As Amazon nears the start of its new ad program, which will require Prime Video users to pay an additional $2.99/month if they want to avoid commercials, Netflix has revealed that the streaming platform almost implemented a similar approach. Netflix Co-CEO Greg Peters made the admission during the company’s Q4 earnings call on Tuesday.
“We did consider making advertising the default option,” Peters told investors. “But given our long history of not having ads, we thought it was better for members, rather than forcing them into a change and get them mad.”
Peters further expanded on why Netflix ultimately chose to go a different direction than Amazon.
Prime Video, which Peters did not name in his answer, requires customers to pay $3 a month extra to not see any ads on original programming. Netflix concluded it was “better to attract them to the advertising plan … based on the benefits: more streams, higher-resolution downloads and, of course, lower price,” Peters said. A bit more than a year since launch, he continued, “that approach is generally working well for our members and we haven’t seen any big backlash, which is a positive as well.”
However, while Netflix might not be forcing users to pay extra to avoid ads, it is starting to limit their options. The streaming platform recently confirmed that it’s doing away with its cheapest ad-free plan known as Basic. Users will then have to choose between the $6.99 Standard plan with ads or jump all the way up to the $15.49 Standard plan without ads. Either way, Netflix benefits from either pulling in more ad-revenue or collecting a higher subscription rate.
Coachella is quickly approaching, as the California festival is returning for two weekends in April. With Lana Del Rey, Tyler The Creator, Doja Cat, and No Doubt set to headline, along with a lot more thrilling acts, many music lovers might be wondering if they can still get tickets.
Shortly after the festival unveiled the 2024 lineup, they put out a presale for tickets — giving out a code to those who signed up.
Here’s what to know about Coachella’s current ticket availability.
Is Coachella 2024 Sold Out?
As of right now, no.
According to Coachella’s website, 3-day General Admission passes to either weekend are still available to purchase, and these start at $549 with fees. This also doesn’t include the GA with shuttle option, which would then start at $669, and is also still available.
VIP 3-day tickets still have remaining availability, and these start at $1,269 before fees, according to AXS.
It seems that the things that have sold out for right now are the camping options. Preferred car camping, tent camping, the Lake Eldorado Tent, and stays at the Lake Eldorado Lodge all have separate waitlists going right now. These all include a $20 deposit to start, with the remainder of the accommodation costs being charged if you are accepted.
For those looking to go, though, it definitely would be worth not waiting, as Coachella typically sells out.
Prolific music producer Jack Antonoff has tons of music arriving soon. In addition to the new self-titled Bleachers album, which is out this March, Antonoff is lending his producer hand to a promising collective of artists.
Antonoff has curated the soundtrack for Apple TV+’s new series, The New Look, a period piece telling the story of fashion designers Christian Dior, Coco Chanel and their contemporaries in the era of World War II, pioneering modern fashion. Emmy Award winner Ben Mendelsohn plays Christian Dior and Academy Award winner Juliette Binoche stars as Coco Chanel. Maisie Williams, John Malkovich, Emily Mortimer, Claes Bang and Glenn Close also star alongside Mendelsohn and Binoche.
The show’s soundtrack features 10 new recordings produced by Antonoff, performed by Florence + The Machine, Perfume Genius, Joy Oladokan, Bartees Strange, The 1975, Lana Del Rey, and more. The first of the songs, Florence + The Machine’s “White Cliffs Of Dover” arrives next Wednesday, January 31.
You can see the cover art and tracklist below.
Jack Antonoff’s The New Look Soundtrack Album Cover Art
Shadow Of The City
Jack Antonoff’s The New Look Soundtrack Tracklist
1. “White Cliffs Of Dover” by Florence + The Machine
2. “Now Is The Hour” by The 1975
3. “Blue Skies” by Lana Del Rey
4. “What A Difference A Day Makes” by Perfume Genius
5. “La Vie En Rose” by Nick Cave
6. “It’s Only A Paper Moon” by Beadbadoobee
7. “I Wished Upon The Moon” by Joy Oladokan
8. “You Always Hurt The One You Love” by Bartees Strange
9. “I Cover The Waterfront” by Sam Dew
10. “Almost Like Being In Love” by Bleachers
The New Look soundtrack is out 4/3 via Shadow Of The City and Dirty Hit. Find more information here.
The New Look premieres 2/14 on Apple TV+ with three episodes, and additional episodes streaming weekly.
Reacher‘s second season finale put the Big Guy back on a bus to his next destination, which remained a mystery at air time. Plenty of speculation existed, however, which Lee Childs Jack Reacher novel would be adapted next by the Amazon series for Season 3. A lot of chatter has surfaced about Tripwire, the third novel in the series, although Amazon hasn’t been following chronological order yet, so nothing was guaranteed.
Sure enough, the adapted novel will not be Tripwire. Instead, anyone who wants to hop ahead by reading Persuader (Book 7 in Childs’ series) can feel confident in doing so. Amazon confirmed that detail as well as a returning character — sorry, it is not Roscoe — which will be Francis Neagley as portrayed by Maria Sten. As devotees know, Neagley never appeared in the first Jack Reacher novel, but the show pulled her in for a brief first season appearance, which helped Neagley’s second season “flare gun” of sorts make sense. Also, she knows what Reacher likes to order in diners, which makes a refueling pit stop faster, so they can go punch bad dudes together.
Sounds like a plan, and here’s additional (vague) information from an Amazon press release:
Season Three of Reacher will be based on the book Persuader, the 7th book in the Jack Reacher series, written by Lee Child….. About Season Three: Reacher must go undercover to rescue an informant held by a haunting foe from his past.
The third season of Reacher is currently filming in Toronto. The renewal was announced in December 2023, two weeks before season two premiered on Prime Video.
Prior to this announcement, Ritchson (who has been bumped up to executive producer for the third season) shared a “crusty” photo from the set, but the real tease came from his Instagrammed image of a lobster (from craft services) with the telltale “details matter” motto in tow.
That detail pretty much confirmed that Persuader, which takes place in lobstering country (Maine), was the chosen book. Amazon saw fit to put an official seal on that news, and you know what to do next. Still, Tripwire would be fun because who doesn’t wanna see Reacher in Key West? Someone who doesn’t believe in key lime pie, that’s who.
Jack Daniel’s has completely reinvented itself (yet again) over the past decade or so. The brand has gone from being a low-shelf rail whiskey to one of the most exciting brands in the entire whiskey sphere. That growth and repositioning is thanks to Master Distiller Chris Fletcher and Assistant Distiller Lexie Phillips — both multi-generation Jack Daniel’s whiskey makers — taking the reigns in Lynchburg, Tennessee, and shifting the focus of the company to amazing releases that reinvent the brand.
Spoiler alert: They’re killing it. And fans and reviewers (like myself!) are definitely taking note.
We know that seems thin. But the team at Jack Daniel’s — and their bosses in Louisville at Brown-Forman — are very good at surprising us. Given the success of last year’s Tennessee rye releases, be on the lookout for special finished rye whiskeys, single barrels, and one-of-a-kind releases in that arena. We’d also keep an eye out for more American single malt whiskey.
The Cheesecake Factory has what I like to call a “shit ton of menu options.” It’s the one thing everyone knows about The Factory. If you were asked the question, “what kind of food does Cheesecake Factory have?” You’d simply answer “A lot.” There is no rhyme or reason to any of these food options, either. There is no unifying theme (unless you count chaos as a theme), and there isn’t a singular dish that can represent the experience of eating there.
The bloated menu makes eating at Cheesecake Factory a stressful experience, especially if it’s your first time. Once you hit menu page 14, you’re probably going to be juggling at least 37 different dishes in your head that you might like to eat. But don’t worry, we’re here to help. Not only have we done a breakdown of the 25 best dishes on the menu, but we’ve also tried every cheesecake on the menu. And now — perhaps the most vital for diners…
We’re about to review and rank every. Single. Appetizer.
Have we made our way through even half of the available menu options at Cheesecake Factory? Not even close! But baby steps, people! One thing we can guarantee is that by using our Cheesecake Factory guides, you’ll leave the restaurant with a good meal every time.
To help make this ranking a bit easier to navigate, I’ve categorized the appetizers into three distinct categories: Non-essential, good, and great. A quick note before we begin though — if you find something on the non-essential list that you’re curious about, go ahead and satisfy that curiosity. Just because we dropped the option in the non-essential section doesn’t mean we think it’s “bad.” More that it feels like a wasted choice.
Everything at Cheesecake Factory is scratch-made in a restaurant, except for the cheesecakes, ironically, so while some of these are inessential, just about everything is still pretty damn tasty. Let’s eat!
PART I — Non-Essential Apps
17. Pretzel Bites With Cheddar Cheese Fondue
Dane Rivera
Thoughts & Tasting Notes:
You’re going to get exactly what you expect here: little balls of soft warm pretzel with a salty cheddar cheese dip to pair it with. There isn’t anything special or otherwordly about these pretzels, it’s pretty standard stuff: buttery, chewy, with a light dusting of salt.
Despite the Pretzel Bites being good, I don’t understand who these are for. Cheesecake Factory is always located in or near a mall. Always. That means in the mall you can hit up Auntie Anne’s or Wetzel Pretzel, pick up a fresh baked pretzel for a third of the price, and essentially get the same experience.
So do that instead.
The Bottom Line:
They’re pretzel bites. Nothing special here, they aren’t elevated in any way and they don’t offer you anything a regular soft pretzel doesn’t. Skip these, and actively talk people at your table out of ordering them. They’re a waste of table space.
16. Quesadilla
Dane Rivera
Thoughts & Tasting Notes:
I love a good quesadilla as much as the next person, and this is a pretty good quesadilla, but, ultimately, it’s inessential.
Let’s talk about what works: It’s huge, grilled, and has a thick layer of Monterey Jack cheese, green onions, and mild chiles inside, with a side of guacamole, salsa, and sour cream for dipping.
Something is missing with this quesadilla though. The salsa is essentially just pico de gallo, meaning it provides zero heat, the guacamole is a bit more complicated than it needs to be and goes too heavy on the onion, and the tortilla has this thick and bready quality about it that doesn’t capture the magic of your typical buttery and chewy flour tortilla.
Something about it tastes so glaringly inauthentic that after I ordered it I had a craving for something from my corner taqueria. Not a good sign.
Now I’m fortunate enough to live in Los Angeles where there are significantly more taquerias where you can get a mind-blowing quesadilla than there are Cheesecake Factory restaurants. If that’s not your situation, I suggest hitting up your local market and getting all the necessary ingredients to make this on your own.
The Bottom Line:
It’s not going to be the best quesadilla you’re ever going to eat, and it’s not going to taste better than what you can make at home in about three minutes.
15. Warm Crab Dip
Dane Rivera
Thoughts & Tasting Notes:
There are plenty of seafood-related options to snack on before your main course, but considering the Warm Crab Dip is just a blend of crab, artichokes, and cheese, with a side of crostini for dipping, it feels pretty minor in comparison to more shareable dishes like the Ahi Poke Nachos or Fried Calamari and isn’t quite as good a dip as the Hot Spinach and Cheese Dip or the cheddar cheese fondue from the Mini Pretzel bites.
As for the flavor, it’s a mix of sweet and creamy notes with a nice tender texture and a subtle savory quality. It’s not bad by any means, but it’s a very minor side that will be gone a bit too quickly.
The Bottom Line:
The most boring seafood-related dish on the appetizer menu.
14. Sweet Corn Tamale Cakes
Dane Rivera
Thoughts & Tasting Notes:
Don’t let this eye candy dish fool you, I know it looks incredibly satisfying, like some sort of cross between a tamale and a sope, but the flavor here isn’t nearly as interesting as the photo suggests. The dish consists of sweet corn cakes topped with avocado, tomato, and cilantro sitting in a thick sauce that Cheesecake Factory calls Salsa Verde, but is some sort of super mild, slightly sweet gravy.
Seriously, in what world is this salsa?
Overall the whole dish is also way too sweet, almost to the point of being a dessert. If you’re a fan of sweet tamales, you might find something to like here and the dish certainly is photo-worthy, but if you’re after big complex flavors, look elsewhere.
The Bottom Line:
This super sweet dish is missing a savory element to help balance it out.
13. Factory Nachos
Dane Rivera
Thoughts & Tasting Notes:
These are essentially a glammed-up version of movie theater nachos consisting of tortilla chips topped with melted cheese, a tiny scoop of guacamole, a light drizzle of red chile sauce, sour cream, pickled jalapeños, green onions, and salsa.
Don’t let the double dose of red chile sauce and salsa fool you though, this dish is more sweet than spicy.
These nachos just don’t do the dish justice — there is no meat, no beans, no cilantro, none of the things that make nachos truly great. Unless your idea of good nachos is what you’ll find at a movie theater or sports stadium.
Cheesecake’s Spinach and Cheese Dip goes hard on the garlic and shallots, making this an incredibly aromatic dish that tastes great and is appetizing in the moment, but stains your palate for the rest of the day. For that reason alone, I wouldn’t order this dish.
I can’t deny that it is pretty tasty. It’s served with a side of freshly fried tortilla and it’s the type of dish that you sort of mindlessly eat without stopping because it’s right in front of you. My only real issue with this dish, besides the way the flavor permeates, is that it feels a bit overpriced at nearly $20 in the LA area.
For the money, there are more satisfying dishes on the appetizer menu.
The Bottom Line:
You certainly shouldn’t stop someone else at the table from ordering it, but don’t be the one — because it’s a steep price for what is just a slightly elevated cheese dip and chips.
PART II — The Good
11. Ahi Poke Nachos
Dane Rivera
Thoughts & Tasting Notes:
It might seem strange that the Factory Nachos are on the “Inessential” list but the Ahi Poke Nachos are on the “Good” list, but that’s because this dish tastes novel and unique and not like someone is trying to trick you into paying nearly $20 for nachos you could easily make at home.
The Ahi Poke nachos feature a mix of marinated raw Ahi tuna, avocado, green onion, chiles, sesame seeds, and crispy wontons all drizzled with sriracha aioli. The perfect chip (meaning a bit of everything on the wontons) has a flavor that combines fresh bright-buttery tuna flavor, with added buttery, peppery, and tangy top notes with a gentle heat that builds on the palate.
My only gripe with this dish is that there isn’t nearly enough tuna (or chiles) so after a few delicious bites of this dish, you’re going to just be eating wontons.
The Bottom Line:
A solid-tasting dish that runs out of its star ingredient after just a few bites.
10. Thai Lettuce Wraps With Chicken/Avocado
Dane Rivera
Thoughts & Tasting Notes:
I like the Thai Lettuce Wraps (available both with chicken or avocado) so much. Every ingredient hits here. The satay-style chicken strips are tender, a bit sweet, and nicely charred, the carrots are bright and sweet, the bean sprouts and coconut curry noodles add nice texture, the cilantro and cucumber are great fresh finishers, and the big buttery leaves of lettuce and cabbage wrap it all together in a perfect bite.
And that’s before we even get to the trio of sauces, which include variations on peanut sauce and sweet chili. But this dish is impossible to share, and I think a great appetizer needs to be shareable.
There just isn’t enough chicken here. Even eating this thing solo, I ended up left with just lettuce and the sides pretty quickly.
The Bottom Line:
I love the fresh flavor, but there isn’t enough chicken to rid whoever ordered it of the impulse to slap people’s hands away when they reach for some. And a good app should be shareable.
9. Fried Calamari
Dane Rivera
Thoughts & Tasting Notes:
I don’t have a lot to say about Fried Calamari. It’s a good dish, shareable, and delivers pretty much what you’d expect from Fried Calamari. The Calamari is light and crispy with a sweet flavor that pairs nicely with the garlic sauce and cocktail dip. If you like calamari, you’re going to love this dish, simple as that.
So why is it in the good not great list? It just seems pretty standard to me, not mind-blowing or a reason to go to the Cheesecake Factory.
The Bottom Line:
It delivers pretty much what you’d expect. Standard fare. Good, but not great.
8. Buffalo Wings
Dane Rivera
Thoughts & Tasting Notes:
Like the Fried Calamari, I feel like these buffalo wings are pretty much on par with other chains and pubs. They’re crispy, tender, and covered in a thick buffalo sauce. The buffalo sauce isn’t very wet or saucy, and the heat here isn’t very intense, but the flavor has a nice tang to it with the right amount of sweetness.
Note — Cheesecake Factory uses that sauce in a better dish. We’ll get to it soon.
The Bottom Line:
Wings are always a good appetizer and these are no different, but if you’re looking for something truly unique that uses the same flavors, stay tuned, we have a dish for you in the “Great” section.
7. Spicy Tuna
Dane Rivera
Thoughts & Tasting Notes:
The Spicy Tuna is a near-perfect bite. The rice has a crispy lightly fried texture to it which pairs nicely with the texture of the Ahi tuna. Everything works in harmony here, including the light shavings of green onion, and the sweet mildly spicy ginger drizzle.
The issue with this dish is that it’s only suitable for a group of four, this way everyone can have one each. If you try and knock out this dish with two people, you’re going to end up feeling a bit too full. It’s a small gripe, but again, this doesn’t feel like a reason to go to Cheesecake Factory, and that’s what we’re looking for in the “Great” category.
The Bottom Line:
A perfect bite with a nice texture and a great flavor.
6. Chicken Pot Stickers
Dane Rivera
Thoughts & Tasting Notes:
The Chicken Pot Stickers are pan-fried dumplings housing tender and succulent chunks of chicken in a sweet and salty soy ginger glaze with toasted sesame seeds. Tasting this dish was a true pleasure and there wasn’t a single element of this dish that I could find an issue with but for whatever reason, after I ate these I had a craving for dumplings from a real dumpling house.
I think that decidedly means this dish is good but not great.
The Bottom Line:
A tasty pan-fried dumpling. Delicious but not a reason to visit Cheesecake Factory.
PART III — The Great
5. Housemade Meatballs
Dane Rivera
Thoughts & Tasting Notes:
Now we’re talking! This is where Cheesecake Factory goes from merely good, to straight-up mind-blowing. Admittedly this meatball dish is painfully simple, it consists of only three meatballs in a tomato sauce topped with ricotta and parmesan cheese with some fried basil leaves.
The beef is luxurious, thick, and meaty paired with a wonderful savory sauce full of umami, and I love the little iron skillet that houses the dish, keeping everything blazing hot. I know I said a great appetizer dish has to be shareable, and it seems hard to share three meatballs, but all you need is half of a meatball to really fall in love with this dish.
I wish there were more meatballs, but a single bite is so satisfying that it’s all you need, no matter how big your appetite.
The Bottom Line:
A truly mind-blowing meatball.
4. Buffalo Blasts
Dane Rivera
Thoughts & Tasting Notes:
I know, these things don’t look great, no angle or lighting is going to change that, but trust me, this dish is f*cking incredible. And I have this article to thank for trying it because otherwise, I would never order something called “Buffalo Blasts.”
The Buffalo Blast is essentially a fat chicken tender stuffed with cheese and buffalo sauce, fried, and served alongside more buffalo sauce and your dressing of choice. Think of the Buffalo Blasts like a clean boneless wing, it has all the buttery and tangy flavor you’d expect from a buffalo chicken wing, but with more meat, crispiness and an infusion of salty cheese in every bite.
The Bottom Line:
It’s essentially a cheese and buffalo sauce stuffed fried boneless wing with more meat and more flavor. Sounds confusing but also, delicious!
3. Roadside Sliders
Dane Rivera
Thoughts & Tasting Notes:
If you’ve been to Cheesecake Factory a handful of times, you’ve probably on at least a few occasions thought about getting one of the Factory’s big meaty Glam-Burgers. We’ve all been there, and while the Glam-Burgers are maybe the best chain restaurant cheeseburgers ever, there is just too much stuff on the menu worth trying. We get it, a burger seems unceremonious when ordering from the compendium that is the CF menu.
The Roadside Sliders allow you to have a taste of that magic, without counting as a true meal. Win-win.
These sliders are tiny — about palm-sized — with a savory lacy patty that reminds me a bit of a smashed patty, topped with onions, pickles, ketchup and lettuce in a nice buttery lightly toasted bun. It’s the type of burger you can knock out in two bites, but be warned, it’s incredibly hard to not want more than one.
The Bottom Line:
A perfect little burger bite that captures some of the magic of the Factory’s bigger burgers but enables you to still order a main dish. We suggest you order it with cheese, because that doesn’t come stock.
2. Fried Macaroni and Cheese
Dane Rivera
Thoughts & Tasting Notes:
Yes, you’re right to be intrigued because this is indeed as good as it sounds. “Too highly ranked for mac and cheese” you say? You’re wrong — this is macaroni and cheese leveled up! The dish is essentially a ball of gooey mac and cheese covered in bread crumbs and fried. This adds what is usually a soft and chewy dish with textural crunch it desperately needs.
You know how the best mac and cheese has that oven-baked crust on top? This is that, only around the entire serving. All of this would be enough to make a truly great dish, but the Factory takes it a step further by laying the dish on top of a creamy marinara sauce which adds a lot of brightness to the dish.
The Bottom Line:
A must-order at Cheesecake Factory. It’s easily the best mac and cheese you’re going to find from an American chain restaurant.
1. Egg Roll Sampler
Dane Rivera
Thoughts & Tasting Notes:
Here it is people, the ultimate Cheesecake Factory appetizer. The Egg Roll Sampler is essentially a greatest hits package of all of Cheesecake Factory’s egg rolls, which luckily, are all delicious. Yes, there is a hierarchy, but I honestly think ordering the full sampler is the best way to go rather than the individual egg rolls.
Let’s start with my favorite: The Tex-Mex. This egg roll is stuffed with white meat chicken, corn, cilantro, peppers, and black beans paired with a mild and fresh-tasting avocado cream salsa. It’s a perfect bite.
Next up we have the Chicken Taquito, which is essentially a bite-sized chicken enchilada. The flavor is intense, and the chicken is juicy.
Moving onto the Avocado Egg Roll — you’ve got fresh buttery avocado with tangy sun-dried tomatoes, red onions, and cilantro served with the Tamarind Cashew sauce from the chicken lettuce wraps. Imagine all the deliciousness of luxurious avocado but with a crispy fried mouthfeel. It’s a perfect bite (and probably the dish that most contributed to the company’s rise to fame in the 1990s).
And finally, we have the Cheeseburger Egg Roll. This egg roll is the weak link but it’s still enjoyable. The roll features ground beef and cheese inside an egg roll with thousand-island-style dipping sauce. It tastes like, well, a cheeseburger in egg roll form. It’s high quality, beefy, and incredibly savory. Not my first choice, but a welcome addition.
The Bottom Line:
If you need one reason to hit up Cheesecake Factory, this perfect appetizer is it! Don’t stop at one order — get two!
With his various antics and controversies in recent years, Kanye West hasn’t exactly endeared himself to a lot of people. It appears that among those who potentially might not be among West’s biggest supporters is Jack Antonoff.
His band Bleachers has a new self-titled album coming out on March 8. Meanwhile, yesterday (January 23), West announced that his and Ty Dolla Sign’s upcoming album Vultures is now a three-part project, with volumes currently set for release on February 9, March 8, and April 5.
Antonoff appears to not love that he and West share a release date now: This morning, he tweeted, “kanye on bleachers release date is hilarious little cry baby b*tch.”
kanye on bleachers release date is hilarious little cry baby bitch
Worth noting is that West has delayed the release of Vultures multiple times now (which he’s done for a bunch of his previous albums, too), so there’s a decent chance West and Antonoff might not even end up releasing on the same day.
Antonoff’s latest tweet comes after his 2022 X (then Twitter) masterwork, when he tweeted, “kanye a little b*tch.” This followed West saying some antisemitic things, and Antonoff, who is Jewish, presumably didn’t care for that. Pair that with the fact that West and Antonoff collaborator Taylor Swift don’t have the best history and it makes sense why Antonoff isn’t a Ye appreciator.
Fans of the Emmy-winning NBC drama This Is Usmight need to invest in more Kleenex soon. That’s because creator Dan Fogleman is giving new hope to audiences missing the Pearson family.
After the six-season series began streaming on Netflix earlier this month, some wondered if there was more story to tell centering on the Big Three and their lives after the death of their mother, Rebecca (Mandy Moore). Despite Fogleman claiming he always intended to end the show in season six, rumors of potential spinoffs featuring the Pearson kids Kevin (Justin Hartley), Kate (Chrissy Metz), and Randall (Sterling K. Brown) began swirling after the series landed on the streaming platform. And while the showrunner hasn’t seemed interested in exploring life with the Pearson family after the death of its matriarch, he has pitched a movie idea that might have new life thanks to the Netflix bump.
Fogleman told Variety in 2022 that he had already spoken with NBC executives about a movie that would focus on what Pearson family life would look like if “Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) survived the fire.” During a TCA panel, he confirmed the powers that be at NBC were interested in the idea saying, “The president of NBC is literally texting me right now: ‘Yes to the movie.’”
“I say no to nothing,” Fogleman said. “If we can figure out a movie and can get together with [the cast] again in a few years, I’d love to.”
The cast is also on board for more Pearson family drama with Hartley, Metz, Sterling, and Moore all expressing their desire to revisit the show’s tearful yet happy ending. “I am down for a This Is Us movie, I love these cats,” Hartley told Access Hollywoodin 2021. “I would do a trilogy movie, I really would. I would do a movie every year with these guys.”
For now, fans can rewatch all the heartbreaking family dysfunction on Netflix while Fogleman and company decide exactly how they’re going to emotionally terrorize us next.
After delivering the critically acclaimed series Band of Brothers and its follow-up The Pacific, executive producers are back with an all-new World War II tale: Masters of the Air.
This time around, the WWII action will take place on Apple TV+ instead of HBO where Spielberg and Hanks previously unfolded their first two wartime epics. As for the setting, Masters of the Air takes the battle to the skies as the new series focuses on the real-life 100th Bomb Group and their harrowing missions to help defeat Germany.
Starring Austin Butler, Callum Turner, and Barry Keoghan, Masters of the Air is already racking up rave reviews ahead of its two-part premiere that arrives later this week. You can see what the critics are saying below:
It is, mind you, a misnomer to say that anything associated with Masters of the Air is “small,” be it the screen or otherwise. Based on Donald L. Miller’s 2007 book of the same name and developed for Apple TV+ by John Orloff, Masters of the Air is, by any measure, huge. It boasts a mammoth ensemble of young stars in various states of ascension, requires an astonishing quantity of technical effects to achieve its high-flying narrative and, when its key moments land, is equal parts breathtaking, exhilarating and rousingly inspirational.
A sprawling 1943-1945 saga about the 100th Bomb Group that soars far more often than it falters, it romantically lionizes the bravery and commemorates the anguish and sacrifices of “the greatest generation” via muscular action and poignant drama that understands what war is, what it takes to triumph in it, and why those who risk it all in service of their country and the world deserve our highest respect.
At the heart of it all is the inseparable duo of Maj John “Bucky” Egan (Callum Turner) and Maj Gale “Buck” Cleven (Austin Butler). Bucky is a rabble-rouser and a drinker who fights with passion, while Buck is solid, sedate and tempers Bucky’s fire. Both actors are phenomenal. As quickly becomes clear, their missions are not so much fraught with danger as a compulsory ticket to a mortality lottery with dreadful odds. Every time they depart, there is no guarantee they will make it back.
There is no doubt, however, that Masters of the Air is at its most thrilling in the skies, and the visual effects do a good job of translating both the violence and sheer velocity of WWII air combat to the screen. Viewed from the cockpits of the B-17s, watching the specks of dozens of enemy fighters manoeuvre at the American bombers is an intimidating sight – especially with the contrails they leave behind arcing out towards the formations like icy fingers. The over-the-shoulder viewpoints on the gunners, combined with the staggering head-on closing speeds of the fighters, makes the air-to-air action suitably quick and chaotic.
Of course, there’s no denying that Masters Of The Air does offer up some visually stunning depictions of airborne battle. That it, too, leans heavily into the schmaltzy side of war in its opening credits (quite easily the more unpalatable thing about the series). Still, though, it does incredible work in offering the real-life bomber boys a voice at last. In allowing itself to get personal, to delve deep into their lives away from their aircraft, to explore their individual traumas, and to explore who they really were and where they came from, the series ensures that they don’t become collateral damage in yet another expensive screen project that glorifies military action.
This is a view of the war from a triumphalist American lens; the final episode even offers a moment of literal flag-fluttering Stars-and-Stripes patriotism. Yet it’s hard not to be stirred. There is something moving about the moral simplicity of it all, a straightforward fight against fascism and the astonishing response from ordinary men using unbelievably precarious (and at the time, brand-new) technology. At its best, Masters Of The Air functions like the epic war movies Hollywood used to produce: a vast canvas, a sweeping starry ensemble, a sobering, involving reminder of history’s bloodiest conflict.
Masters of the Air premieres January 26 on Apple TV+.
Right now, there is a viral interview of Jennifer Lopez making the rounds on TikTok, where the pop star appears to be discussing a “rice hack” diet to lose weight, according to HITC. So, what’s going on here?
Is Jennifer Lopez’s Rice Water Hack Real?
No.
While Lopez did appear on The Dr. Oz Show years ago, she instead was discussing the importance of drinking regular water.
“Water,” she actually said. “Lots of water. Believe it or not, it does help keep your weight down. It obviously keeps you hydrated… for me, it just feels good. It’s mostly what I drink all the time… I just drink it all day, it’s the thing I drink.”
Instead of the original audio, a fake one has been added over Lopez’s appearance. “How am I staying in shape?” the fake Lopez voice says. “Forget about all the diets and training, I am using a special rice method that is helping me stay fit.”
Anyone watching should be able to (hopefully) tell that the voiceover does not match Lopez talking in the clip. The strange video then cuts to someone doing an at-home tutorial with lemon, rice, and some strange powder.
It should be said: don’t try or even believe this, whatever it is. Lopez, or any reputable celebrity for that matter, has not been promoting a “rice hack.”
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