Month: October 2023

In today’s pop culture sphere, there is no greater signifier of global household name status than getting your own Funko Pop figure. For instance, the last musician to have multiple Funkos was Snoop Dogg, who even has his own Funko store in Inglewood.

Blackpink certainly fits that bill. They just completed a sold-out world tour and renegotiated their contracts to allow them to pursue a plethora of solo projects that include acting careers and individual LPs. It’s only right, then, that they are the next K-pop juggernaut to receive a collection of Funko Pop figurines, along with a collection of Loungefly backpacks.

The Pops are based on the group’s “Shut Down” video and will come in both the normal Funko Pop Rocks size and keychain sizes. Meanwhile, Loungefly, Funko’s accessories brand which is best known for its pop culture-citing backpacks, is also releasing Blackpink accessories adorned in the group’s brand marks. The “BP” logo is debossed all over the three items, which include a mini backpack, a heart-shaped crossbody bag, and a wallet. They are, of course, the group’s signature colors, with all sorts of cute detailing sure to be appreciated by fans of both the band and the lifestyle brand.

You can find more info about the Loungefly gear here and pre-order your Funko Pops here.

There are, as of now, eight Leprechaun movies. This is either kind of shocking or not shocking at all if you follow horror movies at all. For instance, did you know there were 11 Children of the Corn? (I’ll admit I’ve somehow seen three of them.)

Anyway, Hulu is in the midst of its “Huluween” celebration and the Leprechaun movies are in their spotlight. A couple of weeks ago, to promote this event, I got an email asking if I wanted to talk to Mark Jones, the director of the first Leprechaun movie. I replied, “I do.” When Jones first popped up on my Zoom screen, yeah, I did kind of expect the director of Leprechaun to be smoking an oversized cigar.

Leprechaun is a pretty zany movie. It’s, yes, about a Leprechaun (Warwick Davis) who is mad his gold got stolen. When some foolish people (led by Jennifer Aniston one year before she was on Friends) find his gold, the Leprechaun goes on a murderous rampage in an attempt to get it back. Once the group realizes the Leprechaun just wants his gold back, okay. he can have it. But there’s one problem, Ozzie (Mark Holton, probably best known for playing Francis in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure) accidentally ate one of the pieces so they can’t fully pay the Leprechaun back.

The first Leprechaun was released in theaters in early January of 1993, still up against the 1992 holiday season films like Home Alone 2 and Aladdin, and still managed to gross a little under $10 million. Combine that with its home video rental and … well you get seven more Leprechaun movies and me, here in 2023, writing a feature about it.

Ahead, Jones takes us through how he went from Saturday morning cartoons (I made sure to mention how much I loved his work on Turbo Teen), to shows like The Fall Guy and The A-Team, to directing a movie like Leprechaun. And he tells us how he lucked out by casting Aniston, an unknown actor at the time that the studio didn’t want to cast but Jones knew she had “it.” (Jones was right.)

You made Turbo Teen.

How did you know that? Wow.

Well, it’s on the internet. But I loved Turbo Teen. It was a teenager who could turn into a sports car.

I did that with Joe Ruby at Ruby-Spears, but It’s funny because I go on IMDB and it says, “Turbo Teen, writer of one episode.” They need to put I wrote the pilot. I co-created that with Joe Ruby. I love that show and it’s kind of interesting that it comes up every now and then. I started in animation very young, and then I got into primetime TV, so I had a lot of fun.

How does all that lead to Leprechaun? I feel there’s a disconnect there that I’m trying to fill.

No, there’s a straight connect. I wrote Scooby-Doo and the Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels. I was at Hanna-Barbera before I went to Ruby-Spears. I was writing some Scooby-Doo and I said, you know what I want to do? I want to direct a horror movie. That’s why I got out of television — to actually direct. Because I was a writer, a producer of TV, but not a director. So I wrote a script and I wanted Leprechaun to be like a live-action Scooby-Doo. And if you’ve noticed, there are bright colors. The sets I designed, the kitchens were orange and green and yellow, but even the clothes the kids wore were very bright. And I did that on purpose. I wanted to do a live-action Scooby-Doo, and so that’s why I had the leprechaun on a tricycle and all that.

Yeah, I noticed Mark Holton has kind of a Fred vibe that he’s wearing.

Yeah, exactly. And I still talk to Mark. He’s great. I talk to him all the time. So I went out to specifically create that kind of different sort of horror movie.

I’ve always wondered this with horror movies when you’re casting. Is that the dream to get someone who’s going to be super famous in the future? Because now your film’s always cemented with a very famous actor.

That would probably be Jennifer.

Yes.

I’ve said this a lot, and she’s a sweetheart. And then she went off and did her thing. When she came in the room and she was nobody, I had never heard of her, she had not done really anything.
I remember she did a Ferris Bueller television show?

Yeah, I think they did like six episodes…

She was the Jennifer Grey role. Charlie Slaughter played Ferris Bueller.

Right. And when she came in there was a charisma about her. She walked in the room and I remember, because I was there with my casting director and Michael Prescott, my producing partner, and we both looked at each other and said, “There’s something about this girl.” She was my pick. I had to fight the studio to get her.

Really?

It wasn’t their first pick. And we got her for scale. I don’t think she’ll be upset about me saying that. But it was her first picture that she’s co-starring in. And then after Leprechaun was released, she got Friends. I tell her I’m completely responsible for her success. I tell her that. And then she says to me, “Who is this?”

It’s interesting, in the movie she played the character Tory, a Beverly Hills brat who didn’t want to be on the farm. And her character in Friends also was a rich girl who left her wedding in the pilot and was kind of considered the snobby rich girl whose dad was taking care of her. I’m sure it had nothing to do with this movie, but some people have pointed out that sort of the character was similar to what she played in Leprechaun.

I do always wonder that though. Kevin Bacon is in Friday the 13th. Crispin Glover and Corey Feldman are in Friday the 13th 4. They kind of give these movies an added reason to stick around. I do wonder if that’s on your mind. That maybe you’ll get lucky and cast a future star.

Never thought. I mean, to go in with a basically low-budget movie that was made direct to video that ended up going big theatrical, never did I think that this girl is going to be a superstar and is going to make the movie work. I thought she was the best for the movie. I was happy to get her. No, I was very pleased because I’m sure it helped on DVD and video sales. And people still watch it. But yeah, you can’t go in thinking that. I was just happy that I had a movie to make.

Were you shocked by how reasonably well it did at the box office? All things considered, you were up against Aladdin and A Few Good Men.

Oh, it’s funny you say that. And I’ll say this quickly. We would go to the theaters. I live in the San Fernando Valley. We came out in January and you had to be 17. Ours was R so the kids couldn’t go in. So they would buy tickets to The Muppet Christmas Carol and then go into Leprechaun. And I said, “We’re losing money! And Jim Henson is making all this money from my movie!” So I was pleasantly surprised that the theaters were selling out. And I’m going, I think they got it. The critics killed me. Critics hated the movie in the beginning, but they didn’t understand what we were doing. They were comparing it with Exorcist and this and that.

Yes, very similar movies.

So in any event, I was pleasantly surprised. And then it went to VHS because it had such a big theatrical run. And so it made a lot of money. And then they did number two and three and four and so on.

Did you not want to direct the second movie?

No, I didn’t really. I went off and did a movie called Rumpelstiltskin and that was a bigger budget. And then of course they kept doing them. And at that point, the budgets actually on some of the later ones like three, four, and five weren’t really that big because a lot of them went to video, but they did so well. But I was sort of off doing other stuff. But financially I have an interest every time they make one.

Considering your budget, you wound up with a pretty good cast. Obviously Jennifer Aniston. But also Warwick Davis and we mentioned Mark Holton, who is obviously known as Francis from Pee Wee’s Big Adventure.

I did have a good cast, and cast is critical. I’m still in touch with Mark Holton. And Robert Gorman, the kid, was good.

Yeah, he’s in Forever Young.

I did find Mark because I used him on a Superboy episode when I was in Orlando. I did the first season and second season of Superboy. Syndicated show. Cast was really important and everybody was great and Jennifer and Ken Olin and obviously Warwick. So I got very lucky with cast and the chemistry worked. So I think that helped the movie a lot.

‘Leprechaun’ is currently streaming on Hulu. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

There may not have been a bigger surprise in the NBA last season than the Utah Jazz. While most predicted them to be terrible in the immediate aftermath of the trades that saw Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell leave town, Utah competed every night, saw Lauri Markkanen turn into an All-Star, and despite fading down the stretch, laid the groundwork to be a team that competes in the future.

There won’t be any sneaking up on people this season, and it’s easy to predict that Utah will struggle in the ultra-competitive Western Conference. They did, however, earn the benefit of the doubt last year, and even if they take a step back in the win-loss column this year, it’s hard not to be excited about what’s being built in Salt Lake City.

Biggest Question: How Much Better Can Their Young Guys Get?

Both Markkanen and John Collins will be 26 at the start of the season. Collin Sexton will be 24. A number of guys who you can reasonably expect to have roles on the team — Walker Kessler, Ochai Agbaji, Talen Horton-Tucker — are all 22 or 23. They have three first-round rookies (Keyonte George, Taylor Hendricks, Brice Sensabaugh) who are all 19. Obviously, the team will see what it has with those rookies, but as Markkanen showed last year, Utah under Will Hardy puts guys into an environment where they can grow into the best version of themselves.

Sexton, for example, is a fascinating player to watch. While it’ll be interesting to see Kessler continue to establish himself as one of the league’s most intimidating defensive presences and Agbaji try to build on his close to last year, the Jazz have questions at point guard, both this year and in the future. Sexton, the former Cleveland Cavalier who played in 48 games last year with 15 starts, had an up-and-down season in 2022-23 as he looked to get back up to speed following a torn meniscus the year prior and appeared in one game after the All-Star break. Can he, in year two of a four-year contract, find his form and establish himself as a crucial piece of the puzzle in Utah? If not, can a guy like Horton-Tucker take a step forward as a jumbo playmaker? Can George get up to speed and run the point? Will they have to rely heavily on a grizzled veteran like Kris Dunn?

No matter what, there is plenty of young talent here, and it’s a lot of guys who are not yet (and, in some circumstances, nowhere near) the prime of their careers. With how the team is building towards a future where they will compete for championships, development is the single most important thing to watch this season.

X-Factor: John Collins Refinding His Form

Let’s take a quick trip back to June 20, 2021. The Atlanta Hawks walked into Philadelphia and knocked off the 1-seed in the Eastern Conference in a Game 7, thanks in part to the play of John Collins. He had 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting along with a game-high 16 rebounds, and looked to be a crucial part of what was being built in Atlanta. He cashed in not long after with a 5-year, $125 million contract, and for some reason, it sure seemed like the Hawks spent every moment since then trying to trade him.

Whether it was injuries, a lesser role, or something else, Collins last year had his least productive season since his rookie campaign — his 13.1 points and 6.5 rebounds in 30 minutes per game were the lowest marks since his first year in the league. He shot 50.8 percent from the field and 29.2 percent from three, and had a usage rate of 17.1 percent, all of which were career-lows. As such, Utah opted to take a remarkably cheap flyer on him, acquiring him for the low price of Rudy Gay and a second-round pick.

Obviously, Utah doesn’t need Collins to turn into a guy who goes for 25 points and 12 rebounds a night or anything like that. But the athleticism and ability to stretch the floor that he brings should fit nicely alongside Markkanen and Kessler, he’s under contract for at least the next two seasons, and at his best, he’s a really dynamic frontcourt option. A roll of the dice on a guy like that makes a ton of sense, and as we saw last year with Markkanen, the Jazz have an idea of how to help these sorts of guys take a step forward in their careers. Getting him was the ultimate low-risk, high-reward move.

Only Murders in the Building does a lot of things well. It creates a fun little mystery and drips and drops out clues over the course of the season. It plays to the strengths of its stars — Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez — in a way you’d think would be obvious to every show but is shockingly hit-or-miss out there. It’s become a cozy little relaxing watch in a sea of dark and gloomy and humorless options across the very many streaming services that exist.

But I think my favorite thing the show does well is the way it folds in guest stars. This season alone we had appearances by Mel Brooks and Matthew Broderick as themselves, with the latter popping up to poke a whole lot of fun at himself. But the biggies were Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd, the former who played a struggling actress and murder suspect, the latter who played an egomaniac movie star who was the season’s victim. My god, did it ever look like they were having a blast.

Two things are important to note here:

• The concept of Meryl Streep convincingly playing a struggling actress who flubs lines is brilliant and maybe required the best performance any actor has given this year
• I need everyone to see Paul Rudd’s character absolutely devour a cookie in his dressing room after a day’s worth of stress and fasting broke him

Looking at this guy.

This is what I mean about everyone having a blast. And what I mean about the show using its pedigree and big-name cast to lure in terrific guest stars. And it’s kind of what inspired me to write this list of potential guest stars I think would make for fun additions to the cast either in season four or just going forward, generally.

Three notes before we begin:

• Some of these are maybe reaches, for a variety of reasons, but I got excited and it’s good to have fun
• I am going to rip through each option quickly, with three bullet points under each person, just because we aren’t made of time
• I am very serious about the last item on this list, which I have teased here and put at the bottom in the hopes you’ll scroll through dozens of other lunatic suggestions

I am a professional. Kind of. But I swear some of these are good. Let’s go.

Jon Hamm

Some notes:

• Jon Hamm would be so good on this show
• I like to picture him playing like a goofy version of himself who rents a place in the building while in Manhattan for another project
• Jon Hamm has been guest starring in so many shows and this would be such a Jon Hamm move that I actually had to Google to be sure he wasn’t already in a previous season

Next

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Some notes:

• JLD has been awesome for like three-plus decades
• Veep is done and she has time
• I want her to be the murderer

Next.

Wesley Snipes

Some notes:

• This one is fun
• Let Wesley Snipes have fun
• He could play like a dude who was on a season of Brazzos with Steve Martin and holds a grudge about something

Next.

Amy Poehler and/or Maya Rudolph

Some notes:

• Tina Fey is already on the show as a cutthroat rival podcaster with blonde hair
• These two are the best and any show could use them
• Maybe just let Maya Rudolph do the voice she does in Big Mouth?

Next.

Walton Goggins

Some notes:

• Walton Goggins has never been bad in anything
• He’s so silly as Baby Billy on The Righteous Gemstones and I think we could put him in a different wig here and make it work
• I still kind of can’t believe how nice he was when I interviewed him

Next.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge

Some notes:

• Yes
• Picture Steve Martin and Phoebe Waller-Bridge in a scene together
• Tell me I’m wrong

Next.

Donald Glover

Some notes:

• Donald Glover is so talented and can kind of do anything but it’s good to remember he got his start being goofy as hell
• I like the idea of him as another rival podcast or maybe a private detective who mucks up the investigation for everyone
• He should grow a mustache for this part

Next.

Tommy Lee Jones

Some notes:

• Tommy Lee Jones going full The Fugitive with Steve Martin and Martin Short
• He’s good at comedy and we know this from the Men in Black movies
• My dad suggested this one

Next.

Aubrey Plaza

Some notes:

• Aubrey Plaza doing her little eye rolls at Martin Short’s antics
• Maybe she plays an old classmate or cousin of Selena’s character
• I would like this a lot

Next.

The Muppets

Some notes:

• Picture Kermit and Miss Piggy moving into an apartment in the building and blammo now the Muppets just exist in this universe
• Or maybe there’s no mention of them ever at all and then bc Statler and Waldorf are up in the balcony for a performance of Martin Short’s musical
• I will keep suggesting we put the Muppets into things until I die or someone takes my internet access away

Next.

Ayo Edebiri

Some notes:

• Ayo is the best
• Let her do whatever she wants
• I would also accept Richie from The Bear, like that exact character just blooped over from another Hulu show

Next.

Jason Statham

Some notes:

• Statham is so good at comedy and rarely gets a chance to show it
• It would be funny to watch like “New Yorker Shouts & Murmurs Comedy Hour” broken up with periodic scenes where Jason Statham kicks someone in the throat and then blows up their house
• This one is just for me

Next.

John Wick

Some notes:

• Not Keanu Reeves
• Like, actually John Wick, on the loose in their building
• They would have so many murders to investigate

Next.

Edi Patterson

Some notes:

• Edi Patterson is so freaking funny
• I have this visual of the team trying to interrogate her and her going Full Chaos Mode and I can’t stop smiling
• She should be in more things anyway so this is as good a place to start as any

Next.

Tim Robinson and Sam Richardson

Some notes:

• Get them on the show
• Yes, it would be weird because Sam Richardson already investigates murders on the also-terrific mystery-comedy The Afterparty
• I do not care

Next.

Rihanna

Some notes:

• Imagine if a future season opens up and someone murders Rihanna — like, actually Rihanna, as herself — and they have to investigate amidst the news coverage calamity
• Get another megastar in there next to Selena Gomez
• Let Rihanna act in a bunch of silly little flashbacks

Next.

Helen Mirren

Some notes:

• Helen Mirren is fun, as we know from Barbie and Red and all of that
• I would like there to be a show that has both Meryl Streep and Helen Mirren in it
• She’s the murderer but she killed someone with a machine gun

Next.

Rhea Seehorn

Some notes:

• Rhea Seehorn rules
• She would be great as an investigative reporter trying to figure out why so many murders keep happening in this one fancy Manhattan apartment building
• RHEA SEEHORN RULES

Next.

Nick Offerman

Some notes:

• Full Ron Swanson mustache
• Doing his little giggles
• Maybe he’s the contractor who is building them a new studio?

Next.

Andy Daly

Some notes:

• Definitely a rival podcaster
• I know I’ve suggested that a lot
• But still

Next.

Ali Wong

Some notes:

• Hey
• Remember how good Ali Wong was in Beef?
• This is a good idea

Next.

Stephen Root

Some notes:

• I have yet to encounter a television show that cannot be substantially improved by the presence of Stephen Root
• He would a great murderer on this show
• Maybe he’s the new building manager and is trying to clean up its image and things go sideways

Next.

Rick Moranis

Some notes:

• Why not?
• We can put Rick Moranis in this show
• There’s nothing stopping us

Next.

Natasha Lyonne

Some notes:

• She would be so good playing off of the three main characters in the show
• In a trench coat, smoking a cigarette, going Columbo Mode
• It’s fun to picture her voice and Martin Short’s voice having a conversation

Next.

Jiminy Glick

Some notes:

• Okay, look
• This was kind of just an excuse to post this highlight reel of Martin Short as Jiminy Glick that I’ve been watching a lot lately, but I would really like to see the podcast get so famous that they start making the publicity rounds and then Martin Short pulls double duty interviewing himself about murder
• I feel okay about making you scroll all the way down for this one

Thank you.

Revivals can be tough. On the one hand, it’s fun to think about how all of your favorite characters from old shows would do if they had access to modern technology, but on the other hand, maybe they actually got more annoying over the years. It’s a tricky balance.

The latest show to jump on the revival bandwagon is Frasier, which will be the second spinoff from the original Cheers character, played by Kelsey Grammer. Even though maybe fans are excited to see the snarky psychiatrist back in action, it seems like the actual show is a little lacking in the “good” department. Here’s what the critics are saying:

Deadline‘s Dominic Patten says that even though it might be the most innovative show on TV right now, it’s…something.

While clearly a subscriber lunge for Paramount+ in this age of streamer contractions, this 10-episode revival is indeed so blatantly a throwback to a very different era of television that to try to taint it as mere nostalgia is to miss the point. A little thinner on top, a little meatier around the middle, and sometimes a bit slower in its sitcom delivery, Frasier 3.0 emerges eternally itself in an ever changing world and media landscape.

From the too loud studio audience laughs, the staging, the set-ups and timing, the lighting, the improbabilities, the in-jokes (Yes, we are listening), and most of the conundrums and tropes the 2023 narrative employs, Frasier the revival strength is being exactly what you would expect if Frasier had never ended in the first place in 2004 after 11 seasons

IndieWire‘s Ben Travers insists that the series is a bit of a letdown:

Far from a catastrophe, the revival is still a disappointment (unless recent experience has taught you to lower the bar all the way to floor) because it so clearly lacks, for starters, the original’s zany energy. Frasier, at its peak, has a remarkably quick wit, deploying a flurry of jokes and quips that undercut the Crane brothers’ pretentious tendencies via their escalating embarrassments. But far more noticeable in its absence is the camaraderie that Frasier inherited in Cheers and came to love in Frasier; the stand-out supporting characters that have not only always been there for Frasier, but that Frasier has relied on to make his life —and his shows— that much better.

Meanwhile, Time‘s Judy Berman was not impressed by the “wilted salads and expired eggs” of the new series:

The tone feels off, too. It’s nice that the new episodes were filmed in front of a live audience, but their laughter, which reads as artificial in 2023, makes the revival feel too much like a kitschy throwback. Frasier’s quest to prove, after a couple of decades as an overeducated talk-show host, that he’s got more substance than, say, Dr. Phil, makes for a decent premise. But his guilt over passing his daddy issues onto the next generation is more of a bummer than a light comedy can support. The show needs more jokes and less earnest emoting, at the very least. Still, I’m not convinced that any amount of tweaking would be enough to justify its existence.

Rolling Stone‘s Alan Sepinwall was unimpressed with the lackluster jokes and the inconsistencies with Frasier’s character:

There are occasions that remind you of Grammer’s genius, like a silently pained Frasier struggling to choose between being loyal to Alan or getting admitted to an elite Boston club. There just aren’t enough of them to compensate for everything else, especially when the show takes such a pick-and-choose approach to all the things we know about Frasier.

Nick Hilton of The Independent says that Grammer does his best in the starring role, even if the content is nothing special:

The fact that there is something to enjoy in this return to the Craniverse is testament to the joys of Cheers and Frasier, not to mention Grammer’s effective turn in the lead role. Little may remain other than a title and an endearing snobbery, but, just like Theseus’s ride before it, the spirit of Frasier remains intact. Not quite seaworthy, perhaps, but just about afloat.

If you want to give it a shot, the series will premiere on Paramount+ on October 12th.

In 1995, Bill Watterson walked away form Calvin and Hobbes, his wildly successful comic strip that the Ohio artist tirelessly protected from merchandising offers and Saturday morning cartoon pitches. After retiring from the public eye and giving exceedingly rare interviews, Watterson has returned after 28 years with his new fable The Mysteries.

Gone are the philosophical wonderings of a young boy and his stuffed tiger, and in its place is a completely different style of storytelling that reflects Watterson’s interests since leaving behind his iconic comic strip.

“He’s been working creatively, painting and doing other types of art, since he ended the strip,” Jenny Robb, head curator of the Ohio State University’s Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum, told The Guardian. “From that standpoint, it makes sense that eventually he would find a project that he wanted to share with his audience.”

“This is pretty exciting and monumental that he’s releasing a whole book,” Neal Martell, author of Looking for Calvin and Hobbes said. “I’m surprised and yet not surprised – surprised in the sense that he’s putting something out, not surprised that since he is putting something out, it’s so wildly different from what he did on Calvin and Hobbes.”

Here’s the official synopsis for The Mysteries:

In a fable for grown-ups by cartoonist Bill Watterson, a long-ago kingdom is afflicted with unexplainable calamities. Hoping to end the torment, the king dispatches his knights to discover the source of the mysterious events. Years later, a single battered knight returns.

For the book’s illustrations, Watterson and caricaturist John Kascht worked together for several years in unusually close collaboration. Both artists abandoned their past ways of working, inventing images together that neither could anticipate—a mysterious process in its own right.

The Mysteries is now available wherever books are sold.

(Via The Guardian, Simon & Schuster)

Drake‘s been accused of his fair share of “soft” misogyny but he certainly wasn’t going to take derogatory comments from hardcore misogynist Andrew Tate. Tate, who was arrested and accused of human trafficking in Romania late last year, derided men from Canada in a recent episode of his podcast, and Drake didn’t take too kindly to having his manhood questioned.

Tate’s comments are usually vile in general, but in this case, he was just straight-up rude and wrong. “There’s no men in Canada,” he asserted. “Imagine being from Canada. Imagine saying, ‘I’m a man.’ ‘From where?’ ‘From Canada.’ What? That doesn’t go together. You’re not, bruv. Of course not. There’s no men in Canada.”

Drake didn’t mince words with his response, commenting under the video, “Green light” — a reference to putting a hit on someone.

Of course, were you to ask Drake’s detractors like Azealia Banks, Joe Budden, and Pusha T, this is pointless posturing on his part, but again, that could just be due to the “nice guy” reputation Canada has cultivated over the years, despite participating in the same sorts of genocide as the nation’s neighbors to the south (and let it be known that Canada’s ratio of guns to human beings rivals the US’s. The murder rate’s just lower because they have free health care).

Does Drake actually have the power to put a “green light” on the podcaster? That doesn’t seem likely — he did add a laughing emoji, after all. Maybe recording For All The Dogs and hanging out with 21 Savage just has him feeling tough lately.

Shortly after Secret Invasion started streaming on Disney+, Marvel found itself targeted by backlash after fans learned that the opening credits were made with AI. Well, surprise, it’s happening again.

According to a new report, Loki Season 2 is under fire for using AI-generated art for its official poster. AI art is still extremely controversial over justifiable fears that image generators are being trained on artists’ work without their consent (or compensation) and will ultimately replace human created art.

As for how fans were able to figure out the poster was made using AI, note the Roman numeral “IIII” just to the left of Tom Hiddleston’s face as well as abnormal poses for the characters:

Loki’s use of AI art was first noticed by illustrator Katria Raden who was able to find the original stock image that was used in the poster, which presents a major problem.

Via The Verge:

AI-generated stock imagery is a real issue for many creative professionals. As Raden notes: “licensing photos and illustrations on stock sites has been a way many hard-working artists have been earning a living. I don’t think replacing them with generated imagery via tech built on mass exploitation and wage theft is any more ethical than replacing Disney’s own employees.”

Despite the now-second AI controversy for Marvel, the Loki Season 2 premiere delivered record ratings for Disney+. According to Variety, it trailed just behind The Mandalorian Season 3 premiere and is reportedly primed to beat Ahsoka‘s five-day total for views.

(Via The Verge, Variety)

If you’re not an avid gin drinker and you’ve tasted some version of the popular spirit, there’s a good chance it was London dry gin. For the uninitiated, London dry gin is (like all gins) a juniper-infused spirit that often features aromas and flavors from additional herbs and botanicals. It’s well-known for its juniper berry-forward, herbal, earthy, dry flavor profile. It’s also the baseline for a variety of iconic cocktails, including the martini, gin gimlet, and the beloved gin & tonic.

Not all gin is good gin, of course. But the good news is that you don’t have to spend an uncomfortable amount of money to get a solid bottle. You can find quality bottles of London dry gin for under $25. Yes, you read that right. Flavorful, balanced, highly mixable, juniper-filled gins cost less than a meal at a fast-casual restaurant.

To prove it, I picked eight London dry gins and blindly tasted them. I nosed and tasted each and ranked them based on balance, flavor, and overall quality as a mixer. This isn’t a sipping-based test!

Today’s Lineup:

• Tanqueray
• Gilbey’s
• Broker’s
• Bombay Sapphire
• Beefeater
• New Amsterdam Stratusphere
• Burnett’s
• Gordon’s

Read to the end to see how your standard gin pour fared!

Part 1: Under $20 London Dry Gin Blind Tasting

Taste 1

Tasting Notes:

Juniper, orange peels, and some spices, along with a harsh alcohol aroma make for a very interesting nose. The palate is heavy on pine, orange peels, and cinnamon, and not much else. The finish is kind of bitter and there’s a lot of uncomfortable heat. Not a great gin.

Taste 2

Tasting Notes:

The nose is heavy (almost too much) on piney juniper. There are also notes of lemongrass, licorice, and other spices. Drinking it continues this trend with a bold kick of pine needles, orange peels, menthol, and licorice. The finish is warming, dry, and pleasant with more juniper flavor.

Taste 3

Tasting Notes:

The nose is all pine, lemon, ripe orange, coriander, lavender, and licorice. The palate is more expansive than the nose with hints of coriander, pine needles, lemon, wildflowers, and peppery spice. This full-flavored gin finishes dry, slightly acidic, and is filled with warming but not unpleasant heat.

Taste 4

Tasting Notes:

The nose is heavy on juniper, but it’s hard to find a second aroma. Maybe hand sanitizer? Rubbing alcohol? Something at least mildly abrasive. The palate also heavily leans into piney juniper. There’s also some citrus, but overall, the harsh heat makes it difficult to drink on its own.

Taste 5

Tasting Notes:

On the nose, you’ll find a heavy wallop of piney juniper and some backing flavors of coriander and citrus. Overall, not a bad start. Drinking it reveals more juniper as well as some mint, licorice, citrus, and more spice. It’s not a bad mixing gin, but a little heavy on juniper and has a little too much heat on the finish.

Taste 6

Tasting Notes:

This is definitely a unique gin, as orange aromas seem to be more abundant than the expected juniper. There are also some underlying cracked black pepper, coriander, and cinnamon aromas on the nose. The palate continues this trend with a ton of borderline synthetic-tasting orange up front followed by piney juniper, coriander, and maybe some mint.

Taste 7

Tasting Notes:

The nose begins with pine and moves into orange peels, lemon zest, licorice, and gentle floral aromas. Sipping it brings forth notes of orange zest, lemongrass, anise, juniper, and cracked black pepper. It’s a spicy, sweet, earthy gin that mixes well into classic gin cocktails.

Taste 8

Tasting Notes:

A nose of pine needles, mint, anise, and lemon peels greets you before your first sip. The palate is well-balanced with juniper up front followed by lemon zest, orange peels, licorice, coriander, and pepper. The finish is a warming, dry combination of citrus and pine.

Part 2: The Rankings

8) Burnett’s (Taste 4)

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $18 for a 1.75ml bottle

The Gin:

You’d have a hard time finding a cheaper London dry gin that doesn’t similarly resemble rocket fuel. That’s a lot of booze for $18. Produced for more than 200 years (making it one of the oldest brands in England), this juniper-heavy gin comes in a plastic handle, so… you know.

Bottom Line:

This is truly a bargain London dry gin. It tastes like it. Hide this gin in a drink with a lot of other flavors or you’ll regret it.

7) Gilbey’s (Taste 1)

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $14

The Gin:

Gilbey’s is another plastic handle, cheap London dry gin that’s crafted to be used as a mixer only. It’s flavored with a blend of 12 herbs and botanicals including the always present juniper as well as coriander, lemongrass, orange peel, cinnamon, and other spices.

Bottom Line:

Gilbey’s is another gin you might want to avoid unless you want to really hide it in a complex cocktail. But at that point, why devalue your complicated drink with this?

6) Gordon’s (Taste 5)

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $17

The Gin:

One of the oldest gins in the world still in production, Gordon’s London Dry Gin was first launched by Alexander Gordon back in 1769. The most popular gin in England since the 1800s, this value spirit is also the top-selling London dry gin in the world.

Bottom Line:

There’s a reason Gordon’s is so popular. It’s cheap and a decent mixer. Don’t expect any more than that though.

5) New Amsterdam Stratusphere (Taste 6)

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $17

The Gin:

New Amsterdam has long been known for its value gins and its New Amsterdam Stratusphere London Dry Gin is no different. Instead of the usual one-trick pony of the Juniper-forward classic London dry gin, the distillers at New Amsterdam opted to create a two-trick pony — juniper and citrus.

Bottom Line:

This is the bottle of London dry gin to pick up if you prefer your drinks to have more of a citrus lean and less of a juniper presence.

4) Tanqueray (Taste 2)

ABV: 47.3%

Average Price: $21

The Gin:

Tanqueray is a big name in the London dry gin world, yet it remains surprisingly reasonably priced. Distilled four times, this iconic brand doesn’t rely on a parade of flavors as it contains four herbs and botanicals. They are juniper, licorice, angelica, and coriander. All are quite present on the palate.

Bottom Line:

Tanqueray is a classic London dry gin. It has everything you could want and leans heavily into juniper. A great mixer.

3) Beefeater (Taste 8)

ABV: 44%

Average Price: $21

The Gin:

Beefeater is the nickname for the Yeomen Warder of King Charle’s Royal Palace and the guardians of the Tower of London. It’s also the name for one of the most popular London dry gins in the world. This classic gin is flavored with nine herbs and botanicals including juniper, lemon peel, and Seville orange.

Bottom Line:

This might be one of the most well-balanced London dry gins on the market. This is one for fans of juniper who also don’t want it to be totally overwhelming.

2) Broker’s (Taste 7)

ABV: 47%

Average Price: $21

The Gin:

Based on a 200-year-old recipe, Broker’s London Dry Gin is made with ten herbs and botanicals including juniper, sage, lemon, lavender, orange peel, licorice, and more. To flavor the gin, the ingredients are steeped for 24 full hours in pure grain spirit.

Bottom Line:

This gin is spicier than some of the others on the market and that’s a good thing. It will give your favorite drink a memorable, warming, spicy kick.

1) Bombay Sapphire (Taste 3)

ABV: 47%

Average Price: $22

The Gin:

There are few gins as well-respected and well-known as Bombay Sapphire. And yet, it remains fairly priced. This classic gin gets its flavor from the addition of ten specific ingredients including juniper berries, orris root, angelica, coriander, almond, lemon peel, licorice, cubeb, cassia, and grains of paradise.

Bottom Line:

When it comes to well-balanced London dry gins, it’s difficult to beat the appeal of Bombay Sapphire. I didn’t know I was picking such a stalwart as the champ but did nonetheless — what can I say? It’s good! And it ticks all the London dry gin boxes.

Part 3: Final Thoughts

There are many things I learned when nosing and tasting these gins. Clearly, it requires patience to meander past the flavor of heavy juniper found in some of these expressions. But the main takeaway is the idea that you can go cheap with gin, but not too cheap. There’s a big difference between a $21 gin and a $18 handle of gin in terms of overall flavor as well as harshness.

Your best bet, even if you want to save some cash, is to not go too cheap. You’ll regret it. And your cocktails will be worse because of it.

In April, Wednesday dropped their fifth studio album, Rat Saw God. The body of work features singles “TV In The Gas Pump” and “Bath County.” Today (October 10), Wednesday shared the trailer for their documentary, Rat Bastards Of Haw Creek, and their 2024 tour dates.

Wednesday’s 2024 tour will kick off on January 19, 2024, in Raleigh, North Carolina. Across the shows next year, Lowertown, Das Blisschen Totschlag, Hotline TNT, They Hate Change, and Draag will serve as supporting openers. For select dates, Karly Hartzman & MJ Lenderman will have a solo show with support from Dan Wriggins. Before their official tour, Wednesday will appear at several festivals, including Atlanta’s Highball and Paris’ London Calling.

Pre-sale for the shows begins tomorrow, October 11, at 10 a.m. local time. The general ticket sale will start soon after. Find more information here.

Watch the trailer for Rat Bastards Of Haw Creek above. View Wednesday’s complete 2024 tour dates below.

10/21/2023 — Atlanta, GA @ Highball Festival
10/25/2023 — Paris, FR @ Point Ephemere #
10/27/2023 — Amsterdam, NL @ London Calling Festival
10/28/2023 — Hamburg, DE @ Molotow ^
10/29/2023 — Copenhagen, DK @ Loppen ^
10/30/2023 — Berlin, DE @ Frannz ^
11/01/2023 — Cologne, DE @ Bumann & SOHN #
11/02/2023 — Zurich, CH @ Bogen F #
11/03/2023 — Luxembourg, LU @ Rotondes #
11/05/2023 — Birmingham, UK @ Hare & Hounds #
11/06/2023 — Manchester, UK @ Band on the Wall #
11/07/2023 — Glasgow, UK @ Mono #
11/09/2023 — Dublin, IE @ Workman’s Club #
11/10/2023 — Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club #
11/11/2023 — London, UK @ Pitchfork Festival London
12/08/2023 — Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon +
12/09/2023 — Ojai, CA @ Deer Lodge +
12/10/2023 — San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop +
12/12/2023 — Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios +
12/13/2023 — Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern +
01/19/2024 — Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre $
01/20/2024 — Winston-Salem, NC @ SECCA $
01/21/2024 — Boone, NC @ Lily’s Snack Bar $
01/22/2024 — Richmond, VA @ The Broadberry $
01/23/2024 — Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club $
01/25/2024 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel #
01/27/2024 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Thunderbird Music Hall $
01/28/2024 — Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop $
01/30/2024 — Nashville, TN @ Eastside Bowl $
02/01/2024 — Oxford, MS @ Proud Larry’s $
02/02/2024 — Pensacola, FL @ The Handlebar $*
02/03/2024 — Jacksonville, FL @ Jack Rabbits $*
02/04/2024 — Orlando, FL @ The Social $*
02/06/2024 — Miami, FL @ Gramps $*
02/08/2024 — Savannah, GA @ Lodge of Sorrows $
02/09/2024 — Athens, GA @ 40 Watt $
02/10/2024 — Chattanooga, TN @ Cherry Street Tavern $
05/14/2024 — Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf %
05/15/2024 — Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom %
05/16/2024 — San Diego, CA @ Quartyard %
05/17/2024 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether %
05/18/2024 — San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore %
05/20/2024 — Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall %
05/21/2024 — Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre %
05/22/2024 — Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre %
05/24/2024 — Missoula, MT @ Zootown Arts Community Center %
05/25/2024 — Bozeman, MT @ The ELM %
05/28/2024 — Denver, CO @ The Gothic Theatre %
05/30/2024 — Omaha, NE @ Slowdown %
07/27/2024 — Greenville, SC @ Altered States Libation & Arts Festival
08/23/2024 — Málaga, ES @ Canela Party

# with Lowertown
^ with Das Blisschen Totschlag
+ Karly Hartzman & MJ Lenderman solo show with support from Dan Wriggins
$ with Hotline TNT
* with They Hate Change
% with Draag