Month: January 2023

Miley Cyrus delivered on her promise. On December 19, she acknowledged mysterious posters that had been popping up globally and simply relaying, “New Year, New Miley.” She added a countdown clock to her official website, and when the clock hit zero last night, December 31, Cyrus confirmed that her new single, “Flowers,” will arrive on January 13.

The two videos feature what figures to be the song’s hook: “I can love me better than you can.”

People immediately connected the dots. The “Flowers” release date is also Liam Hemsworth’s birthday, Cyrus’ ex-husband. Cyrus’ fans only love her more because of it.

In March, Cyrus quipped about her longtime relationship and brief marriage to Hemsworth during her set at Lollapalooza Brazil. After helping fans get engaged on stage, she said, “Honey, I hope your marriage goes better than mine. Mine was a f*cking disaster.”

Cyrus rang in 2023 with her second Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party special on NBC, co-hosted with Dolly Parton, her godmother. She and Parton opened the show by performing Joan Jett & The Blackhearts’ “I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll” in matching leopard-print outfits. Thirty minutes in, delivered her Plastic Hearts rocker “Midnight Sky” with Fletcher.

Cyrus also shared the stage with Swae Lee, Paris Hilton, Sia, and David Byrne. Of course, midnight couldn’t strike without a vintage Cyrus performance of “Party In The USA” and a Cyrus-Parton medley. Watch clips of all the performances below.

Drake doesn’t merely follow trends; he either adds wrinkles to them or sets new trends altogether. The most popular New Year’s Eve trend is to post a highlight reel from the year. Drake participated on Saturday, December 31, by posting a carousel to Instagram. The first photo is of him and 21 Savage, which makes all the sense in the world, given their recent record-setting No. 1 collaborative album, Her Loss. But as soon as you click the right arrow, you’re reminded that it’s Drake we’re talking about.

The second slide of Champagne Papi’s Instagram carousel is a video that many are linking to his reported detainment by Swedish police in July. Drake, in a red sweatsuit, is being led to a “polis” car while someone off-camera asks, “Who’s in charge here?” And then, the rest of the carousel is filled by harmless, star-studded snaps from yet another successful year in Drake’s life.

“The funds are useful / The lyrics are truthful / The suspects are usual / The opps are delusional / The finish line is beautiful / And the disrespect is mutual,” Drake wrote as the caption. “See you in 23.”

In July, rumors swirled that Drake had been arrested by Swedish authorities for possession of marijuana, but Drake’s team quickly shut it down. Philip Lewis of The Huffington Post relayed at the time that Swedish police had told him Drake was “not currently in their custody,” and Drake’s team stated to him, “Drake is at his hotel and has not been arrested.”

Days later, however, Drake cracked the door back open on the possibility that something happened in a since-deleted Instagram post. As captured by Page Six, Drake had shared a paper handout headlined “Information For Those Suspected Of A Crime And Subsequently Detained” that went on to detail a detainees rights.

Even after Drake’s latest video footage, skepticism is understandable. Drake and 21 Savage showed us that they’re capable of clever deception by rolling out Her Loss with a photoshopped Vogue cover, fake Saturday Night Live and NPR Tiny Desk performances, and spoof Howard Stern interviews.

Modest Mouse closed 2022 on the most somber of notes. The band confirmed across social media on Saturday night, December 31, that co-founder and drummer Jeremiah Green has died. He was 45 years old. The news comes just four days after it was publicly revealed that Green was battling stage 4 cancer.

“I don’t know a way to ease into this: Today we lost our dear friend Jeremiah. He laid down to rest and simply faded out,” reads the caption of Saturday’s Instagram post. “I’d like to say a bunch of pretty words right now, but it just isn’t the time. These will come later, and from many people. Please appreciate all the love you give, get, have given, and will get. Above all, Jeremiah was about love. We love you.”

Last week, Carol Namatame, Green’s mother, wrote on her Facebook, “Please send healing vibes for my son, Jeremiah Green, who is battling stage 4 cancer. He’s is so strong and so brave and hanging in there!” By December 28, Modest Mouse lead vocalist Isaac Brock addressed Green’s cancer diagnosis on the band’s Instagram and Facebook accounts.

“Hi. Some of you may have already heard, but I figured it would be good to hear the news directly from our camp. Jeremiah was diagnosed with cancer a short while ago, and he’s currently in treatment,” Brock wrote. “It seems to be going smoothly and making a positive difference. Jeremiah, as am I, are believers in the power of positive energy, so if you would be so kind as to send ‘good vibes’ (to quote Jeremiah) in the direction of Jeremiah and his family, that’d be great. Thank you and love, Isaac Brock.”

Brock and Green co-founded Modest Mouse in 1992 in Issaquah, Washington, outside of Seattle. Bassist Eric Judy soon joined the group, and they relocated to Portland, Oregon. Modest Mouse released The Golden Casket, their seventh studio album, in June 2021 and embarked on a North American tour to close out 2022 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of The Lonesome Crowded West.

Every single week, our TV and film experts will list the most important ten streaming selections for you to pop into your queues. We’re not strictly operating upon reviews or accrued streaming clicks (although yes, we’ve scoured the streaming site charts) but, instead, upon those selections that are really worth noticing amid the churning sea of content. There’s a lot out there, after all, and your time is valuable.

TIE: 10. Avatar (20th Century Fox/Disney movie streaming on Amazon and VOD)

The sequel has already racked up over a billion dollars at the global box office. I’m both pleased (because the box office needs help) and surprised (same reason) that this has happened, and if you’re down to get down with the Na’vi some more, the original movie will take you back to a more innocent time at theaters. Perhaps this edition won’t make you sh*t your pants like the sequel meant to do, but James Cameron is still “king of the world,” as Leonardo DiCaprio once shouted from within a massive water tank.

TIE: 10. The Recruit (Netflix series)

Noah Centineo is probably ready to shake his notoriety as one of the Internet’s Boyfriends, and this espionage-loaded show might do the trick, even the Netflix audience is probably tuning in because of that sweet romcom trilogy that he did. He portrays a fresh-faced CIA lawyer who (as is the case in all these stories) ends up being pulled into a web of international intrigue. Bourne Identity director Doug Liman also directed the pilot, and Centineo gets to stretch his action legs.

9. The Witcher: Blood Origin (Netflix series)

This prequel series should have been the toast of Christmas-New Year’s week, but that hasn’t turned out as planned. Franchise completists will want to watch, even though this show’s admittedly a meandering mess, even as the first Witcher prototype emerges, and we receive some background lore on the Elven golden age. A few pluses do exist: this won’t swallow up too much of your time since it’s only four episodes long, and at least we get some Jaskier, although not nearly enough of him.

8. Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan (Amazon Prime series)

John Krasinski recently stepped behind the camera with great success for the A Quiet Place sequel, but that doesn’t mean that he’s abandoned acting. Rather, his espionage-heavy turn as the CIA’s finest continues to drive a heavy audience with one more season in the cards. This time around, Tom Clancy fans should enjoy our protagonist following up on his Venezuela stint by running from the Russians. If there’s ever a time that we needed more Russian-villain content, it’s now.

7. Fleishman Is In Trouble (FX series on Hulu)

The season finale delivers a pretty good punch to the gut while wrapping up what, exactly, is going on with Rachel after a tour de force performance from Claire Danes. As a bonus, Jesse Eisenberg’s Toby takes on more dimension before the story ends, and god only knows if Lizzy Caplan’s Libby will get her sh*t together. Author Taffy Brodesser-Akner (who adapted her own novel) did the tough job of adding and subtracting elements to fit the TV medium, and this is so much more than a sad-marriage story or (as the first few episodes suggested) an Eisenberg-as-Hot-Single-Dad show.

6. 1923 (Paramount+ series)

The cowboys, they cannot be stopped and are taking over TV, courtesy of Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone universe. In this latest prequel, Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren play early Duttons who are dancing through a whole array of historical difficulties. That includes the Great Depression and Prohibition, and then on a more individual level, they must defend their ranch and preserve their legacy for posterity. This franchise can’t seem to miss, so expect plenty more of the Western resurrection.

5. Bullet Train (Sony movie streaming on non-basic Netflix and VOD)

The streaming audience cannot resist clicking “play” on a good, old fashioned Brad Pitt actioner. He’s accompanied by Joey King and Aaron Taylor-Johnson in this story about five assassins on (as the title suggests) a train to Kyoto. These hired guns figure out that their missions might be more related than they’d like, for comfort’s sake, and that should clue you in to this not being a remake of the 1975 Japanese film of the same name. Co-stars include Bad Bunny, Sandra Bullock, Michael Shannon.

4. Alice In Borderland (Netflix series)

In a post-Squid Game TV landscape, one had best not sleep on dystopian Asian Netflix series, and this show now arrives for a second season. The story bases itself upon a popular survival manga book series and follows a gamer who wanders out into parallel, ghost town version of Tokyo. There are games with the highest of stakes to be fought, and mysteries compound atop each other while they hope to find their way back to reality, if that even exists anymore.

3. Emily In Paris (Netflix series)

Lily Collin’s blissfully non-French speaking protagonist persists with audience success, and I think (at this point) her French class may have helped? She continues to inexplicably charm Europe, including Hot Chef Gabriel, and that love triangle gets truly nuts this season. It’s hard to resist or even deny enjoying this show, which is really a stress-free sugar cookie, and everyone could use a treat like that on occasion.

2. Violent Night (Universal Pictures film on VOD)

David Harbour’s Santa one-ups the bad-boy version from Billy Bob Thornton in Bad Santa here. The film arrives courtesy from producers of John Wick, Deadpool 2, and Nobody, so you know that you’re in for a wild ride, and Santa has no patience for mercenaries that decide to ruin one family’s Christmas Eve. Don’t f*ck with St. Nick, y’all, and if you’re itching for another fix of Edi Patterson (while we’re in between Righteous Gemstones seasons), there’s yet another reason to give this a whirl.

1. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix film)

Daniel Craig is having the time of his career as Benoit Blanc, and he and Rian Johnson pick right up to deliver another hit. Another stellar cast — including Janelle Monáe, Dave Bautista, Edward Norton, Kate Hudson, Kathryn Hahn — pick up as potential murdermakers, and there’s an endless buffet of cameos (including Hugh Grant) up for grabs. The film runs long (over 2 hours), but you’ll barely mind, especially since you’ll be watching at home. You’ll also get to see one of TV’s greatest murder detectives make an appearance. It’s a near-perfect followup film, and there’s another one coming.

The Houston Rockets dropped to 10-26 on the season with a dismal performance against the Knicks on Saturday night, closing out 2022 with a 108-88 loss.

While it was expected to be another year out of playoff contention for the young Rockets, the hope was to see some steps forward from the players they hope will make up their core of the future. Instead, they’ve continued to play inconsistent ball featuring a number of mistakes that Rockets fans (and the organization) hoped to see cleaned up over the course of the year. After the loss to the Knicks, one of the lone veterans on the roster, Eric Gordon, was asked what improvements he’s seen over the course of the season and he gave a very brief (and blunt) answer.

That’s not great! You don’t normally get this kind of brutal honesty from someone on the team, but Gordon is likely on his way out of Houston, as trade rumors swirl for the third straight season, so he has no reason to sugarcoat things right now. Compared to other teams in similar situations like the Magic and Thunder, the Rockets have felt fairly disappointing even considering low preseason expectations, and it seems Gordon is among those frustrated with the lack of progress shown by his young teammates. There’s still time for things to improve, but for now, there aren’t exactly great vibes in Houston going into 2023.

Avatar: The Way Of The Water, James Cameron’s years-in-the-making Avatar sequel, only arrived in theaters about two weeks ago, yet it’s already become the second highest-grossing movie of the year, with a global box office of about $1.2 billion (less than $300 million shy of Top Gun: Maverick’s nearly $1.5 billion). While critical reviews of the film have been mixed, audiences have readily reimmersed themselves in the plight of the Na’vi, a.k.a. those Blue People. But there’s one plot point in particular that has caused some discord and anger amongst fans: Spider’s (Jack Champion) decision to save his father, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang).

While fans of the original 2009 film undoubtedly remember Quaritch as the villainous chief of security for Earth’s Resources Development Administration (RDA), Spider — Quaritch’s human son, who was abandoned on Pandora and taken in by Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) — is a new character in the film.

Though he has spent his life living among the Na’vi, Spider is forced to work against them when he is kidnapped by his father’s unit to act as a guide and translator. Ultimately, this complicated familial dynamic causes problems for both men, which leads to a life-or-death moment where Quaritch is drowning and his son is forced to choose whether to save his tormentous pops or let him die. After some deliberation, he opts for the former — a decision that has angered many viewers. In an interview with Variety, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, The Way of the Water’s husband-and-wife screenwriting team, explained why they love that the moment had such an emotional impact on viewers — even if they disagreed with their decision.

“The movie allows Spider to explore these ambivalent feelings he’s having,” Silver told Variety of the moment where he must decide whether to let his father live. “I mean, I think it’s fine that the audience is like, ‘Don’t rescue him!’”

Still, both writers stand by their decision from a storytelling perspective. “[T]he idea that Spider is compelled to rescue Quaritch is interesting from a character point of view,” said Silver.

“It’s this father-son theme that we dive so deeply into,” added Jaffa, “no pun intended.”

(Via Variety)

December 28th would have marked Stan Lee’s 100th birthday. And while it has been just over four years since the ultimate comic book hero passed away, his impact on pop culture has never felt more relevant. To mark the occasion, Marvel Entertainment announced the upcoming release of a documentary about the legendary comic book writer and longtime Marvel Comics publisher.

As Variety reported, Marvel teased the upcoming project via Twitter, with a 25-second teaser video:

The video included clips from some of Lee’s famous cameos throughout the MCU (he made 22 in total), as well as an illustrated likeness of the perpetually bespectacled artist. No real details on the documentary were given beyond that it will be an original Disney+ project and will stream some time in 2023.

Lee, who died in 2018, co-created some of the comic book world’s most iconic superheroes, including Spider-Man, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Ant-Man, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Black Widow, Doctor Strange, the Avengers, X-Men, and the Fantastic Four. In 2020, Genius Brands International acquired the exclusive global rights to Lee’s name, voice, signature, and physical likeness, and will co-executive produce the upcoming documentary.

Earlier this month, according to Variety, the company kicked off its Stan Lee Centennial at Los Angeles Comic-Con, where fans of the late artist signed a birthday card with personal messages about how Lee and his work impacted their lives. The company also launched a new online shop to celebrate 100 years of Lee.

“We are thrilled to celebrate Stan Lee’s 100th birthday today with multiple initiatives that pay tribute to this true cultural icon starting with creating a marketplace for his fans and with telling his fascinating story in the upcoming film premiering on Disney+,” Genius Brands’ chairman and CEO Andy Heyward said in a press statement.

(Via Variety)

Another year, another end-of-year list. I promise this one is different and fun though. 2022 was filled with incredible performances, perhaps more great performances than there were great shows or films. It was a near impossible task to narrow down to just a few, but this list of the best performances of 2022 is both series and unserious with two categories: film and television, plus a couple of bonuses if you’re strong enough to stick around until the end.

My criteria was simple: I narrowed this down to lead performances but included supporting performances with those who also made the cut for lead performances. I selected performances that I loved and that felt fresh both for acting as a whole and fresh from the actor themselves. From Cate Blanchett to Jon Hamm to Jon Bernthal, here are the best performances of 2022, according to me, someone who watches film and television and writes about it:

FILM

Cate Blanchett, Tár

Every choice Cate Blanchett makes in the Tár leads to Lydia Tár’s fate. Blanchett has been acting for decades and has won two Oscars. Throughout those decades she’s played a versatile array of characters including Queen Elizabeth I, an elf from Middle Earth, Katherine Hepburn, and Bob Dylan. But none of those performances were as transformative as Blanchett’s performance as Lydia Tár, a famous composer having a bit of a psychological breakdown on the brink of the end of her illustrious career. Blanchett disappears behind Lydia Tár’s mannerisms, posture, delicate hands, and piercing eyes. Her menacing demeanor brings the character to life, to the point that many people were convinced that the completely fictional character is a real person that they somehow never heard of. The power of acting!

Austin Butler, Elvis

Before I saw Elvis, I wondered “who is this Austin Butler guy and why is everyone so obsessed with him.” It doesn’t take long into the film to understand why Denzel Washington fought for this guy. He has the natural charisma of an Old Hollywood actor, the right look and body language for Elvis, and, most importantly, the modern, uninhibited edge required to appear in Baz Lurhmann’s weird and busy movies. It’s also a testament to Butler that Tom Hanks’ chaotic, so-bad-it’s-good performance works.

Colin Farrell, The Batman and The Banshees of Inisherin

In the first quarter of 2022, Colin Farrell delivered a performance no one knew he had in him in The Batman. In the very serious and sexy film, Farrell was neither serious nor sexy. Farrell played the iconic villain Penguin as if he was a Muppet version of Joe Pesci (this is a compliment). In the latter half of the year, Farrell delivered the opposite: a subtly rigorous, emotionally vulnerable performance as a simple animal-loving Irishman whose BFF suddenly decides he doesn’t want to be friends anymore. His expressive eyebrows are more expressive than ever. It’s Farrell’s best acting to date, and all the more impressive in contrast to his performance in The Batman.

Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Michelle Yeoh had a lot to do in Everything Everywhere All at Once. Her performance required meta-awareness because pretty much the entire film called back to her decades-long career as an action star. She also had to be the emotional heart of a busy, complex, unpredictable script. If neither of those worked, the entire movie wouldn’t work at all. Yeoh delivers both to the highest level possible, with a grounding emotionally vulnerable but physically strong performance that gets more interesting and more complex every time you see it. Oh, and she also had to take the hot dog fingers seriously. Only the greats can do that.

Jon Hamm, Confess Fletch

Jon Hamm’s post-Mad Men career has not gone in the direction anyone expected, most of all, probably, Jon Hamm. The Emmy-winning leading man of one of the best television shows ever made has, shockingly, had trouble translating his unique, slightly sly charisma and undeniable handsomeness in other leading roles, until Confess, Fletch. Hamm is the perfect match for the smarmy but charming (even when he is being rude) investigative journalist, and has, at last, discovered his sweet spot: Hamm is at his best when he gets to be funny and kind of mean.

TELEVISION

Jon Bernthal, We Own This City and The Bear

In 2022, Jon Bernthal was bursting with energy. Bernthal can play big personalities that are borderline caricatures so precisely that they are as big as possible but authentic and subtle at the same time. On We Own This City, Bernthal plays the loud and hot-headed Sgt. Wayne Jenkins, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Bernthal plays him with all personality and no judgment, and this relentless energy is necessary to the limited crime series. For his extremely small and all-too-brief appearance on The Bear, Bernthal brings so much energy that it feels like he will somehow set your screen on fire. It’s painful how small his role is, but his presence looms large and will never leave the series, whether he shows up again or not.

Amanda Seyfried, The Dropout

Saying Seyfried’s performance in The Dropout is good is not the most original take: she did win the Emmy, after all. But the performance is so good that repeating how good it is is absolutely necessary. Television shows based on recent events are unavoidable at this point in Peak TV (everything is adapted) but Seyfried’s frenzied, funny, empathetic but slightly judgmental (and perfectly so) performance as disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes makes this ripped-from-the-headlines story essential viewing. Essentially, if you avoid this, you are missing out.

Olivia Cooke, House of the Dragon

On House of the Dragon, Olivia Cooke plays the adult version of Alicent Hightower. Cooke assimilates into the role naturally, but her best trick is her restraint. Although Alicent certainly experiences some trauma throughout the season including but not limited to her son losing an eye at the hands of her nephew/her best friend’s son, in the penultimate episode, Alicent lets it all out. Cooke delivers an explosive emotional performance when she is convinced she is about to die by Dragonfire, and in her face and body, you can see and feel years of Alicent’s trauma and pain, from being forced into being queen by her father, to being on the outs with her best friend Rhaenyra and the closest thing she had to a sister.

Everyone, The White Lotus

This one does not need much explaining: from Jennifer Coolidge shooting a bunch of gays then falling off a yacht to Tom Hollander’s quiet menace to Theo James and Meghann Fahy somehow making Cameron and Daphne perhaps the most likable characters in the end, everyone on The White Lotus delivered a memorable performance worthy of getting a new season revolving around their character.

Everyone, The Staircase

The entire cast of the masterful HBO Max series which includes Toni Collette, Colin Firth, Michael Stuhlbarg, Sophie Turner, Juliette Binoche, Parker Posey (who describes gay sex in a Southern accent), and Rosemarie DeWitt should get EGOTs for what they did.

BONUS

The Donkey, The Banshees of Inisherin

Jenny the donkey is Pádraic’s (Colin Farrell) best friend. Huge spoiler here, but Jenny dies after choking on Colm’s (Brendan Gleeson) finger. When this happened I was screaming at the television and so distraught that I was sincerely rooting for Pádraic to kill Colm’s dog in retaliation. An Oscar to this donkey, please.

Jen Shah and Lisa Barlow, The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City

For the unacquainted, there is a performance element to reality television, and two of the cast members on Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City have made it an art form, albeit for very different reasons. Last year, cast member Jen Shah was arrested and criminally charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud for her involvement in a telemarketing scam. Shah plead not guilty to both charges days later, and, for over a year, she claimed she was completely innocent on the show to cast members and to the public. Her tagline that plays before every episode of the show’s current season is, “the only thing I’m guilty of is being Shah-mazing.” In July 2022, Shah plead guilty. If you want to catch up with her legal drama, Vulture has an excellent guide. Shah’s sentencing is on January 6, 2023.

Lisa Barlow, on the other hand, was simply born to be a reality TV star. The self-appointed “Queen of Sundance” and Vida tequila CEO knows how to deliver storylines and prioritizes giving the audience good television rather than making herself look good. Barlow has also established herself as a fast food influencer. If you, like so many have been bombarded with Wendy’s ads in which a brunette white lady promotes a peppermint Frosty, you have seen Lisa Barlow’s influence without ever being aware of her existence.

The first of the two College Football Playoff semifinals on New Year’s Eve was the Fiesta Bowl, where TCU and Michigan dueled in a shootout in Glendale, Arizona.

As has become customary every year during the CFP, ESPN had a number of alternate broadcasts, including a Field Pass broadcast that had Robert Griffin III, Cole Cubelic, Taylor Lewan, and AQ Shipley roaming the sidelines calling the game from field level. In the late third quarter as the game began going crazy, RGIII took a phone call on air, which Cubelic noted was a bit bizarre, when a giant grin came over his face. Griffin popped his headset back on and told his co-hosts “I gotta go!” dapping them up before literally sprinting off the field while explaining his wife had gone into labor.

It’s an incredible live TV moment, as Griffin weaves his way through the sea of people on the sidelines to get to the tunnel and to the airport to fly back home to be there for the birth of his child. Kudos to the camera man for sticking with RGIII as long as he could, as the former Heisman winner still has some impressive speed, and put it to good use to hustle off the field for a huge life moment.