Tag: Netflix

LeBron James to produce Netflix basketball movie starring Adam Sandler

LeBron James and his SpringHill Entertainment company are creating a movie about a basketball scout who will be played by Adam Sandler.

LeBron James must have really loved the critically acclaimed basketball-themed movie “Uncut Gems,” starring Adam Silver and former Boston Celtics star Kevin Garnett because now LeBron is behind a basketball-themed production involving Sandler of his own.

Collider’s Jeff Sneider reported on Monday that Sandler will play a professional basketball scout that has suddenly found himself out of the league in the movie “Hustle,” executive produced by LeBron James and Maverick Carter. Here’s the plot, according to Sneider.

The story follows an American basketball scout (Sandler) who is unjustly fired after discovering a once-in-a-lifetime player abroad. The scout decides to bring the player to America to prove that they both have what it takes to make it in the NBA.

Having Sandler play an NBA scout sounds like a great role, for Sandler is a huge basketball fan himself and can definitely play a character who spends a great deal of his time on the road. Also, given LeBron’s past basketball productions, such as “Survivor’s Remorse,” I expect that it should be a pretty accurate depiction of NBA life.

One of the more intriguing parts of the movie is where the special foreign player will be from, as Sneider reports that the original script featured a Chinese streetball phenom that comes to the basketball hub of Los Angeles. Given the current state of affairs between the NBA and China, that may seem unbelievable, but “Survivor’s Remorse” spoke very openly about the role of China in the world of basketball (We are doing a podcast about this show, by the way!) and I suspect that the current state of things won’t change that, at least in more artistic forms. However, it will be interesting if this aspect of the script does indeed change.

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The trailer for Steve Carell’s ‘Space Force’ is out, and we can’t look away

So cringeworthy but, perhaps, so good.

Steve Carell seems poised to make us squirm in our seats in his new Netflix show, “Space Force,” a TV series spoofing President Donald Trump’s U.S. Space Force initiative to build a space warfare service branch.

A trailer released on Tuesday showed Carell will star as four-star general Mark R. Naird in his efforts to build that group. And yes, it seems like Carell is channeling Michael from “The Office,” another workplace drama, in this new show. The trailer shows its characters (which includes a star-studded cast of John Malkovich, Diana Silvers, Tawny Newsome, Ben Schwartz, Lisa Kudrow, Jimmy O. Yang, Noah Emmerich, Alex Sparrow, and Don Lake) openly mocking the trials and tribulations of the Space Force under Naird’s leadership. As you can imagine, it seems Naird is jumping from one disaster to the next. Here’s a look.

(Warning: Video contains profanity.)

So cringeworthy and potentially so good, Space Force starts streaming on May 29.

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I didn’t think I’d fall in love during quarantine but I did. Thank you, Netflix.

143, F1.

This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning.

Dating in a “normal” world is generally a horrific experience that rarely pays off with anything even remotely close to love. That’s something that you know if you were in the dating world back when the world was “normal.”

Dating while we’re all locked in our apartments or homes during quarantine to fight this coronavirus is now a totally non-existent thing, which can be nice at times but it can also make you miss the horrific experience of dating.

It also has similar results in terms of finding love because finding love right now is just as hard as finding toilet paper – you know it’s out there somewhere and you see pictures of it shared by overjoyed friends on social media but chances are you ain’t gonna get it.

At least not right now, anyways.

But that all changed for me last week when I was lucky enough to find love… and I have Netflix to thank for that. Because last week I fell absolutely head over heels in love… with Formula 1 racing.

Sure, it’s not a person. But it’s something and you can’t take this away from me!

For a while I had heard from friends and strangers on Twitter about the Netflix docuseries “Formula 1: Drive to Survive.” I had brushed it aside because I didn’t know much about the sport and had many other live sports to watch (remember those days? Man, those were the best.). I just couldn’t picture myself devoting time to watch something about racing, but then again I never thought I’d gleefully watch seven episodes about a bunch of lunatics who owned Tigers and wanted each other dead, so I figured what the heck – let’s check out this F1 thingy.

And just like that I was hooked.

If you haven’t watched this series it’s 20 episodes long and follows the past two seasons of F1. It’s all awesome behind-the-scenes stuff that leads up to a race at the end of each episode where perfectly developed storylines get paid off and then some.

The best part about this show is that they do a great job each episode of making you care about the drivers and teams and people who run the teams. I know this because during one episode I was sitting there on my couching going, “YEAH, HAAS RACING. YOU HAVE TO BE FASTER THAN THIS! YOU JUST HAVE TO BE!” even though I didn’t know Haas racing was even in F1 just a few hours before I watched the show.

If you don’t know the results ahead of time – which I didn’t – then you’ll feel some nerves and excitement leading up to the race. Then once things get underway you’ll suddenly feel like you’re watching live sports again and that you can’t wait to see how things play out.

The places where these races take place are incredible, too – from the fans in Monaco watching from the hundreds of balconies on buildings along the course to the fireworks exploding into the Singapore night, it’s all so stunningly beautiful and makes you feel like you are traveling the world instead of being locked inside your house.

If you’re like me and don’t know much about this sport then you’ll instantly be amazed by how insanely badass the drivers are and what they can pull off while driving at insane speeds. And you’ll be rooting for guys you didn’t know about that morning to try to keep their seat (a phrase I learned while watching the show but now use like I know what I’m talking about) leading up to season-ending races.

You’ll also get to know more about the legendary Lewis Hamilton. I work in sports so I had heard his name, of course, but I didn’t really know much about him. Now I know he drives for Mercedes, is really humble, treats his whole team incredibly well, and wins just about every time he gets into his car. You’ll also see that his “flu game” was just as impressive as Michael Jordan’s. OK, that may be overstated but I’m newly in love so let me overstate things!

Listen, right now there are no sports on. I’m watching Game 1 of the 1988 World Series on ESPN as I write this. We’re all hungry for sports and this F1 series filled my appetite and left me wanting more. It can do it for you, too.

I loved it so much that the other morning I Googled “F1 2020 results” to see who was winning races before the world shut down. But then I sadly learned that the season doesn’t start until March and everything has been postponed. Man, that search left me feeling so empty.

But I can’t wait until all of this is over and sports are back and F1 is back and I’m Googling ways to watch live races, because that is going to be awesome.

And yeah, I will wait for you, F1.

Because I love you.

Though I might have to share that love with Sunderland F.C., because “Sunderland ‘Til I Die” on Netflix is proving to be pretty awesome, too. But the team really stinks, which is a shame because Sunderland fans are deserve better.

Tuesday’s biggest winner: Ciara and Russell Wilson.

The power couple is having a second child together and shared a video of their gender reveal on Tuesday… and it was pretty great.

Quick hits: Breaking down Burrow… Kamara happy for McCaffrey… Anger over Colts’ logo… And more!

– My pal and coworker Steven Ruiz brilliantly broke down Joe Burrow’s game film from 2018.

– Saints RB Alvin Kamara loved hearing about Christian McCaffrey’s contract on Twitch.

– A coach is mad at the Colts for ripping off their new logo from a high school team.

– NASCAR star Joey Logano shared his thoughts on Kyle Larson’s firing.

– Did the 49ers’ save fans from spreading coronavirus by losing in the Super Bowl? This report makes it look like they did.

– The great Joe Buck continued his great play-by-play of random videos on John Krasinski’s new YouTube show.

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What we learned from the disappointing extra episode of ‘Tiger King’

This was a major letdown.

“Tiger King” has become a worldwide phenomenon during the coronavirus pandemic, and the wild docuseries added an extra chapter over the weekend with the release of “The Tiger King and I.”

In the special, which features short interviews with Erik Cowie, Jeff and Lauren Lowe, John Reinke, John Finlay, Kelci “Saff” Saffery, Joshua Dial and Rick Kirkham, the people who knew Joe Exotic the best reflected on the outcome of his court case, and on how their own lives have changed amid Tiger King-mania.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the extra episode has a very low-budget setup. Joel McHale conducts video interviews that serve mostly as an excuse for McHale to crack as many jokes as he can, and there are absolutely no shocking tiger footage or mind-bending twists – the main reasons the show became a smash hit in the first place. The cast members fans likely want to hear from the most – Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin – do not make appearances. In all, “The Tiger King And I” is very skippable, and doesn’t come close to matching the entertainment value of the docuseries.

There are a few interesting takeaways, however. Here are all the notable things we learned in “The Tiger King and I.”

1. No one is on Joe’s side

It’s difficult to root for any of the main characters of Tiger King, but none of the people McHale interviewed felt that Joe Exotic was unfairly jailed for his behavior.

Saff pointed out that Joe did plenty of good deeds that weren’t necessarily highlighted by the show, such as his Thanksgiving dinner, but no one is calling for Joe to be released from prison. Erik Cowie, for one, didn’t mince words.

“He’s going to die in there. Good riddance.”

2. John Finlay now has teeth and some ridiculous facial hair

Finlay, one of Joe’s ex-husbands, is best remembered for being shirtless all the time and generally looking like a NHL bruiser in the dental department. He’s now got a new set of teeth, and looks great!

3. Saff identifies as male and was misgendered in the show

Kelci “Saff” Saffery was one of the heroes of the series, and tragically lost his arm in an accident with a tiger. Saff is referred to as “she” throughout the series, but said that he wasn’t particularly bothered by not being portrayed accurately in the show.

“I don’t think it bothered me as much as it bothered everybody else. I didn’t really pay it any mind.”

4. Rick Kirkham has some heartbreaking Joe stories

Kirkham is the producer who was filming a Joe Exotic reality show but lost all of his footage when Exotic’s studio burned down. He shared some incredibly dark stories, and said that while Exotic claimed that he only euthanized tigers that were sick or injured, he witnessed Exotic kill two healthy cats simply to free up cage space.

Kirkham also recalled a time when a woman brought her horse to Exotic’s zoo and asked if he could take the horse and allow it to live on his grounds. Exotic agreed and told the woman the horse would have a great life at his zoo, but as soon as she left, Exotic shot the horse and fed it to his tigers.

5. Joe Exotic is “terrified” of big cats

Kirkham also said that the “Tiger King” is, in fact, absolutely terrified of big cats.

“In the shots that you see in there, where he’s in with the two tigers, the white one and the other one. The white one is blind and the other one is on tranquilizers.”

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‘Tiger King’ villain Jeff Lowe says Netflix is dropping an extra episode

The ‘Tiger King’ saga isn’t over yet, according to Jeff Lowe.

Netflix docuseries “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness” has become essential quarantine viewing in recent weeks, and given how many absurd twists and turns occurred in the unbelievable storyline, fans of the show were left with plenty of questions after finishing the final episode. According to one of the show’s many villains, current Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park CEO Jeff Lowe, Netflix will release an extra episode very soon.

Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner, of all people, broke the news on Twitter. Jeff Lowe and his wife, Lauren, recorded a video for Turner and his wife Kourtney, and claimed that Netflix was coming to film at the Oklahoma zoo for an episode to be released “next week.”

Netflix has not announced any upcoming additional episodes – but did recently share a snippet of a recent interview with Joe Exotic from jail.

There’s obviously more from Joe that was not shown in the short video, and it would be kind of strange for Netflix to go to the lengths to film an interview to only release an 82-second Twitter video, so perhaps more Tiger King really is on the way.

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The best ‘Tiger King’ memes from #DescribeTigerKingIn5Words

Twitter users summed up Netflix’s wild documentary series Tiger King perfectly.

Netflix’s true crime documentary series ‘Tiger King’ has taken over the internet, and if you haven’t seen the show yet, you’re missing out on one of the wildest, most unbelievable experiences you can possibly have watching television. Tiger King delivers so many absurd twists and turns, and offers a fascinating glimpse into a deranged world where seemingly every character is profoundly flawed in their own way. You really should go watch it right now.

On Saturday, fans of the show tried to best describe ‘Tiger King’ in just five words on Twitter in a hashtag challenge. Here are the best efforts:

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The hottest new thing in quarantine life is hosting a Netflix Party

Another way to have fun without being in the same room.

While researching my list of fun games and activities you can do on Zoom or Google Hangouts or other video conferencing services while you’re stuck at home, I found out — via a friend’s invitation — that there was an easy way for us to watch Netflix together virtually as isolation and social distancing continues.

There’s a Chrome extension called Netflix Party you can install and use to share with your friends and family to watch shows on the popular streaming service.

The useful thing here is you can all watch the same thing at the same time without having to start the same show at the exact same moment, or have it streamed through those aforementioned video chats (although you COULD do this on video, it’s better to have a chat typed out than people interrupting the sound from what you’re watching).

So here’s what you can do (only if you have Chrome on a desktop/laptop AND only if everyone in your group has a Netflix account):

1. Install the extension.

2. Open what you want to watch and start it up.

3. There will be a red NP in your address bar. Hit it, “start party” and share the link with your friends. You can also select “only I have control,” which allows the host to pause, rewind or fast-forward.

4. Have your friends click on it. Then, chat n’ watch!

That’s it.

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Aaron Hernandez’s former fiancee speaks out about sexuality being included in Netflix docuseries

The former fiancee of Aaron Hernandez is speaking out about details revealed in the recently-released Netflix docu-series, “Killer inside: the mind of Aaron Hernandez.”

The former fiancee of Aaron Hernandez is speaking out about details revealed in the recently-released Netflix docu-series, “Killer inside: the mind of Aaron Hernandez.”

SNL spoofs Netflix’s ‘Cheer,’ and the director responded with jokes on Twitter

“You’re watching ‘Cheer,’ the new Netflix docu-series that has everyone asking: ‘DID YOU WATCH CHEER?'”

“Saturday Night Live” jumped into the conversation about Netflix’s hit documentary series, “Cheer.”

The show follows the Navarro College cheerleading squad in Texas on their pursuit of a junior college championship at NCA College Nationals in Daytona, Florida. The team’s season is filled with adversity, largely in the form of injuries (concussions, dislocations, sprains), which don’t seem to faze the coaching staff — or, in some cases, the injured athletes themselves.

Riffing off that oddity, the comedians on SNL — with a guest appearance from Adam Driver — decided to develop a spoof on the show and the too-dogged competitors. Here’s a look at that segment.

The show’s director, Greg Whiteley, probably didn’t know ahead of time that SNL developed a bit around his show. On Twitter, Whiteley wrote: “Retiring today as there’s really no point in going on.”

The best joke of the spoof might have been the line: “You’re watching ‘Cheer,’ the new Netflix docu-series that has everyone asking: ‘Did you watch Cheer?'” As someone who has watched “Cheer,” I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I’ve asked that exact question. And even though I feel roasted, the show is very good — and you should watch it.

So… Have you watched “Cheer”?

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Friends is leaving Netflix on Wednesday and people are not handling it well

You won’t be able to stream ‘Friends’ until May after it leaves Netflix on January 1st.

More than 15 years after it went off the air, Friends remains one of the most popular television shows in the world – but fans won’t be able to stream the series until May 2020 after it goes off Netflix at the start of 2020.

Tuesday is the final day that Friends – the No. 2 most-streamed series on the platform behind The Office – will be on Netflix, before it eventually resurfaces when HBO Max launches in May.

If you’re looking to stream Friends in the coming months, your only options are to buy each episode, or resort to watching DVDs or Blu-rays. It’s the end of a Netflix era, and Friends fans aren’t having a rough day.

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