Gronk has remained steadfast in his retirement, but it’s not for a lack of effort from NFL teams. Brady and the Bucs’ struggles may have helped keep Gronk sidelined, as they don’t look anything like a Super Bowl contender, but a different team made a recent overture to the future Hall of Famer that almost worked thanks to a unique pitch — offering him the No. 69, as he told Kay Adams.

“One of the teams that wanted me to come back sent me a picture of me in a uniform wearing No. 69, and told me that I could be No. 69. This was two days ago,” Gronkowski said. “If I come back, I could be No. 69 and check in [as] eligible every play, where the referee would have to go over the microphone and say, ’No. 69 is eligible’ every single play. That almost got me to go back to football.”

I’m actually surprised this didn’t work on Gronk and him turning down the chance to wear No. 69 and make the referee say it every time he entered the game makes me more of a believer that he’s retired for good than anything else.

The Academy Awards are no stranger to shocking, out-of-nowhere instances, but last year’s ceremony had arguably the most scandalous. You can probably guess what we’re talking about, but the moment had one added benefit: It may have made people stoked about tuning in the following year. But when will the 2023 edition of the Oscars air?

The answer: In about two-and-a-half months, specifically on March 12, 2023. That comes about a month-and-a-half after the nominations are announced, namely January 24. It also comes just over two months after the Golden Globes, which are returning after last year’s edition was not aired nor had a traditional ceremony.

After the infamous Will Smith slap, some speculated that the Oscars would drive up to Chris Rock’s home with a dumptruck of cash, begging him to host. Rock had no interest in doing that, despite having hosted twice before. Instead, they nabbed another previous emcee, Jimmy Kimmel, who lorded over the show during another infamous moment: when presenters Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty read out the wrong Best Picture winner, briefly making the La La Land team thinking they’d won. Instead, the trophy went to its rightful owner: Moonlight.

The Academy Awards will be back on March 12 on ABC starting at 8pm EST.

We’re about to wrap up year three of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it’s been a weird ride, to say the least. These years have been hard, frustrating, confusing and tragic, and yet we keep on keeping on.

Except the keeping on part isn’t quite as simple as it sounds. Despite the fact that COVID-19 is still reeking havoc, we’ve sort of collectively decided to move on, come what may. This year has been an experiment in normalcy, but one without a testable hypothesis or clear design. And it’s taken a toll. So many people are feeling tired, exhausted, worn thin (“like butter scraped over too much bread,” as Bilbo Baggins put it) these days.

But why?

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Psychologist and speaker Naomi Holdt beautifully explained what’s behind the overarching exhaustion people are feeling as we close out 2022, and it makes perfect sense.

In a post on Facebook, she wrote:

“A gentle reminder about why you are utterly exhausted…

No one I know began this year on a full tank. Given the vicious onslaught of the previous two years (let’s just call it what it was) most of us dragged ourselves across the finish line of 2021… frazzled, spent, running on aged adrenaline fumes…

We crawled into 2022 still carrying shock, trauma, grief, heaviness, disbelief… The memories of a surreal existence…

And then it began… The fastest hurricane year we could ever have imagined. Whether we have consciously processed it or not, this has been a year of more pressure, more stress, and a race to ‘catch up’ in all departments… Every. Single. One. Work, school, sports, relationships, life…

Though not intentionally aware, perhaps hopeful that the busier we are, the more readily we will forget… the more easily we will undo the emotional tangle… the more permanently we will wipe away the scarring wounds…

We can’t.

And attempts to re-create some semblance of ‘normal’ on steroids while disregarding that for almost two years our sympathetic nervous systems were on full alert, has left our collective mental health in tatters. Our children and teens are not exempt. The natural byproduct of fighting a hurricane is complete and utter exhaustion…

So before you begin questioning the absolutely depleted and wrung-dry state you are in- Pause. Breathe. Remind yourself of who you are and what you have endured. And then remind yourself of what you have overcome.

Despite it all, you’re still going. (Even on the days you stumble and find yourself face down in a pile of dirt).

Understanding brings compassion… Most of the world’s citizens are in need of a little extra TLC at the moment. Most are donning invisible ‘Handle with care’ posters around their necks and ‘Fragile’ tattoos on their bodies…

Instead of racing to the finish line of this year, tread gently.

Go slowly. Amidst the chaos, find small pockets of silence. Find compassion. Allow the healing. And most of all… Be kind. There’s no human being on earth who couldn’t use just a little bit more of the healing salve of kindness.”

Putting it like that, of course we’re exhausted. We’re like a person who thinks they’re feeling better at the end of an illness so they dive fully back into life, only to crash mid-day because their body didn’t actually have as much energy as their brain thought it did. We tried to fling ourselves into life, desperate to feel normal and make up for lost time, without taking the time to fully acknowledge the impact of the past two years or to fully recover and heal from it.

Of course, life can’t just stop, but we do need to allow some time for our bodies, minds and spirits to heal from what they’ve been through. The uncertainty, the precariousness of “normal,” the after-effects of everything that upended life as we knew it are real. The grief and trauma of those who have experienced the worst of the pandemic are real. The overwhelm of our brains and hearts as we try to process it all is real.

So let’s be gentle with one another and ourselves as we roll our harried selves into another new year. We could all use that little extra measure of grace as we strive to figure out what a true and healthy “normal” feels like.

You can follow Naomi Holdt on Facebook.

What is it about birthing a human that makes other people feel the need to offer you advice you didn’t ask for? It’s one thing to hear it from family members or friends, but some of the most condescending advice comes from strangers on the street or on the internet.

One mom’s experience with unsolicited advice from strangers caused her to have extreme anxiety about leaving the house. In the video, TikTok creator Young Mi Mayer explains that the young mom in the video she stitched was being yelled at by a stranger for not having a jacket on her toddler.

She breaks down how babies and toddler are experts in communicating with their mom when they’re uncomfortable, and says to her followers, “If you don’t have kids you might not know this but like, children of that age, babies and toddlers are biologically built to express any level of discomfort and pain to their mother.”

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Mom shaming is not a new phenomenon. It’s likely been happening since the second generation of parents existed thousands of years ago if we’re being honest. But that doesn’t change the intense pressure some moms feel to please everyone, including strangers on the street. Mayer explained that when her son, who is now 8 years old, was a toddler she would have a panic attack every time she left her apartment.

The panic came from trying to make sure she had every article of clothing correct for the weather to avoid strangers yelling at her. She even had someone demand that her baby wear sunglasses because the sun was bright. Obviously, yelling at strangers isn’t OK but judging by the comments, it’s a common experience for moms out with their children.

One commenter named Ki said, “My daughter is 28 and I still remember crying because of strangers scolding me at bus stops.” Another mom, Andrea, wrote, “I was nursing my infant while on my cell phone & a woman came & lectured me about the ‘cell phone radiation’ & I started crying.” It’s safe to say no one should be yelled at in public by strangers and people should mind their own business so long as no one is in imminent danger.

See the full video below (contains some strong language):

@youngmimayer

#stitch with @kuuipodawn this isn’t about correcting moms it’s about the disproportionate anger people feel around mothers

Whether it’s for your community or loved ones, Christmas is a time to spread joy and give back. Arguably, the best way to give is when you mix in a ton of fun, which is why we’re traveling out to the midwest to highlight one of the best Christmas festivals in the country.

For the ninth time, Electric music icon GRiZ has taken on the effort of giving back to his native Detroit with “12 Days of GRiZMAS” — a prolonged charity event that not only packs days of enjoyment, but also donates its proceeds to help fund art, after school programs, and music education for Detroit’s youth.

From November 29th to December 10th, every day featured an experience that helped produce an all-around awesome time. These included a guided painting activity, karaoke, a mystery party, a jam night, a charity dodgeball tournament, community yoga, ice skating, and 80s zombie-themed roller-skating. For the grand finale of these twelve merry days, GRiZMAS organized two raging indoor concerts featuring performances by Dirtysnatcha B2B Carbin, Wreckno, Canabliss, and Khiva.

This year, 12 days of GRiZMAS was proud to announce raising over $200,000 for its efforts. As one of the most memorable Christmas experiences in all of the Midwest, this is one to look out for next year. If you can’t make it to next December’s decade celebration but still want to make an impact, they’re always accepting donations.

Bottom line: It’s great to enjoy life while also making a difference. Check out what went down for 12 days of GRiZMAS below.

It wasn’t easy for Cassidy Hutchinson to do what she did. Over the summer, the former Trump aide delivered the most shocking testimony during the Jan. 6 committee’s blockbuster hearings. Half a year later, more shocking details are coming out, not only about the former president’s antics that day but also about what hurdles Hutchinson had to jump to speak out at all. For one thing, she had to ditch a Trump lawyer who tried to get her to lie. Now it’s been revealed she reached out to another Trump World turncoat.

As per Mediaite, before speaking to the committee, Hutchinson contacted Alyssa Farah Griffin, Trump’s former press secretary, who rebranded as one of his denouncers and as Meghan McCain’s replacement on The View. Griffin wound up serving as a critical “back channel,” helping the committee guide their questioning of the young aide. Hutchinson chose Griffin partly because they were already “fairly close,” but also because she knew she was no longer loyal to the 45th president.

One aspect Griffin helped Hutchinson and the committee members shape was her claim that Trump assaulted the Secret Service agent who refused to drive him to the Capitol to join the violent throngs.

“I was trying to think of things that weren’t as deliberately asked in the first few interviews that I could go in and then just hope that there would be some prodding and we could — I could be a little more transparent,” said Hutchinson. “This was for my conscience. And I wanted to be helpful.”

It was also Griffin who told Hutchinson to ditch Trump lawyer Stefan Passantino. After Hutchinson reached out to Liz Cheney, one of the few Republicans who agreed to join the committee, she decided to find new representation.

Hutchinson was very worried about the blowback she might face after giving testimony. While fending off Trump World job offers — including a possible gig at Jason Miller’s far right GETTR — she found herself reading up about the Watergate scandal, to see how staffers in similar positions handled going public with what they knew. And now Trump is facing possible legal action by the Justice Department.

(Via Mediaite)

Once upon a time Kari Lake was a Trump hater. She did more than just flip-flop: She’s now following in his footsteps. Like him, she lost a major election. (Unlike him, she’s never won one.) Like him, she’s refused to admit she lost, even demanded she just be made Arizona governor anyway. And like him, she’s having a hard time proving her voter fraud nonsense in court. As per HuffPost, on Wednesday an “expert” witness for Lake took the stand, but instead of making her case he wound up screwing it up.

Lake, who has already had eight of her 10 claims tossed by a judge, brought in one Clay Parikh, a cybersecurity witness who’s spoken at voter fraud events held by MyPillow guy Mike Lindell. Lake seeks to prove that election officials in the now-famous Maricopa County in Arizona deliberately caused a printer malfunction that lost her enough votes to cost her the election. Parikh was not exactly helping.

Maricopa County officials have acknowledged that the malfunctions did happen but that they didn’t prevent people from voting, as misprinted ballots could simply be duplicated then tabulated. Liddy asked Parikh point blank, “Once it’s duplicated, would it be tabulated, to your understanding?”

Parikh testily tried to dodge the question, but his answer only prompted the judge to tell him his answer was “not responsive to this question.” At that point Parikh said he was simply unable to answer.

Liddy then asked Parikh if duplicated ballots were duplicated. Parikh had to answer honestly, saying, “If they’re duplicated correctly and they’re configured correctly, yes.”

So far all of Lake’s kooky claims of voter fraud have been torn to shreds. That hasn’t stopped her from claiming malfeasance, even vowing revenge on the “evil bastards” who allegedly stole her election. Lake may have lost the chance to be governor of Arizona, but it’s clear she’s not going away anytime soon. Or ever.

(Via HuffPost)

Along with being a hitmaker, Cardi B is a marketing genius. What can’t this New York rhymer do?

Cardi B’s alcoholic-infused Whipshots hit a million sales this past October and is only expected to grow. Her holiday-themed whip cream shots have been trending all over social media recently, on par with the upcoming holiday.

The rapper tweeted earlier this week to share her excitement about fans’ response to the sweet treat, writing, “Seeing people buy my product makes me wanna cry….Thank you for supporting WHIPSHOTS!”

“Got mine for our office Christmas party!!” one fan happily shared.

Another fan jokingly admitted the whipped dessert was surprisingly quite strong.

“Nahhh f*ck them whipshots… I’m a drinker, but my homie put that on top of my drink this weekend, and I’m just now recovering! I ain’t playin’ wit that no mo lmfao, ” they wrote.

Others posted their own delectable recipes with the whip cream shots, including one fan who thought it made an excellent topping for cheesecake.

In December 2021, the “Hot Sh*t” rapper debuted the boozy dessert at Art Basel in Miami. Initially, only three flavors were available, including vanilla, caramel, and mocha. However, in light of the holiday season, the rapper decided to release a peppermint flavor this past November.

Cardi told Billboard last year that she’s not much of a “hardcore liquor-drinking person,” and her products offered her fans a sweet and sexy twist on an old classic. I mean, who doesn’t like whipped cream?

“It’s going to be a party in every can,” she said.

Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

There’s just nothing like a good crime thriller. Whether you’re watching a heist unfold or a deadly game of cops and robbers, the right thriller can be both a pulse-pounding experience and an oddly comforting peak into a darker, more brutal world than the one you’ve created for yourself on your couch. And while so many thrillers pride themselves on creating a sense of unpredictability, the best films in the genre are so well-assembled that you’ll watch them again and again, despite knowing every twist, just to see how it was all put together.

So, whether you’ve seen every thriller classic a dozen times or you’re trying to get some remedial watching in, these are our picks for the best crime thrillers streaming right now, along with where to watch each one.

1. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

Year: 1974
Cast: Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Rating: R
Runtime: 104 minutes
Director: Joseph Sargent
Trailer: Watch here

The 1970s were a boom time for gritty, unforgettable crime thrillers, and while Dog Day Afternoon and The French Connection are often the standard bearers of the era, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three just might be the best of the bunch. The story of a group of robbers who hijack a train in New York City and the NYPD lieutenant tasked with preventing disaster, so much of Joseph Sargent’s film is framed around basic conversations which ring so true that you can’t help but believe it when the violence explodes. All-time great performances from Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw seal the deal.

2. No Country for Old Men

Year: 2007
Cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin
Genre: Thriller, Crime
Rating: R
Runtime: 122 minutes
Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Trailer: Watch here

One of the best films of the 2000s, period, the Coen Brothers make our list twice because No Country for Old Men is basically perfect. An adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel of the same name about a hunter who stumbles upon a briefcase full of cartel money and ends up pursued by a ruthless assassin, it’s both a stylish thriller and a meditation on a fallen world full of violence and cruelty. The cast – led by Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, and Tommy Lee Jones – is among the best the Coens have ever assembled, and even if you’ve read the book and know where things are going, the direction means that it still feels like a film that’ll keep you guessing. Today it plays like a culmination of everything the brothers had learned about filmmaking up to that point, making it a true masterpiece.

Watch it on HBO Max

3. Parasite

Year: 2019
Cast: Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-sik
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Rating: R
Runtime: 132 minutes
Director: Bong Joon Ho
Trailer: Watch here

Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winning meditation on classism, income disparity, and the brutal sectarianism of wealth won plenty of fans for its deeply embedded symbolism and great performances. At its core, though, Parasite still plays like a masterclass in pure thriller filmmaking, a con movie that eventually shifts into something much more savage and unpredictable. The last hour of the movie will leave you in a constant state of nail-biting, anxious awe.

Watch it on Hulu

4. Blow Out

Year: 1981
Cast: John Travolta, John Lithgow
Genre: Crime, Mystery
Rating: R
Runtime: 108 minutes
Director: Brian De Palma
Trailer: Watch here

One of the greatest practitioners of thriller cinema of all time, Brian De Palma, crafted this brilliant and thrilling reimagining of Blowup in the early 1980s and found a great central performer in John Travolta. While Blowup deals with a photograph, Blow Out tracks a movie sound designer (Travolta) who’s out recording sounds one night when he hears what might have been a tire blowing, or might have been the fateful gunshot that signals a covert assassination. What follows is a dizzying journey of obsession and danger that remains one of De Palma’s very best.

Watch it on HBO Max

5. Hell or High Water

Year: 2016
Cast: Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Jeff Bridges
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Rating: R
Runtime: 102 minutes
Director: David Mackenzie
Trailer: Watch here

Before he was the mastermind of the Yellowstone universe, Taylor Sheridan scripted this all-time-great heist film about two Texas brothers (Chris Pine and Ben Foster) who launch a bank robbing spree in order to pay back the debts levied on their family’s ranch. Jeff Bridges co-stars as the Texas Ranger tasked with tracking the boys down, and the result is one of the 21st century’s great games of cat and mouse. Sheridan’s knack for gripping crime drama is on full display, and director David Mackenzie pushes the action into pure thriller territory, right down to the wildly unpredictable final minutes.

Watch it on Netflix

6. Nightcrawler

Year: 2014
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Rating: R
Runtime: 117 minutes
Director: Dan Gilroy
Trailer: Watch here

Jake Gyllenhaal stars in Dan Gilroy’s fiendish neo-noir film as Lou, an ambitious petty criminal who figures out he can make some real money by roving the streets of LA at night, shooting footage of grisly accidents for new stations. It’s a capitalist’s dream, but everything starts to unravel when Lou stumbles upon a fresh crime scene with a high body count and starts to reframe the narrative to suit his own needs. It’s a great debut for Gilroy as a filmmaker, and the nervous, kinetic Lou might be Gyllenhaal’s best work to date.

Watch it on HBO Max

7. Gone Girl

Year: 2014
Cast: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris
Genre: Mystery, Drama
Rating: R
Runtime: 149 minutes
Director: David Fincher
Trailer: Watch here

David Fincher has made a lot of great thrillers throughout his career, but none of the others have ever reached the twist-laden indulgence of Gone Girl, his adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s bestseller starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike. Affleck is fantastic as the husband who becomes a suspect in his wife’s missing person case, Pike is absolutely transcendent as the title runaway, and Fincher’s trademark precision is on full display as the story just keeps getting stranger, darker, and more luscious. Throw in another instant classic score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and it’s a must-watch.

Watch it on HBO Max

8. Blood Simple

Year: 1984
Cast: John Getz, Frances McDormand
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Rating: R
Runtime: 119 minutes
Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Trailer: Watch here

The debut film by Joel and Ethan Coen remains one of the best first features ever made, and arguably the brothers’ best attempt at pure, nerve-jangling thriller cinema. It all stems from a straightforward noir idea: A jealous husband (Dan Hedaya) hires a sketchy private detective (M. Emmet Walsh) to kill his cheating wife (Frances McDormand), and things start to go perilously off the rails from there. Featuring some of the most tension-laden camera work in all of neo-noir cinema, Blood Simple is proof that the indelible style of the Coen Brothers was there from the very start.

Watch it on HBO Max

9. Emily the Criminal

Year: 2022
Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Theo Rossi
Genre: Crime, Drama
Rating: R
Runtime: 97 minutes
Director: John Patton Ford
Trailer: Watch here

Aubrey Plaza has spent her post-Parks and Rec years branching out into increasingly more challenging dramatic roles, and she reaches a new apex with John Patton Ford’s Emily the Criminal. In the title role, Plaza is a down-on-her-luck young woman struggling to claw her way out of student debt whose prospects are crippled by a felony conviction. When she meets a man (Theo Rossi) who’s willing to pay her big bucks to join a low-level crime ring, she unlocks new financial possibilities and a savagery within herself that she’s long since tried to bury. Featuring great work from Plaza and Rossi and a gripping story, Emily the Criminal is one of 2022’s best crime films.

Watch it on Netflix

10. Becky

Year: 2020
Cast: Lulu Wilson, Kevin James, Joel McHale
Genre: Crime, Action
Rating: R
Runtime: 93 minutes
Director: Cary Murnion, Jonathan Milott
Trailer: Watch here

A skinhead criminal (Kevin James) and his pals hatch an escape plan and head to a secluded house where they’ve apparently stashed something worth grabbing. What they find there is a family vacation in progress and one young girl with a chip on her shoulder (Lulu Wilson) who’s not going to put up with their intimidation. With a simple-yet-gripping premise and powerful central performances from Wilson in the title and James playing far, far against type, Becky is a thrilling hybrid of crime drama and revenge slasher, and by the end, it’ll have you simultaneously cheering and covering your eyes to mask the gore.

Watch it on Showtime

McDonald’s is bringing back its 50¢ Double Cheeseburger deal for today and tomorrow (December 22-23) as part of its SZN of Sharing meal deals. Considering we’ve all been tearing our hair out (and emptying our bank accounts) picking out gifts for our loved ones this holiday season, we could use the cheap meal. To get your 50¢ Double Cheeseburger, simply log in to the McDonald’s app, check the “Deals” section, and place a mobile order for pickup. The deal is valid just once time per day unless you have multiple phones in which case, go nuts!

The SZN of Sharing has consisted of a month’s worth of McDonald’s food and merch deals which are accessible exclusively through the McDonald’s app that also allows you to enter a contest once a day for the chance to win a coveted McGold Card.

Winners who score the McGold Card will get free McDonald’s for life. That’s right, life! There will only be three McGold card winners, but each winner will take one a total of four cards which you can dole out however you see fit. That’s power. You can enter to win the McGold Card once a day until December 25th every time you make a mobile order. Your chances of winning a McGold Card are incredibly slim but for the next two days you’ll be dining on 50¢ Double Cheeseburgers, so it’s not a total loss.

And who knows, maybe you will win that shiny (we’re assuming they’re shiny) McGold Card and never have to pay for McDonald’s again for the rest of your life.