Month: February 2023

Megan Thee Stallion has been out of the public eye since the December conclusion of the trial against Tory Lanez, who was found guilty on all three felony counts brought against him — assault with a semiautomatic handgun, carrying a loaded unregistered firearm in a vehicle, discharge of a firearm with gross negligence (as noted by The New York Times).

It was an emotional ending to a traumatic two years, dating back to Meg alleging that Lanez shot her in the foot in 2020. In court, the Grammy-winning Houston rapper vulnerably admitted that she wished Lanez “would have just shot and killed me” because of how harmful the emotional and mental aftermath has been. Meg has presumably been taking time to start the healing process.

So, it’s been nice to see traces of her enjoying some happiness this week. First, Pardi seemingly dispelled breakup rumors with a vague Instagram Story post on Valentine’s Day. Then, footage of what appears to be a surprise birthday party for Meg started circulating online. (She turned 28 yesterday, February 15).

Lanez, meanwhile, swapped his defense attorney for his appeal, and his sentencing was delayed from January 27 to February 28. Per Rolling Stone, Lanez is facing up to 22 years and eight months in prison.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Paramore’s highly anticipated new album This Is Why is out now. To celebrate, they recently took the groovy track “Running Out Of Time” to Jimmy Kimmel Live! with a charismatic performance. Now, they’ve unveiled the music video for that song.

The music videos thus far have been overflowing with weirdness. “This Is Why” was packed with unhinged dance moves, and Hayley Williams looked a little possessed in “The News.” “Running Out Of Time” is a fever dream of eccentric outfits, crazy hairdos, and unpredictable choreography. It’s safe to say they, ironically, took their time with it.

Williams recently explained that “Running Out Of Time” was inspired by Taylor Swift. “I remember when we were 19 and I was closer with Taylor Swift at that point because we both lived in Nashville and we’re both experiencing our own versions of real success for the first time,” Williams recalled. “I went over to hang out. She’s a really good cook, by the way. She’s a really good cook. She has taught me how to make stuff that I did not retain at all.”

Swift’s productivity made her realize her own faults. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, my life is so not together.’ I was like, ‘I can barely remember to send someone a card or flowers.’ There are still Christmas gifts at my house that I have not sent to my friends just sitting there in the back of my closet,” Williams said.

Watch the “Running Out Of Time” music video above.

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

Music helps us not only connect with our deeper, perhaps less accessible emotions, but it also can connect us with those who have passed. Pink’s new song “When I Get There” is a beautiful example of both.

Honoring the memory of her late father, Jim Moore, who died in 2021, the Grammy winner created a touching lyric video featuring home videos of them together. A small snippet of that video was shared on her Instagram on Valentine’s Day.

“Sometimes love leaves us too soon. On Valentine’s Day—I cherish the love I have that I can touch—and the love I have in my heart for those who have gone on to the next adventure. This one’s for you, Daddy Sir,” she wrote in the caption of her post, along with the hashtag #HeWasMyFirstValentine.

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Her father’s voice can be heard at the beginning of the video, sharing what those home videos meant to him.

“I thought it would be nice if you had some memories of how it all began and where you all came from, and some of the memories through the years,” he says while his beloved daughter Alecia (Pink’s real name) blows out candles for her first birthday.

See on Instagram

We then see a progression of Pink’s school photos through childhood.

There’s also a full-length version of the song on Youtube. It shows Moore surprising Pink before a performance along with recitals, playing on a merry-go-round, singing together and cracking jokes at various moments throughout Pink’s life.

The song’s lyrics, which play upon the screen, reminisce about her late father’s sense of humor, asking if there’s “a bar up there where you’ve got a favorite chair.” Ultimately, Pink shares her yearning for the day they can reunite, when she might meet him again in the afterlife.

Watch below. (Quick heads up: The full-length video contains a wee bit of profanity at the very beginning.)

The video struck a chord with many who had also lost a father. The comments were filled with people expressing how it helped them hark back to their own happy memories or process painful feelings.

Here are some of those touching comments:

“It’s been 10 years since Daddy left but this hits deep but strangely it helps with the grief that never ends. Thank you P!NK.”

“I lost my dad in July 2022… I’ve not cried like this since his funerals… I needed this. Thank you.”

“Lost my dad suddenly in Dec 2020.. absolutely beautiful song. And now I’m crying my eyes out. He was my rock and the only 1 who didn’t judge me and just supported me in every way he could.”

“Everything and nothing makes me think of my Dad, but very few ppl can put it in words like this.”

“Absolutely beautiful. Both my parents have passed and I’d like to think they will tell me when I get there, all the things I wonder about.”

Loss is the inevitable price we pay to feel love toward the people in our lives. But holding onto their memories—be it in a song, a scrapbook or simply in our hearts—keeps them close. The pain might never go away, but neither does the impact they have on our lives.

Sometimes you come across something so dang sweet and wholesome that you just have to pass it along. That’s the case with this short video. TikTok user Bella, whose handle is @mylifeasbella, uploaded a video to the platform showing her mother and her watching a clip of Rihanna’s interpreter, Justina Miles, signing the song the star was performing at the Super Bowl.

Bella is a child of deaf adults, otherwise known as CODA, and wanted to show her mother the video since her mom skipped the Super Bowl. But as it turns out, even if she had tuned into the game, the dynamic interpreter was not shown on the screen. Bella explained in a second video that if you wanted to see the interpreter you had to go to a separate link during the halftime show.

In the video, Bella’s mom is just sort of standing there until she realizes what’s happening. That’s when you see a quick flash of surprise on her face before she starts smiling wider, and it doesn’t take long for her to start signing along with the interpreter. By the end, Bella’s mom is dancing to the beat. It certainly made people smile.

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“Why am I tearing up. This made me so happy. Representation matters,” one person wrote.

Another said, “Why did this make me cry seeing your mom react, so powerful.”

“So beautiful watching mom’s face light up,” a different commenter wrote, while another person said, “this is the cutest video I have seen all day.”

Clearly this video has people feeling all of the feels. It currently has over 7 million views and 817,000 likes. If you want to test your smile muscles, check out the video below:

@mylifeasbella

#duet with @rollingstone My mom didn’t watch the superbowl so this was her first time seeing this and SHE LOOOVED 🤩 #fyp #deafparents #ASL #rihanna #reaction #coda #xyzbca

Harrison Ford, 80, is throwing on his leather jacket and fedora for one last time in “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” which is expected to hit theaters in June 2023. The film is about Indy’s lifelong foes, the Nazis, being involved with NASA at the height of the space race.

It’s been 15 years since Ford played Indy on the big screen in 2008’s “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” In that film, Indy makes numerous quips about being in his mid-60s, noting that he’s still a professor but only “part-time,” and after a failed swing from his bullwhip, he admits his eyesight isn’t what it once was. “Damn, I thought that was closer!” he says.

His son, Mutt Williams, even overestimates his age, asking, “What are you, like, 80?” But now that he’s 80 in “Dial of Destiny,” there won’t be any old man jokes in the picture.

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“Yeah. In [Dial of Destiny] there were a lot of old jokes in the script. We took them all out,” Ford told The Hollywood Reporter. “There is a moment where he observes himself in this situation and says, ‘What the f**k am I doing in here?’ But I hate what I call ‘talking about the story.’ I want to see circumstances in which the audience gets a chance to experience the story, not to be led through the nose with highlights pointed out to them. I’d rather create behavior that is the joke of age rather than talk about it.”

The film’s writer and director, James Mangold, said that the film reflects where Indy is currently in his life.

“The mistake you can make in movies is when someone is of a ripe age but the movie continues this charade that they’re not that old,” Mangold said. “Every challenge he faces is through the reality of what someone of that age would be dealing with.”

Ford’s decision to excise all the old man jokes in his last run as Indiana Jones is a blow to one of the oldest “isms” still prevalent in Hollywood: ageism. Older people are subject to all sorts of negative stereotypes, so it’s great that Ford—a man in incredible shape for his age—doesn’t want to promote them.

The notion that older people are bumbling, forgetful, out of touch and physically frail can have a very negative effect on their well-being.

“Ageism remains one of the most institutionalized forms of prejudice today,” Todd Nelson, Ph.D., professor of psychology at California State University, Stanislaus, told the Association of Health Care Journalists. “Our entire society tells older people, you are useless, unwanted, and a burden. It tells younger people that getting old is bad, and being old is worse.”

Further, everyone ages differently. To paint such a large swatch of humanity with the same brush reduces people to little more than a number. When in reality, age brings a host of qualities that younger people should wish to have such as experience, confidence and wisdom.

It’s wonderful that we get to see Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in one final adventure, regardless of how old he happens to be. After all, as he famously told Marion Ravenwood in “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “It’s not the years” that matter, it’s the “mileage.”

For the past several weeks, the anticipation for Chlöe‘s long-awaited debut solo album In Pieces has been approaching a fever pitch. However, the “Pray It Away” singer’s announcement for the album’s “second piece,” a single titled “How Does It Feel,” put a damper on the fervor after fans found out it features an unwanted special guest.

Posting the title and what appears to be a screenshot from an accompanying music video, Chlöe revealed that “How Does It Feel” features controversial R&B singer Chris Brown. Brown, of course, has a notorious reputation for being… well… a bit of a jackass, to put it nicely. Since the big turning point, his 2009 assault of Rihanna, he’s been accused of harassment, battery, sexual assault, and more.

The singer has his defenders — most notably an extremely vocal contingent of online stans rivaling the stringency of the Barbz, Beyhive, and Navy — including Kelly Rowland, but fans still reacted poorly to Chlöe’s announcement.

To be fair, she’s far from the only young singer to employ Brown’s services as a guest singer. In recent years, Danileigh, H.E.R. Sevyn Streeter, and Tinashe have all dueted with him — a testament to his stardom and appeal in the 2000s (formative years for most of the young women who grew up loving his music). Chlöe Bailey was all of 12 when Brown first fell from grace and likely has her own positive personal experiences with him since.

Still, he’s not the most beloved character in the music world, as the reactions to his feature show. More than likely, this will just end up being a hiccup in what will turn out to be a successful rollout. Still, you have to wonder who thought this would be such a good idea.

In Pieces is due this March through Parkwood/Columbia.

Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine has been having real, devastating, life-shattering effects. You’ve surely seen those dire headlines and heard about the videos of Russian soldiers being told to pack tampons to treat their own bullet wounds. However, there’s been a fair amount of dark humor to be found in stories about Russia’s sad attempt at a McDonald’s clone. As well, we’ve heard about how Putin’s apparent love of Botox (he sure looks “embalmed”) has been thwarted by war-bound supply shortages.

Now, they’re coming for the Viagra. I say “they” as though there’s a big, bad villain at work. And surely, there are jokes to be made about Big Pharma, but considering that Putin has an alleged penchant for love-child production, this is actually amusing news from The Moscow Times:

Viagra’s brand owner has suspended deliveries of the erectile dysfunction pill to Russia, the country’s Industry and Trade Ministry said Wednesday.

The U.S. pharmaceutical corporation Viatris had notified Russia of the suspension as far back as early 2022 following Moscow’s initial invasion of Ukraine, the ministry told Interfax.

Panic in the streets? Probably not, but still, this could be cause for angst. However (!), there’s already been pushback from Russia’s Industry and Trade Ministry, which insists that manufacturers can and will make their Russian Viagra versions after conducting some clinical trials back in the day. This may or may not be comparable to the Russian army having to resort to crappy, outdated ammo that could “explode in your face.” I probably cannot be forgiven for the bleak joke that’s running through my head right now, so I’ll stop. Pour one out for the Viagra lovers.

(Via The Moscow Times)

Last week, Jessie Ware announced That! Feels Good!, the follow-up to her critically acclaimed 2020 album What’s Your Pleasure?. She released the bombastic single “Pearls” and said it “doesn’t take itself too seriously but demands you to have a dance.”

Now, she’s demonstrating exactly what she means with the new “Pearls” music video. In a stunning white dress, she shows off her slick moves, while flaunting her pearl necklace so hard it breaks into pieces. She comes off as both incredibly classy and extremely fun to party with.

She also said the song is “inspired by divas like Donna Summer, Evelyn Champagne King, Teena Marie, and Chaka Khan.” The video watches Ware herself becoming a diva — though some may argue the icon has been one for years.

In another statement in a press release, the singer shared about her new album: “That! Feels Good! is a record to be enjoyed, to sing and shout the words back at me and to each other. It’s a culmination of hard work and total pleasure appreciating the job I have and the worlds I get to dive into. I have never felt so ready for people to hear something I’ve made.”

Watch the “Pearls” video above.

That! Feels Good! is out 4/28. Pre-order it here.

This week, Liam Neeson picks up where Humphrey Bogart, Elliot Gould, Robert Mitchum, James Caan, and few others left off, playing one of the original hard-boiled noir detectives, Philip Marlowe. The pulp novelist Raymond Chandler created Marlowe back in the 1920s, but Neeson is playing him in Marlowe, an adaptation of The Black-Eyed Blonde, a nouveau Marlowe homage written in 2014 by John Banville under the pen name “Benjamin Black” (“noir” means “black,” get it?).

In bringing Neeson’s Taken baggage to an adaptation of Marlowe fan-fiction, in one sense, Marlowe is kind of a knockoff of a knockoff, pop culture simply metastasizing reflexively from era to era as it tends to do. Yet in another, and I imagine Marlowe director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game) knew what he was doing here, Marlowe is a weirdly perfect synthesis of American antiheroes.

If early 20th century fiction gave us the “hard-boiled detective,” as personified by Marlowe and a handful of other detectives, the aughts gave us “the shadowy (ex-)operator,” as personified by Jack Bauer, Jason Bourne, and arguably most of all, Liam Neeson. I write Liam Neeson here and not “Bryan Mills,” Neeson’s character in Taken, because the larger universe of ex-operator fiction encompassed far more movies, and was connected more by Neeson the actor than any character he was playing. Hence why Key & Peele never used “Bryan Mills” in their valet sketches (“Don’t even try and be Russian around Liam Neesons!”).

The popularity of these figures must say something about the culture that produces them, and in the thirties, we loved seeing a self-avowed “working stiff,” a functional alcoholic who was “just doing his job” get caught up in the various plots and schemes of rich folks, femmes fatale, and shadowy cabals (the 1930s being a particularly hot time for shadowy cabals). He generally listened more than he talked, was good with a quip, and didn’t shrink before the kinds of symbols and totems of wealth and power the wealthy and powerful generally expected people to.

During the War On Terror, that character just had to also be some kind of ex-special forces spook, a troop who was more than just a troop, now happily retired and focused more on his immaculate flower gardens or whatever. The fantasy here being, I suppose, that the covert warfighters we sent out to do our dirty business at the time were prodigies at carving order from chaos. A doomsday prepper who spent his days building immaculate dollhouse furniture from the comfort of his meticulously booby-trapped house was the ideal aughts anti-hero.

The private dick and the retired operator were probably more alike than they were different, however, both monk-like and secretly romantic behind the misanthropic, jaded and gruff exteriors, with a Victorian sense of morality and a soft spot for women. Naturally, they could also beat people up.

In Marlowe, Liam Neeson is probably a little old for a noir detective, but he’s the perfect age to play Liam Neeson, who is canonically always a little too old for any role he’s playing. Marlowe is in his office full of harsh shadows one day when in walks Clare Cavendish, played by Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds), who wants him to find her disappeared lover, Nico Peterson (Francois Arnaud). Peterson may or may not have been run over by a car in front of the private club where they met. Trying to find out the truth puts Marlowe on a collision course with the head of the club, played by the terminally theatrical Danny Huston (perfectly cast), a put-upon homicide detective played by Ian Hart, the city’s main mafia character played by Alan Cumming, and most of all, Clare’s ex-silent film superstar mother, Dorothy Cavendish, played by Jessica Lange.

In practice, Marlowe mostly drives from place to place having wry little dialogues with people and occasionally beating people up. Unlike Neeson’s Taken and post-Taken output, martial arts and fisticuffs aren’t really the point. Most of the interactions last only a few punches, which is a lot less straining on the viewer’s disbelief suppressor. The dialogue also seems more like the main attraction here, and while the verbose script (from screenwriter William Monahan) isn’t especially naturalistic, it is mostly enjoyable. Basically, instead of growling threats, Neeson mostly flirts with dangerous women and verbally spars with dangerous men, in between philosophizing with cops and fellow dicks while pushing his fedora forward and backward on his head, as the situation requires.

Think: a more genteel Taken with a literary bent and period costumes. The plot, involving drugs, a studio head-turned-ambassador, and a plaster mermaid smuggled from Mexico, isn’t exactly Chinatown, but it’s just interesting enough to keep watching even without 100% buy-in.

Marlowe is a little gorier than you imagine an original Chandler adaptation would’ve been, with a little more punching, and Marlowe has now been retconned as a veteran of the battle of the Somme. This manages to suit both our modern conception of the antihero as an ex-troop, and comes basically straight from Raymond Chandler’s own bio.

It would be overly generous to Marlowe, which I don’t envision being a smash hit, to call it a fitting capstone to the era of the post-Taken antihero, though that style has gotten a little stale and the mantle has mostly been taken over by Gerard Butler. Marlowe is largely a nostalgia play for noir lovers, though it does seem fitting that the updated version of Taken Liam Neeson is less special forces superman and more working stiff at the mercy of financially motivated forces beyond his control.

‘Marlowe’ is only in theaters, February 15th. Vince Mancini is on Twitter. You can read more of his reviews here.

With a new comedy special to promote, comedian and prolific podcaster Marc Maron stepped in to field questions for the “Dear Prudence” advice column over at Slate. While he’s known for his acerbic comedy style, and can be a bit of a curmudgeon when the mood strikes, Maron actually did a pretty good job handling relationship queries, vehicular advice, and rude extended family members.

One particular question hit close to home when a woman asked how to handle an ex-husband who’s constantly bringing over books or DVDs and telling her that she has to read them. Turns out, Maron used to do something very similar until his ex-wife basically told him to knock it off. Via Slate:

I used to email my ex-wife once a year on a particular day for a particular reason. She would never respond. Eventually, she emailed back, “If I want to hear from you, I’ll let you know.” It was succinct and understood. I was the annoying guy. Granted, she hates me, but that’s not the point.

Your ex probably has no idea that he’s crossing a line. I think it’s totally correct for you to tell him that it makes you uncomfortable and you think it’s inappropriate. If he gets hurt, fine—makes it easier. You have to move on. It’s been long enough. It’s unfair for him to try to hold on to you like he is—which is exactly what he’s doing.

Maron also had some solid advice for a woman whose in-laws refused to respect her and husband’s rules about posting their daughter’s pictures on social media. You can read the justifiably blunt advice and others at Slate.

Marc Maron: From Bleak to Dark is now streaming on HBO Max.

(Via Slate)