Month: October 2023

True crime fans and The Conjuring franchise addicts alike will want to place a new documentary into their queues. The Devil On Trial revolves around that one time (and there has been only one) that the official defense of a U.S.-based murder defendant was “demonic possession” in an attempt to absolve personal responsibility for a homicide. The documentary is based on a real story and also heavily involves the husband-wife paranormal investigative team of Ed and Lorraine Warren. They are shown in the above photograph with David Glatzel, who plays a key role in one hell of a demonic mess.

As many people were already aware, the Warrens actually existed and also appear as main characters in the now-sprawling The Conjuring universe that also includes Annabelle: Creation and those jump-scare heavy The Nun flicks. This legal case, however, served as the inspiration for The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, which portrays a real Satanic panic.

The Devil On Trial takes the documentary approach and follows David Glatzel’s apparently unsuccessful exorcism by the Warrens, after which the demon allegedly leaped into the body of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, who later murdered his landlord. Johnson went on trial in 1981. Was this defense successful? We won’t spoil, but you can watch The Devil On Trial on Netflix.

Heather Graham plays a possessed therapist in the old school horror throwback Suitable Flesh, and critics are here for the randy thriller from director Joe Lynch. The film was in development by ’80s horror master Stuart Gordon before his death in 2020, and the Re-Animator director’s influence can apparently be felt all over the project

Infused with Lovecraftian, body-swapping horror, Graham does quadruple duty in Suitable Flesh as she switches personalities on the fly while her character, Elizabeth, goes through a wild journey of sexual rediscovery and decapitation.

You can see what the critics are saying below:

Nick Schager, The Daily Beast:

Graham, it turns out, was made for this kind of mayhem, vacillating between panicked heroine (when she’s Elizabeth) and alluring and canny villain (when she’s the entity) with just-barely-over-the-top verve. Whether leering at her prey or exploring her body with her hands, Graham handles her dual-role duties with requisite panicked hysteria and lewd poise.

Adam White, The Independent:

Nothing is more screamingly Nineties than Boogie Nights star Heather Graham bonking to the dramatic wail of a saxophone as curtains waft sensually around her. It’s just one of the many nods to cinema past in Suitable Flesh, a gooey horror throwback that answers a question only the bravest screenwriters would dare ask: what would happen if Basic Instinct lost Sharon Stone and replaced her with a body-swapping, ambisexual hell demon who smokes rollies and rips people’s heads off?

Dennis Harvey, Variety:

There are some yuks (and yucks) to be had in his frequent writing collaborator Dennis Paoli’s very loose, gender-reversed riff on the cult fantasist’s lesser-regarded 1933 short story “The Thing on the Doorstep.” But director Joe Lynch haplessly plays much of this supernatural tale as an erotic thriller, the uncertainty of satirical intent leaving his actors looking silly. … It’s a movie best watched after a few libations, which might make more of the laughs play as deliberate.

David Ehrlich, IndieWire:

Paoli’s script doesn’t really dig into the character’s mindset (a nuanced psychological study this ain’t), but thanks to the meta-textual edge of Graham’s casting and the breathy repressiveness of her multifaceted performance, it doesn’t really have to. The movie’s porny overtones are strong enough to make “Suitable Flesh” feel like a veritable séance for the faded spirit of Rollergirl, even if Elizabeth is the last person to recognize any of the past lives that she might happen to host over the course of this story — human or otherwise.

Glenn Kenny, RogerEbert.com:

While neither particularly profound nor earth-shatteringly scary, “Suitable Flesh” is better than passable grisly horror fun in a very specific tradition. A tradition hinted at by the presence of Barbara Crampton in the cast and a title card situating the goings-on taking place at a medical facility called “Miskatonic.” Yup, this movie is set in Lovecraft Country. Old-school.

Meagan Navarro, Bloody Disgusting:

Fans of Lovecraft will find a treasure trove of Easter eggs to mine here. Still, it’s the way that Lynch seamlessly inserts Suitable Flesh into the same conversation as Stuart Gordon’s Lovecraft adaptations that most impresses. There’s painstaking attention to detail from the opening frame. It’s not just settings or characters that call back to the late Gordon’s memorable horror films, but aesthetics, tropes, and everything in between. Lynch brings the ‘90s penchant for soft lighting and saxophone music into the present for his erotic horror thriller and pays tribute to stalwart horror tropes like the sandwich-eating hospital morgue attendant.

Jake Kleinman, Inverse:

With a gruesome decapitation (one that feels like a direct nod to Re-Animator) serving as a starting gun, the movie quickly begins a full sprint through its second and third acts. The demon hops bodies haphazardly, giving multiple cast members a chance to flex their acting muscles (Graham shines, in particular, swigging brandy as the demon discovers the joys of inhabiting a female body). The entire thing climaxes in a frantic and bloody showdown at the hospital where a possessed Elizabeth faces off against her colleague (played by Re-Animator star and Suitable Flesh producer Barbara Crampton) in a showdown that involves a bloody, living corpse, giving Graham the opportunity to wildly wave a gun around while her eyes dance in their sockets.

Isabella Soares, Collider:

Overall, Suitable Flesh doesn’t have to be too spooky or jump-scare-filled to maintain the audience’s attention. Its strength relies on its ensemble, particularly the main trio, and how Lynch can make this Lovecraft adaptation fresh. Even though it pays homage to Gordon’s well-known filmography, it is far from being a carved copy of the late director’s style. The score and editing add to the erotic horror, never crossing the line when it comes to drama. All of these elements work together to maintain the film’s balance and the plot engaging. In short, this is the perfect cinematic venture for those who are fond of chaotic, psychological thrillers that keep you engaged, but that don’t keep you guessing when it all comes to a close.

Suitable Flesh is now writhing in theaters and VOD.

If there’s one person the Swifties loathe more than Taylor Swift’s most recent rumored ex, Matty Healy, it’s Scooter Braun. But with the recent release of 1989 (Taylor’s Version), their disgust for the former talent management executive could subside soon. The “Is It Over Now?” singer has newly taken back control of her entire discography while also unlocking her vault. So what albums does Taylor Swift own the masters for?

Simply put, all of them with the exception of her 2006 debut self-titled debut album and 2017’s Reputation. After inking a deal with Republic Records in 2018, the masters for all of her subsequent albums, including Lover (2019), Folklore (2020), Evermore (2020), and Midnights (2022), belonged to her.

Thanks to her Taylor’s Version rerecordings, she now owns her own masters for 2008’s Fearless and 2012’s Red (Taylor’s Versions were released in 2021), while the rerecordings of her Speak Now (2010) and 1989 (2014) projects were shared this year.

In November 2021, during an appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers, Swift opened up about why it was essential for her to re-record her discography while promoting Red (Taylor’s Version).

“I know everyone has busy lives,” she said. “So, I do feel the need to explain what I’m doing because it’s not normal. Basically, I’ve always wanted to own my music since I started making my music… There was something that happened years ago where I made it clear that I wanted to be able to buy [back the ownership rights over] my music; that opportunity was not given to me, and it was [instead] sold to someone else. So, I figured because I was the one who made this music first, I could just make it again. So, that’s what [I’m] doing. So when something in parentheses says, ‘(Taylor’s version),’ next to it, that means she owns it, which is exciting.”

1989 (Taylor’s Version) is out now via Republic Records. Find more information here.

Taylor Swift is flying high after the release of 1989 (Taylor’s Version), but not even those seagulls can traverse in the same stratosphere as Swift. Her infinite influence somehow balloons by the day — another No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 single over here, an unparalleled concert film theatrical release there over there — and feels unquantifiable. Bloomberg quantified it anyway.

The publication reported on Thursday, October 26, that Swift’s total net worth is $1.1 billion, citing Bloomberg News analysis. Swift’s The Eras Tour is credited as the engine that propelled her beyond $1 billion. Bloomberg used friendship bracelet graphics as an illustrative breakdown of Swift’s net worth: $400 million estimated value in Swift’s musical releases since 2019, $370 million in ticket sales and merchandise, $120 million from Spotify and YouTube, $110 million as the value of five personal properties, and $80 million in music sales royalties.

The eye-popping part is that Bloomberg described its estimates as “conservative and based only upon assets and earnings that could be confirmed or traced from publicly disclosed figures,” though the estimates do “account for the impact of income tax, tour production and travel costs, and commissions paid to managers and agents.”

The primary takeaway? A wealthy Swift is good for the United States Of America. No, literally: “The singer’s 53 US concerts this year added $4.3 billion to the country’s gross domestic product,” according to estimates from Bloomberg Economics.

Swift’s The Eras Tour will begin its international leg on November 9 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. See all of her remaining dates here.

After a short Sportscast segment in which Steven and Ian mourn the sorry states of their respective teams at the moment (Packers and Phillies), they get down to some inside-baseball chat about reckonings at major music publications. Rolling Stone published several articles this week that addressed Jann Wenner’s recent comments about female and POC musicians, and Bandcamp was reeling after Instagram posts by the site’s editorial director slamming the platform’s union surfaced.

After that, they delve into the latest album by The Gaslight Anthem, History Books, the band’s first in nine years. Even with the long break, GLA pretty much picks up where they left off. Then Steven and Ian talk about the 20th anniversary of Chutes Too Narrow, the 2003 Shins album that Ian recently wrote about for Stereogum. In the mailbag, a listener asks about the numerous cameos by singer-songwriters in Killers Of The Flower Moon — including Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, Jack White, and Pete Yorn — while another listener talks about the surprisingly thriving Tumblr scene in the 2010s for bands like Beirut and The Decemberists.

In Recommendation Corner, Ian talks up the new album by emo band awakebutstillinbed while Steven recommends a reissue from the iconic Pacific Northwest band Lync and a new EP by the jangle-pop group Lightheaded.

New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 161 here and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can submit questions for Steve and Ian at [email protected], and make sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter for all the latest news. We also recently launched a visualizer for our favorite Indiecast moments. Check those out here.

No Hard Feelings only came out in June, so one would expect that this movie would hang around on VOD for quite some time, but the streaming gods (and Sony Pictures Entertainment) are smiling upon us this month. This is the movie where Jennifer Lawrence brings the raunch factor back to comedic feature films, and she really goes there with a nude scene and, otherwise all-out outrageousness. This must have been a blast to shoot, unlike the heavier Oscar fare that Lawrence has sometimes favored.

In this film, Lawrence stars as Maddie, a young woman who is down on her luck, and things keep getting worse. She even screws things up with Ebon Moss-Bachrach (of The Bear among many other fine TV series), and he tows her car. Rude? Possibly. However, Maddie finds a unique opportunity to get back on her financial feet when a pair of helicopter-parents put out a Craigslist ad for someone to “date” their 19-year-old son. It’s a damn fun little film, so where can you stream it?

You can do the thing over on Netflix. JLaw is waiting for you.

At present, the film is only available on ad-free plans, although that might change in the future. In the meantime, you can also watch the film on VOD. So, go watch No Hard Feelings. It’s a great weekend movie, but let’s be honest, it’ll work any day of the week.

At last, Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) has arrived. While fans have heard all the base album tracks before (the original recordings, anyway), there’s some new stuff to dig into via the “From The Vault” tracks. A few hours removed from the album’s release, fans have thoughts about one of the new songs in particular: “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault).”

Is “Is It Over Now?” about Harry Styles?

Fans have long thought that Styles is all over 1989, as two of the album’s biggest hits, “Wildest Dreams” and “Style,” are both rumored to be about the former One Direction member. Now, Swifties think there’s even more where that came from on “Is It Over Now?.”

Since the song’s release, social media has been full of fans speculating the song is about Styles. The lyric annotations on the song’s Genius page is a good source for these theories, too.

Some connections are made between the new song and the aforementioned “Style” and “Wildest Dreams.” Some believe the lyric “Once the flight had flown” is a reference to the matching paper airplane necklaces Swift and Styles used to wear. Others think the line “Whеn you lost control / Red blood, white snow” is about a snowmobile accident the two had.

Check out some social media reactions below.

Halloween weekend is upon us. And unless you’re 12 and reading this while you should be doing kid stuff…. it’s pretty likely you’ll have a drink in your hand at some point this weekend. So let’s make it a great drink, right?

This year’s UPROXX Official Halloween Cocktail is a delectable candy riff on a classic — the Chocolate Orange Bourbon Old Fashioned. This is the perfect mix of fall vibes, Halloween candy feels, and classic bourbon flavor notes dialed to 11.

Of course, it’s also a play on one of the most longstanding and well-known cocktails of all time, so it might be relatively familiar to you. And this rendition is a pretty easy adjustment, with a few special ingredients that you should be able to get at a good liquor store. Otherwise, this is an easy-to-mix cocktail and a nice change of pace that adds depth to the standard old fashioned.

Let’s get stirring!

• These *Real* Strawberry Margarita Recipes Are Exactly What You Need This Weekend
• The Bourbon Smash Is Our Official Labor Day Weekend Cocktail — Here’s The Recipe
• Learn To Make These Essential Bourbon Cocktails For Bourbon Heritage Month
• The Five Cocktails That Everyone Should Be Able To Make At Home
• The Porn Star Martini Is Our Official Summer Cocktail — Here’s The Recipe

Chocolate Orange Bourbon Old Fashioned

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. bourbon
• 0.5 oz. Dry Curaçao
• 4 dashes of chocolate bitters
• Ice
• Orange peel
• 72% dark chocolate bar
• Large ice cube

When it comes to the bourbon, I’m using a classic spicy sweet Kentucky bourbon with a nice hint of dark fruit and citrus, Russell’s Reserve 10-Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. The best part is that this is a very easily found and very affordable bourbon. It also always makes a killer cocktail.

Next, you want to use Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao. It adds a deep orange vibe with an orange blossom feel to it that just works wonders in a cocktail. You can use a triple sec in a pinch, but you won’t get the same depth or texture.

Likewise, get a good dark chocolate bar. I’m using Ghirardelli 72% simply because I have one. If you want to go full Chocolate Orange, get the Lindt Intense Orange Dark Chocolate. Or if you really want to go all in, use an actual Chocolate Orange. I like using good dark chocolate to let that meld with the orange oils naturally on the drink.

Lastly, you should be able to find chocolate bitters at any good liquor store.

What You’ll Need:

• Rocks glass (prechilled)
• Cocktail mixing glass
• Cocktail strainer
• Barspoon
• Paring knife
• Box grater or microplane

Method:

• Prechill the rocks glass in the freezer.
• Add the bourbon, Dry Curaçao, and chocolate bitters to the cocktail glass with a large handful of ice. Use the barspoon to stir the cocktail until the glass is ice-cold to touch (about 20-30 seconds).
• Finely grate about a tablespoon of the dark chocolate.
• Fetch the glass from the freezer. Thinly slice an orange peel from the orange and then slice off the end of the orange. Use the end slice to wet a section of the rocks glass and then drip the wetted edge of the glass into the finely grated dark chocolate. Add the large ice cube to the glass.
• Strain the cocktail into the glass. Express the oils from the orange peel over the glass and then drop it into the cocktail. Serve.

Bottom Line on the Chocolate Orange Bourbon Old Fashioned

This is a lush and very tasty sipper. Dry Curaçao adds a wonderfully silken texture to the cocktail that you simply don’t get with simple syrup or sugar in old fashioneds. It also adds a deep yet light and airy orange depth that’s perfectly accented by the dark chocolate vibes. The bourbon shines through with hints of clove and dark orange rinds next to a hint of nuttiness and vanilla.

This is a great old fashioned and has just the right amount of chocolate candy vibes to feel like Halloween in a glass. That dusting of dark chocolate on the rim helps this feel extra Halloween candy-forward!

Donald Trump refuses to shut his trap, and it’s costing him. The former president has been fined twice for violating gag orders during his New York civil fraud trial. “If we had a jury it would have been fair, at least — even if it was a somewhat negative jury — because no negative jury would vote against me,” he said this week, resulting in a $10,000 penalty. “But this judge will. Because this judge is a very partisan judge, with a person who’s very partisan sitting alongside of him, perhaps even much more partisan than he is.”

Trump has also been blabbing on Truth Social. On Thursday, he posted, “The Judge in the New York State A.G. case refuses to accept the overturning of his decisions by the Appeals Court. This is a first in the history of the State! HE HAS GONE CRAZY IN HIS HATRED OF ‘TRUMP.’”

Why did Trump put his last name in quotes? No clue, but as Jimmy Kimmel pointed out during last night’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, “If you really want to shut Trump up, you don’t threaten him with jail time or fines. Threaten him with Eric time. Trust me.” He added, “Put him in a room with Eric, he’ll clam up like he’s at a brunch with Melania.”

As far as Trump’s “untalented” foolish sons go, I’d still rather spend time with Eric than Don Jr. There would be way less sniffling.

You can watch the Jimmy Kimmel Live clip above.

It’s been seven hours. Time for Taylor Swift to drop a new album.

The pop star released the Taylor’s Version of 1989 at midnight. Before the clock struck 9 a.m. EST, she announced a deluxe edition of the album, featuring a remix of “Bad Blood” with Kendrick Lamar.

“Watching @kendricklamar create and record his verses on the Bad Blood remix was one of the most inspiring experiences of my life. I still look back on this collaboration with so much pride and gratitude, for the ways Kendrick elevated the song and the way he treats everyone around him,” Swift wrote on X. “Every time the crowds on The Eras Tour would chant his line ‘you forgive, you forget, but you never let it… go!’, I smiled.”

She continued, “The reality that Kendrick would go back in and re-record Bad Blood so that I could reclaim and own this work I’m so proud of is surreal and bewildering to me. I’m overjoyed to say that the Bad Blood Remix (featuring Kendrick Lamar) is available everywhere on the 1989 Deluxe Edition.”

The deluxe edition of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is the same as the “normal” 1989 (Taylor’s Version), including five new vault tracks, just with the “Bad Blood” as the final song. You can listen below.