Unlike the other Mortal Kombat movies, the new Mortal Kombat — the one coming to HBO Max — does not shy away from the gore. The Simon McQuoid-directed film is rated R for “strong bloody violence and language throughout, and some crude references.” I have no idea what “crude references” means (“Hey, Sub-Zero, you should try eating zero-calorie subs, tubby”), but I do know that Motion Picture Association of America wasn’t kidding when it called the violence “bloody” and “strong.”
McQuoid told Yahoo! Entertainment that Mortal Kombat even came close to an NC-17 rating. “What we had to be a bit careful of was… you can get to NC-17 territory pretty quick. It’s different in a video game when it’s not real human beings. When you move this across to reality, a different set of things start to happen in your mind, and you get rated slightly differently,” he said. “So there were certain things that are in the game that would mean the film would be unreleasable. And none of us wanted that.”
Will spines be ripped out?
They better.
“So we were balancing that stuff all the time. And there’s some stuff that you will see that really gets quite close to the line because we didn’t want people to go, ‘Meh. Seemed kind of lame.’ … That brutality allowed us to be more authentic because it means we didn’t really have to hold back when someone gets a kunai through the head. There would be blunt splattering out of the back, right?”
Mortal Kombat premieres in theaters and on HBO Max on April 23.
Unlike prior films in the “MonsterVerse” series, Godzilla vs. Kong did not include a post-credits scene that would set up the next film in the franchise. With the film now streaming on HBO Max and playing in theaters where available, director Adam Wingard has already opened up about his decision not to include a post-credits scene even though he did shoot one for the film.
In a new interview with Collider, Wingard reveals that he made the call to “sacrifice” the post-credits scene and use it for the film’s ending, when Kong is seen living in his new home in the Hollow Earth. He also said the decision was easy because, ultimately, the post-credits scene didn’t specifically point to the next direction for the MonsterVerse, but it still would’ve backed the franchise into a corner at a time when it apparently doesn’t know where to go next and is letting the audience decide. Via Collider:
I think the MonsterVerse is at a crossroads where audiences need to vote if they want to see another one of these films before they continue. I think that’s a really healthy thing. We’ve gone through a decade or so of the rise of the universe movies, the versus movies. Obviously, Marvel does it best. But at the end of the day, I don’t think these movies should imitate Marvel, necessarily. They should be their own thing.
Considering that the film’s ending, which was originally the post-credits scene, takes place in the Hollow Earth, it’s probably a safe bet that the hidden realm located inside the planet will drive the events of the next film. Although, judging by Wingard’s comments, it sounds like the future of the MonsterVerse series is up in the air as Warner Bros. waits to see how audiences respond to Godzilla vs. Kong.
It has been pointed out to Cristin Milioti that she is the unofficial, unintentional Queen of pandemic entertainment that cuts just a little too close in times like these. InPalm Springs, she teamed with Andy Samberg to combat a time loop where every day felt exactly the same. And now, in the HBO Max series Made For Love (which premieres April 1), Milioti’s character, Hazel Green, tries to escape 24/7 lockdown in the luxurious cage where her tech-billionaire husband (Billy Magnussen) has put them. One where every emotion, activity, and even orgasm is tracked and analyzed to try and engineer a perfect experience for her. But, of course, you can’t engineer perfection. Or love.
The show, it should be pointed out, is a comedy. A highly original one based in a near-future of tech overreach that’s poked at with ample doses of absurdity, cleverness, faux contentment, and a fed-up, on the run Milioti who is risking it all to get disenthralled from a psycho Silicon Valley billionaire who treats her like a rabbit in Of Mice And Men.
Milioti is, herself, not thrilled by the rapid slide toward a more engineered and algorithmic society of hacked emotions and monitoring. You know, for a better user experience. She’s pretty jazzed about getting the chance to fire off a gun, wield an ax, interact with a dolphin, and play a role that is the direct 180 from the kinds of woman-as-accessory-roles that still linger in film and television. We spoke with Milioti about all of that, her music, and her nuanced take on the Oscars and the awards industrial complex in a delightful conversation.
Are you suspicious of big tech?
Wildly. I think it’s really bad. It scares me, it scares me that there are no regulations. It scares me that even when I will download an app for my phone and it asks me to agree to that thing and I scroll scroll scroll scroll because I’m in a hurry to get the thing on there, that what am I even agreeing to? How does it know… it shows me ads for things that it’s heard me talking about. I don’t like it. I don’t think it’s good. I think obviously there are huge parts of technology that have changed our lives for the better. Look at how fast we were able to get this vaccine that’s going to save lives. Clearly, things like this [Zoom calls]. I’ve always had a very hateful relationship toward social media. But then, with everything that went on last summer and everything that happened with the election and Black Lives Matter, I was able to access information and hear voices that I wouldn’t have heard without it. So I saw the benefit of it and also I think it’s rotting our brains. I don’t like that people are monitoring us. I want to burn all the phones. My hope is that after this time we will have a return to…that people will also feel this way and want to throw their phones in the ocean and go for walks without them. I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me. I’m so sick of it. [Laughs]
I’m in the same boat. I never thought I would be as connected as I am and I’m very put off by it as well. All this access to information, though. Like you say. I remember when I first really got into social media was like with Egypt and Tahrir Square and seeing that at three o’clock in the morning was such an intense moment of people pushing to be free. And then you realize 10 years has gone by and most of the time it’s just everyone’s angry, you’re trying to figure out why they’re angry and if you’re angry, and do you want to be performatively angry? It’s a weird world.
I was talking about this earlier today, I’m a really avid reader and I have seen that on days where I have to be more on Zoom or on my computer or on my phone, when I go to sit down and read at night I feel it affects the way I’m able to take in words on a page and that really flips me out. Not to have a very dark conversation here, it’s just, I’m like, well if this is happening to me, what is happening to toddlers who are on their screens? I want to shoot it into space.
I find myself in scan mode, even when I’m pleasure reading. Looking for the point of interest.
I had a horrifying experience at a restaurant where I had the menu and I went like this [gestures as though she’s trying to enlarge]. It’s not good. Did you watch The Social Dilemma?
No.
It’s a documentary on Netflix, which LOL. You wanna talk about spying and algorithms. But they interview major players that defected from Facebook and Instagram and Twitter and it’s sort of about how, it’s all unregulated, what they have access to, how everything with the 2016 election happened with social media and all the things we know. But you watch it and it’s all the things you know, but it goes even further and it made me really want to chuck my phone in the ocean. I mean, not in the ocean because I really respect the ocean. It makes me want to, again, shoot it into space.
Yeah, thank God this isn’t on Facebook Watch. So this show, Palm Springs to a certain extent, your episode of Black Mirror, all fall into a specific type of sci-fi. And you’re talking about big issues. Toxic relationships and being stuck in our own failure loop and stuff like that. Is there a concerted effort to use sci-fi to have those big conversations?
You know, I always get attracted to the role. Obviously, it’s about the quality of the piece and who else is involved, but it’s really the role for me. And Hazel and Sarah and Nanette all feel wildly different, even though I totally know that there is a sci-fi element to it, [it’s] completely unintentional. I also feel that the three things that at least united those projects for me was that I never read anything like them. They were all so wild to me, and I think that’s something that also really attracts me to things when I haven’t seen anything like it before.
What are roles you’re absolutely not interested in playing?
The wife or the girlfriend. [Laughs]
You’ve done those.
I did my time [laughs]. I mean, that’s a generalization. Of course, there are, you know… I think that I have a real aversion to when I read something and the female roles in it are treated as an accessory. Obviously, there are roles where you’re a wife or a girlfriend that are actually moving and heartbreaking and [they’re] full people. But I think sometimes I’ll read things and be like, have you ever met a woman? Or, is the point of this just that she supports everything while she’s drying a dish? Obviously, that’s changing, but I think those are the things that I’m blessed enough to be… I’m able to be choosier now and I want the meaty [roles]. I want to run around and dive into water and interact with a dolphin and fire a gun. I don’t know, I want to do a bunch of crazy shit. And I think that I’m not interested in being an accessory is the only way I guess I could describe it.
I thought Palm Springs got robbed with the Oscars. I’m curious, is it important to you at all to get a nomination like that, to be recognized for work? Is it a validation, or is it just about the opportunities that might open up? What is the perspective of being someone who is in awards-worthy work that maybe doesn’t necessarily get all the recognition it needs? A little bit of a loaded question.
I know. I’m trying to be like… I have a lot of feelings about it. Because it’s a slippery slope, right? I think by its very creation an award system speaks to the kid in all of us, that of course you grew up watching it and you want to be recognized by your peers. It also opens doors to projects that wouldn’t be opened for you, for sure. But I think my feelings about it… When you see behind the curtain a bit more, you begin to realize. A perfect example for me was, well two things I’m going to use. Parasite, right? Parasite won Best Picture. Parasite was astonishing. The fact that that cast, which those are some of the best performances I’ve seen. They’re astonishing. And they didn’t have access, it seems like, to the same whatever back-patting systems go on with the HFPA systems that are in place. And another one is did you ever see Krisha?
No, I didn’t.
It’s a great movie. And the performance of it is this woman (Krisha Fairchild), she may be in her sixties, and it’s this really low budget thriller. Her performance is mind-bending. And the movie had no money and it went to South by Southwest and it just didn’t… I think it wasn’t given the multimillion-dollar machine that is put behind the things that are awarded. And listen, sometimes things are awarded like Parasite is a perfect example where you’re like, “oh my God hallelujah.” And then other times you scratch your head. And of course, it’s both things, sometimes work gets honored that I think deserves to get honored and sometimes I see work get honored that to me speaks to a system that is flawed. And Krisha was an experience where I saw that woman’s performance and she was not a part of any awards conversations and she gave one of the best performances I’ve ever seen. But she wasn’t invited to the party. And also sorry, not to get on a high horse, but art in and of itself is so subjective, how can you compare it and award it and compare performances? And I think that’s a toxic way of looking at something that, by its very nature and at its best, should be open to interpretation. And also I’m going to love a performance that maybe isn’t for you. There’s a rigidity to it and a sheen to it and a PR machine aspect to it. I think I have begun to… it’s begun to matter less and less. But of course, all of us want to get invited to a party and toast champagne with George Clooney. It preys on a thing that is totally natural, you know? So it’s complex, I think.
It definitely is. I think it’s also, to an extent also I think there’s a curation aspect to it where that badge makes certain art pop off the page to people and they’re maybe more apt to interact with it and actually see it. But yeah, there are a lot of negatives to it. It’s really hard to put artists against artists and art against art. It’s weird.
It feels wrong. And also, there’s so much of that in this industry anyway. When you’re up for a job, you get this call and they’re like “Alright, you’re in the final three. It’s you, this person, and this person.” And my brain used to go to a place of like, it’s so competitive. When really we’re being pitted against each other. And to see the ways in which we’re celebrated to also in a way be pitted against each other is like, I just don’t get it. I wish that there was an award show that just honored the things that made you feel something and wasn’t this whole, is the phrase dog and pony show?
Yeah.
But I also understand that there’s an industry built on it. It’s like advertising. I remember, I was a part of the Tonys when I was in this musical and I remember thinking that it felt really weird. Of course, it felt like a huge honor because I’d grown up watching the Tonys, but there was also something about it that was weird. That you go around and you shake hands and you’re put into competition with shows that have nothing to do with your show. It’s like comparing apples and oranges. I don’t know, I could talk about it forever.
Obviously, acting is very much this too, but doing the Bon Iver cover song and also just listening to you do songs from Once… How do you find your voice when you’re trying to interpret work that’s so obviously out there and people know exactly what it sounds like and you have to come at it from your own perspective?
I think it’s one of my favorite things to do, kind of. I think that sometimes, like with that Bon Iver song, I listened to that song a lot at a very specific time in my life and it sort of was one of those songs that shattered me when I first heard it. And that also I came to depend on. Like the songs you listen to over and over to get you through a certain period of time. Then I started performing it live at different venues in New York and LA and it always felt like I don’t know, it could be your favorite painting or your favorite poem or something. It moved me immensely and it helped me to make sense of things. And I also think it’s such an extraordinary song that it also would take over. And I felt sometimes performing it like I was just a conduit. Which is also such a good feeling for this thing that everyone in the room has felt at one moment or another. And that song to me is also like, I think the way he plays with memory is really… that song to me is like memory. And the ways in which you turn memories over and over in your brain don’t think too much about “how am I going to interpret this?” I sort of let it guide me. That was something I just played around with and then played with different synthesizers and found my way to it, but had been performing for a while. I mean also, it’s so different even just by nature of he’s using that vocoder that he developed, which I love. And then I’m a woman at a piano with a synthesizer from the 80s. By nature, it’s going to be different. [Lauhgs] And we’re different people. That whole album is like, whew. That song is beautiful. And performing it was also as healing as listening to it.
‘Made For Love’ begins streaming on HBO Max on April 1.
The player everyone assumes will be the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft has announced his decision to go pro. Cade Cunningham, the consensus All-American guard for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, told the assembled media in Stillwater on Thursday morning that he will forgo his final three years of collegiate eligibility and head to the NBA.
Official: Cade Cunningham has declared for the NBA Draft.
Cunningham, the No. 1 recruit in the country in the 2020 recruiting class, spent one year in Stillwater and frequently reminded the basketball watching world why he’s such a coveted prospect. He averaged 20.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.6 steals in 35.4 minutes per game for the Pokes en route to being named the Big 12 Player of the Year, the first freshman to win that honor since Marcus Smart. Oklahoma State went 21-9 this season and made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Oregon State.
As an NBA prospect, Cunningham is viewed as the kind of big, dynamic playmaker that teams covet right now. Cunningham stands 6’8 and is blessed with remarkable court vision and basketball IQ, and despite the fact that his assist numbers were not especially high, the Cowboys struggled to shoot the ball — only one player was a consistent threat from behind the three-point line this season, and that was Cunningham, who connected on 40 percent of his triples, many of which were unassisted. This is a very good Draft class, with guys like USC’s Evan Mobley and Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs among those that have cases to be taken with the top selection, but right now, it’s hard to see Cunningham going anywhere other than No. 1, regardless of which team wins the Lottery.
Roy Williams, the legendary head coach of the University of North Carolina Tar Heels basketball program, is calling it a career after 33 seasons. On Thursday, UNC announced that Williams would retire in a bit of news that is decidedly not an April Fool’s Day prank.
After 33 years as a Hall of Fame head coach, our beloved Tar Heel Roy Williams is announcing his retirement.
Thank you for all you have done and meant to everyone who plays and loves our game.
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) April 1, 2021
A three-time NCAA champion and a constant presence in the world of basketball over the years, Williams, a native of the Tar Heel State and a Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, won everything there is to win during his time as a coach.
Williams’ coaching career began with a high school job before he returned to his alma mater as an assistant in 1978 under the legendary Dean Smith. His first head coaching gig came at Kansas, where Williams brought the Jayhawks to multiple Final Four appearances and the kind of dominance you expect at a blue blood, but he was never able to bring a title to Lawrence. He returned to Chapel Hill in 2003, where he’s been the head coach ever since.
It was at North Carolina where Williams finally got over the championship hump. He won titles in 2005, 2009, and 2017, and coached some of the best to play the game in recent memory, with a number of Willams’ players earning All-American nods under his guidance. Williams accrued a 903-264 record in his head coaching career.
Keeping track of all the new albums coming out in a given month is a big job, but we’re up for it: Below is a comprehensive list of the major releases you can look forward to in April. If you’re not trying to potentially miss out on anything, it might be a good idea to keep reading.
Friday, April 2
Alex Little & The Suspicious Minds — Waiting To Get Paid (Light Organ Records)
Bambounou — Cascade EP (Bambe)
The Beat Farmers — Tales Of The New West (Deluxe) (Rhino)
It was reported a couple days ago that Nike sued MSCHF Product Studio, which collaborated with Lil Nas X on the controversial “Satan shoes.” Now, it looks like that situation is swinging in Nike’s favor so far, as The Hollywood Reporter notes that a federal judge has ordered MSCHF to stop selling the custom Air Max 97 shoes. The shoes quickly sold out when initially put for sale, so it would seem Nike is trying to prevent those orders from being fulfilled.
Nike filed a trademark lawsuit against MSCHF earlier this week and followed up with a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. Nike claims the shoes will dilute their brand and the company “submitted evidence that even sophisticated sneakerheads were confused.” A Nike attorney also noted, “We have submitted numerous evidence that some consumers are saying they will never buy Nike shoes ever again.”
In a letter to the judge, MSCHF’s attorneys argued that the limited edition shoes are “not typical sneakers, but rather individually-numbered works of art that were sold to collectors for $1,018 each,” and notes that confusion among the shoes’ customers isn’t likely “given the sophistication of purchasers.”
Naturally, Nas has handled the whole situation with his signature sense of humor.
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.
The last time I spoke with Ryley Walker, he wasn’t far removed from the darkest period of his life. In the spring of 2019, the inventive guitarist and songwriter — who’s also known for his hilarious social media presence — checked himself into rehab for drug and alcohol dependency. The decision came after Walker came close to taking his own life while on tour in New Mexico.
Thankfully, times are much better these days for the 31-year-old Illinois native. On Friday, he will release Course In Fable, his finest studio album to date. A die-hard fan of the English pop-prog band Genesis and a devout student of Chicago post-rock, Walker has somehow merged these influences on Fable, stitching together multi-part songs heavy on wonky guitar solos and unexpected time signature changes. In the studio, he was assisted by John McEntire, a Chicago indie legend known for his work with Tortoise and The Sea And Cake. The result is one of 2021’s most unabashedly gorgeous and grand indie records.
Having recently parted ways with his label, Secretly Canadian, Walker opted to put out Course In Fable on his own. That means he also doesn’t have a publicist or any other infrastructure for promotion and distribution. Nevertheless, Course In Fable has garnered some of the best reviews of his career. More than that, it feels like a creative breakthrough for Walker, who’s already recognized as one of the leading lights of the contemporary indie jam scene.
“Things are great,” he told me. “I’ve got a great relationship with my mind and body and spirit. I don’t have it all figured out, but I’m living in some sort of solution. Living is the big keyword there. I’m very happy and there’s no heaviness to my life. The only heaviness is 1970- to 1975-era Genesis.”
I caught up with Walker at his temporary home in western Massachusetts, where Walker moved after New York City proved to be too expensive during the pandemic. (He noted that the region is best known for spawning butt-rock kingpins Staind, about whom he’s expressed genuine appreciation.) In May, he plans to move ever farther north to Vermont. In a way, the pastoral vibe of Course In Fable presages these changes.
“I thought I was just going to die in a gutter as a martyr like, ‘I am a city person.’ But man, I just want to drink water from a well and live,” Walker said.
In our interview, we talked a lot about Genesis and a little about his own music.
Selling England By The Pound or Foxtrot?
Well, I pick Selling England by the Pound. Foxtrot is Genesis reading the book of Genesis in their own story of Genesis. And then we start to get into Exodus — we’re just keeping it in a biblical theme here — and it’s just so much more exploratory. And their sense of humor, which I think is underrated. Peter Gabriel has this amazing sense of humor. Obviously on stage he looks like a total idiot, and is just very boisterous and loud and obnoxious with what he wears and I think that comes through way more on Selling England By The Pound. It’s performative, but it’s not some “arty proscenium stage” thing. It’s really accessible and funny. It seems like average people doing prog rock rather than scholars and people who dig too deep into a Thesaurus or something. It’s very much working-person’s prog, in my opinion.
I know you love Peter Gabriel-era Genesis, but can we also talk about the Phil Collins era? I don’t like it when people are snobby about the Phil years.
I mean, it’s a real shame. We have all these great documents of how great of a band they were, so I don’t really feel like I need to prove anything. The records are a dollar apiece if you go to a record store. There’s enough live footage out there to show the power Phil Collins had. And that’s a big job, man, to take over for Peter Gabriel. But all in all, I think they made the right decision, because we got A Trick Of The Tail out of it, which is probably my second favorite Genesis record. It’s a master class; it’s like AC/DC’s Back In Black, but with more dragons and shit, man. It’s the comeback record nobody thought would be so good and perfect, and it’s their formula. They didn’t change the formula at all. It’s uniquely Genesis.
I think Phil Collins, he’s a really brilliant guy. And, obviously, for his contributions to the band to just be boiled down to whatever shit people want to talk, is completely unfair. He took on, in my opinion, one of the hardest jobs ever and he did it very well. And the pop direction they went is also just genius. If you don’t like it, you don’t like it. I can’t help you. I don’t know what sickness you have, but I can’t help you and I encourage you to explore more.
I celebrate everything all the way up to We Can’t Dance, which is goofy and as anti-establishment as you can imagine. That was in the peak era of rock ‘n’ roll and they made a record that was just so them. They were wearing big, dumb suits and they had a dance and everything and it was just all in their hands. They weren’t listening to anybody else except themselves and I think it was for the better.
A few years before that, in the mid-1980s, you had that magical confluence where Genesis, Phil Collins, and Peter Gabriel separately put out huge albums.
Yeah, absolutely. You had Peter Gabriel’s So, and you had Genesis’ Invisible Touch, and then you had Phil Collins’ No Jacket Required. All three of those are just punishingly beautiful records, and I think they set new standards for recording technology. These guys had millions of dollars. I’m sure they bought Porsches, they did the rock star thing, but they were also like, “Hey, let’s figure out how we can make recording better.” So today we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation were it not for Peter Gabriel inventing all these new studio techniques accessible to everybody.
Steve Hackett also went on quite a tear with his solo records. He has like 50 of them. His solo records are pretty phenomenal even up to the last 20 years. There’s a really good late-career peak for Steve Hackett right now and he tours around Europe and America just playing Genesis songs because he’s like, “Fuck you. I want some money. I’m going to play these better than those three oafs who are left over.”
What’s your stance on Mike + The Mechanics?
Mike + The Mechanics is a psychotic experience that should only be viewed in the rearview mirror as a fatal mistake. It’s one of the worst bands I’ve ever heard.
They’re totally bad. And it just goes to show to leave the leading to the lead person. You get a quarterly check. Just put a pool by your pool. You can do whatever you want. Mike + The Mechanics, god bless you, but it seems like you need to go under the hood on your own jams and really do some work there.
The only Genesis album I haven’t heard is Calling All Stations …, the one they made without either Gabriel or Collins.
That is like Saved By the Bell: The New Class times 100 and it’s evil. The only reason to listen to is to be like, “Wow, we had it pretty good with Phil, didn’t we?” They didn’t even try to bring in a ringer, like how King Crimson brought in Adrian Belew, or anybody to sing. They just brought in a guy who probably was pissing his pants with the band going like, “Well, he’s got gel in his hair and he can hit a high note. Let’s take him.”
At this point we should probably talk about your record, Course In Fable. This is a really accomplished album. This is an overused word but is it fair to call this your most ambitious record to date?
Yeah, I hate to use the word “ambition,” especially with a capital A. But I did strive to have a little ambition here. Usually [my music] is just like a really crappy Old Country Buffet-style slop I put on the plates. I feel like it’s always half-baked ideas that you have to pay $16 to hear. And it’s like, “Well, the pizza was interesting and they have a dessert part of the buffet …” But here I just wanted it to be a really well-rounded, full record and for every song to have some sort of ambition, whether that’s multiple parts or better lyrics. The work and the vision that Genesis puts into their music is a very big influential point for me, especially in recording quality. I love the sound of all the records I’ve done, but John McEntire has this really clean, front-of-the-mix style that I 100 percent wanted.
John McEntire is a major figure of Chicago post-rock, which I know is also a big influence on you. Do you see any connections between that and ’70s English prog?
A thing I told myself was I wanted this to sound like if Peter Gabriel was on Thrill Jockey. It’s a marriage of those two worlds. I mean, obviously, it’s 2021. Nobody has million-dollar budgets anymore, but I feel like Chicago post-rock came out of punk. And so they did all of these ambitious records on a budget and figured it out on their own. And I think that’s kind of what the early stages of prog were. It was this really exploratory music that maybe seems a bit closed off, but it’s all working-class people who do it. Chicago post-rock music, all of that is really based in experimentation through the studio. Live performance is obviously a big thing, but John is a master of using the studio as an instrument. So he’s influenced by dub music and prog music and all that stuff.
To what degree was your writing influenced by not having a record deal?
Well, I don’t have any good label fallout stories or anything. We’re all still friends. I had every intention to submit this to a label. So I wrote it per usual. I think I was better at writing this round because my head is clearer and I’m not living in my own shit and piss.
How do you like running your own label, Husky Pants?
I’m a big fan of Thurston Moore. He always had Sonic Youth records. But in between that, he has a hundred different weird records. Pitching these weird records to labels is tough. Not because they hate the music, but it’s hard to sell. It’s not worth their time to press 250 of these things. So starting a label that I can curate myself and work on my own dime and not really have to answer to anybody, it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done. It’s a really fun, creative source for me. I’m sure there’ll be moments where I’m like, “Oh my God, what do I do?” But for now it’s been really rewarding seeing the whole process from start to finish. I want to get as much stuff out as possible in a short amount of time. If I lose money on it, whatever. It’s just me in the end.
When you are able to tour again, do you expect to be back out ASAP?
I don’t want to be the first to go on tour and have it blow up in my face. If I go back on tour, it’ll be way, way scaled back. Three months in a van, surrounded by fucking fast-food wrappers and Big Gulps, is not my style anymore. There’s plenty of people who want to do that and who are eager to do it. And I say, godspeed. Touring is going to be really duking it out as far as booking agents go. Getting a gig will be pretty tough, I think. But heck, I hope I’m wrong.
I have completely realistic expectations for this record. I don’t expect it’s going to have this big, long shelf life. It’ll be a blip and gone. And with me, that’s cool. My goal with Husky Pants is to put out shit and break even. I try to have some sort of humility about music-business stuff. I’m just glad to be doing it. I work other side jobs. I was working at Target all winter, doing box stuff. It’s just great to detach from music and work with people who have never heard of Syd Barrett. I’m just stoked to be more present for family and friends. Anything else music-wise is a just gift and I’ll take it as it comes.
Course In Fable is out tomorrow via Husky Pants. Get it here.
The worlds of TV and film continue to roar back into action, quite literally with movies like Godzilla vs. Kong leading into the month of April. That signals a return to blockbuster mode, even if that’s mostly happening on the small screen until at least fall 2021. On the small screen, too, action was the name of the game leading back into a more plentiful supply of fresh content. Over the next month, you’ll see that streaming services and production teams have been working hard to bring us events for our own living rooms.
Disney+ led February and March with WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and before too long, Loki will bring his tricks to the streamer. Before that happens, there’s a whole heaping helping of varied programming coming your way on streaming services including HBO Max, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime, Peacock, Netflix, and more from Disney+. Don’t count out the networks and traditional cable, though, because NBC is firing off an anticipated spinoff from a long-running franchise, and AMC’s bringing us gang warfare that makes Peaky Blinders look like a local warm-up act before a headlining band. With that said, here are the must-see (or, at least, must-try) shows for April 2021.
Made For Love (HBO Max series streaming on 4/1)
HBO Max recently struck dark-comedy gold with The Flight Attendant, and the WarnerMedia streamer is poised to do so again with Cristin Milioti maneuvering around a premise that’s even more dizzying than that of Palm Springs. Cristin stars as Hazel, and Ray Romano plays her father, who’s attempting to help her flee from a god-awful marriage with a guy (Billy Magnussen) who’s implanted a chip in her brain so that he can track her every move and emotion. It’s such a cynical spin on relationships, and it’s terrifying, all of it, to consider, but heck, this show will suck you into its compelling vortex. Did we mention that dad is a widower with a “synthetic partner”? Oh boy.
Law & Order: Organized Crime (NBC series debuting on 4/1)
Chris Meloni’s departure (and the way that Elliot Stabler was written out of Law & Order: SVU) always left an unsatisfying taste in the mouths of this long-running franchise’s fans. The good news, though, is that it’s all water under the Brooklyn bridge because Stabler is coming back to his old stomping grounds. The crossover episode with Mariska Hargitay and Ice-T will launch the show, and from there, it is full-on Stabler Time. Meloni’s movie and TV career outside this universe was worth the franchise break, yet his charisma was sorely missed, and there’s no place like home for his ill-tempered detective, who will surely have to adjust his behavior in a TV-cop landscape that’s quite unlike the atmosphere of yesteryear.
Gangs of London (AMC series debuting on 4/4)
AMC+ viewers already enjoyed the first season of this series and may even be tempted to revisit the turbulent power struggle all over again as it hits the traditional TV schedule. Fans of the beloved Peaky Blinders, as well, should pay attention because this new series makes Peaky seem like a pleasant walk in London’s Hyde Park. Warring gangs and a power vacuum and a city on its knees are only part of the attraction here. The rest is down to character-based writing and a wonderful cast that embodies a decidedly unglamorous take on warring criminal elements, all of which will prove to be addictive for anyone who loves The Sopranos or any of Marty Scorsese’s mob pictures.
Exterminate All the Brutes (HBO limited series debuting on 4/7)
This four-part documentary series tells a story of survival with a powerful message. Prepare to witness a search for truth and an examination of how history is written, and how those writings can irrevocably transform a society for the worse. Underneath it all, expect to watch this show while reexamining much of what you thought you knew about European colonialism, American slavery, and Native American genocide. It’s a visually arresting and sometimes bleak, frequently dark, and ultimately telling story about how mankind must reaffirm its own humanity in order to progress.
Them (Amazon Prime limited series streaming on 4/9)
This story’s sure to remind horror fans of Jordan Peele’s Us in more ways than a few, and for good reason. This show promises to explore American-bred terror with an anthologized approach, so the first season is all about the 1950s. Allison Pill’s reliably frightening, and here, she’s terrorizing a Black family, who moves into an all-white LA neighborhood and the welcome committee isn’t there for them, that’s for sure. Soon enough, the horror show begins; and both from a reality-based and a supernatural standpoint, this is pure nightmare fuel.
Fear the Walking Dead: Season 6B (AMC series returning on 4/11)
Against all expectations (and the audience’s experience), this zombie-series spinoff transformed itself and surprised the hell out of even die-hard fans of The Walking Dead universe. The storytelling has shifted to a character-based approach (and an isolated one at that, often focusing on finishing journeys before credits roll), and almost as importantly, there’s now a formidable villain in the mix, courtesy of Colby Minifie as Virginia. Can the show continue to sustain its current momentum? The franchise’s fans sure hope so, as other spinoffs warm up in the background.
The Nevers (HBO series debuting on 4/11)
Showrunner Joss Whedon exited this show last fall while explaining his departure as being due to pandemic difficulties, but nonetheless, production continued. What results, at least from the four episodes screened for critics, is an intriguing setup about a group of “orphans” (almost exclusively women) who find themselves “gifted” with supernaturally-powered abilities. There’s also a fair amount of ass-kicking going on in the debut episode, so these ladies are doing well to survive, even as part of an endangered underclass. The atmosphere is killer, and although the episode runtimes are somewhat extravagant, this show should gather a devoted audience.
Big Shot (Disney+ series streaming on 4/16)
David E. Kelley co-created and executive produces this series starring John Stamos as a down-on-his luck, ousted NCAA coach who’s attempting to get back on his (angry) feet with a ritzy private high-school gig. While reluctantly seeking redemption, Coach learns that his new team benefits from him showing some actual emotion beyond rage and stoicism, so he must — gasp — learn how to be vulnerable and empathetic. He might actually become a better person, too. The show co-stars Yvette Nicole Brown, who I hope gives Coach a really hard time (dude seems like he deserves it).
Mare of Easttown (HBO limited series debuting on 4/18)
Kate Winslet’s doing the small-screen thing again like all the cool kids, and she’s back with HBO after Mildred Pierce. This time around, she’s got Jean Smart (following up on HBO’s Watchmen), and this is a real assembling of the recent HBO casts, given that The Outsider‘s Julianne Nicholson is also on board. Kate portrays a small-town detective who’s naturally ignoring the crumbling of her own inner self while burying herself in the town’s murder cases. Past tragedies and a possibly sinister edge to the town’s close community will factor into the winding narrative, and who doesn’t love watching a messy detective lose their sh*t? I smell some Emmy nominations coming for the cast.
Sasquatch (Hulu “documentary” series streaming on 4/20)
So officially, this is a documentary series, although the Duplass Brothers are behind the project, so you gotta know that the show’s approach will be anything but straightforward. The series promises to dig into a gruesome triple homicide that was allegedly carried out by Bigfoot back in the 1990s. We’ve got investigative journalist David Holthouse, who’s promising to tell the craziest story that he’s ever heard, even after his undercover dives into Nazi groups and violent gangs. He heads back to the Redwoods (and the infamous Emerald Triangle) in search of the truth about those homicides, and somehow, there’s a bunch of cannabis involved, and that could directly be tied to the murders? This title arrives on April 20, so that (and the tone of the trailer, with distorted voices and a purposefully over-dramatic approach) probably tells us a lot here.
Rutherford Falls (Peacock series debuting on 4/22)
The newest Michael Schur sitcom is doing the streaming thing, and this show is flat-out putting its location in the title, in lockstep with the co-creator’s fixation with location. Can Rutherford Falls match up with Scranton and Pawnee, in the long run? That remains to be seen, but Ed Helms stars as Nathan Rutherford, who is (obviously, due to the last name) inextricably tied to the town’s history, and Nathan’s not taking too kindly to a movement to eject a historical statue. There’s more to that topic than one would assume, and the wrangling of Nathan seems down to his lifelong best pal, portrayed by Jana Schmieding. This looks about as refreshingly and delightfully offbeat as one would expect from The Good Place creator because everything he touches is magic.
Shadow and Bone (Netflix series streaming on 4/23)
Need a little fantasy to shut down reality for a while? You’re in luck. Based upon Leigh Bardugo’s bestselling Grishaverse novels, this show follows dark forces that move against an orphan mapmaker (Alina Starkov), whose power might be the key to transforming a war-torn world. Alina must conquer the Shadow Fold threat and train as an elite magical soldier (a Grisha) while learning that nothing is it seems, and she must also maneuver around a crew of charismatic criminals to determine who is an ally, who is an enemy, and who is both. The good news is that you really don’t need to know the books to enjoy the first season of this show, so surrender to the fold, so to speak.
The Handmaid’s Tale: Season 4 (Hulu series returning on 4/28)
Elisabeth Moss has so much going on these days, but she’s going back again to fight for freedom against the totalitarian government of Gilead. This season, she’ll lead the rebellion while fighting for justice and revenge, but perhaps the biggest threat she’ll face is staying true to herself and the relationships that she values most. Moss and the show keep on racking up Emmys, and she’s back with more with Joseph Fiennes, Yvonne Strahovski, Alexis Bledel, O-T Fagbenle, Bradley Whitford, and Max Minghella. Expect the show to get nomadic this season, leaving the Boston area and officially abandoning home base, which must have presented quite the challenge while filming during a pandemic (as if the show wasn’t socially relevant enough already).
The Mosquito Coast (Apple TV+ series debuting on 4/30)
Justin Theroux’s headlining this series adaptation of Paul Theroux (yes, Paul is Justin’s actual uncle) novel previously brought to life in the mid-1980s with Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, and River Phoenix. Fast forward thirty freaking years, and there’s a sweeping version coming your way with all of the Apple TV+-style visuals that they tend to drop into their most “epic” productions. More than that, though, expect a gripping adventure with edge-of-your-seat drama while Theroux’s radically idealistic inventor character abruptly transplants his American family to one of Mexico’s famed coasts. There’s no telling whether this shall be a multi-season run or an officially limited series, but Justin previously told IndieWire that this is a sort-of prequel to the films, so we’re definitely not getting a straight-up remake, which is nothing but good news.
In the wake of a video surfacing that depicts a physical altercation between rappers Quavo and Saweetie at her North Hollywood apartment, TMZ reports that the LAPD is now investigating the situation. Law enforcement sources told TMZ that the department wants to question both rappers separately to obtain a clearer idea of what happened before, during, and after the fight, as the video only catches the tail end of what appears to be an argument that escalates to Saweetie swinging at Quavo and Quavo throwing Saweetie to the ground, apparently tussling over what appeared to be a video game console. There’s no sound, either.
If investigators find grounds for a criminal case, they’d turn their findings over to the City Attorney, who would determine any charges. Neither rapper has commented on the incident since the video surfaced, but Saweetie did confirm their breakup a week before it emerged, seemingly accusing Quavo of infidelity. Meanwhile, Quavo maintained that Saweetie was not “the woman [he] thought [she was].”
Until their breakup, the former couple was the toast of social media, with their cutesy stories and interactions becoming a source of fascination for fans and prompting the view of their relationship as “goals.” Unfortunately, it turns out that the curated social media image didn’t show the whole story — it never does — and the only goal fans should have is keeping violence out of their own relationships.
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