Category: News

Bill Burr’s unfiltered opinions don’t stop, nor do they halt for this pandemic that simply won’t stop, either. He’s got no patience for the anti-vaxxer crowd (“you’re full of sh*t that you don’t trust it”), he will only sign copies of his newest comedy album for masked patrons, and he had Conan O’Brien rolling with an “honest, selfish thought” about the virus. Those opinions also stretch to the cable news networks who have been playing wall-to-wall coverage (or in Fox News’ case, coverage and some propaganda) about the coronavirus.

While stopping by to visit The Pat McAfee Show, Burr went off on cable news junkies who can’t get enough. Here’s how he feels about people who can’t quit those talking heads, via Mediaite:

“People who watch CNN & Fox all day are f*cking insane people. Those two channels, their job is just to scare you and divide America. That’s all they do… They sound like divorcees just blaming their spouse, talking sh*t about ’em, so I stay away from [them]. I can’t watch either one of those news channels without getting infuriated, just the fact that they act like they’re news.”

That’s arguably harsh but totally fair, and good on Bill Burr for knowing when to walk away from the TV. He declared that the act of powering off “just chills you out.” And just so you know that he’s serious, he added, “CNN, Fox is never on in my house unless someone has come over and put it on.” You can watch Bill’s appearance (at around the 55:00 minute mark) on The Pat McAfee Show below.

(Via Mediaite)

Robert Eggers has made two of the most unique movies in recent years in 2015’s folkloric The Witch and 2019’s demented black-and-white comedy The Lighthouse. The Northman looks like another singular (and remarkable) addition to his filmography.

The historical epic stars shredded Alexander Skarsgård (fresh off his recurring role on Succession) as a “young Viking prince on his quest to avenge his father’s murder,” as well as Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy, Björk, Ralph Ineson, Ethan Hawke, Claes Bang, and Willem Dafoe. A Viking movie with Björk? This is my Christmas present.

“The scale is so huge and there are so many more locations and things that I couldn’t do everything or know every prop myself,” Eggers told Collider about The Northman. “There’s many locations in the film, so we were constantly going on scouts to find places or reassess places that we have found and we’re building sets there. We’re designing all these worlds, building these villages, we’re making thousands of costumes and props, training the horses the things they’ll need to do, designing the shots of the films.”

The Northman is a big step up from the $4 million budget of The Witch, but based on the incredible trailer above, Eggers was up to the challenge. It opens April 22, 2022.

Being a popular musician requires at least a degree of acting, assuming you’re starring in your own music videos. Even beyond that, though, artists project a version of themselves in the public sphere. In any case, SZA is becoming even more of an actor as she has apparently landed her first real acting role.

Over the weekend, SZA a photo of a cake that reads, “Congrats record breaker and fire actress,” and wrote on her Instagram Story, “I can’t believe I got the part I wanted [watery eyes emoji] she’s an actress.” At the moment, it’s not clear what gig SZA booked, as she doesn’t say in her post or anywhere else.

In the comments of The Shade Room’s post about the image, SZA wrote, “Lmao thank y’all ! And before y’all start somebody BOUGHT me this cake . It’s a sweet gesture n i was being appreciative .”

Annie Bercy, a director and photographer who has worked with SZA, also shared a post about the part, writing on Instagram, “Everything @sza touch turn into gold. My girl is now adding ‘actress’ to her repertoire, congratulations babe!”

SZA has had brushes with the film and TV industries before with her award nominations: In 2019, she and Kendrick Lamar earned Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Original Song with “All The Stars.” She’s also been on a TV show before, although there wasn’t a ton of acting involved, as she portrayed LaToya Thompson on Insecure, appearing just in a still photo.

Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.

This week saw Roddy Ricch bless the mostly barren December album release calendar with a new LP and The Weeknd pop up on a couple of big collaborations. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.

For more music recommendations, check out our Listen To This section, as well as our Indie Mixtape and Pop Life newsletters.

Roddy Ricch — “25 Million”

Roddy Ricch’s album arrived in December 2019, after the hype surrounding year-end lists died down, and he gave his new album, Live Life Fast, the same release schedule. The LP features highlights like “25 Million,” a braggadocios number that comes with a fun video, which sees the rapper living life as a high-power businessman in an office that has plenty of hip-hop culture still firmly in place.

FKA Twigs — “Tears In The Club” Feat. The Weeknd

It feels like we’re always getting something new from The Weeknd, and sure enough, he popped up last week to guest on a new FKA Twigs tune, “Tears In The Club.” While FKA Twigs can often skew experimental, her latest is a relatively straightforward neo-R&B smooth burner, the kind of environment in which The Weeknd’s talents can be well-utilized, as they are here.

Aaliyah — “Poison” Feat. The Weeknd

It was a big week for The Weeknd guest spots, as the FKA Twigs collab isn’t his only one from recent days. Aaliyah’s estate dropped a new posthumous album from the late singer and The Weeknd features on “Poison,” a smooth collaboration that brings two of their respective generation’s biggest R&B stars together on a tune that sounds both classic and fresh.

Flatbush Zombies and RZA — “Quentin Tarantino”

Flatbush Zombies and RZA linked up on a new collab called “Plug Addicts” earlier this month, and last week, they doubled down with yet another joint effort, “Quentin Tarantino.” RZA shared some high praise of the group, too, saying, “I’ve had my eyes on the Flatbush Zombies for some time now. Their style of dark hip-hop lyricism is reminiscent of my days in the Gravediggaz.”

Big Thief — “No Reason”

Big Thief is bringing to 2022 a new album that is long in both title and content: Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You is set to be a 20-track double LP. That means they have a lot of material to share and they unveiled a couple tracks last week, including the warm and serene “No Reason.”

6lack — “Rent Free”

6lack has stayed relatively under the radar since his 2018 debut album East Atlanta Love Letter, but he popped up last week with a pair of new tracks, “Rent Free” and “By Any Means.” Uproxx’s Wongo Okon notes both cuts “are right in the pocket of what we expect from 6lack and why he’s become such a beloved artist” and that “Rent Free” sees the artist admitting “to his pride getting in the way of love.”

Rvssian and Future — “M&M” Feat. Lil Baby

Rvssian earned himself some love among Atlantans last week with “M&M,” which features two of the city’s finest hip-hop exports, Future and Lil Baby. Atop a synthy backdrop, the rappers flex about just how capable they are when it comes to earning money and doing so at an impressive clip.

Tierra Whack — “Heaven”

Tierra Whack is working her way across the musical spectrum, as her EP from last week, R&B?, follows Pop? and Rap?. A standout from the latest dispatch is “Heaven,” a downtempo tune in line, understandably, with the EP’s titular genre. The lyrics are sobering and heartwrenching, as Whack sings, “Heaven has all of my favorite people, I wanna go there.”

Cat Power — “I’ll Be Seeing You”

While Cat Power has an esteemed library of original compositions, she’s also one of our finest cover artists, as she has shown over the years. She’s putting that on display again with her new album, the appropriately titled Covers. She shared a slice of the LP last week with her cover of Billie Holiday’s “I’ll Be Seeing You,” a tender take on the song that’s comforting enough to put you to sleep (in a good way, I must stress).

Jhené Aiko — “Wrap Me Up”

Now is the time of year that Christmas songs are just about at the apex of their complete takeover of the music landscape, making Aiko’s latest single, “Wrap Me Up,” a fitting new release. While it’s not strictly a holiday tune, it certainly shares aesthetic elements and gift-giving themes when them. In fact, if you slid it into a holiday music playlist, nobody would raise their voice, except maybe to comment on how warm and pleasant the tune is.

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

This weekend’s episode of Saturday Night Live was an odd one and a bit of a callback to the bare-bones early pandemic episodes of the show: Due to the latest COVID outbreak, the latest SNL was significantly scaled back and was performed in front of no studio audience aside from the show’s crew and cast members. Consequently, Charli XCX, the week’s musical guest, was unable to perform. She still found a way to sing on the show, though, via a pre-taped sketch with Paul Rudd, Kyle Mooney, and some other SNL cast members.

Backed into a corner, the show relied heavily on re-airing old sketches to fill airtime, but one of the originals was a music video for “The Christmas Socks,” a classically cheesy holiday tune about the spirit of giving to those less fortunate. It’s an odd sketch that’s better watched than described, so without giving too much away, just note that Charli pops up towards the end in a bird costume.

Ultimately, that was Charli’s only musical performance of the night, but fans may get to hear something fresh from her soon regardless. After the news of her axed performance was revealed, Charli tweeted, “maybe i’ll just drop some demos instead to keep u guys hype…”

Watch the “Christmas Socks” sketch above.

Charli XCX is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

PJ Tucker has had, in his words, a “pretty good year.” The NBA veteran won his first championship after being traded to Milwaukee from Houston and then inked a two-year deal with the Miami Heat, who are looking to become contenders once again.

While the Heat are among the many teams in the league trying to navigate injuries and absences right now, Tucker has loved what he’s seen from those on the roster who have gotten opportunity and taken advantage of it, leaning on his own past to help guide the next generation. Ahead of this weekend’s road trip to Orlando and Detroit (where Tucker left the game with a knee injury and did not return), Dime got a chance to talk to Tucker on behalf of eBay, who he has partnered with to sell off some of his massive sneaker collection, including more than a dozen game-worn shoes.

Tucker’s sneakers will go on sale on Monday morning at 6 a.m. ET here (the full list of sneakers Tucker is putting on eBay can be found below the interview), as his two moves in the last calendar year have prompted the star to look to spread some of the love and make his collection a little lighter. We talked about his whirlwind 10 months, the three young Heat players he can’t help but see some of himself in, and his favorite sneaker pickups recently that will be making their debut on court sooner than later.

Can you describe this last year for you, winning a championship in Milwaukee and now starting a new season down in Miami?

Oh man, this has been a whirlwind man. I literally have experienced every emotion possible in a year’s time — not even like 9-10 months time I’ve experienced every emotion possible. It’s been unreal to go from being in a situation I didn’t want to be in, being in a contract year and having my doubts about what’s gonna happen, to go into one of the spots I thought it could work at and I thought I could win it. And then to actually turn around and do it, that was incredible, and obviously all the emotion with that. But then also in free agency to be able to go to a place that was at the top of my list, you know, I couldn’t be happier. So it’s been great. I’ve had a pretty good year [laughs].

You guys got off to a fantastic start and have had some injuries since, but y’all have been able to stay in that top five range in the East despite those. What have you liked about the way this group has responded to being without Bam and Jimmy and Tyler and all the absences you’ve had, but still playing at the level you guys are and competing the way you guys have been?

I think it’s just a part of who we are and how we play like. It literally, you can almost plug some guys in certain positions and situations and we’re gonna play the same way. We have guys come in and they’ve bought in to what we do, and it’s just that unity of our team, our organization. It’s unbelievable. Everybody rooting for each other, everybody having each other’s back. To win games in this league without you know, four of your top five players [laughs], it’s pretty incredible. And I mean big time games, to be able to go in and win those type of games without your top guys is pretty incredible. So it’s something that we’re gonna have to continue to do. Bam’s off a few more weeks, hopefully we get Jimmy back soon, but you know, especially now, we just got to try to plug in as many wins as possible and keep this thing going.

I saw your appearance on Old Man and the Three earlier this year and you talked about the lessons you had to learn as a young player, getting cut by the Raptors. How has that shaped how you talk with and try to provide guidance for some of these young guys? You mentioned there’s a lot of young guys on this team, getting opportunity and what’s the the message that you try to provide as somebody who’s been there, and knows the wrong way to go about it and now the right way?

It’s crazy because I hadn’t had any really young guys like that, like we have here, in a while since, maybe, Phoenix. Houston, we didn’t really have any young guys. So it’s interesting because when you’ve been through what I’ve been through and kind of weeded your way through and gotten to the light — it’s like the information that I have and I know to be able to give guys and try to help and teach guys, but also not like talk down to them. Like, you know, that’s normally how guys are in those situations, like wagging a finger and just telling you what to do. Where, here, man honestly, we have such good guys. You talk to guys they look at you, they know what you’re saying. They’re getting better, they’re working at it, it’s not hard here. That’s what I’m trying to say is that it’s not one of those situations where you have to, like, be overbearing. These young guys we have are really good, they have high basketball IQs, they know how to play, and we just stick together through all the the tough times that we have. Guys stick together and that makes it a lot easier to be a vet on this team.

There have been three in particular that have stuck out with Gabe Vincent, Max Strus, and Caleb Martin all getting an opportunity they’ve never had before. What does it say about those guys to come in and play the way they have and have some huge games? I mean, Gabe Vincent having a big game the other night with I think 26 points, and the way that they’ve stepped up. What does that say about the work they’ve been putting in behind the scenes, even when there’s only been a few minutes to be had in games?

Oh, those are the three. Those are my three guys. Those three right there, because all three of them kind of remind me of myself in different ways. And they’re fearless, like they come in and they work hard every day. And I see ’em in early every day, get shots up afterwards, always talkingk always watching film. And the beauty of this league is it’s so many games, you’re gonna need different guys different nights. No, you’re not gonna have it every night. You’re gonna miss shots, you’re not gonna be on point on defense all the time. So it’s always so funny, it’s always one — like, Coach always says we need an X factor and it’s always one guys night that night. Max came in and hit six threes tonight, or Caleb came in and got six offensive rebounds, and Gabe came in and ran the team and did what he’s supposed to do and helped us win. So it is pretty amazing. I love seeing, like I said being one of the older guys to see one of those guys every single night step up.

You’ve got this partnership with eBay to put some sneakers up for sale. What were the conversations about what you want to do here and trying to make some of these grails accessible to people and available to people that want them, because they’re not sneakers that a lot of people have been able to get?

Yeah, honestly I just wanted to have some fun with it, man. I had so many extra shoes, and we were thinking about different ways to be able to do it. And once we came up with this idea, it just made sense. You know a bunch of game worn shoes, one off shoes that I wore once, some of my personal favorite stuff I wore in games, stuff that, you know, I didn’t get around to wearing that I wanted to but they just didn’t make the cut for the trips, whether from Milwaukee or from Houston. So the idea came from just me moving two or three times this year, some of these shoes gotta move too.

You’re the king of the wear your sneakers movement. Why is it important for you to go out there and show people to, like, wear your shoes, enjoy your shoes? These aren’t just things that you have to keep kind of boxed up and in a hermetically sealed thing like enjoy them. That’s why you get them, right?

Yeah, and that’s, I mean, that’s what it was always about growing up. It was all about wearing ’em. Like it wasn’t just to say, ‘Hey, oh you know those new ones? I got ’em.’ It’s like, oh yeah, you do like nobody believes you. Like you gotta wear ’em, man. That’s seeing Jordan wear the shoes in the game. Like I grew up on that, so me wearing those shoes in a game is everything. It’s not just having them or you know, just having to wear on the street. I get my shoes to wear in basketball games. They’re basketball shoes! They’re made for basketball games.

Absolutely. Finally, what have been some of your favorite recent pickups that you’ve gotten?

Ohhhhhhh, what have I gotten? Oh the SoleFly Jordan 1s are definitely up there. What have I gotten lately? I’m thinking…oh, the Oregon 8’s. Yeah, those were sick. Oh, I just got my new Converse collab that I made. I just got the samples for those, they’re pretty sick, come out in January. I’m excited about that. They’re pretty nice. What else? Oh, and I just got a bunch of new LeBron stuff. Watch the Thrones, a bunch of the new 19s and they’re bringing back the 9s so I got some pretty crazy colorways of the 9s as well.

PJ Tucker’s Sneakers For Sale

Kyrie 6 SR Sneaker Room MOM PE – Game Worn
Hyperdunk 2012 Low PE Area 72
Zoom Kobe 2 ID Black Yellow King of NJ – Game Worn
Air Jordan 1 Low Navy/Grey Test Sample – Game Worn
Kobe 4 Protro PE – Game Worn
Air Force 1 Low PRM TZ Bearbrick
Kobe 6 Protro x PJ Tucker Texas2Toronto
Air Trainer 3 Premium Super Bowl
Jordan Zoom Tenacity 88 White/Valour Blue/Navy PE
Kyrie 5 Duke Black PE
Kyrie 5 UCONN PE
Kyrie 5 Duke Blue PE
Kyrie 4 Academy PE
Kyrie 4 All Star PE
Dunk Low Pro SB Heineken
Zoom Lebron 4 Playoff PE – Game Worn
Zoom LeBron 3 SuperBron – Game Worn
Lebron 7 University of Kentucky PE – Game Worn
Kobe 4 Protro White/Black/Purple PE
LeBron 8 V/2 Diana Taurasi All-Star PE
Zoom Kobe 6 Think Pink
Kobe 4 Protro White/University Red PE
Zoom Kobe 5 Ink
Zoom Kobe 3 All Star
Air Jordan 10 Double Nicke
Zoom Kobe 7 System TB White Metallic Silver
Air Jordan 11 Retro Low Tuxedo
Air Jordan 5 Blackout Test Sample
Air Jordan Super Fly SE Russell Westbrook OKC Away PE
Zoom KD 3 Skills Academy PE – Game Worn
Air Jordan 12 Low Bred Derek Anderson Loyal 1 PE – Game Worn
Air Jordan 23 OG Chicago Bulls – Game Worn
Air Max LeBron 7 Retro QS Red Carpet
Air Max LeBron 7 NFW White Varsity Red – Game Worn
Jordan CP3.X Chris Paul PE
Hyperdunk x Low MSCO PE
KD 6 Supreme DC Preheat
Air Jordan 6 Retro Bulls – Game Worn
Zoom Huarache TR Low Premium x EA Sports – Game Worn
LeBron 9 Shooting Stars PE
Air Max LeBron 7 CavFanatic PE
Louis Vuitton Trainer Sneaker Boot
Air Jordan 10 Retro x PSNY Public School Promo – Game Worn
Dunk High Black Old Royal
Air Jordan 2 Retro Eminem – Game Worn
LeBron Zoom 3 PE SVSM Sample – Game Worn
Air Trainer 1.3 Max Breathe LeBron James PE – Game Worn
Air Jordan 5 Retro Low Derek Anderson PE – Game Worn
Air Foamposite One x Comme des Garçons Homme Plus White – Game Worn
Jordan 32 JBC Pure Platinum PE – Game Worn

If you thought we were out of the woods with the Covid-19 pandemic think again. The spread of a new variant called Omicron has already set back SNL‘s episode last night to a handful of cast members, and even led to the cancelation of Charli XCX’s performance on the show. Now, it’s led to another cancelation — the final stop on the Jingle Bell tour, which was slated to take place in Miami tonight. The tour has been marred by a handful of other cancellations by artists like Doja Cat, who faced exposures to the virus and needed to take the precaution.

But cases are so high as of this weekend that the radio station isn’t taking any risks and has put the kibosh on the whole tour, which was slated to include performances from Saweetie, Black Eyed Peas, AJR, Tate McRae, Monsta X, Bazzi, Anitta, and Dixie D’Amelio. “Due to the increased transmission of the new Covid-19 variant and to further minimize any potential risks, as a precautionary measure and for the safety of our staff, talent and guests, we have made the decision to cancel tonight’s iHeartRadio Y100 Jingle Ball,” iHeart said in a statement. “Thank you for your understanding. Ticket holders will receive a refund within 48 hours and if the have any issues, they should reach out to their point of purchase.”

With just a couple of weeks left in 2021, Adele is solidifying her position as one of this year’s best-selling artists. Her fourth album, 30 — which fans waited six long years to hear — debuted at No. 1 with a whopping 839,000 sales in its first week. 30. It remained at No. 1 in the following weeks.

Now 30 has scored its fourth consecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated December 25. It achieved this thanks to 183,000 album units in its fourth week on the chart. This number is comprised of 146,500 pure album sales and 35,000 streaming equivalent album units supplied by 47.3 million on-demand streams of the album’s songs.

30 becomes the first album to spend four straight weeks at No. 1 since Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album tallied ten straight weeks at the top of the charts between January 23 and March 27, garnering huge sales despite controversy that mushroomed over a racist remark he made. The last album by a woman that did this was Taylor Swift’s Folklore, which spent its first six weeks at No. 1 starting in August 2020. Adele’s 30 also tallied the biggest fourth week for any album released within the last three years.

Elsewhere on the chart, Juice WRLD’s second posthumous album Fighting Demons checks in at No. 2 thanks to 119,000 equivalent album units sold.

On Sunday, the WNBA held its Draft Lottery for the four teams that did not make the postseason this year, with the Indiana Fever, Atlanta Dream, Dallas Wings (via the L.A. Sparks), and Washington Mystics all hoping to nab the top spot.

For the second time in three years the Fever had the best odds to win the lottery but ended up with the No. 2 pick, as this time it was the Washington Mystics leaping into the top spot. The Dream fell to the third pick and the Wings will pick fourth in next spring’s draft.

For the Mystics, they will have their choice at the top of the draft, with guard Rhyne Howard of Kentucky as the favorite to go first overall, while forward NaLyssa Smith of Baylor also has a case to be made for that spot. Whoever they take will be coming into a team that, if they can get healthy, will be expecting to vault back into the contender status next season. The Fever, meanwhile, are just hoping to hit on a high draft pick, as they have failed to make the playoffs in five consecutive seasons and looked as far from contending as ever in 2021. Atlanta is likewise in the midst of an organizational overhaul, with a new coach, new GM, and some new faces coming in on the roster after a tumultuous last couple seasons. The Wings, meanwhile, took the next step into playoff contention this past season, earning the leagues 7-seed and will hope they can add another rotational piece around Arike Ogunbowale.

The full 2022 WNBA Draft order will look like this, barring trades beforehand.

1. Washington Mystics
2. Indiana Fever
3. Atlanta Dream
4. Dallas Wings
5. New York Liberty
6. Dallas Wings
7. Chicago Sky
8. Minnesota Lynx
9. Seattle Storm
10. Indiana Fever
11. Las Vegas Aces
12. Connecticut Sun

In New York City, some Broadway shows have cancelled shows. Lines to get tested for COVID are around the block. Cases are soaring. SNL went on without most of its cast and crew. Fears of another brutal winter wave, brought on by the Omicron variant, are upon us. But you wouldn’t know that from looking at the box office returns for Spider-Man: No Way Home. After an opening day that was both a pandemic-era best and second only to Avengers: Endgame (also featuring Tom Holland’s Peter Parker), the Marvel threequel went on to one of the biggest opening weekends in film history.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, No Way Home — which sends Spidey into the multiverse — wound up grossing $253 million over the three-day pre-Christmas weekend. But that’s not all. It’s overseas gross was a whopping $334.2 million, meaning a total haul of $587.2 million. (This is minus China, by the way.)

Domestically that haul — and again, during a once-in-a-century public health crisis that is about to kick into yet another gear — makes it the third biggest-ever opener, not adjusted for inflation. Number one is Avengers: Endgame, with $357 million, followed by Avengers: Infinity War, whose $257.6 million No Way Home almost beat. That said, it did outgross the domestic opening of Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($248 million), Star Wars: The Last Jedi ($220 million) and Jurassic World ($208.8 million).

For contrast, the previous box office weekend champ of the pandemic era, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, grossed a “mere” $90 million. No Way Home also handily bested the previous three Marvel outings: Black Widow ($80 million), Shang-Chi ($75 million), and Eternals ($71 million).

In less happy news, non-comic book fare continued to sink like a stone. After last weekend’s poor showing for Steven Spielberg’s (very, very good) remake of West Side Story ($10 million), Guillermo del Toro’s star-studded redo of the classic film noir Nightmare Alley managed a mere $2.9 million. That suggests that adult audiences are still staying home — especially as cases once again skyrocket — and that there may be a grim future for movies not aimed at the young and carefree.

On the other hand, it sure does look like those who made it out to the latest webslinger movie really enjoyed themselves.

(Via THR)