Month: February 2021

For the past few years, we’ve watched the Proud Boys show up at rallies and protests to declare—sometimes violently—the supremacy of Western civilization, their pride in having a penis, and a glaringly apparent inferiority complex.

Today the Canadian government officially declared the Proud Boys a “terrorist entity,” adding the group to a list that includes notorious terrorist groups such as ISIS and al-Qaeda. The move comes after the Canadian Parliament unanimously passed a motion last month for the federal government to make the designation.

The Proud Boys is a men’s club whose members identify themselves as “Western Chauvinists.” The group was formed in 2016 by Canadian Gavin McInnes, who has since cut ties with the group (apparently to help some members who were facing assault and riot charges in 2018). According to the AP, McInnes has claimed that the group is not a far-right extremist group that espouses racist ideology, however, he has acknowledged that there is overlap between the Proud Boys and white nationalist groups.

The group was reportedly part of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6—a detail noted by government officials. Though the Capitol attack was not the “driving” factor for the designation, they said that it did put a lot of information into the public domain, which went into the intelligence reports.

“Their intent and their escalation toward violence became quite clear,” Canadian Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said in a briefing.

Blair said that they’ve seen this escalation toward violence since 2018, and that group members espouse misogynistic, Islamophobic, anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, and white supremacist ideologies.

“The group and its members have openly encouraged, planned, and conducted violent activities against those they perceive to be opposed to their ideology and political beliefs,” the Canadian government explained in briefing materials, adding that the group “regularly attends Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests as counter-protesters, often engaging in violence targeting BLM supporters. On January 6, 2021, the Proud Boys played a pivotal role in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.”

According to the Washington Post, a terrorist designation means the police can seize group or group members’ property and banks can seize their assets. People can be prosecuted for giving the group money or paraphernalia, and group members can be denied entry to Canada.

Canada is the first country to designate the Proud Boys a terrorist group. However, some anti-hate and civil liberties groups in Canada have been unsure about the wisdom of such a designation.

The Canadian Anti-Hate Network wrote on Twitter, “We have previously expressed concern that the definition of a terrorist entity would have to change, or the bar be lowered, to list the Proud Boys—on the basis that a loosened definition could be exploited to target BIPOC or anti-racist groups in the future.” However, they added, Minister Blair had contacted them to address the concern, telling them that based on the information the government has, the Proud Boys “more than meet the criteria to be designated a terrorist entity.”

When asked in today’s press briefing whether the U.S. would consider a similar declaration, White House press secretary Jen Psaki responded, “We, of course, have a review underway—a domestic violence extremism review…I expect we will wait for that review to conclude before making any determinations.”

While it’s understandable that investigations have to happen as they did in Canada, this designation is merely acknowledging what we’ve all seen with our own eyes. We’ve already had the FBI warn us that white supremacists are our biggest domestic terror threat and Congress has also acknowledged that “white supremacists and other far-right-wing extremists are the most significant domestic terrorism threat facing the United States.” In addition, on January 30, prosecutors announced conspiracy charges against the Proud Boys for their role in the Capitol riot.

It’s not a stretch to see that the Proud Boys, who engage in political violence and who closely fraternize with white supremacists even if they deny espousing those views as a group, pose a clear and present threat to the safety and security of our nation.

Nikola Jokic is among the early frontrunners for this season’s MVP award, as the Nuggets big man is off to a sensational start, averaging 26.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, 8.6 assists, and 1.8 steals per game on ridiculous efficiency, shooting 57.4 percent from the field and 38.4 percent from three-point range.

The other top contenders right now seem to be Joel Embiid and LeBron James, the latter of whom Jokic and the Nuggets will face on Thursday night in a marquee matchup of two of the West’s best teams. Jokic’s passing ability and court vision is among the best in the league, regardless of position, and that attribute has drawn comparisons to the likes of LeBron, who is likewise a preternatural passer of the ball. On Wednesday, Jokic was asked about the similarities in his game to that of James’, which was clearly meant to be about his passing and floor generalship, but Nikola used as an opportunity to have some fun.

It’s a hysterical retort, as Jokic never misses an opportunity to have some fun in his press conferences. Jokic, of course, is not exactly known for being fleet of foot, but I do think it’s fair to say his athletic abilities are underrated at this point. He’s certainly not LeBron James, but he can get up and down the floor and, on occasion, will throw down a big dunk just to remind folks he can. Still, his game is known for being floor-bound, using cunning, guile, and immense skill and touch to do his damage, not through sheer physical force of will.

There aren’t many public hangout spots that are as open as they used to be pre-pandemic, but Rhye (aka Michael Milosh) has offered a bit of a reminder of what life used to be like with his Jimmy Kimmel Live! performance of “Black Rain.”

On last night’s episode, Milosh and his band took to a roller rink to perform as they were orbited by roller skaters. The performance aligns with what Milosh previously said of the song: “It has this ’80s version of disco, like the way Quincy Jones was interpreting disco.”

Milosh also previously said the song took on a new meaning for him in light of the California wildfires: “It was really strange: I didn’t really understand, myself, why I was singing this whole ‘Black Rain’ thing. And then very soon after, we get these wildfires, and we were literally seeing soot falling from the sky and landing on the driveway, and it was all over the windshield of our car, and it’s on the roof of our house. That’s actually a really terrifying feeling. […] These forest fires are really, really, real — they’re not just some distant mountain where you don’t know where it is.”

Watch Rhye perform “Black Rain” above.

Home is out now via Loma Vista Recordings. Pre-order it here.

Alongside her work as a prolific songwriter and vocalist for Big Thief, Adrianne Lenker has also released solo music for years. In 2020, Lenker retreated to an isolated cabin to quarantine and found herself inspired by the surrounding nature, which led her to release the delicate album Songs (and the accompanying Instrumentals). Now, Lenker follows up her LP with a dreamy video accompanying her Songs track “Forwards Beckon Rebound.”

For the visual, Lenker brought producer V Haddad and cinematographer Adam Gundersheimer to the Wild Heart Ranch in Joshua Tree. During sunset, she executed a beautifully-choreographed dance against the desert’s picturesque landscape.

Ahead of the visual’s release, Lenker was named as the musician that Phoebe Bridgers would want to join Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus, and herself in their indie powerhouse supergroup Boygenius. Bridgers recently sat down for an interview on Radio.com’s New Arrivals show with Bryce Segall, who compared Boygenius to the veteran group Crosby, Stills & Nash. Following the comparison, Segall asked who Boygenius’ Neil Young would be and Bridgers replied: “It’s Adrianne Lenker. She’s out there doing her own thing. I feel like we would go on tour and every five years Adrianne would join.”

Watch Lenker’s “Forwards Beckon Rebound” video above.

Songs and Instrumentals are out now via 4AD. Get them here.

The Golden Globes nominations are out, which means it is time yet again for everyone to wonder what exactly the Golden Globes are doing. It’s fun. We do it every year. We wake up early and wait for the nominations and then we look at them and we all release a collective “WHAT?!” when various deserving things get passed over in favor of various less-deserving things that have prestigious names and/or previous winners attached to them. My favorite thing to do is know all of this and then get all mad about it anyway. I really recommend it. Great for the heart. Makes you feel alive on a random Wednesday morning.

I mean, look at some of these whiffs. I May Destroy You, a smart take on trauma that was at times devastating and charming: not nominated; Rhea Seehorn, who delivers maybe the best performance on Better Call Saul, a very good show loaded with very good performances: not nominated. Delroy Lindo, who absolutely rules in Da 5 Bloods, a movie directed by Spike Lee, who was also not nominated: not nominated. Al Pacino and Hugh Grant, who were both fine in Hunters and The Undoing, respectively, but who probably would not have been nominated for the roles of their names were not Al Pacino and Hugh Grant: nominated. Emily in Paris, lord have mercy: nominated. I could go on. I won’t, but I could, especially about the Rhea Seehorn thing. Someone needs to give her an award at some point. I don’t care what award it is. Any trophy will do.

So, yes, there’s all of that. And it’s also worth noting somewhere in here that none of this, like, really matters in the grand scheme of things. My position on awards shows remains the same: The whole thing is very silly but if we insist on doing them — and seeing as this is the 78th Golden Globes ceremony, it appears we do — we might as well try to do them right. And so, with that in mind, and with all the various snubs still banging around the chunks of our brains that control righteous fury, let’s also consider this: At least the Golden Globes nominated Ted Lasso for some awards.

Remember Ted Lasso? What a good show that was. And still is. Just heartwarming and fun and good. Remember crying during the darts scene? Remember Dani Rojas? Remember Coach Beard, that freaking icon? Remember Roy, that cranky sweetheart? Remember the time the show twisted itself into a pretzel just to give me — yes, I assume this was done for me, personally, which I do appreciate — a comedic riff on the Allen Iverson practice speech? Why, yes, I will post those screencaps again, great idea.

It’s good that Ted Lasso got nominated, both the show (Best Television Series — Musical or Comedy) and Ted himself (Jason Sudeikis, Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy), and it feels like a very Ted Lasso thing to focus on that. We could talk about Ted Lasso non-stop for the next six months — and I might — and I still don’t think we’d fully cover how wild it was that the show was as good as it ended up being. It was a full-length season of television based on a commercial character who was, at first, drawn more thinly than a stick figure (American football coach with a funny and extremely American name gets hired to coach an English football team despite not understanding soccer), and it aired on a streaming service created by a company that makes telephones. In any sensible universe, it should have been bad. Instead, it was a sweet and enjoyable look at teamwork and family and, kind of, what masculinity looks like without machismo. It was great. I might watch it again.

And if I’m going to go all Ted Lasso today, let’s note that there were other good nominations in there, too. The Flight Attendant picked up a handful. That show was such a blast. Jodie Comer and Anya Taylor-Joy got nominated for playing different kinds of ruthless killers. Regina King picked up a Best Director nod, which is great because Regina King deserves a lot of awards, too. Olivia Colman got nominated, which is also great because it means there’s a chance she’ll give a slightly tipsy acceptance speech from her living room via Zoom. And Palm Springs got nominated for Best Comedy and Best Actor (Andy Samberg), which gives me a reasonable excuse to post this GIF.

The Golden Globes are always weird and are best viewed, in normal years, as an excuse for attractive people to dress up and drink champagne together. You and I can rant and rave about the snubs every year, and again, I do not see us stopping, in part because that’s what we do and in part because mentioning Palm Springs again just made me angry that Cristin Milioti did not get recognized.

But even with that, even with the righteous fury and dismissively shrugged shoulders of it all… at least the Golden Globes nominated Ted Lasso for a couple of awards. It’s not perfect, but it’s not nothing.

Following a controversial decision to temporarily block the purchase of GameStop stocks last week’s Reddit-coordinated run at hedge funds that were shorting shares of the gaming retailer, Robinhood is hoping a new Super Bowl ad will restore confidence in the investment app. Granted, the 30-second spot was purchased back in December, well before Robinhood became sucked into the Reddit traders’ plan, but the company wrote in a blog post on Wednesday that it wants the ad to reaffirm its mission to “democratize finance for all.” Via Robinhood:

We built Robinhood for our customers, for the millions of people who have felt left behind by America’s financial system. We’re in this for the early morning jogger, the midday study breaker, the late-night nursery rhymer—because we all invest in ourselves every day.

We are all investors.

Despite the Super Bowl’s ad attempt to regain user confidence, Robinhood is facing an uphill battle. The investment app’s CEO Vlad Tenev was grilled by Elon Musk on Monday as the space magnate demanded answers for why Robinhood blocked users from purchasing GameStop stocks and others like AMC because of “market volatility.” While the company eventually reversed the ban within 24 hours, the damage was already done. However, Tenev told Musk that the company legally had no choice, and that its hands were tied by regulations from the National Securities Clearing Corporation. Musk seemed to buy that answer, but the app is still reeling from users fleeing after the GameStop block. It also hasn’t helped that Mark Cuban blamed the app for the recent fall in GameStop stock prices by dubbing it the “Robinhood Dive.”

(Via Robinhood)

It’s high time you learned to make chicken wings at home. Why? Well, the Super Bowl is this weekend, if you really need a reason. But who are we kidding? Most of us have been quarantined for the better part of a year — a good kitchen project is always a nice reprieve from the drudgery of Zoom meetings.

Today we’re going to show you how to make fresh wings — giving them a brine bath, baking them, and then saucing them with three sauce options.

Our sauces?

We’re going with the gold-standard sauce of wings and doing a Buffalo sauce. Then, I’m taking a nod from my home in the Pacific Northwest and hitting some of our wings with teriyaki. Finally, sticking with the PNW theme, I’m going to give a nod to Portland’s now-defunct Pok Pok Vietnamese fish sauce wings. I’ve only had those wings twice (once in PDX and once in Vegas, at The Cosmopolitan), so I’m basically going from sense memory for the recipe and doing them my own way (theirs are deep-fried and then pan-tossed — which is a little more complicated and messier).

Before we get to that, I want to note: The real soul of this recipe is brine for the wings. With a brine this good, you don’t really even need to sauce these wings. Yes, I know — that’s a big claim. But I assure you, these wings will dazzle on their own. The sauce just makes them that much better.

Chicken Wings Three Ways

For this recipe, I’m using my oven. If you have an air fryer or deep fryer, go for it. I like oven wings because it’s a sort of “set it and forget it” method that I know works every time. High heat crisps up the skin and also means cooking time is fairly short (less than 45 minutes).

I also made sure to buy my chicken as local and as ethical as possible. “Local and ethical” are reasons unto themselves, but I’m telling you: they also taste better.

Other than that, this recipe lives or dies by the brine. I’ve been using this brine for fried chicken, chicken breasts, and even whole roast chicken lately, so I knew it’d work on these wings. It really adds that extra oomph that takes chicken from fine to great while holding onto some serious juiciness.

What You’ll Need in the Kitchen:

• Large mixing bowl
• Large spoon
• Large baking sheet
• Baking paper
• Small mixing bowls
• Small pots
• Kitchen knife
• Cutting board

Ingredients:

• 4 lbs. chicken wings

For the Brine:

• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 green onion
• 1 thumb of ginger
• 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 fish sauce
• 1/4 cup sesame oil
• 1/4 cup mirin
• 2 limes
• 1 heaping tbsp. MSG
• 1 heaping tbsp. white pepper
• Handful lime leaves

Method:

• Add chicken wings to a large bowl.
• Peel and crush garlic with a knife, roughly chop, add to bowl.
• Roughly chop onions and ginger, add to bowl.
• Juice the limes into the bowl and add in the rinds.
• Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and mix with a large spoon until the wings are well coated.
• Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

Bake the wings:

• Preheat your oven to 400f.
• Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Make a single layer of wings on the baking sheet.
• Pat the wings dry with a paper towel and make sure to remove all the bits of garlic, ginger, and onion as best you can.
• Bake the wings for 40 minutes, flipping over once after 20 minutes.

Okay, while the wings are baking for the last 20 minutes, it’s time to make all three sauces. Each one takes about five minutes, ten max, to make.

Buffalo Sauce:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup hot sauce (I’m using Valentina)

Method:

• Slowly melt the butter in a small pot or pan, making sure not to brown.
• Remove from heat and add the hot sauce and then whisk until fully emulsified.

Teriyaki Sauce:

• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 clove of garlic
• 2 tbsp. corn starch
• 2 tbsp. water
• White sesame seeds

Method:

• Add soy sauce, brown sugar, water, garlic, a small tablespoon of sesame seeds, and vinegar to a small pot.
• Heat on medium-low heat and stir until sugar is completely dissolved.
• Once the sauce hits a low simmer, mix the water and corn starch and add to the sauce.
• Stir until the sauce returns to a simmer and thickens.
• Remove from heat.

Vietnamese Fish Sauce:

• 1/2 cup fish sauce
• 1/2 cup white sugar (or liquid cane sugar, if you have it)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp. corn starch
• 2 tbsp. water
• Fresh mint
• Fresh cilantro
• 1/2 cup unsalted peanuts

Method:

• Add the fish sauce, sugar, and garlic to a small pot.
• Heat on medium-low and stir until sugar is completely dissolved.
• Once the sauce hits a low simmer, combine the corn starch and water and add to the sauce.
• Stir until the sauce returns to a simmer and thickens.
• Remove from heat.
• Finely chop a handful of cilantro and mint together. [Thai basil would be amazing here, too. -ed]
• Toast the peanuts in a pan until just browned and then crush them in a pestle and mortar.

Put everything together:

Okay, our sauces are made and the wings are done. After eating like five of the wings fresh out of the oven (they’re juicy, slightly crispy, fall off the bone, and so, so flavorful), I buckle down and start saucing the wings.

First the Buffalo wings: I add about a dozen wings to a mixing bowl. I then put in two heaping spoonfuls of the sauce (I use a regular spoon you’d use for soup). I toss the wings until they’re fully and evenly coated. I plate those up.

Next, the teriyaki wings: Again, a dozen or so wings, two heaping spoons of sauce, and then toss. Before plating, I hit the wings with another sprinkling of white sesame seeds and then plate up.

Finally, the Vietnamese fish sauce wings: Dozen wings, sauce, toss to coat. I then add in the peanuts and fresh herbs and toss one last time before plating.

We’re ready to tuck in!

Bottom Line:

These are damn tasty wings. The teriyaki took me straight home to Seattle. It was sweet, garlicky, and an umami-bomb of flavor. The Buffalo wings were also wonderful and mildly spicy. I mean, come on! It’s hot sauce and butter on a wing. That’s never not good. The Vietnamese fish sauce wings were damn tasty, too. The funky umami of the fish sauce was tempered nicely by the herbs, peanut, and sugar with a nice garlic edge.

If I had to rank these by deliciousness, it’d be really hard. But, I’d probably go…

4. Buffalo
3. Fish sauce
2. Teriyaki
1. Licking my fingers with all three sauces on them.

You probably aren’t having guests this weekend. But if you do have your pod or cluster or bubble over, they’re going to lose it over these. Trust me on that.

The Golden Globe nominations were announced today and, in some completely unsurprising news for anyone who’s watched (or re-watched) Ted Lasso this year, the sentimental sports comedy scored big.

Creator and star Jason Sudeikis nabbed an acting nom while the show itself got some love in the Best TV Comedy category. With the awards recognition, it felt like a good time to chat with show co-creator Bill Lawrence – about the industry love, yes but more importantly, about the show’s heart, why fans are loving it, and where it’s going in season two.

And, obviously, that Allen Iverson speech.

Congratulations on the nominations. They’re so well deserved, and I know Twitter agrees with me. Did you guys have a gut feeling you might get recognized, just because of all of the fan love?

[laughs] It’d be so un-Ted Lasso if we were all sitting around talking about what awards we hope we get. I think Jason would be the first one to tell you that it wouldn’t be something that Ted himself was that concerned with. I’m sure it sounds like a cliche, but this is not a show where we’re really tracking any of these things. I mean, I forgot that this was happening and got a call this morning. I’m lucky enough to be here in L.A. Jason, he’s running the ship. Those guys are over there shooting the fourth episode now in London and in the middle of production. There’s still COVID stuff out there. So I think everybody was tickled and happy today, but what the coolest thing for us has been tracking social media, getting to see people’s reactions to the show in real-time from when we launched it to now. That’s been super fun and we’re crazy grateful for it because we had no idea how the show would be received.

There are other feel-good comedies out there. You’re nominated against some of them. What makes Ted Lasso stand apart?

All I can tell you is that when we first did the show, there wasn’t a quarantine or pandemic or anything, but we did talk a lot about how cynical and negative and dark the discourse has gotten, not only with politics but on social media. We talked about in the writer’s room how, if any of us met Ted Lasso in real life, I mean if I did, I would at first be like, “Oh, in a couple of weeks, this person will reveal himself to be an asshole.” And then when they actually turned out to be that kind and empathetic and forgiving and optimistic and hopeful and all those things — then you kind of have to take a look at yourself. We didn’t know at all how it would be received or why it is being well received, but, as a group, we kind of felt like it was therapeutic to work on. So to be honest, that was enough. We were tickled that people dug it, but just doing the show and getting to be around that attitude and writing about it and working around people that felt that way was why [we did it.]

Do you think that trend of heart-felt comedy is going to continue now, because of streaming?

TV moves in waves. I think the coolest thing about all these platforms for different shows is there are a lot of genre busters out there. I think if you had seen the initial videos, it was intentionally slapstick-y and sketch-like. I think we got to sneak up on people a little bit and it helped us be a little deeper and a little more emotionally resonant than maybe what they saw coming.

The character of Ted Lasso changed from those early commercials to what we see on the show. How did Jason pitch him to you?

[To see] Jason get nominated for Best Actor, I think it’s incredibly well-deserved. He’s really crushing it. But it makes people think he’s just the actor. He is Larry David on this. He’s head writer, he’s the actor, he’s the executive producer. So he is wearing a ton of hats. I’m lucky that he suckered me in because I was chasing him to do some other show and he talked about how Ted Lasso could be something. I’d seen those commercials. They’re super funny, but very sketch-like and broad. He knew from the start he’s like, “I want to turn that guy into a character with a lot of emotional pathos in his life and some real emotional depth [with] people who underestimate him.” So he knew ahead of time that dude had all those levels and it was what made it really interesting for me to get in and write and be involved with.

Can we talk about the Allen Iverson locker room speech, because we all know that’s what cinched this nomination for you guys.

That was 100 percent Jason Sudeikis. He insisted on it. And here’s what a good guy he is: he didn’t rub it in my face. In editing, I tried to cut it down and I’m like, “We don’t need all of this.” And he was adamant and really passionate about it, how he wrote it and performed it. The testament to his kindness is as we get to watch people on social media love that scene and react to it, he hasn’t once texted or emailed any “I told you so” messages. He hasn’t even forwarded a tweet to me; you know what I mean? Were it not for him, that would be on the cutting room floor.

Do you have any other famous sports rants you want to weave into the show now?

[laughs] It’s hard not to go online and watch all those. There was a great one with that guy talking about making the playoffs — Colts coach, Jim Mora, I think.

The show tackles male friendship in a really refreshing way. Is that intentional, or just a by-product of who the character is?

It’s a combo. I mean, it’s something we talked a lot about with the Diamond Dogs, how they would interact. Maybe I’m just way too optimistic, that this is a portrayal of a huge percentage of male friendships. I always attach it to Zach Braff and Donald Faison, who are still best friends and doing a successful podcast together because their male friendship on Scrubs back in the day, it translated because it was real. It was how those two guys really interacted with each other on a day-to-day basis. So I guess I’m saying I might be an eternal optimist, but I believe male friendships like this aren’t a rarity. Maybe they’re just a rarity on television.

Where does Ted Lasso go from here?

Even before we brought the writing staff on, we had a story we wanted to tell. We already know the beginning, middle, and end. They’re off shooting the middle right now. As somebody who selfishly loves the show and enjoys the group that I get to work with, of course I hope that eight years from now that you and I are on a call chatting, “So Ted’s coaching an ice hockey team now back in the States.” And I’d be like, “Yeah, we’re really excited about it.” But I certainly know the beginning, middle, and end of the story we’re telling now.

When he starts enjoying English breakfast tea, is that the end? His full-circle moment?

That’d be a bad sign. The first time he takes a sip and thinks it’s delicious, I’m sure the show will be over.

One of the first Sundance movies that caught my eye was Marvelous and the Black Hole, admittedly because of the casting of Rhea Perlman, because that just seems like an inspired choice. Perlman plays Margot, a magician and mentor, of sorts, to Sammy (Miya Cech), a teenager who is having a rough time both at school and at home, but has taken a liking to magic.

Director Kate Tsang cast Perlman because she needed someone who was not “bubbly and soft,” and, no, when we think of Perlman, especially the characters she’s played over the years, those two words don’t appear much. Ahead, Tsang and Perlman explain how this Sundance hit all came together. (Also, I couldn’t resist asking Perlman a question about Cheers that I’ve been wondering about since the 1980s. Specifically, this very weird incident when an episode of St. Elsewhere was filmed on the Cheers set. It’s just the oddest thing. Anyway, Perlman explains what happened ahead.)

How did you two come together? Did you know each other at all before?

Rhea Perlman: Well, I got a call actually from a mutual friend, a director I had worked with, and she said, “My friend, Kate, wants you to do her movie. Do it.” And then I got the movie sent to me by my agents, out of the blue, and I loved it. I mean, I just loved the script. I loved the idea of playing a magician and with this girl as my partner. Well, not my partner, but you know what I mean. And I hadn’t met Kate, but I saw her short that won a lot of prizes, and well-deserved. She’s so creative. And then we met. That was it.

What made you decide, oh, I’m in?

Perlman: Well, it’s a very original story. It’s a coming of age story. And it’s about problems that some people have with parents and with acting out in anger and frustration and self-destruction. And the themes were very universal, but the actual characters were very individual. And, so, I felt like it just had the potential to be a really moving and wonderful movie. And I hope that’s what people think it is.

Kate, When you were casting this, why did you think of Rhea Perlman?

Kate Tsang: So, because Sammy is such a sort of closed off, angry teenager, I knew that the character who could get through to her couldn’t be somebody bubbly and soft. They had to speak on her level. And Rhea is somebody who has grit. But also warmth. And, so, I just knew I really wanted to reach out to Rhea with this. And I’m so, so glad that she said yes.

Rhea, do you have any background in magic? Did you have to learn these tricks, or this movie magic?

Perlman: I had to learn! I thought for sure, before I met Kate, that this was going to all be somebody else’s hands. It would all be substituted by a real magician and I’d just be there for the acting. But, no, it all had to be learned. And I had an amazing tutor. And I have incredible respect now for magicians, which I’ve always loved magic. But as an audience, because I’m very easy to fool. I mean, I really am. And I love that. I love that feeling. But the amount of work that goes into learning any trick, any particular trick, is just incredibly time consuming. And they pretty much have to work at it all day long, every day of their life. And so just learning how to hide a card, or a ball, or anything, even for little tiny kids, that it’s incredible. But, no, I didn’t know any tricks beforehand.

As you were saying that, this actually just popped in my head. But are you more appreciative now of the Harry the Hat episodes of Cheers? When Harry Anderson would come on and do those tricks?

Perlman: I loved Harry Anderson. And I knew he was a great magician. Yeah, those are great. I should actually go back and watch a couple of them.

Well, now you can do tricks at parties, if we ever have parties again.

Perlman: [Laughs] I’ll say yes, but I’m sure that I won’t ever do tricks at parties. But yeah, I’ll do a few tricks at the next party.

Kate, was this movie supposed to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, and then the whole world collapsed and now you’re in Sundance? Do I have that right?

Tsang: So my producer, Carolyn Mao and I, were the winners of this incredible grant from Tribeca Film Institute. And part of that amazing award is that you have a year to make your film. And at the end of it, it debuts at Tribeca Film Festival. And we were on track, trying to finish our film, rushing to finish it in time for the premiere, when everything shut down. So the premiere was canceled. And of course, it was very disappointing, but it gave us the time to sort of finesse our film and take a little bit more time with it. So getting into Sundance is definitely the silver lining of what happened.

Are parts of this story from things that happened to you?

Tsang: Yeah, this story was inspired by my relationship with my grandfather growing up. My parents got divorced, and I was bounced back and forth between their homes in Northern California and Hong Kong. And I was a very depressed and isolated feeling kind of kid. And when I was in Northern California, my grandfather came to raise me. And he could see I was really struggling. And he reached out to me. He became the lifeline I needed, the confidant that I needed, my friend. And I also had a lot of sleeping issues. I had insomnia. And I would have nightmares when I did fall asleep. So he would tell me bedtime stories. And it was only later on that I realized that these stories he told me were actually his own horrifying experiences with the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong that he had transformed into these cathartic fairytales. So he taught me the power of channeling pain into something beautiful or powerful. And that’s the same lesson that Margot teaches Sammy.

Did Miya know who Rhea was? Like, “oh, you’re one of the most well-known actors that has ever been on television”?

Perlman: I never got that feeling, like I was a big celebrity to her or something. But I felt very connected to her, as a young girl. I just felt like she was very open and incredibly professional and also up for fun. She was easy to hang out with. Her mom would come with her to the set, and to my house, when we first were practicing some magic together. And she was also great. I loved her. I love her. Yeah. I think that I’m very close with my family and I think she is too, even though she works away from them, some of the time, or a lot of the time. I think family is important to her. And it’s very important to me and it worked out great.

What did you guys do for fun?

Perlman: Like a kid, she wants to do silly things like fooling around with the dogs. And when we were learning to throw confetti in the air, in a certain way, that was sort of like, yeah, this is the best part of the day.

At this point in your career, what are you looking for? You’re Rhea Perlman, I feel you don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to.

Perlman: I really like to work. I really like to act. And having been especially not working very much, or hardly at all, except for doing voice work during this whole pandemic … I’ve been doing a voice on an animated show. So it feeds me to work, as an actor. So, when something comes along, that isn’t just thoughtless, it’s just a gift. I feel like it’s a gift. I love it. And to that end, about the story of Margot, my character, there is some of that grandfather story in it, because she’s come through a very difficult background herself. We won’t go into that, because most people haven’t seen the movie yet.

It sounds like we’re going to see you a lot once the pandemic ends.

Perlman: Well, I hope so. I’m here. Yeah, I’d love to do a few more things in my life. You know? I mean, look at Ted!

Oh, yeah. He’s on another show already.

Perlman: I mean, he never stops working.

Yeah, I saw him on Seth Meyers last night promoting his new show. He didn’t even take a break.

Perlman: He’s so great. I love him.

Okay, here is my only Cheers question.

Perlman: I hope I know the answer.

Do you remember the time you played Carla on St. Elsewhere. It was an episode of St. Elsewhere and the doctors went to Cheers. I just think that’s one of the weirdest things I’ve ever seen. What even was that?

Perlman: Yes! Well, St. Elsewhere actually came to our bar. Yeah, because they both took place in Boston.

What’s weird about it is you’re insulting them as they’re sitting there. Like you would on a normal episode of Cheers, but there’s no laughter from the audience. So it comes off as really dark.

Perlman: Yeah, it was a very odd time. I mean, I can’t remember it that well. The thing I remember the most about it is you know how there’s different kinds of acting on different shows? That’s sort of a style on a sitcom?

Right…

Perlman: Even though your mic-ed and everything, it’s louder. It’s just kind of a louder, connecting with the live audience. And on St. Elsewhere, it’s like everybody’s just talking calmly, like we’re just here in this cafe. So, there was a very odd dynamic between all of us, even though I like all of those guys.

Right, because they say they work at St. Eligius. And you do a gagging sound and stick your finger in your mouth, but there’s no laughter. And it’s like, oh, wow, that comes off very differently without an audience laughing.

Perlman: I don’t know why they didn’t put it in laugh, because they came to us! There wasn’t any audience there when they came, and they didn’t want to put it in a laugh track.

Well, you have answered my question.

Perlman: That’s hysterical.

‘Marvelous and the Black Hole’ premiered this week at Sundance. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Foo Fighters is a band filled with tremendous artists, but the way Dave Grohl sees it, one of them stands out above the others as “the most accomplished musician in the band.” In a new oral history about the group from EW, Grohl said, “Chris [Shiflett] is, without a doubt, the most accomplished musician in the band. I don’t know what would have happened if he hadn’t joined.”

While Shiflett is best known for his work with Foo Fighters (which he joined after the release of 1999’s There Is Nothing Left To Lose), he maintains an active musical presence outside of the band. He has released five albums as part of the supergroup cover band Me First And The Gimme Gimmes, although he has since left the group. He has also put out two albums with his band Jackson United, two more with his band Chris Shiflett & The Dead Peasants, and a pair of solo albums, the latest of which, Hard Lessons, was released in 2019.

Grohl’s praise of Shiflett came as part of him discussing the band’s chemistry and what everybody in the group brings to the table:

“The most important thing in the Foo Fighters world isn’t that you fit in musically, it’s more that you fit in personally or emotionally. If you’re in the Foo Fighters, it’s not because of the way you play your instrument. It’s because of who you are. We have more emotional prerequisites than we do musical prerequisites.

Taylor fits into it because of his love of Queen and Genesis and Yes and Rush. Pat fits in because of his love of early punk rock music and Mariah Carey, which I don’t know if you talked about, but that is his number-one artist of all time. Nate and I come from the same musical background. We were raised by Devo and the B-52s and Oingo Boingo, and then we discovered hardcore punk rock music and fell in love with the Dead Kennedys and Bad Brains and Black Flag. We jumped in vans as teenagers, slept on floors, played squats. So he and I shared a very similar experience — which is important because A, you have the survival skill set, how to make it through Europe on seven dollars a day, but B, you also use those early experiences as reference or foundation so that once you get a van with air conditioning, you’re like, ‘This has power windows? Holy f*cking sh*t! That’s amazing.’

Chris is, without a doubt, the most accomplished musician in the band. I don’t know what would have happened if he hadn’t joined…. And Rami is such a free-floating peace and love wacky f*cking wanderer. It’s like, sarongs and headwraps. And he became part of it, too. He just fit.”

Check out the full feature here.