Month: August 2020

The FBI’s raid of YouTuber Jake Paul’s Calabasas mansion on Wednesday certainly raised some eyebrows. Reports had also surfaced about the feds recently slapping the “influencer” with a tax lien, and he had drawn attention for holding a large house party during the pandemic, so speculation swirled on a number of fronts. However, the seizure of weapons from the home pointed toward what the bureau later confirmed was an investigation into “allegations of criminal acts” related to Paul’s connection to a disturbance (he was later charged with criminal trespass and unlawful assembly) during the looting of a Scottsdale, Arizona mall in May 2020.

Following the raid, an FBI spokesperson also noted (to ABC 7) that a Las Vegas search warrant had been executed that was related to the investigation into Paul. Later, Sin City’s local Fox affiliate confirmed that the bureau (which confirmed that the warrant was executed “in connection with an ongoing investigation”) descended upon another YouTuber’s home, known as the Graffiti Mansion:

Law enforcement with Las Vegas Metropolitan Police, SWAT and FBI were seen at the home Wednesday morning, located near Buffalo Drive and Sahara Avenue. YouTuber Arman Izadi lives in the home.

Arman Izadi, along with Jake Paul and Andrew Leon, had been charged with misdemeanors in Arizona connected to the May 2020 riot/looting incident. As of now, there’s been no announcement of a warrant for any fresh arrests, but it’s worth noting that, on Wednesday, Scotsdale police confirmed that they had dismissed the local charges against Paul in connection with the Arizona riot/looting incident. As ABC 7 notes, the department decided to drop the charges without prejudice “so that a federal criminal investigation can be completed.” Following that decision, local law enforcement is now coordinating with the FBI.

For his part, Paul denied participating in looting while in attendance at the Scotsdale mall and, according to Deadline, insisted that he was “strictly documenting, not engaging.”

(Via Fox 5, Deadline & ABC 7)

“Value bourbon” and “affordable bourbon” are two different conversations. Well-made, cheap bourbons are actually pretty easy to come by. Bourbon is, by nature, a relatively inexpensive product to make (in the grand scheme of whiskey production). It’s also local and skips those pesky import tariffs that add costs for us consumers.

But we’re looking beyond affordable bourbon today. We’re here to talk about expressions that carry the magic combination of low(ish) price and great value. And that’s where things get a little more difficult. This is about identifying bottles that are actually worth more than they currently retail for. Drams that outkick their coverage.

The ten bourbons below are all readily available nationwide… for now. But underrated bourbons like these have a way of disappearing from shops and showing up later for triple the price on the resale market. Find them now, while they still line your local liquor store shelves, and see if you agree that they taste better than their price tags.

Ancient Age

ABV: 40%
Distillery: Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort, KY (Sazerac)
Average Price: $12

The Whiskey:

Ancient Age is Buffalo Trace’s gateway bottle. There’s nothing fancy at all about this bottle — besides the fact that it has been on the shelves since 1946 and has a high rye mash bill. Still, it’s a hell of a bargain for a bottle from the Buffalo Trace stills.

Tasting Notes:

This is entry-point bourbon with notes of caramel, vanilla, corn, and maybe a hint of toffee up top. That corn bleeds through in what tasters call a “green” or “young” feel to the sip, as the rye spices kick in and lead towards more toffee sweetness and a wisp of citrus.

Zach’s Bottom Line:

I like this stuff. It’s simple, easy, and very cheap. It’s also a perfectly fine cocktail base if you’re mixing with something bold or sugary.

Evan Williams Bottled-in-Bond

ABV: 50%
Distillery: Heaven Hill Distillery, Bardstown, KY
Average Price: $15

The Whiskey:

Ancient Age probably doesn’t quite get its due because so many bartenders use Evan Williams as their rail bottle. And that’s fine. This is a high corn mash with a small dose of rye and barley as an accompaniment, which gives this the expression a softer touch on the palate. It’s bonded, so you know it has aged four years under the watchful eye of the Feds. Plus, that means a higher ABV — adding value in our estimation.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a clear sense of vanilla supported by brown sugar caramel and a hint of fruitiness. Mild ginger spice hovers nearby as the vanilla and caramel carry through. The end has a nice balance of that mild spice, vanilla, and caramel as a hint of lemon zest drops in.

Zach’s Bottom Line:

Most aficionados would pay $20 for this without blinking an eye. It’s easily one of the best shooters and mixers on this list and it’s only $15.

Old Forester 86

ABV: 83%
Distillery: Old Forester Distilling Co., Louisville, KY (Brown-Forman)
Average Price: $20

The Whiskey:

Old Forester is a classic bourbon brand and their 86 Proof is a classic bourbon expression. The juice in the bottle has a little rye and barley to accentuate the corn and is bottled at a slightly higher proof to give the drinker an idea of the great things Forester does with its other expressions.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a decent amount going on here, even for the bourbon snob. Notes of vanilla are supported by hints of fresh mint sprigs and a whiff of pipe tobacco leaves. The sweetness is pinned to corn and vanilla with twinges of oak, rye spice, orange zest, and cedar bark supporting the sip. The sweetness of the corn and mildness of the spice lingers longest as the sip fades.

Zach’s Bottom Line:

This a complex dram for a very low price that verges on straight sip-ability.

Old-Grandad Bonded

ABV: 50%
Distillery: Jim Beam, Clermont, KY (Beam Suntory)
Average Price: $20

The Whiskey:

This release from Jim Beam is another crowd-pleaser with a higher ABV. The mash bill leans into rye while the four years of aging adds a nice mellowness to the juice. The label also has a picture of ‘ol Basil Hayden on it. So if you’re looking for a more affordable alternative to Beam’s Basil Hayden’s, this is the logical play.

Tasting Notes:

Corn and vanilla mingle with orange zest and oaky spice. The dram has a touch of black pepper with a clear orchard fruit edge. In the end, it’s the vanilla, oak, and spice that last longest on the senses, creating a classic bourbon experience.

Zach’s Bottom Line:

At $20 and 50% ABV, you can’t go wrong. This one also makes for a great Old Fashioned, Manhattan, or Boulvadier base.

Buffalo Trace

ABV: 45%
Distillery: Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort, KY (Sazerac)
Average Price: $28

The Whiskey:

Buffalo Trace is a refined bourbon that could easily be in the $50 range if its distillers got greedy. Luckily for us, Buffalo Trace already makes a long list of whiskeys in the mid to high ranges price-wise, making this expression their gateway bottle — revealing their masterful bourbon-making prowess.

There’s also a slightly higher ABV here, making this a good mixer.

Tasting Notes:

Molasses and vanilla are counterpointed by a flourish of freshly plucked mint. Brown sugar toffee creates a sweet foundation on which notes of anise, oak, and vanilla are built up like solid bricks in a wall. A dark berry note arrives as the vanilla, spice, toffee, and oak ease across your senses.

Zach’s Bottom Line:

Probably the best overall bottle to have on hand for mixing or on the rocks.

Elijah Craig Small Batch

ABV: 47%
Distillery: Heaven Hill Distillery, Louisville, KY
Average Price: $35

The Whiskey:

Now we’re getting into bottles that could (and may later be) more expensive given the quality of the juice in the bottle. Elijah Craig 12 was a bourbon-lovers favorite. That love led Heaven Hill to replace the bottle with this small-batch expression to ease the demand and give the distillers a chance to catch up.

The result was another multi-award-winning juice that’s almost universally beloved.

Tasting Notes:

Orange marmalade, cedar bark, fresh honey, and dark spices greet you. There’s a sense of apples covered in rich caramel and cinnamon next to a spicy sugar cookie texture. The sip leans into the apple, caramel, and spice as a wave of oak joins the dram on the subtle end.

Zach’s Bottom Line:

This bottle could easily cost double and people would still love it. Try it as a sipper or in a highball.

1792 Bottle-in-Bond

ABV: 50%
Distillery: Barton 1792 Distillery, Bardstown, KY (Sazerac)
Average Price: $35

The Whiskey:

1792 continues to win awards year after year. So, you know you’re getting quality here just from the name. It’s really well-made whiskey. The addition, the bonded ABV makes this particular expression from the brand the best value in our estimation — especially if you’re looking for a little refinement in your higher ABV drams.

Tasting Notes:

Spice leads the way through oaky notes and a dose of fresh mint on the nose. The sip then veers into a fairground caramel apple territory with black pepper pecking at the sweetness while an echo of espresso bean bitterness lurks in the background. The sip’s velvet texture helps carry these notes to a long, satisfying end.

Zach’s Bottom Line:

This expression easily matches bottles twice its price. Add in the high ABVs, and you have a solid choice for sipping or mixing.

Basil Hayden’s

ABV: 40%
Distillery: Jim Beam, Clermont, KY (Beam Suntory)
Average Price: $35

The Whiskey:

This is a solid entry-point bottle for Beam’s extensive Basil Hayden’s line. The high-rye mash gives it depth but also a very classic feel. The refined distilling and aging create a high-quality that you taste in each sip.

Tasting Notes:

A refined sense of sharp spices meets bitter black tea spiked with fresh peppermint. Classic notes of vanilla, rye spice, oak, and caramel flutter throughout the sip’s length. The end is just long enough to entice you back for more with a very slight wisp of smoke.

Zach’s Bottom Line:

If you’re looking to get into higher-end and higher-priced bourbon, this is where you start. It makes for a solid sipper and great mixer.

Heaven Hill Bottled-in-Bond 7 Year

ABV: 50%
Distillery: Heaven Hill Distillery, Louisville, KY
Average Price: $40

The Whiskey:

Back on the bottled-in-bond train, this expression takes it up another notch without skyrocketing the price. The bonded whiskey is aged an additional three years, giving the sip a deeper quality that amps up the drinking experience.

Tasting Notes:

This is just a plain old classic with vanilla, caramel, and honey combining on the nose. Those notes carry on with mild rye spiciness and a slightly bitter note from the charred oak barrels. As the sip slowly fades away, you’re left with a warming feeling (Kentucky hug) with bursts of vanilla, caramel, and spice.

Zach’s Bottom Line:

While this is getting into the higher price range, it’s still solid and has a high ABV, making it a great value, especially for subtle bourbon-centric cocktails.

Wild Turkey Rare Breed

ABV: 54.1%
Distillery: Wild Turkey Distilling, Lawrenceburg, KY (Campari)
Average Price: $40

The Whiskey:

This small-batch expression is a marrying of six, eight, and 12-year-old bourbons that blend together perfectly. This is the bottle that Wild Turkey master blender Jimmy Russell keeps in his house to sip on regularly. That should give you an indication of how easy drinking this dram is.

Tasting Notes:

The spice and vanilla are pulled back here, leaving room for orange, tobacco leaves, and fresh mint. The corn-forward caramel is very subtle — so is the vanilla. It’s really the tobacco, oak, and spice that shine with a hint of orchard fruit and a final, minute billow of smoke.

Zach’s Bottom Line:

Again, this expression could easily cost twice this price and folks would still adore it. Sip it or mix into a highball to really open up those flavors.

There’s good news and bad news here. The good news is that, if we want to get to the bottom of the disability issue in Hollywood, we can do it in three easy-ish steps. The bad news is that all three steps are related so we kind of have to tackle them all at once. It’ll be a whole process that takes time and effort and a reasonable amount of good-faith commitment, which is not something we’re all always good at. I think it’s worth doing, though. I’m admittedly a little biased because I have a disability (spinal cord injury, wheelchair, the whole deal), but it can work out for you, too. It would mean fewer groan-worthy plots and fewer stale tropes and more cool, original stories about slices of life you might not be familiar with. That’s a good thing. Cool things are good. Let’s make more cool things.

I’m going to lay out the three steps here. They’re a little obvious if you think about them for more than 30 seconds, but not so obvious that they’ve been addressed and fixed yet, today, in 2020. They’re nothing particularly new, either. Other groups have dealt with the same issues over the years, and have started to make real progress, with more voices getting a chance to speak in more places. There’s a template here. There is a structure to build around. It’s just a matter of wanting to do it.

Let’s start at the top, with the big and notable one, then work our way through from there.

We need more disabled actors playing disabled characters

The last time a full accounting of this was done, back in 2018, an advocacy group found that almost 90 percent of disabled characters were played by non-disabled actors. There’s a long history of this in television and film, one that has traditionally been met with critical acclaim. Think of all the actors who have won awards for playing a character with a disability of some kind. (Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, Jamie Foxx in Ray, etc.) And think of other meaty roles that have gone to big-name able-bodied actors. We’re going on 20 years of X-Men movies, with Charles Xavier in every one of them, and the role has, to date, been played by Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy.

The whole discussion really bubbled up a few years ago when The Upside came out. The Upside stars Bryan Cranston as a quadriplegic millionaire who hires an ex-con played by Kevin Hart as a home health aide. Cranston was asked about his decision to take the role and, in an interview with Sky News, explained the situation like this:

“As actors, we’re asked to be other people, to play other people. If I, as a straight, older person, and I’m wealthy, I’m very fortunate, does that mean I can’t play a person who is not wealthy, does that mean I can’t play a homosexual?

“I don’t know, where does the restriction apply, where is the line for that? I think it is worthy for debate to discuss those issues.”

There are fair points in here. Acting is about becoming another person, temporarily. Bryan Cranston has not, as far as any of us know, cooked and sold large quantities of methamphetamine throughout the scenic American Southwest, but he sure as hell pretended to do that very well for almost a decade on Breaking Bad. This one is a little different, though. Able-bodied actors have more choices available to them, whereas an actor who uses a wheelchair only has a shot at this kind of role, what, every two or three years? Or, to put in another way: Bryan Cranston has the option of playing a character who flings an entire pizza onto his roof, while an actor with the same disability as his character in The Upside does not, at least not without an extensive amount of CGI.

Cranston also pointed out that casting the award-winning star of Breaking Bad as the lead in the movie was in large part a business decision, as there really aren’t any disabled actors right now with the kind of Above The Title clout to sell a multimillion-dollar studio production. This is also fair, but also kind of the point. It creates a tricky cycle to break out of, one where these roles have to go to big-name actors, who are all able-bodied, which means no big star-making turn for a disabled actor, which puts them at a disadvantage the next time a role like this comes around, which means it will probably go to an able-bodied actor again, which… and on and on forever.

This brings us to our second issue.

We need more cool and/or fun disabled characters in movies and television shows

One thing that you’ll notice not long after you start paying attention to these things is that characters with disabilities often fall into one of these four categories:

• Wealthy person
• Person with a superpower
• Inspirational figure who teaches an entire town the meaning of Christmas or whatever through an upbeat, positive attitude
• Miserable depressed person who may or may not be considering suicide

Sometimes they fall into multiple categories. Charles Xavier is a billionaire with superpowers. The character in The Upside was a wealthy depressed person who became a wealthy inspirational person. The character in another movie, Me Before You (played by able-bodied actor Sam Claflin), was a thrill-seeking millionaire playboy who was so sad about becoming disabled that he opted for assisted suicide over the objections of his girlfriend, played by Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke. This last one was an extra bummer because, while suicide in the disabled community is a real issue, it would be nice if this was one of many, fully-rounded portrayals of the community instead of one of a very limited number of high-profile examples. I would love to see more people in wheelchairs on television and in movies. I do not want to watch like 20 percent of them contemplate taking their own lives. I would rather watch them, like, chilling out at a barbecue. Or stealing priceless jewels. Or chilling out at a barbecue after stealing priceless jewels.

The study by the advocacy group touched on this part of the problem, too. From a write-up in the New York Times:

The research, covering about 280 network and streaming shows from 2018, found that roughly half featured characters with physical, cognitive or mental health disabilities. Yet, the report said, “even where disability is present in television and films, it is almost always portrayed as an undesired, depressing and limiting state.”

Actor Micah Fowler, star of the short-lived sitcom Speechless and a disability advocate, touched on the issue recently, too, in an interview where he discussed the difficulties of finding work as an actor with cerebral palsy.

Too often, there are misrepresentations of people with disabilities in the entertainment industry: characters viewed as tokens of inspiration or pity and characters viewing their disability as a reason to end their life. The more people see us, the more people see us. Not as tokens of inspiration or pity, not as suicidal, but as people who can contribute to society and live happy, successful and fulfilled lives.

The solution here is simple enough: More roles, better roles, many of them smaller at first so a disabled actor can get the part and build the kind of name recognition it takes to land a bigger one down the line. Regular dudes and women who happen to have a disability. A paralegal on a lawyer show. A funny stoner in a Seth Rogen movie. A member of a criminal organization that is trying to steal priceless jewels. Whatever. Create a pipeline for disabled actors. Put them in a position to steal scenes so the people watching will go to IMDb after those scenes to learn their names. That way, when it comes time to cast the next Charles Xavier, or maybe the leader of a criminal organization that is trying to steal priceless jewels, these actors have their foot already in the door. Or a wheel in the door. There’s something in the door. That’s the point.

But creating good and well-rounded disabled characters requires another step. This brings us to…

We need more people with disabilities on the creative side

Get more people with disabilities on the creative side of things, behind the scenes. Hire writers with disabilities for television shows, seek out disabled voices, get more stories straight from the people who live them, stop making every character in a wheelchair an inspirational brain genius who may or may not have a death wish. The other two issues are the big flashy ones, but this is the one that makes fixing those possible. At the very least, talk to people with disabilities before you try to create your characters, consult, and maybe write in a few roles for extras with disabilities just to get people on the set to get the experience. Baby steps are okay for now, as long as they’re steps.

Either that or we let me write myself into John Wick 4 as a very cool disabled assassin named, like, Lance Mojito. That would solve a lot of these problems. And I would like it. So, that’s worth considering, too.

Heading into Orlando, the Memphis Grizzlies were one of the league’s darlings, a supremely talented up-and-coming squad looking to secure what they anticipate to be the first of many playoff appearances for years to come. Fast-forward a couple of weeks, and things have taken a rather grim turn.

Calling it a brutal start for the Grizzlies would be a massive understatement. In their opener in Orlando, they dropped an overtime heart-breaker to the Blazers, the team best-positioned behind Memphis to nab that eighth and final playoff spot in the West during these final eight seeding games.

They followed that up with another two-point loss to the Spurs on Sunday, despite a 25-point, nine-rebound, nine-assists night from Ja Morant. Then on Tuesday, just as they didn’t think things could possibly get any worse, Jaren Jackson Jr. suffered a devastating knee injury in a loss against the Pelicans — another potential playoff usurper — that will keep him out for the remainder of the season.

Portland followed that up with a big win over the Rockets, 110-102, to move within one game of the No. 8 seed, and Memphis only further hastened their demise by dropping their fourth straight game in Orlando on Wednesday, a 124-114 loss to the Jazz. They’re now 4-11 since the All-Star break, the second-worst record in the league during that period.

The loss of JJJ is, without a doubt, a crushing blow to this team, as they’ve relied heavily on his production as the second-year big man was averaging just over 25 points per game in the bubble before his injury. Together with Morant, the athletic wunderkind and presumptive Rookie of the Year, they’d shown flashes of brilliance that point to great things to come for one of the NBA’s most talented young duos.

To pull themselves out of this funk they’ll need Morant to return to his Rookie of the Year form — his performance against Utah was a hopeful sign as it was his most efficient outing after a dismal shooting start to the bubble — and see others step up in a major way. Dillon Brooks has to be more efficient, as the Grizzlies leading shot-taker (but not always their top shot-maker), Jonas Valanciunas needs to be a factor inside, and Brandon Clarke must emerge from being a hyper-efficient role player to a major contributor capable of giving them major minutes. Maybe most importantly, they have to figure out how to find balance between offense and defense, as thus far in the bubble they’ve been unable to score when their defense plays well or get stops when they themselves are scoring.

On top of poor play, the issue of morale might be one of the Grizzlies’ biggest threats to their dwindling playoff hopes. By their own admission, the young Grizz have ascribed to the growing perception that the cards have been stacked against them in Orlando from the beginning.

More specifically, there is a certain cynical contingent of NBA conspirators that look at the 22-team field and the play-in format for the final postseason spot and interpret it as being arranged specifically to give Zion Williamson and the Pelicans an ample opportunity to make the playoffs and thus add one of the most anticipated rookies in a generation to the coming postseason slate to help boost ratings for a league that has been hemorrhaging money for months now.

But New Orleans hasn’t done themselves any favors on this front, losing two out of their first three contests since the restart, although at just two games behind Memphis, they are still very much in the mix. And as if the Grizzlies needed any more bad news, the upcoming schedule won’t offer them too much in the way of consolation or reprieve. In their final four games, they face the Thunder, the Raptors, the Celtics, and the Bucks.

Memphis had little-to-no margin for error going into this, and a four-game losing streak to kick things off has assured the West of a play-in series and, possibly, one where Memphis is no longer the 8-seed or should this disaster continue not involve the Grizz at all. The Grizzlies are still a very young team, and there’s plenty of time for them to seize a place within the NBA’s hierarchy, but their prospects for the immediate future don’t look too promising after an ugly start in Orlando.

It was revealed yesterday that Migos member Takeoff is being sued by a woman for sexual battery, as she accuses him of raping her at a Hollywood party in June. Now, the rapper has issued a response, and he is denying the allegations.

Takeoff’s lawyer, Drew Findling, said in a statement to TMZ:

“We have reviewed the allegations and have similarly done our own due diligence. What has become abundantly clear is that the allegations made against Takeoff are patently and provably false. The claims and statements made regarding this lawsuit indicate that the plaintiffs’ representatives have not spoken with relevant witnesses or reviewed available evidence.

Takeoff is renowned for his artistic talent as well as his quiet, reserved and peaceful personality. In this instance, those known personality traits have made him a target of an obvious exploitative money grab. As his counsel, we are well aware and well versed on the importance of civil and criminal prosecution of true sexual assaults. This is not one of those situations.”

The woman, who filed the lawsuit anonymously as Jane Doe, claims Takeoff forced himself on her in a bedroom at the party. She also said she went to a nearby hospital the same day, where staff observed physical evidence of forced sex and notified the LAPD.

No one ever talks about it, because no one ever actually saw it, but the 2010 romantic-comedy Going the Distance is a really good romantic comedy. The cast was absolutely stacked, featuring Drew Barrymore, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, Christina Applegate, Ron Livingston, Jim Gaffigan, June Diane Raphael, and Natalie Morales, among others. Charlie Day is absolutely fantastic in it, and as I wrote in my review at the time, “much of Going the Distance feels like an episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia awkwardly stitched together with a rom-com.” It was not an insult.

Going the Distance opened with less than $7 million on its way to a piddling $17 million domestic run. Justin Long still attributes the dramatic downswing in his career to the failure of that movie, and director Nanette Burstein hasn’t made a feature film since. It’s a shame, too, because they — and writer Geoff LaTulippe — all deserved a better reception.

Ten years later, and Justin Long is now hosting a podcast, and on this week’s episode, Long had his old pal from Going the Distance on the show, Charlie Day. It’s a great episode, as the two ruminated at length about their time on the set of Going the Distance, as well as Charlie Day’s many successes since.

Over the course of the podcast, however, the box-office failure of Going the Distance came up, and as something of the face of that movie, Long obviously felt some responsibility for its failure (the reality is, romcoms were already on their way out, and if Netflix had been then what it is today, Going the Distance would have been a huge hit). The weekend after it bombed, however, Justin Long attended a Labor Day party at producer Adam Shankman’s house, where he ran into Adam Sandler.

The thing about Adam Sandler is, he knows how to make a hit romcom with Drew Barrymore. He’s made three: The Wedding Singer, 50 First Dates, and Blended. He obviously knows a little of what he’s talking about, so when he tried to explain to Justin Long what went wrong, Long listened.

“Hey buddy,” Sandler said to him at the party. “I saw the movie you did there with Drew. And you were good, but your body, buddy. Your body. That’s not a comedy body.”

“What do you mean?” Long asked.

“Did you work out for that movie?” Sandler asked him, and Long said he had, because he was playing the lead and he wanted to look good opposite Drew Barrymore. “Yeah, yeah,” Sandler continued. “You shouldn’t [work out], buddy. No one wants to laugh at a guy who is ripped.”

“He is right!” Charlie Day agreed. “There is some truth to that, but,” he added, there is an exception to the rule. “Ben Stiller, he was always weirdly ripped. Anytime he popped his shirt off, you’d be like, ‘Wow, you’re in great shape, man.’ And he was always funny, in everything he ever did … but ultimately, Sandler is right. Cause I always thought, if I got really fat, it would help my career,” Day continued.

To wit, Day added, Rob McElhenney was “always a lot funnier,” in the season of It’s Always Sunny when he got really fat. “And then in the season when he got really ripped, he’s still very good. He’s just not as funny.” The reason why, Day added, is what “we like about funny people is that they make us feel better about the things we are insecure about ourselves.”

In other words, Fat Mac basically proves the Adam Sandler rule of comedy: Don’t get ripped.

Source: Life is Short with Justin Long

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

Chicago trio Dehd released their third record Flower Of Devotion in late July, but there was a point in vocalist/bassist Emily Kempf’s life where she thought it would never happen — and it almost didn’t.

At 31-years-old, the amalgamation of Kempf’s life choices sank in. She looked back on all the years she has dedicated to being a musician but didn’t feel as though she had “made it.” “I’d just given up everything to be a musician and I thought maybe that I fucked up,” she says on the phone while unpacking a grocery delivery. Kempf had decided college wasn’t the right path for her, instead she wanted to travel and to explore her passions. But as she reflected on her twenties, Kempf was worried she made the wrong choice. “I’m not successful yet. Should I buy a house and get married and have a baby and go to college?’” she found herself wondering. “So I quit.”

Kempf traded in her graphic tees for starched, office-appropriate clothing that hid her tattoo-covered body. “I basically tried to conform,” she recalls, “which did not work out because I’m too punk.” Kempf persisted for a year in the corporate world before the disillusionment was too much to handle. Without music, her main driving force, her life felt purposeless. Kempf quit her corporate gig, boxed her business attire, opened a tattoo shop in Chicago’s East Humboldt Park, and once again realigned herself with music. Eventually, Kempf’s quarter-life crisis subsided and she realized “being in your thirties is literally the same as being in your twenties except you’re hotter and wiser.”

Kempf’s newfound self-assurance is clear on Flower Of Devotion. But returning to music wasn’t so effortless. Kempf formed Dehd in 2014 with guitarist Jason Balla and drummer Eric McGrady at the onset of her budding romance with Balla. After nearly five years, Kempf and Balla decided to amicably split ahead of 2019’s sophomore album Water. Understandably, navigating a breakup within the band was strenuous. “I wouldn’t recommend it but it is possible,” Kempf says with a laugh. But Kempf thinks focusing too much on their relationship does a disservice to Dehd’s music. “It’s not all about romance,” she says, adding: “Our songs transcend our relationship.”

It’s true that Dehd’s music isn’t about Kempf and Balla’s relationship alone, though their music wouldn’t be the same without working through the breakup. A reliance on communication is at the heart of Dehd’s dynamic, who fondly adopt the label “mutt rock” when speaking about their genre of indie music. Coined by Balla, the term encapsulates the scrappiness of their sound and nods to the way Dehd relies on equal collaboration between all three members to produce something that is more visceral than other indie rock groups. The result is a record that examines the interplay of Dehd’s overall experience with intricate relationships while oscillating between the themes of love, loss, and isolation.

Take their track “Loner,” a song that unpacks all those themes and one Kempf took the lead on writing. A warm-toned guitar undulates as Kempf comes to terms with being alone and seeks healing through detachment. “I want nothing more than / To be a loner,” Kempf howls during the chorus. Kempf explores the differences between being lonesome and being isolated in the song, something she’s been working through since leaving a recent relationship. She’s since realized comfortable solitude isn’t a breeze, rather, it takes a commitment to introspection.

Processing her emotions through lyrics, Kempf learned she can be her own best friend, her own partner, and her own parent. “I just want to be okay alone and happy with my sick ass life and not feel the pain of being lonesome,” she says. Still, there were times Kempf was struck with pangs of loneliness and needed a way to work through it. Kempf and Balla wrote “Haha” during a charged studio session when the two bounced ideas off of each other. The track juxtaposes lyrics about laughing through tears against an upbeat guitar that plays a classic ‘60s-sounding chord progression. The contrast is a tongue-in-cheek reminder that sometimes something is so painful that you can’t help but laugh at it.

Laughing through tears is cathartic but at the end of the day, being committed to close relationships is the most gratifying experience of them all. Dehd’s album title, Flower Of Devotion, imagines interconnectedness through a metaphor of a garden. If nurturing a relationship is akin to tending a garden, the feeling of being in love is when that first flower, the flower of devotion, unfurls its petals to bloom and signals the rest will follow. While the idea originated as a romantic love, their album title continued to blossom as an analogy for the platonic love of their tight-knit friendship. Kempf, Balla, and McGrady are all devoted to each other and to their music, and that loyalty has persisted in the face of personal grief, failed relationships, and even briefly quitting music.

Flower Of Devotion is out now via Fire Talk. Get it here.

A Charlie Kaufman movie starring Wild Rose and Chernobyl breakout Jessie Buckley, Harry Potter alum David Thewlis, Toni “I Am Your Mother” Collette, and Landry from Friday Night Lights? [Extremely Al Pacino in Jack and Jill voice] Don’t mind if I do.

Based on Ian Reid’s book of the same name, I’m Thinking of Ending Things is about a girlfriend meeting her boyfriend’s parents for the first time, while she’s privately, well, thinking of ending things. It’s like a Kaufman’s spin on Meet the Parents, except instead of that darn cat, there’s a wet dog that won’t stop shaking itself dry. There’s a lot of weird stuff that happens in the trailer above, and the movie is going to lead to a lot of uncomfortable conversations between couples, but that dog is the most unsettling thing I’ve seen in a movie all year. Even more than all of Trolls World Tour.

Watch the surreal trailer above. Here’s the official plot summary:

Despite second thoughts about their relationship, a young woman (Jessie Buckley) takes a road trip with her new boyfriend (Jesse Plemons) to his family farm. Trapped at the farm during a snowstorm with Jake’s mother (Toni Collette) and father (David Thewlis), the young woman begins to question the nature of everything she knew or understood about her boyfriend, herself, and the world.

I’m Thinking of Ending Things premieres on Netflix on September 5.

In early March, concert giant Live Nation made the decision to postpone all of their upcoming tours, a call that came as the coronavirus pandemic was starting to pick up steam on a global level. While that was probably the right thing to do for the sake of people’s safety and containing the virus’ spread, the move hurt the company financially. The impact was major: Last financial quarter, the company’s revenues dropped by a staggering 98 percent.

Financial results for the quarter than ended on June 30, 2020 show that the company posted a net revenue of $74.1 million, which is 98 percent lower than the $3.16 billion they posted in the same financial quarter in 2019. Overall, the company experienced an adjusted operating loss of $431.9 million, compared to the $319.3 million gain they had in Q2 of 2019.

The difference in the amount of events they held in this past quarter of 2020 versus the same quarter in 2019 is also drastic. Globally, the company hosted 10,252 events in Q2 of 2019, while that number descended all the way down to 131 this year, a drop of about 99 percent. The numbers are similar in just North America, dipping from 7,213 down to just 24.

Live Nation said in a statement, “Over the past three months, our top priority has been strengthening our financial position to ensure that we have the liquidity and flexibility to get through an extended period with no live events. Our expectation is that live events will return at scale in the summer of 2021, with ticket sales ramping up in the quarters leading up to these shows.”

Meanwhile, the company recently announced plans to host a drive-in concert series.

It’s not often you hear about an actor retiring from the profession after starring in a movie that made $133 million at the box office ($135 million? Sure, happens all the time, but rarely $133 million), but that’s exactly what Cameron Diaz did. Following roles in 2014’s The Other Woman, Sex Tape, and Annie, Diaz stopped appearing in movies. This was by choice. “I started [experiencing fame] when I was 22, so 25 years ago — that’s a long time,” she said last year. “The way I look at it is that I’ve given more than half of my life to the public.” The There’s Something About Mary and The Mask star opened up about her decision in an interview with Gwyneth Paltrow, and revealed that she has no regrets.

When asked what it’s like to “walk away from a movie career of that magnitude,” Diaz replied, “Like peace. A peace in my soul because I was finally taking care of myself.” She continued, “It’s a strange thing to say, I know a lot of people won’t understand it, I know you understand it, but it was so intense to work at that level and be that public and put yourself out there. There’s a lot of energy coming at you at all times when you’re really visible as an actor and doing press and putting yourself out there”:

“I stopped and really looked at my life. When you’re making a movie… they own you. You’re there for 12 hours a day for months on end you have no time for anything else. I realized I handed off parts of my life to all these other people. I had to basically take it back and take responsibility for my own life.”

Diaz is living her best life in retirement — she’s married to one of the dudes from Good Charlotte and she started her own “clean” wine brand. She has no current plans to act again… until DreamWorks gives her a dump truck full of money for Shrek 5.

(Via People)