Category: News

Bears. Why do we love them? My guess is that bears are sort of like big dogs, who can occasionally stand up on their hind legs and sit at picnic tables. A dog that thinks he’s people is one of life’s great pleasures, and what are bears if not slightly anthropomorphized dogs? Bears also like to hibernate, which leads me to another point in bears’ favor: bears are lazy. Meat? Plants? Fish? Trash? Bears eat it all, they don’t give a shit.

And yet they’re also strong, fast, and even ferocious when they need to be, like big-headed dogs who can climb trees. Bears are basically the Gerard Butlers of the animal kingdom: mostly cuddly or hungover, but occasionally surly and heroic. Nice, until it’s time to not be nice, if you will. It’s no wonder the cinema loves them.

In honor of Cocaine Bear opening this week and also being my favorite genre of escort, I thought I would run down the 10 best movies about bears, to help you catch up on all the things cinematic bears have been doing since the Lumiere brothers invented the moving picture. And also to provide you with the proper cultural context to enhance your enjoyment of a film about CGI bear who does cocaine. It’s important to be an informed consumer.

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10. (Tie) Kung Fu Panda, Ted, Yogi Bear, Black Bear, The Bad News Bears, The Various Disney Nature Movies About Bears, Golden Compass

The tenth spot on this list is a repository of all the bear movies we could think of but didn’t care that much about, running the gamut from a forgettable arthouse movie starring Christopher Abbott and Aubrey Plaza (Black Bear) to Jack Black and Seth MacFarlane’s animated bear franchises to a classic underdog sports movie that sadly isn’t about actual bears (The Bad News Bears) to an adaptation of book franchise directed by the guy from American Pie that had a bear wearing a helmet on the poster (Golden Compass). Anyone see that one? Yeah, me neither. I may not know why the bear is wearing a helmet but I will gladly fight to the death to defend his right to wear one.

Hey, remember Yogi Bear 3D?

I can’t believe I didn’t hallucinate this poster. Like, hold on, guys, someone forgot to add the other entendre. The bears were voiced by Dan Aykroyd and Justin Timberlake, by the way.

9. Grizzly 2: The Revenge (1983/2020)

Grizzly II: The Revenge isn’t good so much as it is notable, a movie featuring Laura Dern, Charlie Sheen, and George Clooney in minor roles (along with John Rhys-Davies and Louise Fletcher) originally shot in 1983 but not actually released until 2020. You can actually watch it for free on Prime Video like I did last night.

The original producer (who later did time for tax fraud) apparently walked off the project early on, leaving his co-producer, Suzanne C. Nagy, scrambling for financing. She finally got the film finished and released 37 years later — just in time for a global pandemic, which might help explain why you haven’t heard of it. We had bigger things to worry about in February 2020 than a novelty movie about a killer grizzly menacing a concert in Yellowstone.

Laura Dern, Charlie Sheen, and George Clooney are really only in the opening scene, playing “hot stupid teens who encounter a bear,” though the movie does feel like a nicely, shot, seventies-gritty B-movie about a killer bear. Jaws in the woods, I’m sure was the pitch. Sadly, you get about half of a movie and then it sort of turns into a weird montage of the musical acts playing the aforementioned Yellowstone concert. Definitely a quirky sort of slice of life, but not really a finished movie in the traditional sense.

8. The Great Outdoors (1988)

A year before the better-remembered Christmas Vacation, Dan Aykroyd and John Candy did the same sort of Chicagoan odd couple act that Chevy Chase and Randy Quaid did in The Great Outdoors, set in the woods of Wisconsin (actually shot at Bass Lake, just up the road from where I live in the San Joaquin Valley).

The film had as its centerpiece a killer bald grizzly bear (he’d had his head fur taken off with buckshot years earlier), with memorable moments that included Candy’s character attempting to eat a 96-ounce steak called “the ol’ 96er,” an old-timer who has been struck by lightning 66 times, and a family of foul-mouthed raccoons (god damn what was it with the National Lampoon guys and talking rodents?) — plus the climax with the aforementioned bear.

In retrospect, The Great Outdoors feels like a less-successful trial run for Uncle Buck, but I just recounted about three scenes from The Great Outdoors, which I’m not sure I could do for Uncle Buck. That, my friends, is the power of bears.

7. The Bear (1989)

The Bear was a French film released in the US in 1989 about a bear cub who has to dodge hunters and struggle to survive, filmed mostly using real bears. This one is up there with Benji in my personal pantheon of animal movies I loved as a kid even though they understandably made me bawl my goddamned eyes out. It’s also genuinely a great movie.

Taking a kid barely out of diapers to see a movie about an adorable bear cub whose mother dies in the first 10 minutes feels like a form of child abuse, and yet then again, probably not as abusive as making them watch Yogi Bear (or really anything on Netflix Kids or Nickelodeon today — have you seen kids programming lately? My God it’s a nightmare). I understand why we don’t make movies with real wild animals so much anymore, but strictly from a viewer’s perspective, it’s a shame. These bears were the best actors of the 80s.

6. The Edge (1997)

The Edge, which was not about the guitarist of U2, was written by David Mamet and starred Alec Baldwin as a photographer who gets stranded in the Alaskan wilderness with a billionaire he’s cuckolding, played by Anthony Hopkins. Because this was the nineties, the billionaire wasn’t the clear villain.

(Fun fact: producer Art Linson wrote a memoir featuring a scene where he argues with Alec Baldwin about shaving the beard Baldwin had grown for the role. In the movie version of the memoir, What Just Happened? the Baldwin role was played by Bruce Willis).

After surviving a plane crash, Hopkins’ character and Baldwin’s character are forced to work together in order to keep from being eaten by a killer bear, played by Bart The Bear — the same Kodiak Bear actor (Kodiaktor?) who starred in The Bear. The Edge was actually the second time Anthony Hopkins had worked with Bart (the first being Legends of The Fall), whose 2000 eulogy in the Seattle Times includes this quote from Bart’s trainer, Lynne Seus:

“Tony Hopkins was absolutely brilliant with Bart. He acknowledged and respected him like a fellow actor. He would spend hours just looking at Bart and admiring him. He did so many of his own scenes with Bart.”

The Edge is one of those sexy thrillers that don’t really get made anymore, a very movie kind of movie, and yet if I had the choice between watching that again and watching a behind-the-scenes look at Sir Anthony Hopkins pensively admiring Bart’s lustrous flanks, I’d have to go with the latter. Again, such is the power of bears.

5. Paddington (2014)

Both of the Paddington movies are much better than they have any right to be, especially when you remember the Yogi Bear movie. That being said, the first one is the clear inferior of the two, leaning far more heavily on the CG-bear-gets-into-hijinks aspect of the Paddington character. Still, it was shockingly not-terrible, especially given that it had lost its original voice actor, Colin Firth, which sort of made it sound like it was setting up to be a debacle. What actor doesn’t want to cash a big check for a couple days of voice work? It ended up being surprisingly decent, and more importantly, set up Paddington 2.

4. Brigsby Bear (2017)

Yes, I’m really stretching the “movies about bears” premise in order to include Brigsby Bear, a goofy sci-fi dramedy starring Kyle Mooney as a kid who was raised in a fallout bunker by his crazy father, played by Mark Hamill. When he’s rescued, he discovers that he’s the only one in the world who ever saw “Brigsby Bear,” his favorite television show which was actually a fake television show his father had made just for him. With no one to discuss the show with, he vows to continue the series with his new family, in what turns out to be a sort of love letter to the process of making goofy videos with your friends. I really hate fake sweet movies, but Brigsby Bear feels to me entirely genuine.

I really loved this movie and not nearly enough people saw it. Incidentally, it, like Cocaine Bear, was also produced by Lord and Miller.

3. The Revenant (2015)

The Revenant is basically arthouse Jackass, and I appreciate that. If you’ll remember, back in the teens all the movie talk was about Leo DiCaprio and when was he finally going to win that Oscar (we saved all the talk about him only dating women under 25 for later). The Revenant finally clinched it for him, and I’ve always loved the idea that Leonardo DiCaprio could only prove himself worthy of acting’s highest honor by eating raw bison heart and sleeping in an animal carcass. Actors rock.

Anyway, The Revenant is one of those rare movies that’s kind of a joke, but also still pretty great. Tom Hardy rarely makes words, but hardly needs to. He plays nemesis to Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Hugh Glass (whose cousin, Hugh Jass, is a regular at Moe’s Tavern), and yet, the big bear kind of steals the show. The bear scene also spawned possibly the all-time greatest Drudge Report headline, DICAPRIO RAPED BY BEAR IN FOX MOVIE. You can see why he’d use all the sirens for that one.

2. Paddington 2 (2018)

It’s basically become a Twitter meme to crow about how great Paddington 2 is, but acknowledging that it’s kind of hack to say so, Paddington 2 is actually really great. It does, admittedly, have a few stray scenes featuring CGI bear hijinks that aren’t so great, but mostly Paddington is an avatar for Britishness as the contemporary British would like to imagine it.

It’s hard to do something like that while not coming off bellicose and horrendously nationalistic, but Britishness, as Paddington imagines it, is more about kindness, restraint, respect for other cultures, and enjoying proudly dowdy things like marmalade, tweed clothes, and old-timey trains. I don’t really believe that these are 100% genuine reflections of Britishness, but it seems nice enough as an aspirational sentiment. I want to believe, and it even makes me wish Americans could pull off something like this (I’m fairly certain we couldn’t). It’s hard to think of a greater artistic feat than making me briefly jealous of the British.

Hugh Grant deserved an Oscar nomination for this. “Actors playing obnoxious actors” is one of my favorite genres of acting.

1. Grizzly Man (2005)

Grizzly Man was the first Werner Herzog movie I ever saw and the phrase “you must never listen to this” has been stubbornly camped out in my skull ever since. It’s not only a cultural touchstone for every documentarian trying to profile a kooky but lovable subject (Paul T. Goldman creator Jason Woliner mentioned Grizzly Man alongside American Movie as one of his main inspirations), it’s also a haunting cautionary tale about identifying too closely with wild beasts just because they’re cute, to the point that you don’t see them for what they are. Probably only Werner Herzog could’ve successfully combined those two things. It’s also the perfect movie for this list as it’s both a really good movie and is specifically about bears. And not just tangentially either, we’re talking like wall to wall bears. Bear city, this movie.

‘Cocaine Bear’ opens in theaters everywhere February 24. Vince Mancini is on Twitter. More reviews here.

Bears. Why do we love them? My guess is that bears are sort of like big dogs, who can occasionally stand up on their hind legs and sit at picnic tables. A dog that thinks he’s people is one of life’s great pleasures, and what are bears if not slightly anthropomorphized dogs? Bears also like to hibernate, which leads me to another point in bears’ favor: bears are lazy. Meat? Plants? Fish? Trash? Bears eat it all, they don’t give a shit.

And yet they’re also strong, fast, and even ferocious when they need to be, like big-headed dogs who can climb trees. Bears are basically the Gerard Butlers of the animal kingdom: mostly cuddly or hungover, but occasionally surly and heroic. Nice, until it’s time to not be nice, if you will. It’s no wonder the cinema loves them.

In honor of Cocaine Bear opening this week and also being my favorite genre of escort, I thought I would run down the 10 best movies about bears, to help you catch up on all the things cinematic bears have been doing since the Lumiere brothers invented the moving picture. And also to provide you with the proper cultural context to enhance your enjoyment of a film about CGI bear who does cocaine. It’s important to be an informed consumer.

—

10. (Tie) Kung Fu Panda, Ted, Yogi Bear, Black Bear, The Bad News Bears, The Various Disney Nature Movies About Bears, Golden Compass

The tenth spot on this list is a repository of all the bear movies we could think of but didn’t care that much about, running the gamut from a forgettable arthouse movie starring Christopher Abbott and Aubrey Plaza (Black Bear) to Jack Black and Seth MacFarlane’s animated bear franchises to a classic underdog sports movie that sadly isn’t about actual bears (The Bad News Bears) to an adaptation of book franchise directed by the guy from American Pie that had a bear wearing a helmet on the poster (Golden Compass). Anyone see that one? Yeah, me neither. I may not know why the bear is wearing a helmet but I will gladly fight to the death to defend his right to wear one.

Hey, remember Yogi Bear 3D?

I can’t believe I didn’t hallucinate this poster. Like, hold on, guys, someone forgot to add the other entendre. The bears were voiced by Dan Aykroyd and Justin Timberlake, by the way.

9. Grizzly 2: The Revenge (1983/2020)

Grizzly II: The Revenge isn’t good so much as it is notable, a movie featuring Laura Dern, Charlie Sheen, and George Clooney in minor roles (along with John Rhys-Davies and Louise Fletcher) originally shot in 1983 but not actually released until 2020. You can actually watch it for free on Prime Video like I did last night.

The original producer (who later did time for tax fraud) apparently walked off the project early on, leaving his co-producer, Suzanne C. Nagy, scrambling for financing. She finally got the film finished and released 37 years later — just in time for a global pandemic, which might help explain why you haven’t heard of it. We had bigger things to worry about in February 2020 than a novelty movie about a killer grizzly menacing a concert in Yellowstone.

Laura Dern, Charlie Sheen, and George Clooney are really only in the opening scene, playing “hot stupid teens who encounter a bear,” though the movie does feel like a nicely, shot, seventies-gritty B-movie about a killer bear. Jaws in the woods, I’m sure was the pitch. Sadly, you get about half of a movie and then it sort of turns into a weird montage of the musical acts playing the aforementioned Yellowstone concert. Definitely a quirky sort of slice of life, but not really a finished movie in the traditional sense.

8. The Great Outdoors (1988)

A year before the better-remembered Christmas Vacation, Dan Aykroyd and John Candy did the same sort of Chicagoan odd couple act that Chevy Chase and Randy Quaid did in The Great Outdoors, set in the woods of Wisconsin (actually shot at Bass Lake, just up the road from where I live in the San Joaquin Valley).

The film had as its centerpiece a killer bald grizzly bear (he’d had his head fur taken off with buckshot years earlier), with memorable moments that included Candy’s character attempting to eat a 96-ounce steak called “the ol’ 96er,” an old-timer who has been struck by lightning 66 times, and a family of foul-mouthed raccoons (god damn what was it with the National Lampoon guys and talking rodents?) — plus the climax with the aforementioned bear.

In retrospect, The Great Outdoors feels like a less-successful trial run for Uncle Buck, but I just recounted about three scenes from The Great Outdoors, which I’m not sure I could do for Uncle Buck. That, my friends, is the power of bears.

7. The Bear (1989)

The Bear was a French film released in the US in 1989 about a bear cub who has to dodge hunters and struggle to survive, filmed mostly using real bears. This one is up there with Benji in my personal pantheon of animal movies I loved as a kid even though they understandably made me bawl my goddamned eyes out. It’s also genuinely a great movie.

Taking a kid barely out of diapers to see a movie about an adorable bear cub whose mother dies in the first 10 minutes feels like a form of child abuse, and yet then again, probably not as abusive as making them watch Yogi Bear (or really anything on Netflix Kids or Nickelodeon today — have you seen kids programming lately? My God it’s a nightmare). I understand why we don’t make movies with real wild animals so much anymore, but strictly from a viewer’s perspective, it’s a shame. These bears were the best actors of the 80s.

6. The Edge (1997)

The Edge, which was not about the guitarist of U2, was written by David Mamet and starred Alec Baldwin as a photographer who gets stranded in the Alaskan wilderness with a billionaire he’s cuckolding, played by Anthony Hopkins. Because this was the nineties, the billionaire wasn’t the clear villain.

(Fun fact: producer Art Linson wrote a memoir featuring a scene where he argues with Alec Baldwin about shaving the beard Baldwin had grown for the role. In the movie version of the memoir, What Just Happened? the Baldwin role was played by Bruce Willis).

After surviving a plane crash, Hopkins’ character and Baldwin’s character are forced to work together in order to keep from being eaten by a killer bear, played by Bart The Bear — the same Kodiak Bear actor (Kodiaktor?) who starred in The Bear. The Edge was actually the second time Anthony Hopkins had worked with Bart (the first being Legends of The Fall), whose 2000 eulogy in the Seattle Times includes this quote from Bart’s trainer, Lynne Seus:

“Tony Hopkins was absolutely brilliant with Bart. He acknowledged and respected him like a fellow actor. He would spend hours just looking at Bart and admiring him. He did so many of his own scenes with Bart.”

The Edge is one of those sexy thrillers that don’t really get made anymore, a very movie kind of movie, and yet if I had the choice between watching that again and watching a behind-the-scenes look at Sir Anthony Hopkins pensively admiring Bart’s lustrous flanks, I’d have to go with the latter. Again, such is the power of bears.

5. Paddington (2014)

Both of the Paddington movies are much better than they have any right to be, especially when you remember the Yogi Bear movie. That being said, the first one is the clear inferior of the two, leaning far more heavily on the CG-bear-gets-into-hijinks aspect of the Paddington character. Still, it was shockingly not-terrible, especially given that it had lost its original voice actor, Colin Firth, which sort of made it sound like it was setting up to be a debacle. What actor doesn’t want to cash a big check for a couple days of voice work? It ended up being surprisingly decent, and more importantly, set up Paddington 2.

4. Brigsby Bear (2017)

Yes, I’m really stretching the “movies about bears” premise in order to include Brigsby Bear, a goofy sci-fi dramedy starring Kyle Mooney as a kid who was raised in a fallout bunker by his crazy father, played by Mark Hamill. When he’s rescued, he discovers that he’s the only one in the world who ever saw “Brigsby Bear,” his favorite television show which was actually a fake television show his father had made just for him. With no one to discuss the show with, he vows to continue the series with his new family, in what turns out to be a sort of love letter to the process of making goofy videos with your friends. I really hate fake sweet movies, but Brigsby Bear feels to me entirely genuine.

I really loved this movie and not nearly enough people saw it. Incidentally, it, like Cocaine Bear, was also produced by Lord and Miller.

3. The Revenant (2015)

The Revenant is basically arthouse Jackass, and I appreciate that. If you’ll remember, back in the teens all the movie talk was about Leo DiCaprio and when was he finally going to win that Oscar (we saved all the talk about him only dating women under 25 for later). The Revenant finally clinched it for him, and I’ve always loved the idea that Leonardo DiCaprio could only prove himself worthy of acting’s highest honor by eating raw bison heart and sleeping in an animal carcass. Actors rock.

Anyway, The Revenant is one of those rare movies that’s kind of a joke, but also still pretty great. Tom Hardy rarely makes words, but hardly needs to. He plays nemesis to Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Hugh Glass (whose cousin, Hugh Jass, is a regular at Moe’s Tavern), and yet, the big bear kind of steals the show. The bear scene also spawned possibly the all-time greatest Drudge Report headline, DICAPRIO RAPED BY BEAR IN FOX MOVIE. You can see why he’d use all the sirens for that one.

2. Paddington 2 (2018)

It’s basically become a Twitter meme to crow about how great Paddington 2 is, but acknowledging that it’s kind of hack to say so, Paddington 2 is actually really great. It does, admittedly, have a few stray scenes featuring CGI bear hijinks that aren’t so great, but mostly Paddington is an avatar for Britishness as the contemporary British would like to imagine it.

It’s hard to do something like that while not coming off bellicose and horrendously nationalistic, but Britishness, as Paddington imagines it, is more about kindness, restraint, respect for other cultures, and enjoying proudly dowdy things like marmalade, tweed clothes, and old-timey trains. I don’t really believe that these are 100% genuine reflections of Britishness, but it seems nice enough as an aspirational sentiment. I want to believe, and it even makes me wish Americans could pull off something like this (I’m fairly certain we couldn’t). It’s hard to think of a greater artistic feat than making me briefly jealous of the British.

Hugh Grant deserved an Oscar nomination for this. “Actors playing obnoxious actors” is one of my favorite genres of acting.

1. Grizzly Man (2005)

Grizzly Man was the first Werner Herzog movie I ever saw and the phrase “you must never listen to this” has been stubbornly camped out in my skull ever since. It’s not only a cultural touchstone for every documentarian trying to profile a kooky but lovable subject (Paul T. Goldman creator Jason Woliner mentioned Grizzly Man alongside American Movie as one of his main inspirations), it’s also a haunting cautionary tale about identifying too closely with wild beasts just because they’re cute, to the point that you don’t see them for what they are. Probably only Werner Herzog could’ve successfully combined those two things. It’s also the perfect movie for this list as it’s both a really good movie and is specifically about bears. And not just tangentially either, we’re talking like wall to wall bears. Bear city, this movie.

‘Cocaine Bear’ opens in theaters everywhere February 24. Vince Mancini is on Twitter. More reviews here.

Iggy Azalea is on OnlyFans and she’s making, in her words, “so much money that I won’t even say how much it is.” On Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, she spoke about how some of that money comes from strange requests from men.

While applying makeup to Vanderpump Rules‘ James Kennedy, Azalea was asked, “What is the oddest ask one of your OnlyFans subscribers has requested? She explained, “Men pay me to tell them that they’re a piece of sh*t. […] Like, they’ll send me like $600 just to send a voicemail that’s like, ‘I’d never suck your disgusting little f*cking dick. Is that even a dick? I wouldn’t even let my dog lick that dick.’ And they’re like, ‘Ahh! $200, $300!’”

On the topic of men, she was also asked what’s the sexiest quality in a man that doesn’t have to do with appearance, and she said, “I just think you have to be witty, you have to have witty banter. If you can’t have witty banter, I don’t give a… I don’t care.

Elsewhere during the show, Azalea spoke about what she sees as an often-overlooked quality in former collaborator Britney Spears, saying, “I love Britney and she’s so much more creative than what people give her credit for.”

Watch clips of Azalea on Watch What Happens Live above and below.

Back in 2015, Britney Spears and Iggy Azalea linked up on the collaborative single “Pretty Girls.” Now, Azalea has shared some thoughts on her former song partner, saying that there’s one thing about Spears that she doesn’t think gets enough attention.

On Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, Azalea was asked if she’s kept in touch with Spears and if she’s like to work together again. She responded affirmatively, saying in part, “Now that she has the ability to do it her way, 100 percent… I love Britney and she’s so much more creative than what people give her credit for; What she did with Elton was amazing, and I would love to be part of more of anything that she had to do, especially when they’re 100-percent her own ideas.”

Andrew Watt backed up Azalea’s stance in a 2022 interview, when he said of working with Spears on her and Elton John’s “Hold Me Closer,” “She came up with her own ideas. She wanted to speed up the record a little bit, and we did that. She’s such a pro with dance music and understanding that kind of stuff and what works for her. […] She knew exactly what she wanted to do. She had spent tons of time with the record; she knew all the lyrics; it was, like, her thing. And it was really awesome to witness and see her be so powerful and crush it. She sounds incredible on the record, and she was involved all the way up until the final mix.”

(SPOILERS for this week’s Bel-Air episode will be found below.)

Bel-Air is back for season two and things aren’t as wholesome as any of the show’s characters would’ve hoped to start. The season one finale was highlighted by Will’s decision to leave the Bel-Air mansion after he learned that Phil, Viv, and his mom lied about Will’s father. Though it was done out of love and protection, Will felt betrayed by the most important adults in his life. Thankfully though, what started as a family divided to begin episode one of Bel-Air season two, ended as one reunited as Phil put his pride aside to apologize to will and invite him back into the house. Elsewhere, love is in the air for Jazz and Hilary!

The aforementioned events in the first episode of Bel-Air season two are soundtracked by songs that help to accentuate the emotions behind each scene. You can find a list of them belong as well as details about the scenes that the records soundtracked.

Nipsey Hussle — “Last Time That I Checc’d” Feat. YG

Nipsey Hussle’s “Last Time That I Checc’d” off Victory Lap checks in around the 01:24 mark. A short time later, we see Will who wakes up in a slightly messy room — one that is notably not in Uncle Phil’s massive Bel-Air mansion — to get dressed for the day. He heads out into the city to start his day. We later learn that the room is in Jazz’s house in South Los Angeles.

MIKNNA — “Angel City”

MIKNNA’s record plays faintly in the background around the 3:02 mark as Will orders some breakfast at a local restaurant. A man named JB meets him there and he gives Will some money that was made off some a deal they had. We later find out that JB is helping Will secure basketball matchups for money.

Bryce Green & 81Maantra — “Boom”

We hear Bryce Green & 81Maantra around the 06:18 mark as Will and Carlton are driving to school together. Carlton lets Will know that Phil and Viv are worried about him, but Will’s rather large stash of cash has Carlton worried about what Will is doing to make money.

Easy McCoy — “Deja Vu”

At around the 07:15 mark, Easy McCoy’s “Deja Vu” briefly plays as the Bel-Air title flashes on the screen. This record is the theme song for Bel-Air.

The Royal Chief — “See Me Now”

The Royal Chief’s “See Me Now” plays around the 10:09 mark while Will and Carlton walk through the halls of their school. Carlton explains what’s changed with his school friends and also throws out the idea of him and Will becoming the school’s latest dynamic duo. Carlton may also have a new crush, a girl named Yazmin, on his hands.

BOSCO — “Easy” Feat. Smiles Davis & Royal Bait

BOSCO’s song can be heard around the 13:25 mark. At this point of the episode, Hilary meets with Ivy as they begin their run as the leaders of the content creator house. It’s also here that Hilary learns about her responsibilities as a manager and the true dynamic of her business relationship with Ivy.

Freddy Bam Bam — “Need You”

Freddy Bam Bam’s “Need You” plays softly in the background around the 15:04 mark when Hilary vents to Jazz about having to fire two men from the influence house. Afterward, they discuss their relationship status and whether or not it’s time to place an official label on it, something Hilary isn’t in a rush to do.

Last Verse — “Semper”

At around the 28:34 mark, Will walks onto an outdoor basketball court in Venice as Last Verse’s “Semper.” It’s there that he hopes to meet a scout named Doc in order to form a relationship and further his basketball career.

Via The Great — “Champion”

Via The Great’s “Champion” plays around the 31:45 mark and it soundtracks Will’s pick-up game against a much bigger guy named Big Dre. Things start off slow for Will, but he eventually picks things up and wins the game.

City Girls — “Good Love” Feat. Usher

The party begins around the 37:14 mark. It’s Ashley’s official 13th birthday party and it gets underway with City Girls’ “Good Love” being the record that everyone dances to. While most of the attendees are dancing together and having a great time, Hilary stands at a distance jealous of Jazz dancing with Ivy.

Manus — “On Top” Feat. Turbo9

Manus’ “On Top” plays around the 38:21 mark as Phil overlooks the water deep in thought. Carlton comes up to him and gently confronts him about running away from the issues and tension between Phil and Will. A short time later, Phil asks Will to speak with him.

Saweetie — “Bo$$ Chick”

To round out the music at the end of this episode, Saweetie’s “Bo$$ Chick” plays around the 42:55 mark. Saweetie herself makes an appearance to sing happy birthday to Ashely and gives her well-wishes on a new year of life. Will makes the tough decision to put things on pause in their relationship.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

(WARNING: Spoilers for this week’s Bel-Air episode will be found below.)

Season two of Bel-Air with Will resting his head outside of the massive Bel-Air mansion that he called home for nearly all of last season. However, at the end of season one, Will made the brave decision to leave the house to go and live elsewhere after he learned that his estranged father was around more than Phil, Vivian, and his mother made it out to be. Feeling betrayed by the most important adults in his life, Will felt that it was best to exit the house, find his independence, and support himself elsewhere. Luckily for Will’s loved ones, his absence from the Bel Air mansion did not last too long.

For the first episode of season two of Bel-Air, we catch up with Will who has spent the past couple of weeks crashing at Jazz’s house. During this time, Will has been playing pickup basketball games to make some money for himself. Through this, Will hops to meet a well-known basketball scout that will help him prepare his game for the collegiate level. While Will is okay with living outside the Bel Air mansion, a huge party for Ashley’s 13th birthday forces him to reconnect with his family and reminds him of the love that they have for him. Take that, and a long overdue apology from Phil, and it was enough to bring Will back home. Elsewhere, Will shines at an outdoor basketball court, Vivian’s new role doesn’t get off to a smooth start, and Jazz and Hilary find love while Will and Lisa put theirs on ice.

Here are some of the biggest takeaways that we have after season two’s first episode:

Pride Is The Devil

This well-known saying is applicable to two people in the first episode of Bel-Air season two. The most obvious choice is Phil who struggled to set his pride aside and apologize to Will for going out of his way to keep his father out of his life. Yes, Phil was just trying to protect Will and yes, Phil has seen the worst of Will’s father, but there’s no excuse for lying to Will who admitted that his father’s behavior didn’t affect him as he’s no more than a “bum” to him. Phil’s failure to recognize his fault set him back in his relationship, but thankfully he was able to pull it together. Lastly, we have Hilary who let her pride interrupt her desire to have Jazz are her man. She brushed aside the feelings and nearly risked losing what they had and Ivy was on the prowl for Jazz. Though fear contributes to her situation a bit more, Hilary was also able to set aside these things and be open to her feelings to keep what she and Jazz had intact. All in all, pride can make you lose out on the good things when used incorrectly.

Some Things Are Too Good To Be True

Will is extremely focused on putting himself on the right path to achieve his basketball dreams. So far, he hasn’t been able to match his on-court success in Philly to that in Bel Air. His plan is to connect with a basketball scout named Doc to help him get into the right places. Though Will impressed him during a pick-up game, Doc declined to add Will as a client to his team. Later on, Doc makes the sudden decision to bring him onto the team which thoroughly excites Will. However, unbeknownst to Will, we see that Doc’s decision is influenced by the Banks’ fortune. Doc seemingly wants to cash in on some of the family’s money, which makes his intentions with Will all but pure. Things could change, but at the moment, it’s a reminder to Will that some things are indeed too good to be true.

Don’t Confuse Stubbornness For Independence

In exiting from the Bel Air mansion, Will returns to hustling on the basketball court which was the root of all his troubles back in Philly. He’s set on using the hustle for a more beneficial reason like funding his basketball dreams, but with the dangers that lurk in this area, there’s no doubt that Will could find himself in the same, if not worse trouble. After leaving the Banks’ home, Will sought to regain control of his life and do things his way. He stressed independence and no longer wanted to lean on someone for help, but the reality is, he’s just a high schooler who can use all the love and support he needs. His strive for independence as a teenager is merely his stubbornness taking over the wheel, especially as he’s resorted to his old ways. Stubbornness is simply an independent and unforced internal struggle. Though he’s returned to the Banks’ home, Will’s mission to be independent may not be over yet.

What You Allow Is What Will Continue

Will put things on pause with Lisa because he felt like his relationship, much like his time in Bel Air, was built on a lie. Will kept his criminal record, and the legal help that Phil gave him, a secret from friends and Lisa. Just like most secrets, it was eventually brought to light and it caused Lisa to have doubts about their relationship. Will eventually realizes that there’s no shame about his past as we all have a mistake or two we’d like to get rid of, but can’t. He also realized that he was losing his true self in his new home, which can be credited to the new life he tried to live in Bel Air. After some soul-searching, Will is now ready to be his truest self, and though the decision to reset his world cost him his relationship with Lisa in the meantime, there’s a God chance that it’ll all be worth it later. It’s something that Hilary could learn for herself as her partnership with Ivy at the influencer house is off to a rocky start. It’s clear that Ivy doesn’t view herself as an equal to Hilary — probably because Ivy funded the purchase of the house — and it’s something that’s annoying her more and more by the day. If Hilary wants to be a true boss, she’ll have to learn to express her thoughts openly and without emotion and any irrational reason. What you allow is what will continue, and the sooner Will and Hilary get that, the better it’ll be for them.

New episodes of ‘Bel-Air’ are available Peacock on Thursdays at 5:01 am EST/ 2:01 am PST.

WARNING: Spoilers for this week’s episode of Snowfall will be found below.

Nearly a year to the date of episode five’s first episode, Snowfall has made its return for its sixth and final season, and for the inaugural episode, things are a lot different. At its best, the Saint family thrived as a unit and sought to build up their drug operation in Los Angeles, and at its worst, they went down different paths without interfering with each other’s goals. Now, they’re far from aligned or even civil. At the end of season five, Franklin learns that Teddy stole $73 million from him, and in a desperate attempt to stay afloat, Franklin meets with Louie to ask for help. His request is denied, but instead of looking elsewhere, he instead robs Jerome and Louie of their money and drug supply — which totaled out to $3.4 million.

Season six, episode one, titled “Fallout,” picks up right at the aftermath of Franklin’s brave and extremely gutsy decision. With that, things are much different. These days, Franklin seems to only trust Black Diamond and Dallas as they drive him around to and from meetings and drug exchanges. He also has a stash house for the drugs in a location that only he and his girlfriend Veronique know. Jerome and Louie, on the other hand, are left to pick up the pieces of what’s left of their possession. They reach out to Franklin in order to get back what’s theirs, but they’re dared to go to whatever lengths they deserve to attempt to get their money back. As we see at the end of “Fallout,” Jerome has no issue with that. If Franklin wasn’t at war with Jerome and Louie before, he sure is now.

Here are some of the biggest takeaways that we have after season six’s episode one, “Fallout.”

Franklin Is More Alone Than Ever — And More Desperate

In a recent interview conducted by Andre Gee from Rolling Stone, Damson Idris spoke about his character Franklin Saint and what to expect from him in season six. “He truly is isolated and one by one the people that love him are turning their backs on him,” he said. “And he’s now a cat in the corner who has to strike.” In “Fallout,” that couldn’t be more evident. The sweet and charismatic Franklin is no more and replacing him is a man dead set on getting back what is his. Along with the loss of his massive fortune, Franklin also experienced the loss of trust and family-like support. Jerome and Louie are no longer on his side. His mother Cissy seeks to bring the drug operation down. Teddy is at the center of this mess, and certainly not on Franklin’s side. So as Franklin sees his enemies close in on him in that corner, it’s more important than ever that he strikes first. In a moment like this, there’s not much time to devise a plan. Desperation, determination, and force are Franklin’s best friends for the immediate future.

Nobody Wins When The Family Feuds

If you examine the current dynamic of the Saint family, you may be able to argue which side is in the wrong and which is in the right. However, this is a story of the 1980s crack epidemic in Los Angeles, these battles are nothing but small skirmishes in the grand scheme of things. Franklin’s growing war with Jerome and Louie will hurt both sides just as much as it hurts those on the outside. Bodies will drop, money will be lost, and more drugs may be stolen, but the smoke from it all will only attract attention they don’t want and lead to their downfall. With this being the end of Snowfall, it can be assumed that the parties within the Saint empire will come to some sort of an end, but the way things are going, it may get much worse before the flames are put out.

Pain Leads To Anger And Anger Leads To Pain

Franklin’s decision to rob Jerome and Louie certainly came from a place of desperation, but it also came from one of hurt. Sure, his pride won’t let him admit that, but his family’s refusal to help him at arguably his lowest point brings a pain that shouldn’t be underestimated in the slightest bit. That hurt brought the anger that fuels his decision to steal from them and dare Jerome to go to whatever lengths he feels necessary to get back what was once him. The anger of that very interaction fuels Jerome’s next move, one where he connects with Beau and his LAPD buddies to pull over Black Diamond and Dallas and steal the money that they were bringing back to Franklin, but it doesn’t end there. Jerome brutally attacks Black Diamond for failing to share the location of Franklin’s new stash spot despite her and Dallas repeatedly saying that they do not know where it is. The pain you harbor within can lead to anger taken out on others just like the anger harbored within can lead to the pain inflicted on others. It’s a cycle we’ve seen too often, and one that’s just getting underway in Snowfall season six.

Stay Dangerous

The ending of “Fallout” should let you know that the worst is yet to come. Franklin will retaliate and Jerome and Louie will defend themselves — and vice versa. In their glory days, Franklin, Jerome, and Louie, as well as others, were each other’s protection. Now, not only are they with limited help, they’re more vulnerable than ever. This isn’t a war with someone from a neighboring section, this is one with family. The very people know just as well, if not better than you know yourself. They might be able to predict your slip-ups and be there when you fall, not to save you, but to ensure the damage is worse than it would’ve been. Franklin, Jerome, and Louie will all have to keep their heads on a swivel more than they ever did before, but it doesn’t only go for them. As shown through Jerome’s attack on Black Diamond and Dallas, associates on both sides are going to have to tighten and stay two steps ahead of the other side, in order to make it to the other side.

New episodes of ‘Snowfall’ are available on FX on Wednesdays at 10pm EST/ PST.

Blondshell recently announced her self-titled debut album will arrive in April, and Uproxx considers it among the most anticipated indie albums of the year. If the project meets expectations, fans would be justified in booking a trip to see her perform her new songs at Iceland Airwaves.

The festival announced its 2023 lineup on Wednesday, February 22. Blondshell will be joined by Balming Tiger, Cassia, ClubDub, Daniil, Fetish, Fran Vasilić, Gallus, Kneecap, Kristin Sesselja, Lime Garden, LÓN, Love’n’Joy, Myrkvi, Nanna, Neonme, Squid, The Goa Express, The Haunted Youth, Trentemøller, Whispering Sons, and Yard Act.

Like Blondshell, Squid is fresh off an album announcement. Earlier this month, the UK band confirmed O Monolith will drop on June 9.

Iceland Airwaves hinted that more acts could be added, as the official landing page for the lineup states, “Artists announced for 2023 so far.” So far?

Iceland Airwaves 2023 will take place from November 2-4 in Reyjavík. As noted by BrooklynVegan, the venues include Reykjavík Art Museum, Gamla Bíó, Iðnó, Fríkirkjan Church, Gaukurinn and Húrra.

The festival is offering various ticketing options, including travel packages that offer flight, festival pass, airport transfer and hotel. There will also be a two-day conference for fans to attend. See all of the available ticketing packages here.

Fans of Migos are still mourning the death of member Takeoff, who was shot and killed in Houston last November. Earlier this month, Quavo performed his song “Without You” during the Grammys “In Memorium” segment, in honor of his bandmate and nephew. However, following the broadcast, it was reported that fellow Migo Offset and Quavo got into an altercation backstage. Offset’s wife, Cardi B, was allegedly heard attempting to mediate the fight.

Offset denied the reports, but if these rumors are true, it doesn’t seem like Quavo and Offset will be making up anytime soon to revive the group. On his latest single, “Greatness,” Quavo offered a hint about the future of the group.

“Came in, swept the game like a storm with the motherf*ckin’ flow, Take’ did that / So don’t ask ’bout the group, he gone, we gone…it can’t come back,” raps Quavo in “Greatness.”

While it seems unlikely that we will get another Migos album, or that Quavo and Offset will continue Migos as a duo, Quavo appears to be proud of the impact the trio made throughout their career.

“This how legends was born, greatness / I couldn’t do it without the greatest group in the world, hmm, greatness,” Quavo raps on the song’s outro.

In the accompanying music video, Quavo is seen looking through photos and videos of the group, and reaping the fruits of their labor by way of driving in luxury vehicles and flashy jewelry.

You can watch the video for “Greatness” above.

Everybody knows Flea is an exceptionally talented musician, but the Red Hot Chili Peppers icon also a gift for interesting opinions. He doesn’t hold back on his Los Angeles Lakers fandom. In 2021, he believed the Westminster Dog Show was rigged. Last year, Flea pointed out the obvious fact of fans asking for photos “ruins” the interaction “instantly,” and he named Thundercat as his favorite modern bass player.

Flea is about to get another platform to express his mind, and in a pleasant twist, Thundercat is coming along for the ride.

Today, February 22, it was announced that Flea will launch his The Little Light podcast via Audacy’s Cadence13 on March 30. Rolling Stone reported the news.

“The 15-part series will premiere on March 30, and the initial slate of guests includes Rick Rubin, Cynthia Erivo, Thundercat, Patti Smith, and Margo Price. The conversations will largely focus on guests’ discussing their first teachers, early influences, experiences, and how all these lessons shaped their creativity and careers,” the publication relayed while also noting that “a portion of the proceeds from This Little Light will go towards funding” the Silverlake Conservatory Of Music, which Flea founded in 2001.

“I wanted to do This Little Light to benefit my music school, the Silverlake Conservatory Of Music,” Flea said in a statement, per Rolling Stone. “The idea behind it being music education, falling in love with music and embarking on a musical journey for your life. Everybody’s path is so different, and it’s fascinating to learn how every musician came to music and developed their study of it over time.”

Rubin produced the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ albums Unlimited Love and Return Of The Dream Canteen, both from 2022. The band will start their sprawling Global Stadium Tour in Vancouver on March 29. See all the dates below.

Red Hot Chili Peppers is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.