Month: March 2024

In a parody video titled “Museum-worthy,” renowned artists Vincent Van Gogh and Frida Kahlo must navigate the constant influx of “creative input” on their masterpieces from cheesy middlemen dressed in period garb and spouting marketing mumbo jumbo.

Even though the sketch was created to encourage professional creatives to enter a contest for the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP), anyone who has had to deal with cringey corporate culture will get a kick out of it.

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Van Gogh is informed that while “the client was super happy” with his “Starry Night” painting, they wanted it to make it a “sunny day” for a happier tone.

Also, his painting unfortunately failed a focus group since it did not make viewers “more comfortable about the plague.” So, of course, an influencer, aka Father Anton, is brought in “to break through and resonate with younger audiences.”

Meanwhile, Kahlo is told her unibrow is “too confrontational” and is politely asked to remove the monkey from her self portrait in favor of an animal that “scored higher on trust,” like a puppy.

Give it a watch below:

Triggered? You’re not alone. Just take a look at some of these comments gleaned from Youtube:

“The people who made this commercial really captured what its like to deal with these people. Especially the influencer part.”

“For me this really showed me how ridiculous corporate control and content-isation really is. We’re so used to it that we don’t think about it any more, but can be soul sucking.”

“Okay, I actually LOL’d at the end No lies detected, though.”

“This ad was BRILLIANT and so on POINT!”

“I love this…it also made me uncomfortable, as it’s just toooooooo relatable.”

Art is subjective, but it seems we can all agree that a) this ad hits the nail on the head, and b) we are ready for corporate cringe to be done, please and thank you.

By the way, if you want to see more of what happened during that focus group for “Starry Night,” you can check out an equally funny companion piece here.

Imagine going out for a hike along the Appalachian Trail when you find yourself accompanied by an orange tabby cat, who not only walks along with you but lets you know when you’ve strayed off the beaten path.

That’s what happened to Sebastian Cocioba when he and his partner stayed at an Airbnb in Phillipstown, New York.

“Went with my partner upstate and the AirBnB host’s cat took us for a guided hike along the Appalachian trail,” he wrote on X. “Apparently this is what she does with every guest. She would complain when we took a wrong turn off the trail and knew the way back.”

“Amazing cat,” he added. “Would apocalypse with.”

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What Cocioba didn’t know at the time was that the cat wasn’t a she but a he. He’s 8 years old, his name is Cinamen, and according to his owner, Trisha Mulligan, this is just what he does.

— (@)

“I call him the concierge, because he just loves people,” Mulligan told Backpacker magazine. “You know, each color, they have different personalities. And there’s something about an orange cat that’s very social, and we have a very social cat.”

Other guests have left reviews sharing their adventures with Cinamen and some have shared with Mulligan how he kept them from getting lost on the trail. Some people even return to the Airbnb just to have Cinamen be their trail guide.

“There’s this one guy, this Russian guy who comes back regularly. He never leaves reviews, but he always sends me pictures—he’s a photographer—and he books because he wants to be with Cinamen and he wants to do the trail with Cinamen,” said Mulligan.

Of course, Cinamen is a cat, and in typical cat fashion, he cannot be coerced into anything. Mulligan said that he comes by his guiding behavior naturally—no training involved—but there’s no guarantee that he’s going to join anyone on a hike. (Or that he’s going to refrain from judging you if you go too slow, as Cocioba can attest with his “camera roll full of judgment.”)

At times she judged the crap out of us for being too slow. I got a camera roll full of judgement, lololol pic.twitter.com/shxtU6lQwK

— Sebastian S. Cocioba🪄🌷 (@ATinyGreenCell) March 12, 2024

People love the idea of having a cat as a tour guide.

“Pretty sure the cat is the host there,” wrote one person.

“Please drop the bnb so I can book them for a year just me n the travel cat,” wrote another.

“That cat was originally a human and is desperately seeking for one of the guest to take a hint and complete the necessary ritual to transform it back,” shared another.

Even Airbnb weighed in with “the purrfect trail guide.”

Some people shared that they’ve had similar experience with Airbnb host’s pets in other places.

“My daughter and her bffs had the same experience with their AirBnB’s dog! Apparently the dog is the unofficial tour guide and person herder–not only did she lead them to a couple of cool waterfalls but she kept everyone together and not wandering off,” shared one commenter.

“My family & I once went for a walk and were joined by Labrador who’d been at end of his driveway,” wrote another. “We weren’t sure of route and ended up following the dog. We did a full circular walk back to the dog’s house. Later met the owner who said dog often did this when he fancied a walk.”

“I remember when we toured kasteel de haar in the netherlands, there was a cat who toured us around the grounds too,” shared another.

Perhaps that should be a new feature hosts can tout on their Airbnb listings: “Pet tour guide provided.” Judging by people’s responses to Cinamen, it could be a big draw.

You can find Cinamen’s listing on Airbnb here.

Sure, there are many people who find light packing a breeze. Those brave souls who come alive at the thought of living three weeks in a foreign country out of a carry on bag.

But then there’s the rest of us. The ones who work ourselves into a headache trying to load our suitcases with every possible outfit that could be needed for the trip…because you never know when you might need a parka and flip-flops on the same trip. (Hey, it could happen! The Alps have hot tubs!)

But luckily, there are a few tips and tricks that chronic overpacker can incorporate to help them feel truly prepared, without having to jam their entire closet into a suitcase.

That’s where the “333 packing method” comes in.

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333 packing seems to come from—or at least be inspired by—minimalist fashion blogger Courtney Carver, whose “Project 333” encourages people to declutter by committing to only 33 items of clothing for 3 months. But the concept seems to have taken on a life of its own on TikTok, and its helping travelers of all kinds pack with peace of mind.

The rules of 333 packing are pretty straightforward: pack three tops, three bottoms, and three pairs of shoes. These basic ingredients potentially create dozens of outfits, all of which fit into a carry-on.

The trend really started blowing up after influencers began striking poses in all their different ensemble combinations, tallying upwards of 20.

@ayeshayeshbaby6 the 333 method is a life saver for me when im traveling. it helps me come up with tons of outfit ideas and not overpack #capsulewardrobe #traveloutfit #stylingtips #CapCut ♬ original sound – Ayesha

@itssarasmiles The 333 method really helped me narrow down exactly what I needed for my trip so that I wouldn’t overpack #vacationoutfitinspo #styletips #packinghacksfortravel #333method #stylishtravel ♬ original sound – Style with Sara

@daniela.brkic The 333 method is a lifesaver for not overpacking when travelling + creating heaps of different outfit ideas! #capsulewardrobe #traveloutfit #girlstrip #stylingtips #stylingideas #capsulewardrobeideas ♬ ♡ ᶫᵒᵛᵉᵧₒᵤ ♡ – SoBerBoi

However, there are some caveats. It helps if you keep your clothing choices stick to basics in neutral colors, since they are the least likely to clash and can be zhuzhed up with an accessory or two. Plus, for areas where there are large changes in climate, you might be better off packing an extra layer.

Many found that even if they customized a bit—allowing themselves 1-2 “fun” items, for example, or switching up the ratio to 5 tops, two pants, etc.—they still benefited from being completely intentional about getting the most out of whatever went with them on their travels.

“Every time I do it, I stare at my bed where all my clothes and shoes are and think, ‘Wow this seems too simple. There’s no way I can make 17-18 outfits out of just this.’ But then I do,” fashion influencer Krista Lavrusik and 333 outfit aficionado shared with HuffPost.

Bottom line: it might seem like we are easing our anxiety to prepare for inevitable loss of control that comes with traveling to new places, but often we still end up just as stressed by having to lug around so much. If this sounds like you, give the 333 method a whirl. You just might save time and luggage space. Oh, and, you know, actually enjoy that vacation you’re packing for.

The 2024 Men’s NCAA Tournament gets underway across the country this week. There is a four-game appetizer in Dayton on Tuesday and Wednesday before the main event, complete with madness, begins in earnest on Thursday afternoon. Casual observers and die-hard fans will dive in at the same time, following their brackets and the general excitement in the event.

Still, there is another defined angle for evaluation over the next few weeks, and it comes through the lens of the 2024 NBA Draft. The consensus is that the 2024 class is not terribly inspiring in comparison to previous groups, especially when it comes to college prospects, but some players always leap up the board in March and there are plenty of prospects to monitor. We’re going to let you know which players you need to watch as the Tournament begins, and here, we look at the top prospects in the East Region.

1. Stephon Castle, forward, UConn
2. Donovan Clingan, center, UConn
3. Terrence Shannon Jr., guard, Illinois
4. Alex Karaban, forward, UConn
5. Milan Momcilovic, forward, Iowa State

So… the East Region is the UConn Invitational. That wasn’t intentional in this space, but there isn’t a bevy of other prospects to choose from. Mind you, many projections would have UConn with four of the top five prospects in this region if you include Cam Spencer, but we’ll try to be a little bit judicious. Castle is a highly appealing lottery prospect with ready-made defense and passing to go along with great size on the perimeter. His shooting is a bit of a question, but perhaps he can answer it in the next few weeks. Clingan is another consensus first round pick, and he was one of the highest-rated returning players who could have been in the 2023 draft. The 7’2 center has some durability questions, but Clingan has the chance to put a stamp on a lottery profile with a dominant tournament on the defensive end.

Shannon Jr. is tough to discuss because of an off-court concern. He was charged with rape in December and suspended soon after, though a judge stepped in to reinstate Shannon’s ability to play in January. Since then, he’s been on the court and, by talent, he’s a consensus top-40 player in the class with an All-American profile on the college level this year. The off-court situation, however, is impossible to ignore, and means he cannot be evaluated as just a player. Karaban is a quality role player who can shoot it at 6’8, and Momcilovic is a Draft Twitter favorite. He is a bonkers shot-maker who isn’t afraid in the slightest to put a shot up.

Over the last few years, there have been some heated conversations surrounding the idea of intimacy coordinators in Hollywood. Most actors have expressed how safe they feel using intimacy coordinators, while a small handful have criticized the practice.

Ewan McGregor and costar Mary Elizabeth Winstead were on board with having an intimacy coordinator on the set of Showtime’s upcoming series A Gentleman In Moscow, even though the two have been married for several years. McGregor told Radio Times that it’s necessary to have coordinators no matter the relationships between the actors.

It’s still necessary, because it’s also about the crew,” McGregor told the outlet. “And it’s odd to be naked in front of people, it’s odd to be intimate in front of the camera.” The actor compared the situation to hiring a choreographer for a dance sequence. “If you were doing a dance scene, you’d have a choreographer. It’s an important part of the work now, because it’s somebody that the director and actors meet in the middle,” he added.

The actor then explained why it should be the industry norm to implement these roles. “My daughter is 22. If an older, famous director goes to a 22-year-old and says, ‘I want you to be naked in this scene,’ that actress might feel, ‘Oh, my God, I’ve got to do it, my career might depend on it,’” McGregor said.

Hopefully, the end result is that many young actors will feel safer on sets now.

(Via Variety)

Uproxx’s March 2023 cover stars aespa, along with Jessie Reyez and Tokischa, will appear on the upcoming Rebel Moon – Songs Of The Rebellion EP. The project is tied to Netflix’s Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver television series, as each song was inspired by a character on the show. The project drops April 5.

Reyez’s song is titled “Child Of Fire,” and is connected to the main character Kora from the show. She explained that she had started working on it before being tied to the EP though.

“The skeleton of the song existed before Dot Da Genius and I got approached… to collaborate for Rebel Moon,” Reyez told Rolling Stone. “However, the theme of the song happened to parallel the movie, so it seemed very kismet.”

“We massaged in minor lyric adjustments but it was very organic; as if the song was made for the movie before we even knew we’d be given the opportunity to contribute,” she added.

aespa also collaborated with Tokimonsta for “Die Trying,” which taps into the mindset of the character of Nemesis.

“Being able to collaborate with K-pop act aespa was incredible, especially as a Korean American,” Tokimonsta shared. “Nemesis’ heroic strength, which arose from the depths of tragedy and darkness, fueled my creative process throughout the track.”

Finally, Tokischa’s song “Jalo!” was a partnership with Tainy, as they used the House Of The Bloodaxe as inspiration.

Rebel Moon – Songs Of The Rebellion Tracklist

1. Jessie Reyez — “Child Of Fire”
2. Tokischa and Tainy — “Jalo!”
3. aespa and TOKiMONSTA — “Die Trying”
4. Black Coffee — “Ode To Ancestors” Feat. Djimon Hounsou
5. Kordhell — “Revolution”

The last two Alien movies, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, are divisive films, but one thing everyone who saw them can agree on is that they’re not particularly heavy on the horror. Existential dread, yes, which is its own kind of horror, but I mean old school horror, the kind seen in the first Alien movie.

Fede Álvarez is going back to the franchise’s roots.

20th Century Studios has released the first teaser trailer for Alien: Romulus. Set between 1979’s Alien and 1986’s Aliens, the film is about a group of space colonizers who come face to face with “the most terrifying life form in the universe” while scavenging a derelict space station (I’m guessing they didn’t find a Predator). The trailer features almost no dialogue, but there is screaming, blood, and a Xenomorph jump scare. It looks pretty great — and should not be confused with the Alien show coming to FX.

“I knew that I wanted to go back to the roots, to the era of the first film, and so that indicates much of the design right away,” Alvarez (Don’t Breathe) told EW. “This company makes a certain type of hallway, a certain type of monitor, a certain type of engine, and if you live in this universe, you’ll re-encounter a lot of these designs. So production designer Naaman Marshall and I took a lot of care to make sure we were super faithful to the style of the first film. This takes place a few years later, but in the world of Alien, that’s not too much later, really.”

Alien: Romulus, which stars Priscilla breakout Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu, opens in theaters on August 16.

Pickathon is officially making a return to Oregon this summer. Today (March 20), the immersive festival announced its 2024 iteration, which will take place over the course of four days (August 1 to 4) at Pendarvis Farm in Happy Valley Oregon.

Pickathon prides itself as an eco-friendly festival, spanning across over 80 acres of lush forest over the Pacific North West. According to the festival’s official website, Pickathon consists of seven stages within Happy Valley’s forests, hills, meadows, and farm buildings of Pendarvis Farm. The festival also implements a zero-waste policy, and there will be very little trash throughout the grounds. Fans also won’t have to worry about paying festival prices for bottled water, as the website notes “water is free and abundant.”

The lineup for Pickathon 2024 was revealed today (March 20) via Consequence. On the lineup are Courtney Barnett, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Durand Jones, Elephant Revival, Vincent Neil Emerson, Adi Oasis, Ratboys, and more.

Tickets for Pickathon 2024 are available for purchase now through the festival’s website. Music fans are able to camp outside in tents with the purchase of tickets, but car and RV camping will cost extra. Fans can also purchase Thursday passes to get set up and start camping a day before.

You can see the Pickathon line-up below.

USA Basketball got a major boost ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics when it got reported that Joel Embiid will join the men’s team. Embiid had a few options for his international basketball career, but ultimately, he decided that he’d suit up for Team USA, which filled the single biggest hole on the roster heading to Paris next year.

France and Cameroon lost out on Embiid’s services, and while Cameroon did not qualify for the Olympics, France did as the host country. They’re already heading into the tournament with an insane 1-2 punch at center of Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama, and it’s hard to see how anyone could have dealt with them if Embiid got added to that equation. In fact, a new piece by Joe Vardon of The Athletic reveals that if Embiid joined them, French coach Vincent Collet had plans to put all three of his bigs on the floor at the same time.

Via The Athletic:

Collet coached Wembanyama last season in the French pro league and also for the few games in which Wembanyama played for Team France in FIBA competition. Collet said he had intended to play Gobert (7-1), Wembanyama (7-4) and Embiid, the 7-foot, 2023 NBA MVP and career 34 percent shooter from 3-point range, together as starters.

The challenges presented to the rest of the world, and the inherent advantages France would have had, are obvious.

“It would be easy to make them play together, especially Victor with Joel, because with Victor’s mobility, he can really play the three,” Collet said. “To have them together on the court would have been very special. That’s why I was so disappointed.”

It’s an idea ripped straight from a video game, and with the dimensions of the courts that are used in FIBA competitions, having to deal with all that size and length would have been a nightmare. But fortunately for Team USA and the rest of the field, they won’t have to figure out a solution to what would have, quite literally, been a big problem.

Like a wave of eerie mist, the reviews for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire are rolling in, and there’s definitely a persistent theme across all of them: Kumail Nanjiani is the film’s secret weapon.

As a direct sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Frozen Empire catches up with the Spengler kids as they join Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson) in New York to become a new generation of the iconic team. How well that concept lands will vary, but for the most part, the early reviews say Frozen Empire has enough going for it to clear the low bar set by the franchise’s first attempt at a sequel: the lackluster Ghostbusters II.

That being said, Frozen Empire isn’t exactly knocking socks off, but Nanjiani is repeatedly cited for bringing back a much needed element to the franchise: comedy. Afterlife leaned way too far into the franchise’s wobbly science, and Frozen Empire has that problem, too, but Nanjiani does his best to bring the Ghosbusters back to their comedy roots.

You can see what the critics are saying below:

Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter:

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire tries hard, very hard, to satisfy the series’ fans with plenty of nostalgic throwbacks and mainly succeeds. It’s not nearly as good as the classic 1984 original, but then again, neither was 1989’s Ghostbusters II, and that one was directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, all of whom were responsible for the original. So the fact that this installment manages to be as much fun as it is represents a minor triumph.

Kristy Puchko, Mashable:

Ignoring the Paul Feig venture with Melissa McCarthy, this string of horror-comedies ties to 1984’s Ghostbusters and its 1989 sequel, Ghostbusters II, but has doubled down on lore, following the family of the late Egon Spengler. This makes for a new chapter that is overcrowded with characters, CGI ghouls, and science yelling. While at points, there’s jokes that actually land (thanks to the likes of Kumail Nanjiani and Patton Oswalt), overall, this sequel is a confounding mix of fan service and inexplicable choices meant to cater to a broad audience.

Owen Gleiberman, Variety:

[Kumail] Nanjiani is so nonchalant about this that he becomes the movie’s spark plug, and in doing so I think he points the way toward where this franchise should go. “Ghostbusters II” was a mild and flavorless sequel. The 2016 reboot, while unfairly bashed for its gender flip, was too polite — it lacked the postmodern center of gravity provided, in the original film, by Murray’s malarkey. “Afterlife,” to me, just sat there. “Frozen Empire” has enough going on in it to connect, but now that Jason Reitman and company have brought this series back to life, it’s time to re-infuse it with the spirit that Kumail Nanjiani brings. In a “Ghostbusters” film, the laughter should be more than just a ghost of itself.

Damon Wise, Deadline:

As opposed to The Dial of Destiny, which leaned way too hard into the modern-day appeal of an action hero who’s now 80, the new-era Ghostbusters is determined to start from scratch, and it’s telling that this film, like its predecessor, is at its weakest when trying to work in cameos for original stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson.

Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian:

We get some new character turns: standup comic James Acaster is stuck with the dull role of a boffin called Lars Pinfield, and is given pretty much nothing in the script to allow his natural comedy style to flourish. (The same, sadly, is also true of Rudd.) Patton Oswalt does his best, playing a feisty scholar of the netherworld called Dr Wartzki. But really among the new contingent the only person who actually brings the all-important comedy is Nanjiani, who has the correct spark of humour and subversion. The younger contingent are all too wide-eyed and innocent, while the senior class of 1984 are too detached.

Christy Lemire, RogerEbert.com:

“Frozen Empire” seems more interested in the wacky antics of the miniature Stay-Puft Marshmallow Men, who are even more Minion-like than ever this time, and in celebrating the cultural phenomenon of the “Ghostbusters” franchise as a whole. Once again, this is a movie that repeatedly acknowledges that the Ray Parker Jr. theme song was a massive radio and MTV hit 40 years ago, even going so far as to include a bit of the original music video. But we’d all be better off singing a different tune at this point.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire slimes into theaters on March 22.