Elden Ring is going to be one of the best games of 2022. With so much excitement around the game there have been a lot of people buying it just so they can see what the hype is all about. Unfortunately, these people are quickly discovering something: Elden Ring is extremely difficult, perhaps too difficult for the average player.
Anyone that’s aware of FromSoftware and Elden Ring director Hidetaka Miyazaki was fully aware that this was going to be a challenging game going in. With games like Dark Souls, Sekiro, and Bloodborne under their belt, the studio is notorious for making really difficult games. None of those games had the mainstream appeal that Elden Ring has right now, though, which is why so many people are commenting on the difficulty.
In an interview with the New Yorker, Miyazaki was asked about the difficulty of his games. He explained his reasoning for why he chooses to make his games the way he does, and that while he’s apologetic for players not being able to overcome them, he doesn’t have plans to change them anytime soon.
Still, for every vanquisher of Miyazaki’s monsters, there’s another who glumly sets down the controller. “I do feel apologetic toward anyone who feels there’s just too much to overcome in my games,” Miyazaki told me. He held his head in his hands, then smiled. “I just want as many players as possible to experience the joy that comes from overcoming hardship.”
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Miyazaki’s work is often invoked by the latter camp, as it suggests that challenge, not escapism or uplift, is the medium’s crucial quality. “It’s an interesting question,” Miyazaki told me. “We are always looking to improve, but, in our games specifically, hardship is what gives meaning to the experience. So it’s not something we’re willing to abandon at the moment. It’s our identity.”
Excitement through overcoming hardship is absolutely a key part of the Elden Ring and Dark Souls games experience — it’s difficult to describe the feeling of joy that washes over when a challenging boss is defeated — but the problem is that the joy of that experience doesn’t always outweigh the frustration of failure. There’s also an entire other discussion to be had with creating games that people do not find accessible.
Philanthropist Melinda Gates had the dubious pleasure of watching the end of her 27-year marriage to Bill lead to bunch of Microsoft jokes, courtesy of the Internet, but there were certainly darker aspects to the turn of events. She previously spoke (according to The Daily Beast) about how “uncomfortable” she felt when, during a 2013 trip to New York City with Bill, the pair met up with the disgraced (and now late) financier, whose henchwoman, Ghislaine Maxwell, was recently convicted of helping him abuse young girls.
Melinda never met with Epstein again, but Bill did, for “several” dinner meetings, and he later admitted that this was a “huge mistake.” As it turns out, Bill sounding like Arrested Development‘s G.O.B. does nothing to take away Melinda’s disgust. We previously heard that Melinda was displeased, but while speaking with Gayle King on CBS Mornings, Melinda admitted that the association contributed to the marriage’s demise:
“It was many things. But I did not like that he’d had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein. I made that clear to him… He was abhorrent. He was evil personified. I had nightmares about it afterwards. So my heart breaks for these young women.”
The interview was a candid one in other regards, including Melinda’s confirmation that Bill’s one known affair was something that the pair tried to work though, but at a certain point, “I realized it just wasn’t healthy. And I couldn’t trust what we had.” She didn’t shut down the idea that Bill could have cheated multiple times, only to say that Bill needed to address those questions when asked. It’s a forthright attitude from Melinda, and surely, preferable to how Bill found himself squirming in late 2021 when grilled about that Epstein friendship. Awkward.
Each week our staff of film and TV experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish shows available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.
Amber Ruffin is here, once again, thank God, to make the news and the rest of the world a little more palatable. The Late Night With Seth Meyers all-star brings her unique brand of silliness to Peacock for a second season. Will there be jokes? Of course. Will there be goofy faces? You know it. Will there be smart critiques of world leaders and world events that are occasionally punctuated by ridiculous guest appearances and/or catchy songs? Buddy, let’s hope so. We need it. Amber Ruffin is the best. Watch it on Peacock.
“Am I livestock?” Who among us hasn’t asked ourselves that question while grazing amongst the cubicles at work? But the workplace in Severance (a new Adam Scott starring and Ben Stiller produced Apple TV+ series) is a little different, running workers through a process that effectively breaks people in two with zero crossovers between their work life and non-work life. Sound ideal in a world where work stresses bleed into home life and Sunday scarys seem to always kneecap your weekend? Perhaps in some respects. Susan from HR probably LOVES the idea, seeing it as the ultimate NDA, but as the show is set to explore, it’s a less tidy experience that raises all kinds of questions about what happens when people are severed from the awful things they might be asked to do at work. Watch it on Apple TV Plus.
You lived through Netflix’s Tiger King craze, and here’s a supplemental Peacock treat (?) about the awfulness of Big Cat people. Kate McKinnon portrays Carole Baskin, who is (of course) the rival of Joe Exotic, who’s portrayed by John Cameron Mitchell, mullet and all. He’s now in prison for the foreseeable future (which has plenty to do with that murder-for-hire plot), and she’s still got a reputation for acting coy about whatever happened to her husband. If you’re tempted to tune in, do it for the McKinnon. Watch it on Peacock.
What starts as a weirdly quirky caper story mixed with the reckless abandon of Pam Anderson and Tommy Lee’s courtship soon transforms into a needed indictment on the wild west nature of the internet and the way Anderson was packaged, sold, and diminished regardless of her feelings on the matter. But with the actress not signing off on this very intimate look at a painful period of her life, is she still being turned into a product and where is the line when it comes to a public figure and events that largely happened in front our eyes… because we couldn’t help but invade her privacy in the first place? Entertaining, shocking, thought-provoking — there is more to meets the eye in this show that is about a lot more than a stolen sex tape. Watch it on Hulu.
As you are probably aware, Kanye West’s personal life has overshadowed his professional life lately, and much of this is his own doing, but he’s also got this documentary on Netflix that promises to chart his formative days as an artist and ascension to being a brand. The name of the project, of course, is a play on words on how he considers himself a “genius.” One thing is certain: this won’t be boring. Watch it on Netflix.
As if Julia Garner didn’t already rule the small screen in Ozark, we’re getting another heaping helping of her. This time, though, the tight corkscrew curls are hidden while Garner portrays Anna Delvey, a real-life Instagram “legend” and fake German heiress. In reality, Delvey was a master con artist who captivated New York’s social elite and ended up dragging the hell out of the American dream in the process. This Shondaland limited series follows the investigation into Anna’s misdeeds, along with how she stares down trial and keeps those lies alive, all as inspired by Jessica Pressler’s New York Magazine article that will get you primed. Watch it on Netflix.
While we all wait for the flagship series’ third season, this animated series will be kind-of canon and bring us backstories for some familiar faces and an array of new characters in outrageous, bloody, and violent scenarios with all of the gore and humor that we’re used to from this franchise. There’s plenty of Homelander and some of The Deep, and the voice cast is more than any comic book fan could hope for. Not only do we get to hear Antony Starr, Chase Crawford, Colby Minifie, and Elisabeth Shue but also Awkwafina, Don Cheadle, Kieran Culkin, Giancarlo Esposito, Justin Roiland, Seth Rogen, and Andy Samberg. Watch it on Amazon.
It’s boom times for selling stories about the pirates of tech and Super Pumped sells it well, illuminating the rise and relative fall (he’s doing alright for money, don’t worry) of Uber’s brash former CEO Travis Kalanick. At the center of that ride (sorry) is a strained mentor/mentee relationship between Kalanick (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Bill Gurley, a more cautious and weathered money man played by Kyle Chandler. Led by David Levian, Brian Koppelman, and Beth Schacter, the minds behind Billions (another show featuring a high powered and twisty battle between two titans), Super Pumped offers a lot of commentary on the culture of win and the fallacy of rules as a shield against bad behavior while leaning into the dangerous magnetism of Kalanick across the first season of a new anthology series that’s already been renewed for a second go. Watch it on Showtime.
A pirate comedy starring Taika Waititi, Rhys Darby, Leslie Jones, and Hodor from Game of Thrones? Don’t mind if I do. Our Flag Means Death is about an 18th-century aristocrat (Darby) who gives up whatever aristocrats do to become a swashbuckler alongside Blackbeard (Waititi). If it’s anything like What We Do in the Shadows but with pirates, prepare to be… Hook-ed. Watch it on HBO Max.
Look at this. We’ve got a murder mystery from a genius (Christopher Miller of Lord and Miller) that stars all your favorite comedic scene stealers (Sam Richardson, Ben Schwartz, Tiffany Haddish, Ilana Glazer, John Early, Ike Barinholz, Dave Franco, and more) as suspects/victims/detectives, with each episode told from a different characters’ perspective in a different film style (rom-com, action, musical, psychological thriller, etc.). It is… really good. It’s really good. And really fun. You are probably going to love it. Get in there and check it out. Watch it on Apple TV Plus.
Last season ended with winners and losers aplenty. And c’mon, you didn’t think that Villanelle and Eve would be able to get along in the long term, right? Imagine what domestic life would be like for these two. A former MI6 officer and an assassin who can’t give up the life (or the luxury trappings) are as ill-equipped for reality as Westley and Buttercup in The Princess Bride. Yet there’s no reason why they’ll be able to resist each other forever, but Eve is hellbent upon revenge this season while Villanelle desperately wants to prove that she’s not a “monster.” Good luck to both of them. Watch it on AMC Plus.
If you think about it, Winning Time (HBO’s new Adam McKay-produced series about the 1980s LA Lakers) has all the elements of a classic heist movie. Assembled by a larger than life fast talker with equally big ambitions (in this case, former Lakers owner Jerry Buss), a rag-tag group comes together, leaning on their exceptional and unique talents to paper over any personality conflicts that might arise while taking the thing (a whole mess of gold trophies) no one thought they’d ever get their hands on. This while having some wild misadventures along the way. We’re simplifying, of course, but the point is this should appeal to basketball fans and non-basketball fans alike, earning the right to be the most buzzed-about piece of basketball culture crossover content since The Last Dance helped us all stave off boredom for a few months by telling the story of another mismatched group of big personalities and champions. Watch it on HBO.
A podcast. A documentary. A book. And soon, a feature-length film. There’s a reason Hollywood can’t get enough of Elizabeth Holmes, the fraudster who scammed millions and left a black mark on Silicon Valley – one likely in the shape of a Steve Jobs-esque turtle neck. Con artists sell, especially when they’re young, white women promising inventions meant to save millions of lives, and Holmes’ story is bigger, ballsier, and more unbelievable than most. Hulu’s The Dropout does a good job of retracing the most important plot points: the creation of Theranos, the realization that Holmes’ at-home blood-testing concept wouldn’t work, the delusional sense of grandeur that pushed her to criminally defraud every from Bernie Madoff to Henry Kissinger and Walgreens, and the very public downfall that would follow. But what the show really excels at is digging under the skin of a megalomaniac in-training, tasking a top-of-her-game Amanda Seyfried with turning Holmes’ most incomprehensible actions into ones we can empathize with, balancing her hollow sense of ambition with the very real anxieties and societal pressures she faced as a 20-something woman trying to start her own company. The Dropout is a wild, bloody, drama-filled train that always feels like it’s teetering on the edge of the track … but that’s kind of what we want, right? Watch it on Hulu.
Each week our staff of film and TV experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish movies available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.
Andrew Garfield is giving theater-kids everywhere a musical-thirst-trap performance in this Lin-Manuel Miranda-directed biopic that pays tribute to Jonathan Larson, the artistic genius who changed Broadway with his seminal musical Rent. This film examines Larson’s life before fans were belting out Season of Love though, with Garfield giving an award-worthy turn as a restless visionary who feels the suffocating deadline of turning 30 without having produced a great show. The supporting cast is terrific, Garfield is doing his best work, and Miranda infuses everything with a genuine sense of love and admiration that makes it hard not to root for this one. Watch it on Netflix.
Benedict Cumberbatch gives a villainous performance for the ages in The Power of the Dog, the first film in 12 years from director Jane Campion. The western is expected (and deserves) to be an Oscars frontrunner, so hop on the horse-drawn bandwagon now. Watch it on Netflix.
Jennifer Lawrence is back in Don’t Look Up, Adam McKay’s apocalyptic satire about two low-level astronomers (J-Law and Leonardo DiCaprio) who try to warn everyone on Earth about an approaching comet — but no one seems to care. The ensemble cast also includes Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill, Ariana Grande, Timothée Chalamet, Cate Blanchett, and Tyler Perry. Maybe that’s why no one cares about the comet. They’re too busy looking at all those stars. Watch it on Netflix.
The gang is all back. Mostly. They’re mostly all back. Keanu is there as Neo, with the John Wick beard. Carrie Ann Moss is back as Trinity even though Trinity kind of… died. It’s a whole thing. And it’s fun. This all could have gone a lot worse, really, which isn’t exactly the highest praise but is still important. Let’s do it all again in another 20 years. Let’s make it a thing. Watch it on HBO Max.
The Tragedy of Macbeth is the first time Joel Coen has made a movie with no involvement from his brother, Ethan. But even without his sibling, this black-and-white adaptation of one of William Shakespeare’s bloodiest plays is typically excellent, with stellar performances from Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Corey Hawkins, Stephen Root, and Kathryn Hunter. Something wicked good this way comes… to streaming. Watch it on Apple TV+.
A man poses as a diamond mogul to lure in women online and bamboozle them out of millions of dollars, and then women get wise to the scam and try to figure out how to exact revenge. This is somehow both the best-possible description for an episode of SVU or a movie starring Charlize Theron as a vengeance-seeking assassin and the actual plot of Netflix’s latest true-crime documentary. Which will probably become an episode of SVU soon enough. It’s a whole ecosystem, really. Watch it on Netflix.
The standout cut from the Encanto soundtrack, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” is the latest addition to the Maddeningly Catchy Disney Song canon, along with recent inductees “Let It Go” and “You’re Welcome.” (Lin-Manuel Miranda apparently knows a thing or two about songwriting, who knew?) The rest of the movie is fun, colorful, and teaches an important lesson about family and community, and you get to hear Rosa from Brooklyn Nine-Nine belt it out. But the best reason to watch Encanto is to learn firsthand why “Bruno” is one of the most popular songs in the country right now. Should you skip Encanto? Bruno-no-no-no. Watch it on Disney Plus.
Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson star as a preposterously attractive couple who get together after her character — one half of a global sensation pop duo — discovers her lover and music partner has been stepping out. That’s right, it is rom-com time over here. Will they? Won’t they? Whose hair will look better in the pivotal scene that will probably take place in the driving rain? There’s one way to find out: Grab some popcorn and comfy pajamas and set up shop on the couch. Watch it on Peacock.
Instead of trying to make sense of where 2022’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which should not be confused with 1974’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre or 2003’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, falls into the horror franchise’s convoluted timeline, just enjoy watching Leatherface kill a new batch of no-good teens (including Elsie Fisher from Eighth Grade). It’s more fun that way. Watch it on Netflix.
Tyler Perry and Madea are back once again, this time on Netflix, for another go-round of laughs and dysfunctional family fun. This time the action takes place at her great-grandson’s college graduation and the celebration that takes place afterward. You know what you’re getting here. There is a long history of all of it. Gather around the television and enjoy the chaos. Watch it on Netflix.
Zoe Kravitz plays a stay-at-home digital detective in this latest thriller from Steven Soderbergh who — with the help of her friendly A.I. sidekick Kimi — uncovers a string of murders she traces back to the company she works for. She then must venture out into a pandemic-ridden Seattle in search of the reason why. Honestly, we can’t relate. But, Kravitz is quickly becoming a bonafide action star and a Soderbergh script rarely disappoints. Watch it on HBO Max.
Parks and Recreation star Amy Poehler directs this documentary about legendary Hollywood power couple Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. It’s a story about success and making things that last and fighting for what you believe in, but mostly, really, it’s a love story about two extremely driven people. Lucy and Desi are having a moment here in 2022 between this and Aaron Sorkin’s biopic about them, so there’s never been a better time to get involved. Watch it on Amazon.
A24’s latest sci-fi drama After Yang promises one of our favorite movie premises: Colin Farrell being very sad. He’s sad, you see, because his adopted daughter’s technosapien companion Yang (Justin H. Min) has malfunctioned. He’s sad because the android might be beyond repair. And he’s sad because, up until now, he didn’t realize what a fixture Yang was in his family’s life. So, Sad Colin Farrell goes on a journey, first to try to bring Yang back, then to try to figure out his own internal emotions. It’s all very beautiful and melancholic and poignant and sweet. But mostly, sad. So sad in fact that, at one point, to relay his sadness, Sad Colin Farrell does a Werner Herzog impersonation which, oddly enough, will be one of the few times in the film that you’ll likely laugh out loud. Still, despite playing with themes of grief and identity, there’s something undeniably hopeful here – yet another reason to watch. Watch it on Showtime.
Ahead of her fifth studio album, Crash, Charli XCX was set to perform at Afterparty, a show in Vegas alongside headliners The Kid Laroi and The Chainsmokers. Afterparty, however, was exclusively open to those who own a Utopian NFT, or were invited by someone who owns a Utopian NFT.
Fans of the “Beg For You” singer quickly responded to the announcement slamming her decision to perform in the NFT show.
Well my question is why support them.. There are reasons why NFTs are bad for artists beyond just the environmental reasons – the community is rife with plagerism and I think if she wasn’t aware of people’s negative opinions she wouldn’t be so hush about promoting the performance
In an interview with Rolling Stone UK, XCX revealed she decided to step away from the festival.
“I pulled out of the festival. That was my decision that I made and I didn’t feel the need to announce it or let them know or whatever—but I did pull out,” XCX said.
On her new album Crash, XCX takes inspiration from witchcraft and “femme fatale powers,” according to a release she sent ahead of the album. The album boasts several collaborators, including Rina Sawayama, Christine And The Queens, Oneohtrix Point Never, and more.
Crash is out 3/18 via Atlantic Records. Pre-save it here.
Charli XCX is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
For me, few tequila expressions hit that Goldilocks zone of flavor and character like a reposado. Generally, even your most basic reposado will have the bright, green, grassy, or vegetal notes of a blanco tequila, all spikey and biting like un-aged tequila tends to be, but ever so slightly mellowed out, softened, and massaged, without tasting too vanilla-forward like an añejo. There is always something to pull out of the bouquet of flavors, which makes it a great candidate for the old blind taste test, where we’re able to put our biases about bottle shape, label design, and brand behind us in an effort to really zero in on the complex characters of our chosen expressions.
For this test, I had my girlfriend grab eight bottles in the $30-$60 range — which I feel is the sweet spot on price for a good-to-great reposado — and put them head to head in a blind taste test. The only rules for selection were price tier and expression, so I went into this tasting not even knowing what was on the menu, which made guessing a fool’s errand. I tried, but only guessed two of the eight correctly.
Which only proves I need to drink more tequila. Right?
Let’s drink.
Part 1: The Tasting
Taste 1
Dane Rivera
Sweet and inviting on the nose with fragrant tones of vanilla, caramel, and honey. Strangely, on the palate almost none of those qualities are expressed. Instead, things shift into a much more earthy territory with a zesty cracked black pepper flavor that settles into a smooth oakiness. It’s lightly spicy on the after-taste.
Not bad but I do miss those sweeter flavors teased on the nose.
Taste 2
Dane Rivera
There is a sort of sour yogurt smell to this one, it’s very pungent. Not the most inviting, I get a hint of white pepper with a lingering cork-like burn. It really comes across as the type of tequila you should shoot not savor.
Taste 3
Dane Rivera
This reposado had a beautifully faint color, like light straw with an inviting chocolate scent. On the palate the flavors were mellow, traces of toasted agave danced around notes of vanilla and caramel before finishing with a sizzling burn.
Taste 4
Dane Rivera
A beautifully fragrant mix of butterscotch and oak on the nose with a silky mouthfeel and flavors of coconut, cherry, and roasted agave on the palate. This one had a shifting flavor that stayed interesting and begged for more sips. To which I obliged, because I mean come on, who wouldn’t?
Taste 5
Dane Rivera
Much sweeter and a little less focused than the last taste. It’s initially sweet with caramel and vanilla flavors dominating before settling into a blunt woody finish. I think if sipped in a different order, I might be less hard on this one, but it’s just coming on a little strong compared to the delicate flavors of the previous taste.
Taste 6
Dane Rivera
I guess the sweet reposados are going to keep coming because this one is also heavily dominated by sweet dessert-like flavors. But it hits more like a sledgehammer than taste five. It’s heavily chocolate on the nose and palate, with a cool minty finish that fizzles out into a black peppercorn aftertaste. It’s an interesting journey of flavors, but it feels a little all over the place to me.
It’ll definitely color any cocktail you mix it in, so if you’re looking for a more neutral base to build off of, look elsewhere.
Taste 7
Dane Rivera
There is a very inviting quality about this one. It’s sweet without delving into dessert flavors, think less chocolate, vanilla, caramel, and butterscotch, and more fruity flavors like white pear, apple, and apricot. There is a buttery sumptuousness here that finishes on woody oak notes.
Taste 8
Dane Rivera
In another class entirely. This is noticeably smoother, more complex, and balanced than the other bottles in this roundup. It’s similar to taste four in its subtle expression of flavors which include roasted agave, zesty citrus, vanilla, and a delicate spicy finish that lingers and tiptoes across the palate on the aftertaste.
It’s truly one of the best sips of tequila I’ve had in a nice long while.
Los Sundays, despite its boringly modern label and pandering marketing (they like to note their tequila is ‘gluten free’ — which, no shit?) the brand makes some solid tequila, with the slightly aged reposado being the best expression produced to date. For this reposado tequila, Los Sundays rests their blanco tequila in American Oak whiskey barrels from Tennesse for just under 12 months, giving this tequila a very mellow flavor that works as a solid cocktail base or simple sipper.
It just didn’t stand out in this blind taste test. It came across as blunt and a bit boring by comparison. There was a mass-produced quality to this bottle that the others didn’t have.
The Bottom Line:
It’s mellow and adds character to a good cocktail but for the money, you can pick up a more characterful bottle.
Dano’s has probably one of the worst names and bottle designs in all of the tequila world which is a real shame because, despite its garish exterior, this is some good nectar. Aged in virgin white oak barrels for 9 months and prepared in small batches at the Casa Reyes Barajas distillery (NOM 1507), Dano’s has a toastier quality to it, but the chocolate flavors that dominate it came across as too blunt into some of the more subtle expressions of the other bottles.
The Bottom Line:
If you want a reposado that has a distinctively toasted flavor on the finish that isn’t present in other tequila in this price range, Dano’s is for you. It serves as a wonderful base for a complex spicy cocktail, but it goes a bit heavy on the sweet notes. Something to keep in mind if you’re making a bright margarita.
Siempre jumps out with a different flavor than a lot of the other tequilas on here, it’s fruity but not dessert-like, and features a strong woody finish. This reposado is barrel-aged for six months in ex Jack Daniels barrels and produced using an open-air fermentation process from a blend of 50/50 highland and lowland tequilas.
The flavors, while unique and tasty, just come together a bit more muddled in comparison to everything ranked higher. So this will have to die in the middle of the list.
The Bottom Line:
Fruity, woody, and unique. I’d utilize this in a more experimental cocktail rather than a classic margarita or paloma.
Hailing from NOM 1102 Tequila Sauza distillery, Tres Generaciones is produced using 100% blue Weber agave and is triple distilled for an enhanced smoothness before being rested in American oak barrels for a minimum of four months. That smoothness is easily noticeable and always appreciated, but for this ranking that silky mouthfeel wasn’t enough to push it into the top spots.
Still a great bottle all around though.
The Bottom Line:
If you like your tequila smooth and supple, Tres Generaciones will get you there.
A bit closer to the $60 range, Severo really tastes like a premium product. The reposado is rested for 10 months in American oak barrels and that extra time in the barrel really helps to smoothen out the flavors and mellow out the texture. It’s one of those tequilas that is dangerously easy to drink.
The Bottom Line:
Super smooth, mellow, and expressive. This is the sort of bottle you’re going to want to keep on your shelf for those days you’re looking to impress. Company or yourself!
Every time I have a small party or gathering of friends, I know one of two things are going to happen when I break out the 818. Either people are going to get excited when I tell them it’s Kendall Jenner’s tequila or, if I’m dealing with a group of tequila snobs, I purposely won’t tell them, pour them a shot blind, and watch as they gush and praise what they’re tasting, only to backstep once I say “it’s Kendall Jenner’s tequila.”
I’m sorry if this is hard for you to hear but, 818 is good, actually, great tequila, so stop being a weird asshole and just accept it and you’ll always have a sweet-forward people-pleasing tequila. Having said that, I won’t say 818 is for everyone, if you prefer earthy, peppery, or more generally biting notes, 818 is going to come across as too sweet and soft to your palate. And unfortunately for 818, it was tasted alongside the more subtle El Tesoro, which gets our number two spot.
The Bottom Line:
A real people pleaser, 818 is a pleasure to drink, it’s naturally sweet, balanced, and super smooth working as both a great sipping and mixing tequila.
I’m never surprised to find El Tesoro near the top spot of any blind taste test or ranking, the label just knows how to craft a great tequila, regardless of expression. A Double Gold International Spirits Challenge winner and Ultimate Spirits Challenge finalist, El Tesoro’s Reposado are aged for nine to eleven months in oak ex-bourbon barrels, imparting a balanced blend of smokey oaky flavors and natural sweetness.
The Bottom Line:
Complex without being muddled, transparent without being boring, El Tesoro’s Reposado is the perfect base to build a three to four-ingredient cocktail over and never disappoints. For under $40, you won’t find a finer tequila.
It pains me to see the number one spot taken by the most expensive bottle in this roundup. Coming in at just under $60, Fortaleza’s Reposado is on the pricey end, one of the advantages of doing a blind taste test is that we get to ignore the bias that a high price tag imparts, but that price is earned here, this tequila is excellent by all measures. Produced at NOM 1493 Tequila Los Abuelos, Fortaleza’s reposado is made using natural spring water from the Tequila valley, and is stone crushed, double distilled, and fermented in open-air wood tanks.
Each lot is individually aged in American oak for increased quality control. It’s worth it.
The Bottom Line:
Our blind taste test winner, Fortalezza is in another class entirely. It’ll change the way you taste other tequila, it’s subtle, smooth, and complex with shifting flavors that tease your taste buds in a way that pulls you in for more. The level of craft here is noticeable and notable.
A lot went down at Billboard‘s Women In Music event last night, where Olivia Rodrigo took home the Woman Of The Year award. Some more of the music industry’s most talented and beloved females were also on hand, including Phoebe Bridgers, who performed and got an award of her own, which was presented to her by her mother.
Speaking through tears, Bridgers’ mother introduced the performance, saying, “I’m so grateful that she’s found a way to use her voice to highlight people and causes she cares about. Sometimes I wish that there was a Phoebe Bridgers when I was a teenager — but that would be weird. […] As her mother, I’m beaming with pride to be here. As a fan, I’m just excited for the show.”
As for the performance, Bridgers abandoned her frequently-worn skeleton garb for a white suit and delivered an unaccompanied acoustic rendition of “Kyoto.”
After the song, Bridgers accepted the Trailblazer Award, which, as Billboard notes, is given to “a female artist helping innovate in the industry to create space for future generations of women in music.” Bridgers’ mother presented the award, so she gave her a hug and said, “I knew I was going to get roasted in some way by you.”
After some thank-you’s to her team and other folks of that sort, Bridgers continued, “But mostly, this is for my mom, who waited outside of venues in her car for hours in the middle of the night in the smell in downtown LA to make sure I got home safe from shows. She made me feel like the second coming of Bob Dylan, even when my lyrics were really, really, really bad.”
She then noted her mother’s experience with domestic abuse, collecting herself with a deep breath and exhale before saying, “Yesterday, I asked if it would be OK if I talked a little bit about domestic violence on stage, and she was like, ‘Yeah, totally. It’s your experience, too. Go for it.’ And I was like, ‘Cool. I’m going to say something like, ‘Thank you to my mom for surviving unimaginable abuse and violence.” And she was like, ‘But it is imaginable. Too many people can imagine it.’ So thank you, mom, for showing me how to survive.”
Check out Bridgers’ performance and speech above. Bridgers and her mother also gave a red-carpet interview, so check that out below.
Like most shows affected by the pandemic, it will be almost two years before a new season of The Boys finally starts streaming. But the good news is that wait is almost over as the Season 3 premiere is quickly approaching, and even better, Amazon is dropping a spinoff to tide fans over until Butcher (Karl Urban) and the gang return to butt heads with the increasingly insane Homelander (Antony Starr).
The Boys Season 3 will start streaming on June 8. Along with continuing the storyline from Season 2, which included the shocking reveal that, unbeknownst to them, The Boys’ new handler Congresswoman Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) is the Supe who’s been assassinating people through a series of gruesome head explosions. As for whether she’s working for Vought, or someone else, is unknown. Season 3 will also adapt the raunchy “Herogasm” storyline from the comics as well as introduce Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy.
But before Season 3 makes it undoubtedly raunchy premiere, The Boys: Diabolical is heading to Amazon for fans to get their binge on. The entire season of the animated spinoff will drop on March 4 and feature eight 12-minute long episodes filled with canonical mayhem including a look at Homelander’s origin story. The madcap series is also sporting one heck of a voice cast:
Awkwafina, Michael Cera, Don Cheadle, Chace Crawford, Kieran Culkin, Giancarlo Esposito, Eliot Glazer, Jason Isaacs, Kumail Nanjiani, Justin Roiland, Seth Rogen, Andy Samberg, Ben Schwartz, Elisabeth Shue, Christian Slater, Kevin Smith, Antony Starr, Nasim Pedrad, Simon Pegg, Kenan Thompson, Aisha Tyler, and Oscar-winner Youn Yuh Jung.
The Boys: Diabolical streams March 4 followed by The Boys Season 3 on June 3.
The Weeknd has announced the North American dates for his After HoursTil Dawn Tour supported by frequent collaborator Doja Cat, which kicks off just after Independence Day and continues through September. The Weeknd and Doja Cat previously collaborated on a remix of “In Your Eyes” from After Hours, as well as “You Right” from Planet Her.
The Canadian star apparently initially planned to announce the dates last month, but delayed his announcement due to the initiation of overt hostilities between Russia and Ukraine. The Weeknd actually postponed the tour late last year, citing the “constraints of arenas and the demand for more shows,” and scaling up to stadiums. You can find the full North American tour date information below and at The Weeknd’s tour site.
7/8 — Toronto, ON @ Rogers Centre
7/14 — Philadelphia, PA @ Lincoln Financial Field
7/16 — New York, NY @ Metlife Stadium
7/21 — Boston, MA @ Gillette Stadium
7/24 — Chicago, IL @ Soldier Field
7/27 — Detroit, MI @ Ford Field
7/30 — Washington, DC @ FedexField
8/4 – Tampa, FL @ Raymond James Stadium
8/6 — Miami, FL @ Hard Rock Stadium
8/11 — Atlanta, GA @ Mercedes-Benz Stadium
8/14 — Arlington, TX @ AT&T Stadium
8/18 — Denver, CO @ Empower Field at Mile High
8/20 — Las Vegas, NV @ Allegiant Stadium
8/23 — Vancouver, BC @ BC Place
8/25 — Seattle, WA @ Lumen Field
8/27 — San Francisco, CA @ Levi’s Stadium
8/30 — Phoenix, AZ @ State Farm Stadium
9/2 — Los Angeles, CA @ SoFi Stadium
In season three of Succession, Alexander Skarsgård played a tech billionaire who gets invited to fancy parties and lives in impossibly-expensive mansions. In Robert Eggers’ The Northman, Alexander Skarsgård plays a mud- and blood-covered viking who has to avenge the death of his father. Guess which one was a more enjoyable experience.
“It was physically and mentally the most difficult job I’ve ever had, but also the most rewarding,” the rippedTrue Blood actor told Total Film about filming The Northman. “The days were really long and hard, and we were out in the mud, and up on these mountaintops with the wind and the cold. The week prior, I was working on the television show Succession, on which I play a tech billionaire in a villa on Lake Como.”
Skarsgård said he “literally went from playing one of the richest dudes on the planet in a crazy, beautiful villa, surrounded by yachts and helicopters and luxury” to flying to Iceland to “get shackled and dragged through the mud. It was definitely a waking-up moment and a humbling experience.” I have a sneaking suspicion that his Succession character would not have empathy for what his The Northman character went through.
Something like this:
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The Northman, which also stars Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Björk, and Willem Dafoe, opens on April 22.
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