Month: July 2022

Mare Of Easttown served as Kate Winslet’s momentous return to HBO, a full decade following her Emmy-winning performance in Mildred Pierce. This return, however, turned out to be a slow burn of a crime drama and a massive ratings win for HBO Max as people tuned into the twisty finale find out the murderer’s identity, and more importantly, to celebrate Winslet’s dogged, messy-hair-don’t-care TV cop. The heavy canned-cheese presence in the show didn’t hurt matters nor did Jean Smart’s curmudgeon, and then it seemed like everyone (including Winslet) wanted a second season.

Well, we’re not getting one. Not yet, at least! Don’t worry, though. The world’s got two heaping helpings of Kate Winslet-HBO teamwork on the way. Yup, we can look forward to a pair of limited series, and the first one (The Palace) has some Succession flavor. Via The Hollywood Reporter:

The Oscar and Emmy winner has signed on to star in a limited series title The Palace, which chronicles a year inside an authoritarian regime as it begins to unravel. Winslet will also be an executive producer of the drama, which HBO has ordered to series.

Succession writer and executive producer Will Tracy created the series, and Stephen Frears (The Queen, Sundance’s State of the Union) is set to direct.

From there, Winslet will also star in Trust, which is still in development and will follow Hernan Diaz’s novel about a financier who hires a ghostwriter to retool actual events and relationships, sort of rewriting history if you will. Both sound compelling, although one shouldn’t expect Wawa to make any “mythical” appearances. And now, it’s time to return to holding out hope that Mare will eventually return too. Hey man, never stop believing in cheesesteak.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

Ed Sheeran has had some unique success on Spotify over the last few years. Back in 2017, he was crowned as the most streamed artist of that year, and at the end of 2021, Sheeran became the first artist with a song that reached three billion streams. That record-holder was “Shape Of You,” which is housed on his 2017 album Divide. Just seven months after that feat, Sheeran has a new Spotify accomplishment to his name: The singer recently became the first artist on the platform to have 100 million followers.

The singer took to social media to share his new achievement and he did so with a video of him wearing a t-shirt that read, “ASK ME ABOUT MY 100 MILLION SPOTIFY FOLLOWERS.” To Sheeran’s pure enjoyment, he takes the shirt’s message quite seriously and walks around the backstage area of a concert venue hoping that someone asks him about his 100 million Spotify followers.

“So I just hit 100 million followers on Spotify and Spotify has sent me this T-shirt,” he says in the video. He continues, “So I’m going to walk around the stadium and ask people to ask me about my 100 million followers,” adding, “because they’re all going to be so excited for me!” Sheeran walks up to several venue staffers and workers to show off his shirt, but he’s met with a collection of bored and nonchalant looks from them. However, his opening act Maisie Peters made sure to show him a bit of love. “Well done, Ed Sheeran,” she exclaims before giving him a hug.

You can watch Sheeran celebrate the feat in the video above.

Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Late last October, Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee and indie folk singer Jess Williamson were on stage at Kevin Morby and Hamilton Leithauser tour stop in San Francisco, acting as an all-star cast of backing vocalists for Morby’s closing song, “Beautiful Strangers.” There was such a palpable connection from all of the artists, and Crutchfield and Williamson sang so naturally together that perhaps the most trained of ears could’ve seen this coming: Today, Crutchfield and Williamson have announced their collaboration group, Plains, and also outlined plans for the release of their album, I Walked With You A Ways.

The album is a true one-off for the pair, as they’ve indicated that Plains is a one-time album collab, like the contents of a time capsule (or a Snapchat video). An accompanying Plains tour has also been announced and their first single, “Problem With It,” is gosh-darn gorgeous. It’s a bluesy folk yarn that has a sweet banjo and coyly flexing lead guitar for Crutchfield and Williamson to sing over. The guitar is in fact played by Megafaun’s Phil Cook and the drums are from Spencer Tweedy (son of Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy), who are both part of the album’s core band. Phil’s brother Brad (also of Megafaun) produced the album that was recorded in Durham, North Carolina.

It’s the symbiotic delivery from the vocalists that jumps out right away as as special one. “I’ve felt a connection to Jess’s songwriting and a kinship with her since we met years ago,” Crutchfield said in a statement. Meanwhile, Williamson added, “We gave ourselves permission to lean into the music that raised us and write the kind of classic timeless songs that we both grew up singing along to… My hope with Plains was to tap into something Universal. I love the album we made, and I’m so excited to play it live.”

Watch the video for “Problem With It” above. Check out the I Walked With You A Ways album artwork and tracklist below, along with Plains’ upcoming tour dates for 2022.

1. “Summer Sun”
2. “Problem With It”
3. “Line Of Sight”
4. “Abeline”
5. “Hurricane”
6. “Bellafatima”
7. “Last 2 On Earth”
8. “Easy”
9. “No Record Of Wrongs”
10. “I Walked With You A Ways”

10/21 — Seattle WA @ The Neptune Theatre
10/22 — Portland OR @ Revolution Hall
10/24 — Sonoma CA @ Gundlach Bundschu Winery
10/25 — San Francisco CA @ The Regency Ballroom
10/26 — Los Angeles CA @ Belasco Theater
10/28 — Pioneertown CA @ Pappy and Harriet’s
10/29 — Phoenix AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
10/31 — Dallas TX @ Studio at The Factory
11/01 — Austin TX @ Scoot Inn
11/03 — New Orleans LA @ Tipitina’s
11/04 — Birmingham AL @ Saturn
11/05 — Nashville TN @ Brooklyn Bowl Nashville
11/06 — Atlanta GA @ Variety Playhouse
11/07 — Saxapahaw NC @ Haw River Ballroom
11/09 — Washington DC @ The Howard Theatre
11/10 — Philadelphia PA @ Union Transfer
11/11 — New York NY @ Webster Hall
11/12 — Jersey City NJ @ White Eagle Hall
11/13 — Boston MA @ Royale
11/15 — Toronto ON @ Danforth Music Hall
11/16 — Detroit MI @ Majestic Theatre
11/17 — Chicago IL @ Vic Theatre
11/18 — Minneapolis MN @ First Avenue
11/19 — Kansas City MO @ Uptown Theater

I Walked With You A Ways is out 10/14 via Anti-. Pre-order it here.

Maggie Rogers is quite the multi-hyphenate. Aside from being a world-class musician, she recently graduated from Harvard and she’s a fantastic “Catchphrase” player, the latter of which she proved by playing the game on The Tonight Show yesterday.

It was Rogers and Jimmy Fallon against Tariq Trotter (aka Black Thought) and John Krasinski, and Rogers perhaps played the best out of any of them. When she had the prompts in her hands, she offered concise clue after concise clue. The biggest struggle she had was at the end of the first round with “Simon Says,” a bit of a tricky one especially with the clock running down, but Rogers did well, saying, “It’s a game and you’re talking and you’re giving instructions and it’s a guy.” Fallon’s correct guess came in just after the buzzer. She rarely took more than a couple seconds to offer a correct guess to Fallon’s clues, too, so all in all, a strong “Catchphrase” showing from Rogers (despite cheating accusations from Krasinski after her clue was “Macarena” and she did the Macarena).

The primary reason for Rogers’ Fallon visit, though, was to deliver a terrific performance of “Want Want,” so catch that below and watch her thrive at “Catchphrase” above.

Surrender is out 7/29 via Capitol. Pre-save it here.

Apparently there’s a vocal minority of Better Call Saul viewers who think the latest episode, “Nippy,” was too slow, or too boring, or too much of a “filler” episode. I don’t understand it, and frankly, I don’t want to. “Nippy” had a heist (a mall heist); Jerry from Parks and Recreation; Carol Burnett; Jimmy/Gene retiring the “Saul Goodman” persona for good; and Cinnabon. So much delicious Cinnabon. It was another fantastic episode in a season full of them, unless you ask that guy on Twitter. You know the one.

In response to actor Patrick Fabian (R.I.P. Howard) tweeting the script for “Nippy,” written by Alison Tatlock and directed by Michelle MacLaren (who also directed many of the best episodes of Breaking Bad), @DavesanchezDave replied, “Worst. Episode. Ever. I’m a Better Call Saul fan, but that was the worst episode ever.” Cool story, bro.

The tweet caught the attention of Saul writer Thomas Schnauz, who replied, “Really good feedback. Thanks.” Rhea Seehorn — I’m sorry, make that Emmy nominee Rhea Seehorn — was delighted by Schnauz’s response, as well as Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz writing, “He’s just letting you know. To help you. Btw, I agree with him. I haven’t seen the episode, but I fail to see how that guy is wrong.”

This sums it up well:

Same.

For all of you city dwellers out there, there’s a harsh reality about the people that surround you: The vast majority of them will move away into suburbs, or other emerging enclaves where they might be able to afford to buy property (or simply the cost of living), while fat cat real estate developers continue to vertically build upon the city that they left behind. Harsh, I know. But US Girls’ Meg Remy makes that explanation so much more palatable on “So Typically Now.”

The new tune from Remy (who happens to be one of the most furiously fantastic live performers on the planet) and her Toronto band is soaked in modern disco sunshine. But it just serves to soften the blow she takes at the nefarious capitalists who are sucking the soul out of our cities. “Traitors with loans, they run this show, so you sold off your condo. You’re shutting it down, they’re drawing it out, you always get what you want, though,” she sings over ripping synths and soul diva backing vocals. It’s a shimmering way to paint how bunk real estate bubbles can be, where money rules people’s state of flux instead of the people themselves.

The new video clip, directed by Remy begins with a drone-eyed view of concrete getting poured on new building projects. It takes a slapstick turn when construction workers start pop-locking, oblivious to the effects that the high-rise condo they’re building will have on the city around them.

Watch the video for “So Typically Now” above.

When former New York governor Andrew Cuomo fell, he took family down with him. For months, it seemed then-CNN host Chris Cuomo did his best to stay clear of the scandal engulfing his older brother. When it was revealed that Chris had played a bigger hand in advising him than he’d let on, it wasn’t long until CNN showed him the door. Now, some six-plus months later, Chris is coming back, albeit to a lesser platform.

As per Deadline, Chris has landed his own show on NewsNation, the subscription-based network that in the ‘90s used to be The WB. The news came at the end of a wide-ranging interview he did on one of the network’s shows, Dan Abrams Live, in which he denied that he’d tried to influence coverage of his brother on his former network.

As Deadline notes, NewsNation earns a fraction of CNN’s typical audience. Where NewsNation has averaged 50,000 primetime viewers this year, CNN tends to get 762,000, while Fox News earns a whopping 2.4 million.

Chris Cuomo’s downfall wasn’t as precipitous as that of his brother, who went from a (sometimes self-professed) voice of reason and guidance in the early months of the pandemic to a scandal-ridden pariah. But among the casualties of Chris’ fall was his longtime bromance with colleague Don Lemon, with whom he had a “Morning, Sam”/”Morning, Ralph” routine as one host passed the torch to another on any given weeknight. But surely it was inevitable that Chris would find a new home, even if the digs aren’t nearly as fancy.

(Via Deadline)

The Miami Heat are apparently one of two teams that finds itself on Kevin Durant’s list of preferred destinations should he get a trade from the Brooklyn Nets. The other team on said list, the Phoenix Suns, find themselves in a tricky spot after one of their presumed centerpieces in a Durant deal, Deandre Ayton, became ineligible to get traded for at least the next six months after signing an offer sheer with the Indiana Pacers that the Suns promptly matched.

As for the Heat, a new report by Barry Jackson and Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald indicates that they don’t seem like they’re going to be the ones to move for Durant. The pair bring word that Miami plans to move forward “with its current roster for next season,” as trade talks have not met Brooklyn’s high asking price.

Part of the issue, per Jackson and Chiang, is that the Heat have not been interested in parting ways with Bam Adebayo, to the point that they have kept him off the table altogether.

Though the Nets would have interest in Bam Adebayo in a Durant trade, the Heat has not included Adebayo in offers for Durant and appears disinclined to do so.

It has previously been reported that the Heat really want to figure out a deal for Durant, but keep running into the issue of needing help from other teams to facilitate a move.

There is a practical reason why Adebayo cannot go to Brooklyn — he’d be a second player, alongside Ben Simmons, acquired via trade on a Designated Rookie Extension, and teams can only have a maximum of one such player. But beyond that, Adebayo is the lynchpin of Miami’s defense and he’s been asked to do more and more on offense each year. Trading him would mean the team would trade its most important young player, and for how great Durant is, losing out on Adebayo (along with whatever other combination of players Brooklyn would want) appears to be too big of an ask.

TikTok is out of control (in both good and bad ways). Anyone who has used the app for longer than three minutes knows this. While it’s a great platform to discover new things, at its heart it’s an addicting endless wellspring of weird and random content, where the strangest and most outlandish stuff gets rewarded.

Spectacle is always king on TikTok which would explain everyone’s recent obsession with Pink Sauce, the latest viral condiment that comes with as much controversy as it does hype.

Created by Veronica Shaw, better known as Chef Pii, the “sauce” (it’s really more of a condiment) caught the internet’s attention in early June when Shaw posted a TikTok of herself drizzling the pink product on fried chicken, which instantly prompted thousands of people to offer their best guess on what it is, why it’s pink, what it might taste like, and where they could get their hands on it.

Flash forward just a month later, and Chef Pii is already selling Pink Sauce for $20 a bottle… with mixed results.

The mixed response comes from the fact that this rollout has been kind of a disaster. In addition to misspelled ingredients on the label (vinegar spelled “vinger,” which makes you worry with regards to the general oversight of the product), and weird discrepancies like claiming each bottle contains 444 servings per container (a point Shaw later clarified as an error that seems to have connections to her obsession with angel numbers), several people on the internet have complained that their pink sauce has arrived open, smelling rotten, or a completely different shade of pink than what Shaw has been advertising in her videos.

According to the Pink Sauce website, the sauce is made from sunflower seed oil, chili, garlic, honey, vinegar, garlic, pitaya, pink Himalayan sea salt, lemon juice, milk, citric acid, less than 2% of dried spices, and dragon fruit, which is how it gets its pink color. Though some people online are skeptical of the ingredients list as well.

Glamour points out that Shaw was quick to address issues customers have had with the product, crediting the color change to a reformulation, taking full responsibility for damaged products, and offering refunds or replacements for the approximately 50 packages that were affected.

“The Pink Sauce has only been a product for 20 days, literally…,” the chef tells Glamour. “We have been going through trial and error just like any other business.”

To be fair to Shaw, the turnaround time of this Pink Sauce, all things considered, is pretty astounding. But Shaw and her team could’ve let this one marinate a bit more to really nail a proper product. TikTok has taught us that we need to strike while the viral iron is hot, but that’s not always the best practice when it comes to releasing something into the real world.

People have also been calling into question the safety of Pink Sauce, most notably the owner of Metal Honey Foods, Sarah Murrell, who posted a TikTok of her own advising against eating the sauce and explaining the extensive safety process that you need to go through in order to prepare a sauce for commercial release and how improperly stored food can result in foodborne botulism.

Today reports that as of now, Pink Sauce production has been paused as Shaw works out all the kinks and addresses the many issues. As much of a setback as this is, Pink Sauce didn’t get popular because of the controversy it’s facing, so once the necessary steps are taken to give this a proper release, we may be looking at the internet’s new favorite, controversy-free condiment.

And we’ll be first in line to try it! Or you know, second. Maybe 20th. But once the satisfied customers start outnumbering the dissatisfied ones, we’re in!

There’s a chance Matt Gaetz might soon be thrown in jail. The Florida representative has been under federal investigation for the last year and a half over ties to a sex trafficking ring. He’s been acting like everything’s normal — which is to say he’s saying and doing offensive things. But one of his latest ploys may have backfired so badly it helped one of his most hated people: abortion rights activists.

Over the weekend, Gaetz was one of many MAGA cronies speaking at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit in his home state. He had to top the likes of Donald Trump, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Ted Cruz. So he gave it his best: He said female abortion activists were basically too ugly to need them.

The line earned lots of scorn, including from Olivia Julianna, a 19-year-old abortion rights activist and member of the group Gen-Z for Change. Its come to my attention that Matt Gaetz — alleged pedophile— has said that it’s always the “odious.. 5’2 350 pound” women that “nobody wants to impregnate” who rally for abortion,” she tweeted Sunday. “I’m actually 5’11. 6’4 in heels. I wear them so the small men like you are reminded of your place.” (Gaetz is 5’7”, or about the height of notable short man Tom Cruise.)

That same day, Gaetz caught wind up Julianna’s comments and decided to be crappy about it by body-shaming her.

But Julianna had the last laugh. On Monday night, she used Gaetz’s tweet to fundraise for her group’s abortion fund, which she said “splits donations across states where services are most needed.”

Julianna’s tweet took off, and about a day later, the fund had raised over $70,000.

And it’s all all because Gaetz thought it would be fun to body-shame a teenager. Of course, he, of all people, really should know better than to get involved in the lives of teens. In the meantime, the banner on Julianna’s Twitter page makes sure to remind everyone that Gaetz is one-half of the House’s very own Beavis and Butt-Head.

(Via Newsweek)