Month: May 2021

As cities across the country begin to open up to domestic travel, we’re going to need some handy guides that keep us up to date on what’s popping in America’s biggest hubs. From food spots to clubs to public spaces and bars, our urban centers are in a continual state of flux. And considering just about every business is coming out of the hardest year it’s ever experienced, we need to get out there to support small businesses over big chains and well-established brands now more than ever.

To get a(nother) list of great spots in Los Angeles, we reached out to writer-director Steve Basilone, whose recent movie (now streaming), Long Weekend, used many SoCal gems (shout out haven of weirdness, Joshua Tree) as its backdrop. The romantic comedy-meets-science-fiction-drama, starring Finn Wittrock and Zoë Chao, captures a true sense of place — so it’s no wonder that Basilone feels a deep connection to virtually every shoot location he used.

Though Basilone is Boston-born, the writer-director knows LA well — spending about a decade in the city working as a writer on Community and The Goldbergs, among others. As a born and raised Angeleno, I gotta tip the hat to him for some truly dope picks. There are spots here that have immediately jumped to the top of my own “must see in LA” list. Check them out below!

El Coyote

This kitschy Mexican restaurant isn’t just where Sharon Tate had her last meal, it’s also easily my favorite restaurant in LA. Not because the food is amazing — it’s never getting anything close to a Michelin star — but because it’s just so dang cozy. They’ve got Christmas lights up year-round, they have a perky wait staff in festive attire, and every table is a booth (which to me is heaven).

I wanted to fill this movie with as many things that were important to me as possible, and that’s exactly why you see both lead characters rocking an El Coyote tee-shirt at some point in the movie. Also, at 90 years old the place is just a classic.

Pan Pacific Park

I lived within walking distance of this park off Beverly boulevard for the entirety of my 20s and early 30s. Formerly the home to the Pan Pacific Auditorium (a 6000-seat arena that was at one time LA’s premiere location for indoor public events), the large park is now home to basketball courts, baseball and soccer fields, exercise equipment, a small amphitheater, and just a lot of space to sit and get a sunburn while doing some solid day drinking.

It also happens to be where we shot three scenes of the movie!

During the week, it’s a great place for you or your pooch to run (there’s a 1-mile track that snakes through the park), and on the weekends it’s top-notch for people watching. On a casual stroll, you could see a toddler’s birthday party, a game of flag football, and a jacked influencer doing thousands of burpees. What’s not to love?! Fun fact: it’s also the only location I wrote into the script of Long Weekend that actually stayed the same.)

Crawfords

Before shooting here, I had only been to this chicken and beer bar on Beverly a handful of times. But after we spent an entire day shooting the dive bar/meet-cute scenes, I was fully in love. Their menu is simple — fried chicken and beer (you can also get some baked beans and mac ‘n cheese and stuff, but chicken and beer is really the draw). But what it lacks in frills it makes up for in charm. There’s a pool table, there’s a patchwork of eclectic bar art, and there are smoky red lights — it’s the perfect spot to grab a beer with a friend, or in my case, use as a backdrop for a fledgling romance.

Rimrock Ranch

This hotel/event space just outside of Joshua Tree in Pioneer Town is where we shot the lion’s share of our desert scenes. And it’s just rad. It’s got a bunch of small, cute cabins with fun stuff like Pendleton blankets, vintage refrigerators, and old cowboy records. There’s also an airstream trailer, a bunch of old cars, and 36 acres to traipse around on.

The dusty beauty of it was the perfect location for the apex of the couple’s love in the movie. And a parked car, one of those (borrowed) Pendleton blankets, and a cobalt night sky made for my favorite shot of the movie — an ethereal meteor shower exploding across the desert horizon.

Salt’s Cure

Okay, we didn’t actually shoot any of the movie here. But it’s a few blocks from my house, so any meetings, re-writes, or pre-screening drinks were had here. This spot is mostly known as a breakfast place — as it should be because their sausage and griddle cakes are ‘holy fuck are you serious?!’ good—but I love it for the dinner time vibe.

With a simple, hearty menu and cocktails like the coal miner’s daughter (a gin drink with charcoal in it—so you’re getting detoxed while you’re getting liquored up!), it’s a great place to meet a friend, take a date, or just saddle up to the bar and get some work done. And if you go enough, as I do, you may even get a few of those coal miner’s daughters on the house.

Healing Hands

This is another spot that we didn’t shoot in, but it was where I worked out the whole script. Anything I’ve written in the last decade, I’ve come up with the idea like this: I get a little high and I get a massage. For me, it’s the perfect way to avoid distractions, shut off your brain to all the internal noise, and just sit and think “what could be a fun idea…?”

This tiny bungalow on Larchmont has always been my go-to spot for massage ideas. It’s cute, but not bougie. Cheap but not gross. And if you’re a WGA or KCRW member you get 10% off treatments. Having trouble figuring some shit out? Seriously, get a little high and head to Healing Hands, I bet you’ll have some clarity after an hour rub down.

NLNL

Short for No Lights, No Lycra, this weekly dance party in the dark began years ago in Australia. But as it grew in popularity down under, outposts began popping up in the states. Pre-Covid there were two locations in New York and one here in LA. An animator friend invited me a few years ago, and when I showed up to a weird event space behind a Korean church I was thoroughly confused. But when I walked inside, I was immediately greeted by LCD Soundsystem’s ‘New York I Love You’ blasting in an entirely dark room.

All I could see were a few shadows gyrating across the room. It felt bizarre, but as I started to dance, I loosened up and slowly began to realize that this was a wholly unique experience, one that I’d forever love. So much so, that I had to put it in the movie. And it’s one of my favorite scenes—as there’s such a sense of hedonistic abandon and weightlessness. When we can dance around each other again, you really must go. But bring a towel, because you will sweat your face off.

Hacks (HBO Max series premiere) — Jean Smart’s not-so-quiet domination of recent prestige TV shows (Fargo, Watchmen, Mare of Easttown, Legion) and other popular shows of late (Big Mouth, Dirty John) has finally culminated with this leading-lady turn in a role she was arguably meant to play. Hacks hails from executive producer Michael Schur and has three Broad City alums (Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello, and Jen Statsky) in the writers’ room, so get ready for a (Las Vegas) buffet of complex female characters. Smart portrays a legendary Vegas-rooted comedian who forges a “dark mentorship” to a 20-something newcomer in town. Among other highlights of this trailer, we see Smart shouting, “Eat your heart out Celine!” Don’t even think about missing this one.

From Cradle To Stage (Paramount+ series) — This Dave Grohl-directed series follows Dave and his mom, Virginia, meeting up with Pharrell Williams and his mom. In the process, we learn that both artists are terrified of disappointing their maternal figures and also both started rocking out in their small Virginia hometowns.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC, 9:00pm) — The universe is back on the air after a few-weeks hiatus, and both Benson and Kat find connections in a case where women are suspected or robbing wealthy men after drugging them. Chris Meloni guest stars again.

Law & Order: Organized Crime (NBC, 10:00pm) — The all-Meloni-all-the-time vibe continues here after Stabler feels a failed drug bust’s consequences fall upon him. Meanwhile, Gina receives an unanticipated vistor, and Bell must choose between meeting the demands of work and home.

Walker (CW, 8:00pm) — Hoyt’s back from prison, and the welcome party is, well, not fantastic. Meanwhile, Walker and Geri find themselves both very confused following their first kiss.

Legacies (CW, 9:00pm) — Wade provides startling news to Hope, and a mysterious artifact’s secrets are unfolding with the help of an Alaric enemy.

Clarice (CBS, 10:00pm) — Clarice seeks assistance from an accountant who won’t work with the FBI, and there’s links between a pharmaceutical company and the River Murders.

Rebel (ABC, 10:00pm) — Katey Sagal’s still oozing the Erin Brockovich-inspired vibe while attempting to help save Helen’s life, and she’s also attempting to convince Cruz to force a recall and study of a failed medical part.

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert — Seth Rogen, Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall

Jimmy Kimmel Live — Chris Rock, Samira Wiley, Morray

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Keegan-Michael Key, Zoey Deutch, Conway The Machine Ft. J.I.D & Ludacris

The Late Late Show With James Corden — Ben Platt

Late Night With Seth Meyers — Anthony Mackie, Jean Smart

In case you missed these picks from last Thursday:

That Damn Michael Che (HBO Max series) — This show’s title kindly tells us which SNL star will be front and center. However, several other SNL stars from today and yesteryear shall be right beside him, and that includes Colin Quinn, who previously admitted that he wasn’t the best fit for Weekend Update, but he seems to be a good fit for a priest who’s gearing himself up to hear all of Michael Che’s sins. Are those limited to comedic sins (recently, he did tell a controversial joke about Israel’s vaccine rollout), or sins in general? This season also won’t shy away from tackling the all-too-timely issue of policing. Yes, the series promises appearances from Cecily Strong, Heidi Gardner, Ellen Cleghorne, and Colin Jost. Also expect to see Billy Porter, Method Man, Omari Hardwick, and Geoffrey Owens as part of the lineup.

Girls5Eva (Peacock series) — Tina Fey and Robert Carlock haven’t swung and missed yet while executive producing together, and here’s their latest joint project about a one-and-done, Spice Girls-esque 1990s girl group who get one more shot at stardom. Unfortunately, they’re all balancing real-life stressors like family, day jobs, and aches and pains that one doesn’t exactly deal with during early-20s life when abusing one’s body simply comes with the territory. Busy Phillips stars alongside Sarah Bareilles, Paula Pell, and Renée Elise Goldsberry.

Following the CDC’s declaration that it’s alright for most vaccinated people to take the masks off indoors (other than airplanes and similar travel-related situations, along with other exceptions), Ted Cruz’s uncharacteristic (read: measured) reaction might bite him in the butt. Let me rephrase. It’s not uncharacteristic for Ted to sprint onto Fox News with an immediate take, nor is it strange for him to contradict himself. Yet he hopped onto Fox News to declare that, yes, he’s shown himself to be into wearing masks on airplanes.

“Look, when it comes to masks, I’ve never understood the extreme on either side,” Ted declared. “I’ve never been one of those people who said, ‘Never wear a mask.’ I would wear a mask on an airplane, when I went to a grocery store…”

Well, Ted isn’t completely telling the truth here. Yes, he was seen (as in the above photo) entering a Cancun airport (during his ice-storm debacle) while wearing a Texas-flag mask. And sure, he probably entered the plane while wearing his mask. However, he’s completely forgetting that bystanders snapped photos of him taking his mask off while on an airplane. It didn’t take long at all for an ex-alt-government account to throw together a montage of Ted’s mask quotes and photos of him going maskless while up in the air. The montage also shows Ted at CPAC while complaining about the CDC’s mask guidelines like he was doing a comedy routine.

As Vox’s Aaron Rupar puts it, Ted sometimes makes it too easy.

The Knife, the boundary-pushing electronic duo made up of Karin and Olof Dreijer, formed in 1999 and dropped their self-titled debut album in 2001. That means it’s been two whole decades since The Knife began releasing music. Though their last album arrived in 2013, The Knife are breathing new life into their back catalog with a number of special edition releases.

Part of The Knife’s 20th anniversary celebration comes in the form of a vinyl reissue. The duo announced that they’re pressing their 2006 LP Silent Shout on dark blue double vinyl and also sharing a livestream featuring footage of their 2006 hometown performance at Trädgår’n in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Alongside the announcement, The Knife share a brand new video to the album’s title track. Directed by Andreas Nilsson, the visual echoes the disorienting nature of the song through distorted imagery and flashing lights. “We told Andreas we wanted something very dark and surrealist,” the band said in a statement alongside the video. “When he came up with this idea it was perfect. […] It has all the elements that we like — it’s very sad, but hard and beautiful at the same time. And it’s cold, but it’s warm.”

Watch The Knife’s “Silent Shout” video above and check out the Silent Shout reissue’s cover art and tracklist below.

1. “Silent Shout”
2. “Neverland”
3. “The Captain”
4. “We Share Our Mother’s Health”
5. “Na Na Na”
6. “Marble House”
7. “Like A Pen”
8. “From Tff To On”
9. “Forest Families”
10. “One Hit”
11. “Still Light”

The Silent Shout reissue is available 8/20 via Rabid Records. Pre-order it here.

Last year, hit-making production duo Internet Money shut down the summertime with their single “Lemonade” featuring Don Toliver, Gunna, and Nav, proving their penchant for tapping directly into the pleasure centers of audiences’ brains. Today, nine months after their alchemical formula made them a household name, they’ve reunited with their superstar partners Don Toliver and Gunna on “His & Hers,” swapping out Nav for Lil Uzi Vert for another mathematical colalboration poised to take over the Hot 100 chart.

Internet Money’s Taz Taylor has been hyping the track for weeks and spent most of the day tweeting out tidbits of information about the track’s production and development. He says it took over 10 months to complete, that he changed the tempo of the track because historically songs have done better at a higher rate of BPMs than it was originally recorded, and that he credited every person who had a hand in its creation, no matter their contribution.

Meanwhile, all three featured artists are poised for a huge year as well. After they all dropped well-received albums in 2020, they have each teased new material to come. Don Toliver started the rollout for his second album with “What You Need,” Gunna made multiple appearances on YSL’s Slime Language 2 compilation, and Lil Uzi Vert promised his new album would come “soon,” contributing features to Bebe Rexha and Justin Bieber.

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

The New York Knicks are enjoying their best season in nearly a decade, as they’ve clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2012-13 and may be able to still get themselves into 4th for homecourt in their first round series.

This season and that 2013 season are the high points for the once proud franchise over the last two decades, as things haven’t gone well for the team from Manhattan for some time now. As such, the Knicks of the 90s are looked back on incredibly fondly by New York fans, who still think back to those teams led by Patrick Ewing and John Starks and Charles Oakley when seeking their best memories of Knicks seasons gone by. The good news for Knicks fans is that the great Chris Herring of Sports Illustrated (previously at ESPN and the Wall Street Journal) is working on a book all about those 90s Knicks, set to come out in early 2022.

On Wednesday night, Herring did a live episode of The Dunker’s Spot with Nekias Duncan and Steve Jones, and offered a little peak at the kinds of stories you’ll get from his book. Herring offered up a sensational story of the late, great Anthony Mason refusing to get out of the team limo for a kid’s basketball camp unless he got more money (and got it in cash), and then once that happened he proceeded to break a kid’s nose in the camp to the delight of the child who had him sign his bloody shirt.

It is an incredible story that is also extremely on-brand for one of the Knicks’ great enforcers, who as Herring said, simply couldn’t turn it off when he was on the court and busted open a kid’s nose. That this was the story Herring was willing to part with as a tease for the book is an indicator of how much incredible stuff is going to be in Blood on the Hardwood: The Flagrant History of the 1990s New York Knicks and Knicks fans and basketball fans in general should be very excited about its impending release.

Earlier this week Skrillex dropped his first new music since 2019, “Butterflies” featuring the almighty Starrah and fellow electronic producer Four Tet. The glitchy, house track was full of glittery vocals from Starrah, and seemed to fit firmly back into the electronic lane, even if the artist born Sonny Moore revamped his old emo project a few years ago, that didn’t seem to be the direction he was going in this year.

Except, wait, maybe it is? On the second new single of the week, “Too Bizarre,” Moore is joined by Swae Lee of Rae Sremmurd and Siiickbrain, an upcoming songwriter, on a track that’s immediately guitar heavy, and a video that kicks off with Sonny grabbing the guitar himself to kick off a basement show. It’s very likely now that we’re going to be getting a whole new record from Skrillex with two new songs and lots of other big names involved. Of the two tracks, this one is the obvious frontrunner, combining Swae’s rap-singing and Siiickbrain’s screaming interlude into one epic piece of chaos. So check out his new punk-rap-leaning song above and keep your ear to the ground for more info on whatever Moore has coming next. Maybe there’s an emo collab coming, too.

Tom Cruise has been making the press rounds promoting Mission: Impossible 7 and the death-defying motorcycle stunt contained therein, but that doesn’t mean he’s forgotten about his long-awaited return to the film that put him on the map: Top Gun. In honor of “Top Gun Day,” Cruise shared a behind-the-scenes photo from the upcoming sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, along with a special message to the die-hard fans who can’t wait to take another ride into the danger zone.

“#TopGunDay is a day created by and dedicated to the fans,” Cruise wrote on Instagram. “I can’t wait for you guys to see Top Gun: Maverick later this year.”

The Top Gun sequel was supposed to be released on December 23, 2020, but the pandemic had other plans. After initially being bumped to July 2, 2021, which would’ve seen the film fly into theaters during the patriotic July 4th weekend, Paramount delayed Top Gun: Maverick again, this time to November 19. The second delay caught fans off guard after Paramount had previously stated that it was feeling confident with the Biden Administration’s “robust” vaccination efforts. Unfortunately, the studio had to reassess its plan after Europe and Japan went into lockdown, which threatened Cruise’s hopes to do a full-press global tour. That’s a marketing strategy you don’t abandon lightly.

“Tom Cruise is one of the few stars who can move the needle by doing late night shows and premieres across the world,” a studio exec told The Hollywood Reporter following the news of Top Gun: Maverick‘s jump to November.

(Via Tom Cruise on Instagram)

On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) officially announced that fully vaccinated people can now enjoy life unmasked and free from social distancing, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations. This is definitely a cause for celebration and is a strong indication that things are getting back to pre-covid normal. But maybe don’t ditch your mask quite yet — because the CDC’s new rules indicate that masks and social distancing rules might still be enforced at local businesses and the workplace.

Still, it’s looking like our days of trying to coordinate outfits to our masks are coming to an end.

As you might assume, people on the internet are psyched about the news — with the hashtag #MaskOff taking off on Twitter and all sorts of jokes about Future and his 2017 song of the same name. When we say a lot we mean a lot, every other tweet is about Future!

It’s looking like ‘Mask Off’ is going to be a summer anthem… again.

In addition to lax mask rules for vaccinated people, if you’re fully vaccinated — meaning you’re two weeks out from getting your final vaccine shot — you’ll also no longer need to be tested before flying out of the United States (unless the destination requires it) or self-quarantine.

Check out some of the Twitter chatter below, which is a mix of celebration, cautious optimism, and just a dash of anxiety.

We leave you with a live view of cities around the nation:

Two emerging talents join forces in the skating rink-set video for DDG and OG Parker’s “Impatient” video, as the rapper-producer team links up with “No More Parties” viral virtuoso Coi Leray for a slick, nostalgic clip that brings to mind the roller resurgence of the mid-2000s. Shot by Reel Goats, the video opens on a sweeping shot of the roller rink exterior straight out of ATL, as young people gather and socialize outside before heading inside for some blacklight-washed laps around the rink.

Coi Leray plays an attention-grabbing newcomer who joins DDG on the parquet for a couple’s skate as they perform their respective verses. They also shoot a dance video off the skate floor, turning the video into a quasi-TikTok post and setting the song up for potential viral hit status, should the dance catch on.

Both artists know a bit about that: Coi’s last two big singles started out as favorites on the youth-focused app; while “No More Parties” brought her mainstream acclaim, the Pooh Shiesty-featuring “Big Purr” turned its title into a social media catchphrase. Additionally, Coi co-stars in the video for another TikTok hit, Mooski’s “Track Star.” Meanwhile, DDG’s “Moonwalking In Calabasas” likewise backs a number of videos while racking up millions of views in various incarnations on YouTube.

Watch DDG and OG Parker’s “Impatient” video featuring Coi Leray above.