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Limited Series Should Remain Limited Series

In late 2020, HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant introduced Cassie, a spiraling alcoholic flight attendant with curtain bangs, a high ponytail, and an inspiring coat collection who got unexpectedly entrenched in a world of espionage after waking up next to her extremely attractive one night stand dead. The Flight Attendant’s bubbly tone contrasted with serious subject matter was a refreshing balm at the end of a dark year. The show introduced Kaley Cuoco as a serious actress, or made us realize that we hadn’t given her the respect she deserved because she happened to make a lot of money on the network sitcom The Big Bang Theory and in Priceline commercials. Cuoco’s performance not only refurbished her unfair reputation, it made her a serious contender during awards season, earning her an Emmy nomination and a Golden Globe nomination.

Season two of The Flight Attendant, which started on HBO Max last week, flips the first season’s premise on its head. Cassie has crossed coasts: off-screen, she moved from New York City to Los Angeles, as people are inclined to do before the city gradually wears them down. Cassie, who spent the first season confronting her alcoholism, is now sober. She also has a boyfriend and a new part-time job as an asset for the CIA. Although the show’s return is welcome, season two of The Flight Attendant doesn’t feel as fresh, necessary, or as exciting because the first season was so clearly finite.

The Flight Attendant is not the only show that has gone from limited series to regular television show with tacked on seasons following critical acclaim and success, a pivot that could only happen in the Peak TV era when there is already too much to watch. HBO recently announced that Winning Time, another series that was, seemingly, intended as a one-seasoner, will return for a second season, no doubt due to its popularity and star power within the cast, led by John C. Reilly. In 2021, HBO picked up The White Lotus for a second season, although its second season will star an entirely new cast and is reportedly set in Italy. Is it the same show then, or another attempt to piggyback off established IP for as long as possible?

HBO – the biggest culprit in giving limited series an upgrade – first started picking up one season shows in December 2017 when it renewed Big Little Lies, a limited series based on one book that does not have any sequels for a second season. Before the second season order, the first season of Big Little Lies won five Emmys including outstanding limited series and it dominated the acting categories with wins for Nicole Kidman, Alexander Skarsgård, and Laura Dern. The second season of Big Little Lies was a flop. A serious, thought-provoking drama about domestic abuse quickly turned into accidental camp and fodder for memes, the only memorable moment from the entire season being a long scream from Meryl Streep who with all her talent couldn’t even sell the forced material.

Picking up a limited series to series did not start with HBO, despite its takeover of the practice. In the summer of July 2016, a little sci-fi show on Netflix turned into a cultural phenomenon from word-of-mouth. Stranger Things became so inescapably popular (Christmas lights, Eggo Waffles, Millie Bobby Brown galore) that Netflix had no choice but to renew it, and renew it with the same cast as season one. Although Stranger Things was created as an anthology series with more intention to continue than other limited series, the messy, meandering seasons that followed feel more like packaged 80s nostalgia and Netflix merch than a tight, cohesive story.

Despite outcries for more, Watchmen creator Damon Lindeloff refused to continue his 2019 masterpiece, one of the few successful limited series of the Peak TV era to stick to being a limited series. Lindeloff said that he had no reason to stick around as showrunner, having completed his intended story. Other shows that refused to continue their limited runs despite demand, critical success and awards season success include WandaVision, and The Queen’s Gambit. These series already accomplished what they wanted to or needed to, and by resisting the urge to go on, they’ve solidified their significance in pop culture. They’ll be remembered for their greatness, not their flimsy storytelling.

The beauty of the limited series is that they tell one story from beginning to end like a film, and thusly have more time to develop characters and plot like a television show. But over the past few years, limited series have, like absolutely everything else on the planet, become IP inspo. Limited series lose their cultural significance the further they go beyond their original one-season structure. Shows including Big Little Lies and Stranger Things are remembered more for their failures than their successes, reminiscent of the quick and painful rise and fall of Game of Thrones. The Flight Attendant is still early in its second season, but unfortunately unless the season can somehow accomplish the impossible task of matching the significance and impact of its first, it will go the same way as the others.

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Muna Become Cowboys In Their New Video, ‘Kind Of Girl’

Ahead of their upcoming self-titled album, Muna has revealed their new video for “Kind Of Girl.” In the video, the three transform into cowboys, as they perform the country-influenced, string-driven song in various parts of the desert.

As newly independent artists, the members of Muna embrace their queer identities and subvert ender norms throughout the video.

“The video for this song highlights another layer of meaning that we feel the song holds,” said Muna’s Katie Gavin in a statement, “which is that we as queer people are particularly vulnerable when we are sharing how we identify and how we would like to be perceived. We wanted to play with the gendered nature of this song because we all three have different relationships to girlhood (and Naomi is non-binary, so not a girl at all!). It was a gift to be able to king for this video in a way that felt earnest and comfortable and hot. The experience brought home the fact that it’s not enough for queer and trans people to be clear about who we are – we also need a community around us that hears us, believes us, honors us, and supports us. We’re very proud of what we made and grateful to everyone who was a part of it. We hope the bigots absolutely hate it.”

Check out “Kind Of Girl” above.

Muna is out 6/24 via Saddest Factory. Pre-save it here.

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Vans Is Suing MSCHF Over Tyga’s Wavy Baby Sneakers, Calling Them Trademark Infringement

Brooklyn-based art collective MSCHF’s sneaker collaborations with rappers have drawn both excitement and controversy. The group’s “Satan Shoe” collab with Lil Nas X not only drew fire from conservative commentators but also got slapped with a lawsuit from Nike. Now, another of MSCHF’s sneaker crossovers is the subject of a trademark infringement lawsuit. This time, Vans is suing the customizer over its Tyga-endorsed Wavy Baby sneaker, which alters what appears to be a pair of Vans Old Skools, giving them a bizarre, curvy sole and adjusting the iconic side stripes to match.

Although the shoes were set to release on April 18, Vans filed for a restraining order against MSCHF, saying the Wavy Baby shoes violated its trademarks and would confuse customers into thinking they were an official Vans collaboration. MSCHF, however, argues that the shoes are an artistic parody commenting on sneakerhead culture, consumerism, and corporate sneaker collaborations. According to Billboard, Megan K. Bannigan, MSCHF’s attorney in the case, told a judge in Brooklyn federal court Wednesday, “These shoes comment on consumerism, on the absurdity of sneakerhead culture. This was released as an art project. It was not released in competition with Vans.”

MSCHF also pointed out that all 4,000 pairs of the limited edition shoes already sold out, and the company has no intention to make more. However, according to Billboard, US District Judge William F. Kuntz seemed skeptical, saying, “The Wavy Baby might have Wavy Babies, and I think that’s what they’re afraid of. If that wasn’t an issue, I don’t think we’d be here.” He agreed to the restraining order but did not advise when it might be pushed through. Similarly, the Lil Nas X Satan Shoe case wound up with both companies settling, with MSCHF asking customers to voluntarily return their pairs — fat chance — and Nike issuing a statement that any complaints should be directed to MSCHF, not them.

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Elon Musk’s ‘I’m Buying Coca-Cola To Put The Cocaine Back In’ Tweet Went Over About As Well As Expected

Elon Musk’s having a grand old time with his new toy (not exactly something the kids find under a tree, since Twitter cost him $44 billion), but not everyone is as amused as he is. Tesla shareholders, for one, had a freakout session. And even though Lauren Boebert is thrilled about “free speech” (even though this really isn’t a First Amendment issue, as Elon has tried to make it be), the EU already warned Musk that his non-moderation and “free speech absolutist” take on every single statement isn’t going to fly with them.

Regardless, Elon apparently decided that everyone’s being too serious, and even though no one really knows where he will get all of the money (investors will help, obviously, but he might have to sell off a ton of Tesla stock), he’s taking some of this seriously. He suggested that Twitter implement end-to-end encryption like Signal does things.

Then it was time to have some fun. Bring on a “cocaine” tweet, right? That’s what happened. He couldn’t resist.

“Next,” the Tesla CEO tweeted. “I’m buying Coca-Cola to put the cocaine back in.”

And then there was this: “Let’s make Twitter maximum fun!”

From there, Elon had an absolute ball responding to coke-cocaine remarks with stuff like “Kicks Red Bull’s ass!”

This led to a reality check: Elon won’t be able to buy Coke unless a miracle happens.

And there was the inevitable: “Imagine not being able to tell when someone is joking….”

Naturally, jokes about Don Jr and Howard Hughes and plenty more rolled out as well. (Also, I’m not sure how Elon has the time to tweet so much? He has a lot going on, supposedly.)

It should be noted that Elon should not try to be a mattress guru, either. Just ask Grimes, who revealed that he wouldn’t replace a mattress with a giant hole. He also thinks that buying McDonald’s to fix ice cream machines is a step too far.

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Police Say They Found Guns At ASAP Rocky’s House In Their Raid After His Arrest

LAPD claims to have confiscated several guns from the home of ASAP Rocky after his arrest at LAX last week and a subsequent raid in which officers tried to use a battering ram to open his gate. TMZ reports that LAPD’s search yielded a number of weapons that the police will test to find out if any were used in an alleged shooting in November 2021. The victim in that shooting claims that Rocky shot him in the hand. Police will also run background checks on the weapons to determine their ownership.

Rocky was arrested at the Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday, April 20 after returning from Barbados with his pregnant girlfriend Rihanna. Shortly after the arrest, but before Rocky was able to post his $550,000 bail, police raided his home, with a passerby capturing footage of officers fumbling with the gate at the home and later leaving with “a box of potential evidence.”

The rapper has an extensive history of legal issues in his native New York, where he spent time on Riker’s Island for selling drugs and has been involved in several fights that ended with him being charged with assault, but nothing involving guns. His most high-profile arrest was in 2019, when he was held for two months in Sweden after a fight in Stockholm. In that case, he was released ahead of trial and found guilty in absence, but given a suspended sentence.

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Justin Vernon Loves A New ‘Screwed And Chopped’ Version Of A Bon Iver Song

For those unfamiliar, the “chopped and screwed” genre involves remixing an existing song by slowing it down and deejaying. Now, a Bon Iver song, 2020’s “PDLIF,” has gotten that treatment by The Drobitussin and it turns out Justin Vernon is a fan of the rework.

Responding to Drobitussin’s tweet about the song, Vernon wrote from his personal account, “Yo this is so so sick appreciate you.”

As is the case with most “chopped and screwed” songs, the tempo is noticeably lower here, meaning the song is stretched out to over ten minutes long. Vernon’s warped vocals actually sound at home in this context, as he frequently puts some sort of effect on his voice anyway.

Bon Iver initially shared the song in April 2020 and gave proceeds to humanitarian aid organization Direct Relief, to support healthcare workers during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The song includes contributions from Jim-E Stack, BJ Burton, Kacy Hill, Rob Moose, and Michael Lewis, and Bon Iver noted at the time, “It proves that, though apart, we’re never alone; the importance of collaboration/community is as strong as ever.”

Check out the “Screwed And Chopped” version of “PDLIF” above and listen to the original version below.

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Did Jordan Peele Explain The Title Of His New Horror Movie, ‘Nope’? Yup

In a summer otherwise dominated by sequels and superheroes (and sequels about superheroes), there’s Nope. The plot of Jordan Peele’s third feature, following the Oscar-winning Get Out and Us, has been kept secret, outside of the official plot synopsis teasing it as an “expansive horror epic” about “residents in a lonely gulch of inland California who bear witness to an uncanny and chilling discovery.” But while speaking at CinemaCon on Wednesday, Peele discussed the meaning of Nope‘s memorable title.

“The film is a ride. The title speaks to the idea of the audience reacting to what they’re thinking and feeling in the theater,” he explained (via ScreenRant). “When you tell people it’s a scary movie a lot of time they say ‘NOPE.’ So I want to acknowledge those people with the title and bring them in. This is about the person who thinks they don’t love the horror movie. To show them that maybe they do.”

I have seen the Nope trailer at least six times in theater over the past two months, and it’s met with excitable anticipation from the crowd every time. Is it going to be a hit? Yup.

Nope, which stars Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, and Steven Yeun, opens on July 22.

(Via ScreenRant)

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Wilco Announce Their Ambitiously Recorded Album ‘Cruel Country’ And Share A New Song

You ever watch that mid-’90s movie Multiplicity with Michael Keaton? In the flick, Keaton’s character laments that he has too many responsibilities in life and clones himself so as to not feel spread too thin anymore. Long story short, hilarity ensues, but you get the feeling that maybe Jeff Tweedy has tapped in to a similar science?

As if Tweedy and Wilco weren’t already busy enough with the 20th anniversary release and accompanying shows for Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, curating and headlining their own festivals, late-night TV appearances, and writing books, Wilco has just announced a new album, Cruel Country. The Chicago band’s 12th full-length album is actually a double-disc release featuring 21 tracks and is simply another unbelievable endeavor for what might very well be the busiest band on the planet.

Cruel Country sees the band tackling the roots of the country music lean that has followed them throughout their career. While the band has become much bigger than the early “alt-country” genre that was once assigned to them, Tweedy explains that even though there have always been elements of country in the band’s music, Wilco, “had never been particularly comfortable with accepting that definition,” he said in a statement. “But now, having been around the block a few times, we’re finding it exhilarating to free ourselves within the form, and embrace the simple limitation of calling the music we’re making Country.”

The album — which Wilco will perform in full at their Solid Sound Festival (their other festival) in Massachusetts the same weekend of the album’s release date on May 27th — is largely comprised of live takes at the band’s Chicago studio, The Loft.

“It’s a style of recording that forces a band to surrender control and learn to trust each other, along with each others’ imperfections, musical and otherwise,” Tweedy says. “But when it’s working the way it’s supposed to, it feels like gathering around some wild collective instrument, one that requires six sets of hands to play.”

There’s a conceptual narrative built into Cruel Country about the history of the United States. That, along with the unique recording style and country music approach, is on full display in the video for the lead single, “Falling Apart (Right Now).” Making sense of everything (as he always does so well), Tweedy added, “Country music is simply designed to aim squarely at the low-hanging fruit of the truth. If someone can sing it, and it’s given a voice… well, then it becomes very hard not to see. We’re looking at it. It’s a cruel country, and it’s also beautiful. Love it or leave it. Or if you can’t love it, maybe you’ve already left.”

Watch the live in studio video for “Falling Apart (Right Now)” above and check out the Cruel Country album artwork and tracklist below.

Wilco Cruel Country
Wilco Cruel Country

1. “I Am My Mother”
2. “Cruel Country”
3. “Hints”
4. “Ambulance”
5. “The Empty Condor”
6. “Tonight’s The Day”
7. “All Across The World”
8. “Darkness Is Cheap”
9. “Bird Without A Tail / Base Of My Skull”
10. “Tired Of Taking It Out On You”
11. “The Universe”
12. “Many Worlds”
13. “Hearts Hard To Find”
14. “Falling Apart (Right Now)”
15. “Please Be Wrong”
16. “Story To Tell”
17. “A Lifetime To Find”
18. “Country Song Upside-Down”
19. “Mystery Binds”
20. “Sad Kind Of Way”
21. “The Plains”

Cruel Country is out 5/27 via dBpm Records. Pre-order it here.

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Daisy Edgar-Jones On Her Role In FX’s ‘Under The Banner Of Heaven’

Daisy Edgar-Jones has had a hell of a year. After hooking audiences with her charming, enigmatic performance as Marianne in Hulu’s Normal People opposite co-star Paul Mescal (and his chain) she’s been consistently popping up on our timelines. Sometimes, it’s for a horror-comedy that compares modern dating to a literal meat market, a la Fresh. Other times, it’s thanks to the hype surrounding a book-to-screen adaptation of a best-selling novel beloved by Reese Witherspoon’s book club posse, as with Where The Crawdads Sing.

But most recently, it’s for her work in FX’s true-crime thriller Under The Banner of Heaven. Based on a true story about a closed community of Mormons living in Utah that’s rocked by a gruesome double homicide committed by some of its own members, the show stars Andrew Garfield as a devout LDS detective wrestling with his faith while investigating the case while Jones plays the woman at the center of the crime. Brenda Lafferty was a young mother with a bright future whose quiet rebellion when it came to strict religious doctrine marked her as a target for the men in power. Her story doesn’t end well, but for Jones, that just means it all the more worth telling.

UPROXX chatted with her about deep diving into Mormonism for her latest role, hiking with bears in the Canadian Rockies, and why, after this year, she’s ready to have a laugh.

This feels like one of those stories where, if you’re not in that community, you’d never know about it. So did you learn anything surprising when you signed on?

So I knew nothing about this story prior to getting the scripts. I read them, like, in a day. And then I read the book immediately after and was really, really gripped from start to finish. And I mean, there was a huge amount that was surprising because I didn’t know anything about the Mormon community or this story in particular. So the whole thing was really, really intriguing.

Andrew Garfield is an actor who likes to do quite a bit of prep beforehand. How did you immerse yourself in this world?

He was actually a really helpful source of knowledge. He was able to go to Utah and meet with people before filming. I wasn’t able to because of COVID. So he was definitely a sounding board, and we had advisors on set to guide us. And the book is obviously so in-depth. And [Dustin] Lance [Black], who is our showrunner, grew up Mormon too, so he was really helpful. He was very open and very diplomatic and very easy to approach. So yeah, I was just asking loads of questions. [laughs] That was my approach.

Your character is an outsider to this world in many ways. What about who she is and how she navigates this very stifling world for women at the time, drew you to her?

I think one thing the show does really well … because we also have the early founding aspects of the community, it really does a good job of showing the spectrum of experience that these women have. I loved what an enigmatic, confident, intelligent person Brenda was. The fact that she wants to pursue her education … it was really interesting to see her then step into the family dynamic of the Lafferty’s and really watch the way she observes the other women and how much more repressed they are and how keen she is to look out for them and try and give them agency. I think that’s a really important thing to always represent on television, are these women looking out for each other and looking after each other and pulling each other up, rather than trying to squash each other.

How did you and the rest of the cast shake this stuff off when shooting was done for the day?

We ate so much food! [laughs] That was a big part of it. Also, we filmed in Calgary, and it’s surrounded by like incredible … Is it the Rockies?

I know there’s some kind of mountain range there.

[laughs] Yeah, there are lots of mountains. So we did a lot of hiking, which, coming from London, I’m a city gal. I’m not great at long-distance walking. I did enjoy it. Just not the more uphill moments. But on the whole, it was a great bonding experience for all of us.

If not you, who was the skilled hiker of the group?

Yeah on the hike, I actually wore the wrong shoes. And I was like, ‘Go on without me,’ because I had such terrible blisters. But actually, Seth [Numrich], who plays Robin, is a very skilled hiker. He even had a bear bell. I felt very safe with him, high up in the mountains.

Thinking about the characters you’ve played this past year, is there something that connects all of them?

I think that’s interesting and only something I’ve actually noticed through this question, but I think all of those characters are battling with their sense of self. With Marianne [in Normal People], her idea of herself is very different from how she comes across. It’s the same with Noah [in Fresh]. All the characters grow up in a way. And I’m also really interested in how much a person can affect another person’s life. I think we really see that with Connell and Marianne, they fundamentally change the path of each other’s lives and bring such goodness to each other’s lives in the end. And the same with Brenda and the women, Molly with Noah, and Kya with Tate [in Where The Crawdads Sing], that is something I’m always intrigued by. But I also like how different they all are too. And as an actor, that’s something I’m really keen on trying to do more of, is find characters that I haven’t done before, that I can really stretch a muscle that I haven’t yet stretched.

What’s the next muscle then?

I think after this year of filming, I’d quite like to do pure comedy.

Without the cannibalism?

[laughs] Yeah, without any of that stuff. I think it would just be good for me to do just lovely, pure comedy, but also I’d love to play like a really mean character, someone really nasty. That’s something I haven’t done and is very… well, I hope very different from me.

‘Under the Banner of Heaven’ premieres via FX on April 28th.

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Bill Burr Thinks Disney Firing Gina Carano From ‘The Mandalorian’ For Her ‘Political Beliefs’ Is ‘F*cking Bizarre’

Gina Carano was fired from a sweet gig on The Mandalorian — or in corporate speak, “Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future” — after sharing a post on social media that implied being a Republican today is like being Jewish during the Holocaust. Ted Cruz came to her defense and she’s already working with Ben Shapiro, seen here listed among other (?) Black conservatives (??), but her character’s Star Wars spin-off series has been scrapped.

Carano’s The Mandalorian co-star Bill Burr thinks her firing was “f*cking bizarre.”

When asked by the Hollywood Reporter whether he believes it was fair that Carano was canned, the comedian replied, “No. I thought it was funny that the liberals proved her point. They just use outrage because they don’t like your politics. As someone who considers himself liberal, it’s disappointing to see the left become how the right used to be when they went after the Dixie Chicks after they criticized George W. Bush. There’s not a lot of people like that — most are just trying not to get in trouble — but there’s this small collection of lunatics — either on the right or the left, at any given moment – that cause hysteria. And now there’s so many [media outlets] that want eyeballs, they make money off advertising, that they give attention to these crazy fringe people.”

Burr continued:

“The whole thing with Gina: You can’t chime in when the shit’s happening, because then you cause static for other people on the [show]. That somebody’s opinion — or their political beliefs — makes people try to destroy their ability to make a living, it’s fucking bizarre to me.”

Burr previously called Carano an “absolute sweetheart” and “super nice f*cking person,” adding that “I’m on that f*cking show. Now, I gotta watch what the f*ck I say.” Only around the “creepy” Star Wars fans, though.

(Via the Hollywood Reporter)