Month: March 2023

Ted Cruz always lets criticism roll right off him, and there’s something to be said for this, given that politicians will always receive snowballs in the face. These shots at Ted are quite often fair, especially when it comes to referencing his ill-advised, sun-soaked Cancun trip, which turned out to be a whirlwind voyage after people called him out for leaving his constituents (and his dog, Snowflake) to literally freeze when a deadly ice storm took down the crumbling Texas power grid. Ted has continued to not grasp the reality of how his trip looked, but people won’t let him forget that he’s still a weasel for it.

Fast forward a few years, and California Governor Gavin Newsom is being criticized on a similar note. As Page Six points out, people are not thrilled that he embarked upon “personal travel” while some Southern California residents are somehow digging out of a snowstorm in San Bernardino county.

As one can imagine, California isn’t equipped for this type of phenomenon, and one cannot imagine snow plows being available at all, and of course, Ted is all over this. He previously fired a shot at how Newsom wore fleece while enjoying air conditioning, and Ted is back for more against a Democrat. One actually wonders if Ted is roasting Newsom or if he simply wants to make a “cool” joke. You be the judge. While responding to coverage of Newsom’s debacle, Ted tweeted, “Cancun is nice this time of year.”

Palm tree emoji and everything. However, this is Ted Cruz, and people love to call him out, so that’s what happened. There is no shortage of people accusing him of making light of that fatal Texas storm while trying to be cute.

Ariana Grande just pulled off the ultimate flex. She’s deep in her Wicked era, transforming into Glinda for Jon M. Chu’s forthcoming two-part film adaptation. Arianators are needlessly worrying that one of the biggest pop stars on the planet will suddenly stop being one of the biggest pop stars on the planet.

Grande directly responded to her fans in January, but the notion that she’s “not a singer anymore” was emphatically put to bed today, March 6. Worry not: Whenever Ariana Grande decides to sing, she reigns supreme. Her power is evident on the new Billboard Hot 100 chart dated March 11, where Grande and The Weeknd’s “Die For You (Remix)” sits at No. 1.

“Wrote and recorded a verse for my friend after a 14 hour day on set,” Grande wrote in a TikTok video showing her in the studio, posted on February 21 ahead of the song’s February 24 release. “This certain exception had to be made …..”

Per Billboard, “Die For You (Remix)” is the seventh No. 1 on the Hot 100 for Grande and The Weeknd, respectively, and it marks their second No. 1 together. “Save Your Tears” peaked at No. 1 in May 2021. It couldn’t come at a better time for The Weeknd, who needs some good news to balance out all of the reported drama and dysfunction around his HBO series, The Idol.

The top 10 of the Hot 100 chart dated March 11 is rounded out by Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” at No. 2, SZA’s “Kill Bill” at No. 3, PinkPantheress and Ice Spice’s “Boy’s A Liar, Pt. 2” at No. 4, Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” at No. 5, Metro Boomin, The Weeknd, and 21 Savage’s “Creepin’” at No. 6, Karol G and Shakira’s “TQG” at No. 7, Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” at No. 8, Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” at No. 9, and Beyoncé’s “Cuff It” at No. 10.

Before today, Cyrus enjoyed six consecutive No. 1 weeks with “Flowers,” the lead single from her Endless Summer Vacation album due this Friday, March 10.

Donald Glover hasn’t been shy about dealing with Chevy Chase’s racism on the set of Community, and that was certainly the case during Sunday night’s Writers Guild of America Awards. While presenting the Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence to Atlanta executive producer Paul Simms, Glover let rip once again.

“This award was named after Herb Sargent, a writer who worked on Saturday Night Live and came up with the ‘Weekend Update’ with Chevy Chase,’” Glover said. “Chevy Chase once called Herb one of the funniest writers working in television. And Chevy Chase once called me… you know, this is about Paul.”

But Glover was just getting started. He fired off another jab at Chase while joking about his Season 2 appearance in Girls, which Simms also produced. Via IndieWire:

“I was on the set of ‘Girls’ after filming a sex scene for like eight hours,” Glover said. “Which they cut down to two minutes, I’ve never seen the rest of that footage. Afterwards I asked Lena, ‘Yo, what made you decide to work with Paul?’” And she goes ‘honestly, this n— lets me do whatever I want.’ And I remember thinking two things. One, Lena is using the N-word extremely liberally. Who does she think she is, Chevy Chase? And two, that’s the kind of producer I want.”

Over the years, Glover has spoken openly about putting up with Chase on Community. Back in 2018, creator Dan Harmon revealed that Chase was the first to realize that Glover is “immensely gifted,” which then prompted the elderly actor to lash out from jealousy.

“I just saw Chevy as fighting time—a true artist has to be O.K. with his reign being over,” Glover told The New Yorker. “I can’t help him if he’s thrashing in the water. But I know there’s a human in there somewhere — he’s almost too human.”

(Via IndieWire)

Emmy nominee, Marvel star, and car-fixer-up Sydney Sweeney can add “fashion designer” to her resume. The White Lotus actress has partnered with Frankies Bikinis on the “sexiest ever” swimwear collection inspired by “an Italian summer romance” — and, in a way, Euphoria.

Sweeney wore a Frankies Bikinis piece in a season two episode of the HBO series. When asked by Elle if that’s how the collaboration came together, she replied, “It definitely sparked the conversation!” Sweeney met with Frankies Bikinis founder Francesca Aiello at her office in Venice “and instantly hit it off,” she said. “We were throwing around ideas and mood boards.”

Sweeney, who will next appear in season three of Euphoria and Americana alongside Paul Walter Hauser and Halsey, also explained why she was interested in swimwear. “I grew up on the water, always running around in a bikini,” she said. “If I wasn’t swimming in the lake or the ocean, I was skiing or attempting to surf. So there was always a part of me that wanted to create something that truly felt like me, and with Francesca and her incredible company, we created something really special.”

The first drop from the Sydney Sweeney x Frankies Bikinis collection is available now, with a second release coming in early April.

(Via Elle)

Wiz Khalifa is living the dream. He grew up listening to Snoop Dogg, then manifested a friendship with his hero that culminated in their 2011 collaboration “Young, Wild And Free” and the movie that it appeared on the soundtrack for, Mac & Devin Go To High School. Now, they’re going on tour together.

The High School Reunion Tour — get it? — will kick off in July, spanning 33 cities alongside Berner, Too Short, and Warren G, with special guest DJ Drama. Tickets will go on sale on Friday, March 10 and you can find more information on Ticketmaster.com.

7/7 –- Vancouver, B.C. @ Rogers Arena
7/8 -– Ridgefield, Wash. @ RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater
7/9 –- Auburn, Wash. @ White River Amphitheatre
7/11 -– Salt Lake City @ USANA Amphitheatre
7/12 -– Denver @ Ball Arena
7/15 -– Rogers, Ark. @ Walmart AMP
7/16 -– St. Louis – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre @ St. Louis
7/18 -– Burgettstown, Pa. @ The Pavilion at Star Lake
7/20 -– Noblesville, Ind. @ Ruoff Music Center
7/21 –- Tinley Park, Ill. @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre – Chicago
7/23 -– Clarkston @ Pine Knob Music Theatre
7/26 –- Toronto @ Budweiser Stage
7/28 –- Mansfield, Mass. @ Xfinity Center
7/29 -– Hartford, Conn. @ XFINITY Theatre
7/30 -– Camden, N.J. @ Freedom Mortgage Pavilion
8/1 -– Bristow, Va. @ Jiffy Lube Live
8/2 -– Holmdel, N.J. @ PNC Bank Arts Center
8/4 -– Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Barclays Center
8/5 -– Virginia Beach, Va. @ Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach
8/6 -– Raleigh, N.C. @ Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
8/8 -– Charlotte @ PNC Music Pavilion
8/9 –- Atlanta @ Lakewood Amphitheatre
8/11 –- West Palm Beach, Fla. @ iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
8/12 -– Tampa @ MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
8/15 –- New Orleans @ Smoothie King Center
8/18 -– Austin @ Germania Insurance Amphitheater
8/19 -– Houston @ The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
8/20 -– Dallas – Dos Equis Pavilion
8/22 –- Albuquerque, N.M. @ Isleta Amphitheater
8/23 -– Phoenix @ Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
8/25 -– Sacramento, Calif.@– Golden 1 Center
8/26 -– Concord, Calif. @ Concord Pavilion
8/27 –- Irvine, Calif. @ FivePoint Amphitheatre

It’s been exactly one year since the NFL suspended then-Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley for the entire 2022 season after it was found that he gambled on NFL games (none he played in) while he was away from the team — he would clarify he bet $1,500 on a parlay, insisting there wasn’t any issue of a gambling problem.

Ridley was eventually traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars, who seemed willing to take a flyer on the young, talented receiver in hopes he would be reinstated this year. On Monday, they got their wish, as Ridley was officially reinstated to the league by the NFL, meaning he will join Trevor Lawrence and the reigning AFC South champs this fall.

In three-plus seasons in Atlanta, Ridley accumulated 3,342 yards and 28 touchdowns, becoming a formidable weapon opposite Julio Jones. He will now slot into a Jaguars offense that took significant strides over the course of this season under the guidance of Doug Pederson, rounding out a receiving corps that includes Christian Kirk and Zay Jones. Ridley will bring Jacksonville a different dimension to the passing game, providing a speedy, downfield threat for Lawrence to stretch the field with, as he averaged 15.3 yards per reception in his standout 2020 campaign in Atlanta.

His role on “Game of Thrones” might have put Pedro Pascal on the map, but starring in Disney Plus’ “The Mandalorian” and HBO’s “The Last of Us” has transformed him into a household name. When people aren’t applauding his performances, they’re usually gushing about his looks.

So much so that the 47-year-old actor was coined “the internet’s daddy.” For the most part, Pascal has been a good sport, playing along when the nickname got mentioned during television segments, interviews and red carpet appearances.

However, a reporter from Access Hollywood approached him during a premiere for “The Mandalorian” Season 2, giving him a list of thirst tweets to read out loud. For those who are unaware, ”thirst tweets” are when fans express their sexual desire for a celebrity online. Having stars awkwardly read theirs in front of a camera has become a media trend.

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Trendy or not, Pascal was not having it.

After being handed the list, Pascal read them silently. Then he politely declined, then (presumably to keep things light-hearted) said, “Dirty, dirty!” before thanking the reporter and walking off.

this is the worst thing I’ve ever seen pic.twitter.com/7npzBOqCxk

— lauren | tlou & mando spoilers (@djarinluck) March 1, 2023

Pascal might have been unfazed by the situation, but the clip, which has since gone viral, has spurred a bigger conversation about how abusive this kind of behavior can be.

One issue here that people pointed out was the on-the-spotness of it all, which made things feel particularly jarring and exploitative.

As one person mentioned on Reddit, “At least the celebs filming the ones on YouTube have already agreed to the premise because asking someone to read thirst tweets unprompted is so crazy to me? Like imagine rocking up to a work event and someone asks if they can film you reading sexually explicit comments written about you by strangers, I’d be like ??? Have some decorum lol.”

Another pointed out how an event for a show that’s supposed to be kid-friendly made the situation even more inappropriate, even if he had played along in the past.

“He’s on this specific red carpet for a Disney + show which I think is the key difference here. I don’t think Disney would appreciate him reading ‘I want Pedro Pascal to spit in my mouth’ aloud at the Mandalorian premiere. In addition, who cares if he played into it before? If he doesn’t want to anymore that’s a boundary perfectly within his right to set,” they wrote.

Someone please explain to me why it’s okay for people on the internet and in the media to talk about Pedro Pascal in a manner which would be disgusting if he were a woman.

— Chandler Morrison (@mechachandler) March 2, 2023

On Twitter, someone compared Pascal’s situation to the kind of fetishizing that actresses have historically dealt with. “I feel like Pedro Pascal is getting the actress treatment where he cant go to any interview without being sexualized its wild.”

Some commented that because Pascal is a man, society sees it as okay to give him more conspicuous sexual attention. “Someone please explain to me why it’s okay for people on the internet and in the media to talk about Pedro Pascal in a manner which would be disgusting if he were a woman,” one person wrote.

Mostly folks were just sharing agreement that this joke has run its course, and that it was a good thing Pascal shut it down.

“I’m so happy he’s putting his foot down. The amount of interviews and things I’ve seen where he has had to address the ‘daddy’ thing is so aggravating,” one person wrote.

“People think it’s such a compliment but it’s still sexualizing and dehumanizing,” another added.

“Every Pedro Pascal interview rn is just thinly veiled sexual harassment —whether it’s making him read grossly invasive tweets sexualizing him or incessantly calling him daddy. tired and weird antics!!!!!!” commented one person, implying that Access Hollywood is far from the only media outlet to overstep boundaries.

Every pedro pascal interview rn is just thinly veiled sexual harassment —whether it’s making him read grossly invasive tweets sexualizing him or incessantly calling him daddy. tired and weird antics!!!!!!

— levy (@1929stockcrash) March 2, 2023

It’s no secret that many times fans cross the line when it comes to how they treat celebrities. Maybe it’s because, for many of us, they do represent a kind of fantasy—be it our vision of fame, fortune, beauty, talent, you name it. This clearly happens to both male and female celebrities, as Pascal’s story illuminates. But as cliche as it sounds, stars are people too, and they deserve a baseline level of respect.

And speaking more universally, being treated as a sexual object can make anyone feel uncomfortable, especially when being attractive suddenly becomes your sole identity marker. Hopefully, this story shines a light on knowing how far is too far when it comes to “paying a compliment.”

An incredibly scary scene unfolded on Monday in Florida during a spring training game between the Tigers and Red Sox, as Boston’s third baseman Justin Turner got hit in the face by a fastball that got away from Detroit pitcher Matt Manning. Turner immediately fell to the ground as the Tigers catcher called for the training staff, which ran out to attend to him and needed a number of towels to take care of the bleeding.

(WARNING: The video is graphic.)

Turner was eventually able to get up and walk off of the field, with the assistance of the training staff and still holding towels to his face, which seems like good news all things considered.

Turner, who spent the last nine years of his career starring in L.A. for the Dodgers, joined the Red Sox on a 2-year deal this offseason as the 38-year-old looked to continue his excellent career in Boston. Now, though, it seems very likely he will miss time to start the season as he recovers from this facial injury, which we await official word on the severity of. Hopefully he will be able to make a full recovery and return to the field later this season, but the main concern is with his overall well-being at the moment after a terrifying injury.

It might seem like it was only yesterday when that renaissance painting of the Roy siblings made the rounds on the internet after the shocking season three finale, but that was way back in December 2021, so you might need a quick reminder of what went down at the end.

In the season three finale, we finally got a closer look at Kendall’s poor tortured soul after he painfully reveals that he was involved in the death of a waiter at Shiv’s wedding. The siblings share a (rare) moment of hold-handing before attempting to reason with their father, which, as you may or may not know, did not go well.

After some somewhat on-the-nose foreshadowing by the way of Monopoly, it was revealed that Logan Roy had acquired his ex-wife’s shares in the company, which squashed the sibling’s scheme to stop the sale of Waystar-Royco. Tom betrayed his wife Shiv, but at least he got his get-out-of-jail-free card.

We cannot forget about our favorite Swede Matsson, played by real-life Swede Alexander Skarsgard, who managed to sweet-talk his way into absorbing WayStar into the conglomerate GoJo. With one last “f***k off,” Logan leaves his kids defeated and out of the deal… for now. Don’t worry, there is more Skarsgard to come in season four.

As for what else is on the horizon, sure, we will get a nice skillful chess game as the siblings call for an all-out war, but we will also finally get to see Connor and Willa get married, something she is really excited about and not at all regretting. It will also be the final season of the drama, so expect some loose ends to be tied up unless Cousin Greg gets his own spin-off (it’s what the people really want but don’t deserve). Here’s the official tagline for the final season:

In the 10-episode season four, the sale of media conglomerate Waystar Royco to tech visionary Lukas Matsson moves ever closer. The prospect of this seismic sale provokes existential angst and familial division among the Roys as they anticipate what their lives will look like once the deal is completed. A power struggle ensues as the family weighs up a future where their cultural and political weight is severely curtailed.

The fourth and final season of Succession premiered on March 26th on HBO.

Pacifiction, written and directed by Albert Serra, won best actor and best cinematography at the César Awards, basically France’s equivalent of the Oscars, and comes to the US puffed with various laurel-bounded film festival honors and glowing pull quotes from the likes of AO Scott and Cahiers du Cinema (the latter calling it “the best film of the year.”), as it rolls out to various arthouses.

In some ways I understand the praise. It’s easy to describe the movie that Pacifiction could be in a way that sounds thrilling, especially combined with stills depicting waves at Teahupo’o and sexy, South Pacific idyll. Pacifiction is set in and shot on location in Tahiti, which was enough to draw me in alone. Yet there’s a gulf between Pacifiction‘s promise and the crushing burden it is to actually sit through — which is numbing and banal in a way that doesn’t inspire flowery prose. It mostly inspires curmudgeonly grumbling (foreshadowing…).

Scarcely have I seen a movie with such an intriguing premise and set of influences that also seemed so determined to put me to sleep. Pacifiction plays like a heady combination of John Le Carré, Graham Green, Paul Gauguin and the droning of a leaf blower. It’s 162 minutes long and “languid” doesn’t come close to describing the monotonous pacing.

Benoît Magimel, he of the best acting César, plays De Roller, the “high commissioner” of Tahiti appointed by France. His job, as he seems to envision it, is to travel about the island mingling with rich foreigners, poor locals, tourists, and gadflies alike, a sort of benevolent, bloviating presence who gets to borrow the prestige of the mother country to enrich the locals, in the most paternalistic way possible. All while naturally availing himself of the elevated social status that comes with the position. Essentially, a preening bureaucrat, though not necessarily an evil one. Magimel is brilliant in a wonderfully nuanced role.

One major complication to this cushy gig is the arrival of a louche French admiral and some pale marines, which spark rumors of a French submarine cruising the local waters, and with it the possibility of resumed nuclear testing. Indeed, nothing puts a finer point on the absurdity of colonialism like the world’s great powers choosing to test their most destructive weapons in their most picturesque territories, leveling paradise to put up superfund sites (Moruroa in French Polynesia being basically the French equivalent of Bikini Atoll).

Other players in the drama include De Roller’s trans woman mistress, Shannah (Pahoa Mahagafanau, in a wildly-compelling performance), a horny visiting author, a local activist, and a handful of various other shady characters, including a drunk hotel guest who wakes up from a stupor screaming about a stolen passport in Portuguese. They all congregate at Morton’s, a smoky tiki joint where the local service staff wear skimpy, provocative outfits in order to perpetuate the myth of Tahiti as the libertine paradise that attracted sketchy Europeans for hundreds of years, from Gauguin to Brando.

Again, on paper this all sounds incredible, to the point that I almost just reconvinced myself to watch it again. I can’t think of a movie I’d click “play” on faster than a Polynesian Casablanca about shady spooks, bumbling colonials, corrupt officials, and slimy sex tourists set in Tahiti. Yet just when Pacifiction seems like it’s about to coalesce into that, rewarding our patience after 90 or so minutes of numbingly repetitive dialogue and pointlessly long takes, it plays itself out with 40 or so more minutes more of long-take visual noodling, complete with droning score.

This movie takes an incredibly sexy premise and stages it in the driest way imaginable, almost entirely score and music free for much of its lengthy run time, with characters monologuing for 15 and 20 minutes on end. At the one-hour 53-minute mark, two shadowy figures who’ve been lurking on the perimeter for the whole movie get together for what seems like an important dialogue. They speak in English as the subtitles fall away, and say… something. I rewound it four times and I still have no idea.

I understand and appreciate a film that doesn’t hold your hand through every plot point and demand you interpret in just one particular way. But Serra’s choices in Pacifiction seem not just restrained and open for interpretation but deliberately obtuse. Rather than immersing you in the subject matter they all but forced you to consider the construction, to ask “why is he trying to make a romantic subject so dull?”

Other than to inspire generous critics to call this style “meditative” I don’t have a great answer. It also raises the question, why am I even reviewing a movie that maybe 1% of my audience will even see? Because it made me angry, I guess. People wait for the director’s cuts of their favorite films, but I’d love to see a “producer’s cut” of this one.

‘Pacifiction’ is currently playing a handful of big cities. You can see where here. Vince Mancini is on Twitter. You can read more of his reviews here.