Category: News

If George Santos showed up to audition for the role of “Congressional Con Man #1,” he’d likely be directed to play it all with a bit more subtlety. Between the devious smirk he’s usually wearing and those beady eyes peering out from his oversized glasses, there’s something just a little too on-the-nose about everything Santos does. (To say nothing of every fib he tells.)

Despite the string of lies and controversy that trails the freshly sworn-in congressman everywhere he goes — and an official criminal investigation into those untruths — Kevin McCarthy has been appointing Santos to congressional committees where he’ll actually have a hand in lawmaking. And the Speaker of the House doesn’t care what you think.

On Tuesday — as seen in the video above, posted by Aaron Rupar — McCarthy was swarmed by reporters demanding answers as to why he would entrust the governing of our country to a seeming pathological liar. While he didn’t have a satisfactory reply, that didn’t stop McCarthy from getting testy while responding.

When a reporter asked McCarthy, point blank, whether the reason he was standing behind Santos is because the alternative would cost Republicans a seat in congress, the SOTH laughed at the question — as if such a trivial matter would even play into his decision.

Instead, McCarthy said that the reason he’s continuing to support Santos is “because his constituents voted for him.” (Or, at least, the version of Santos they thought they were getting.) While he said that if the Ethics Committee decided that Santos did something wrong, he would stand behind that decision, he must have forgotten that he disemboweled the Ethics Committee as one of his first orders of business (a move that Santos himself described as “fantastic“).

Then, like any good Republican, McCarthy attempted to change the narrative by stating that if he were to go along with the idea that anyone who lies shouldn’t be allowed to hold office, then “Joe Biden couldn’t be president right now,” he said.

When pressed further (right around the 2:00 mark) and told by a reporter that he was not answering her question, McCarthy snapped back and got testy—under the guise of being… respectful?:

“Let me be very clear and respectful to you. You asked me a question. When I answer it, it’s the answer to your question. You don’t get to determine whether I answer your question or not, ok? In all respect. Thank you.”

How did it take a full 15 rounds of voting to get this respectful gem of a GOP leader elected?

(Via Aaron Rupar)

Chipotle spent all of 2022 rolling out new protein options on their not particularly change-prone menu. It was wonderful and a few of those new additions like the guajillo steak, pollo asado, and smoked brisket dunked on the meats that enjoy permanent status on the menu. The new options were such a success that at the end of last year, we gave Chipotle our coveted Golden Bag Award for best overall fast food brand. If you would’ve told me three years ago (when I started heavily covering fast food for Uproxx) that Chipotle would win an award for best fast food brand, I would’ve laughed in your face.

Unfortunately for all of us, all of these delicious and flavorful new protein options were limited, and now Chipotle is back to its base menu of options. We’re not sure what Chipotle has in store for this year, but so far all the brand has announced is some TikTok quesadilla hack set to join the menu next month. That news is… fine, but what would be better is a quesadilla hack with some of that guajillo steak! Unfortunately, we don’t live in that world.

The removal of short-term items means that last year’s ranking of Chipotle proteins is now obsolete and we need to update it. And since Chipotle is a fast food restaurant with a lot of variables (all realized in their purest form with this burrito build) we figured the easiest and most transparent way to rank all of these proteins is to eat all of them completely naked. No sauce, no extra ingredients, just a forkful of meat or veg or tofu!

Here are the best protein options you can order at Chipotle in 2023 (so far).

6. Sofritas

Calories: 150

Protein: 8g

Tasting Notes:

I feel bad about ranking Chipotle’s only plant-based protein option last, but…this stuff sucks. To be fair, when it comes to flavor, the sofritas aren’t half bad. They have a great blend of peppery and cumin-dominant notes that really cut nicely through your burrito add-ons and give you that savory meat vibe. That in and of itself is a commendable achievement. If you’re a vegetarian, straight up, this is a great meat substitute. Don’t feel bad about ordering it or think of it as an excuse to skip Chipotle entirely.

What I don’t like about the Sofritas is everything else.

First of all, they’re incredibly wet. Is wet not a strong enough word? Should I say “moist”? What’s the deal with people not liking the word moist? Moist is great. You gonna tell me you don’t want to eat a moist brownie? Anyway, I digress — the sofritas are so wet that they will soak through your tortilla, which will totally ruin your meal. Aside from the wetness, the sofritas also have a terrible mouthfeel, the tofu is really chunky and chewy to the point of distraction, and it becomes very obvious that you’re not eating meat. In a loaded burrito or bowl there are enough other ingredients going on that you aren’t going to notice that mouthfeel, but in something like a taco, forget it.

Perhaps more importantly, because the sofritas are also Chipotle’s least popular meat option, they don’t get changed out enough so they are almost always served a little stale and lukewarm. That doesn’t do any favors to the overall experience.

The Bottom Line:

If you don’t abstain from eating meat, there is no reason to even look at the sofritas. It isn’t the flavor that’s the problem it’s the wet consistency and the awful rubbery mouthfeel that ruin this option.

5. Carnitas

Calories: 210

Protein: 23g

Tasting Notes:

I’ve heard people swear by the carnitas at Chipotle, and I’m not going to sit here and tell you that Chipotle carnitas are not “real” or “proper,” but these are without a doubt consistently the worst carnitas I’ve ever had. If you love the Chipotle carnitas, sorry, but you have bad taste in carnitas — you’re playing on my homecourt here and I’m telling you: not good.

Where to start with these things? They’re dry, over-salted, and so fatty-sinewy that you’ll constantly be picking sh*t out of your mouth because it’ll end up sticking around even after you’ve already swallowed the rest of your food. What makes carnitas special is the slow-cooking, this helps the pork reach a level of tender juiciness that is downright orgasmic. Flavors of cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper are supposed to dance across the tongue with each bite.

Chipotle’s carnitas has none of that.

The juicy tenderness is replaced with a bone-dry texture that enables you to feel each strand of pork in your mouth as you chew through it. Tooth floss. It can even double as floss, which is a point in its favor considering it’s going to get stuck in every crevice between your teeth. The earthy flavors of cumin and oregano are instead replaced with a small ocean’s-worth of salt. I’m almost amazed that Chipotle could fail at carnitas this hard. If you told me this was Taco Bell’s new meat, I’d believe it.

The Bottom Line:

When people say “Chipotle isn’t real Mexican food” it’s because they’re offended by this poor excuse for carnitas.

4. Guacamole

Calories: 360

Protein: 2g

Tasting Notes:

Does guacamole count as a protein option at Chipotle?

Not in the “protein” sense, no. But we’re using the phrase to mean: “main item featured in an entree” and in that sense, it certainly fits the bill. So what the hell, we’ve decided to include it!

People go nuts for Chipotle’s guacamole, and if you’re comparing it to Taco Bell and Del Taco guac, sure, it’s downright amazing. But if you’ve ever eaten at a local taqueria or crushed your own avocados, this is nothing worth obsessing over. This is pretty standard stuff at every Mexican joint in California, and if anything Chipotle goes a little heavy with the onion here.

Aside from the dominant flavor of red onions, we have some consistently ripe avocado here acting as our base, mixed with lime juice (a little too much — someone on Chipotle’s board must be heavily invested in lime groves), cilantro, and diced jalapeno bits throughout. The diced jalapeno is my favorite feature, it adds a nice subtle kick that lingers on the palate after each bite and leaves you wanting more. It’s a great trick, and I wish they would’ve focused more on the peppers than the onion, but I get that they’ve got to please the average consumer who probably can’t handle the spice.

The Bottom Line:

Chipotle’s guacamole is astoundingly consistent. I’ve yet to have a serving that tastes like it was using over or under-ripened avocados, and though this is more onion-dominant than I like, I’d still order a veggie burrito over getting the sofritas and carnitas — so we’re ranking this higher.

Even though it’s not really a protein option.

3. Steak

Calories: 150

Protein: 21g

Tasting Notes:

Chipotle’s steak is probably the most frustrating meat option the chain has on offer. On the one hand, when it’s good it’s great — tender chunks of medium-cooked steak with a perfect caramelized outer and a simple seasoning blend of salt, black pepper, cumin, and finished with what I’m assuming is butter to help achieve that crunchy glaze. But when it’s bad — which, unfortunately, is most of the time in my experience — it’s grainy, chewy, and tough. An absolute chore to eat.

So my advice is to give the steak a good look when you’re ordering it. If it glistens with rising ribbons of steam like in the photo above, get it — it’ll be excellent. But if it looks like it’s been sitting around for a while and they’re about to change it up with a new batch, ditch it because you might as well be eating rocks.

The Bottom Line:

Because of its hit-or-miss quality, we’re giving this one the bronze medal, even though sometimes it’s at least worthy of a silver.

2. Chicken

Calories: 180

Protein: 32g

Tasting Notes:

Chipotle’s chicken doesn’t suffer from the same consistency issues that plague the steak. Even when the chicken has been sitting in the bin for a while, it’s still packed with flavor. The only thing you lose with time here is how hot the meat is, and considering you’re eating at Chipotle I’m just going to assume you don’t care about whether your food is hot or not. Because at Chipotle it rarely is.

Chipotle’s chicken is flame-grilled and features a flavor profile that is dominated by the smokey qualities of ancho chilis and the savory zest of adobo sauce. I have no doubt the restaurant spends a good amount of time marinating this meat. Because Chipotle uses grilled chicken thigh rather than breast, each bite is juicy and tender, never suffering from the dry tendencies of over-cooked white meat. If you’re wincing at the idea of dark meat over white, you must hate flavor. Just kidding (kind of), but if chewy fat generally keeps you away from ordering dark meat, that’s not a problem here. The meat is still remarkably lean, you almost can’t tell it’s dark meat aside from the fact that it’s so consistently tasty with each bite.

The Bottom Line:

Flavorful, juicy, and most importantly, consistent. It’s hard to get a bad serving of chicken at Chipotle. If this is your first time, this is your second-best meat for a positive experience overall. If you want the best experience, go with our number one choice while you still can.

1. Barbacoa

Calories: 170

Protein: 24g

Tasting Notes:

The strength of this meat is in its insanely tender texture — each bite bursts with juicy savory goodness. For this barbacoa, Chipotle uses shoulder-cut meat, (rather than the more traditional cabeza) which keeps it tender, helping to soak up Chipotle’s marinade, which it spends overnight bathing in. Putting in that extra time marinating really helps this meat soar above the rest of Chipotle’s options, and while I miss the silky sumptuous qualities that I’ve come to expect from traditional barbacoa, this comes way closer than I’d expect a national chain to ever get to the real thing.

The barbacoa is dominated by the earthy notes of oregano and cloves, I’m also getting a bit of bay leaf in there and Chipotle’s usual pepper and adobo-forward flavor. It works great in each of Chipotle meal form factors, whether you’re crunching on tacos, putting together an epic burrito, or you’re looking for the best salad of your life.

The Bottom Line:

On most days, Chipotle’s most flavorful protein and almost as good as the traditional barbacoa you’ll get at a classic SoCal taqueria. Almost. Seriously, if you’ve ever left Chipotle thinking the chain is seriously lacking in flavor, you must not have tried the barbacoa yet. Ask for a spoonful of extra liquid if you’re getting a bowl!

Jimmy Butler didn’t play in the Miami Heat’s game against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night. Miami made up a double-digit fourth quarter deficit against the defending Eastern Conference Champions to pick up a 98-95 win, which was good news for everyone in South Beach, even a pair of Heat fans who were a little disappointed earlier in the evening because Butler watched at home due to a back issue.

A 12-year old fan named Felipe and his sister, Zoe, went to the game with a sign asking Butler for either a photo or a Big Face Coffee. They ran into the problem of Butler missing the game entirely, and when Felipe got word of this, he was understandably devastated.

While Felipe and Zoe were able to get some gear during the game from the Heat and went on the floor to meet Gabe Vincent, Jamal Crawford brought word that Butler saw everything and was able to get their information. Butler also posted on his IG Story a clip of the two and simply said “i got you.”

Fast forward to Wednesday and Crawford posted on Instagram that Butler was able to meet Felipe and Zoe at Miami-Dade Arena, which included the pair getting to go into the Heat’s locker room.

There is no word, however, on whether or not Felipe and Zoe got their hands on some Big Face Coffee.

There was a whole actual plot in the season four premiere of 9-1-1: Lone Star. Romantic entanglements, drama, Rob Lowe buying a motorcycle, all of it. And you are welcome to watch for yourself and read other recaps elsewhere and do whatever you like with that information. I would never get in the way of you having a little fun. But we are not going to talk about that here. We are going to focus, as we usually do, on one of the ridiculous emergencies the first responders on the show get called in to deal with. Sometimes it’s a yard blowing up or a bus launching into a building. This time, it’s a flying toilet. A portable one. At a fair. With a person stuck inside it. What a lovely television show.

Context will help, in small doses. Here’s what you need to know:

• We open on a county fair in Texas
• Foul weather is coming in the form of a huge storm
• A young couple is walking around, the girl holding a giant stuffed bear and the guy talking about some disgusting fried fair food he just ate and is chasing with ice cream

A really solid foundation to build upon. Also, as they’re walking around, the guy says this…

… which is, by itself, just about enough to get a B or B- on a short story assignment in a creative writing class. But that’s not the point. The point is that, just after this, there is some rumbling. First, from his tummy, on account of the fried fair food, which leads to this statement and a frantic dash to the row of portable toilets.

And then more rumbling, this time from the skies as the storm approaches, which leads to… well, this.

A few notes here:

• Yes, he is still in the portable toilet
• It is also sweltering in there due to a rapid rise in temperature from the storm
• The storm also sucked water out of a nearby pond and sent from into the sky, and then the frogs all fell from the sky and one of them got lodged in a man’s windpipe and his daughter called 911 and said her daddy couldn’t talk because he had “a frog in his throat”

Perfect. No notes. Prestige television at its finest. Anyway, the kid calls 911 from the toilet. Also, the toilet has splash-landed in some body of water and he’s still stuck in it and it’s filling up with water laced with poop and chemicals. Also, the lady he’s talking to on the phone Googles the portable toilet to see if there’s an emergency hatch and, I swear to god, this is the name of the portable toilet company.

So Rob Lowe — Rob Lowe plays the captain on 9-1-1: Lonestar, which we have established many times but is still a lot of fun to type, so here we are — and his crew show up at the fair to try to help this poor doofus. But they can’t find him. All they know is that there’s a kid stuck in a portable toilet that flew away in a storm and landed in water somewhere and if they don’t find him soon he’s going to drown. And this leads to Rob Lowe saying a line of dialogue that has to be a very early contender for Television Sentence of the Year.

It’s so good.

Are you ready?

Are you, honestly?

Because here it is.

Here’s what I need you to do: Click on that image and save it to your phone and/or computer and send it to one or many of your friends. Do not explain it. Just send the picture with no words. It’ll be fun. You deserve to have a little fun.

But we’re getting off-topic. We have a missing toilet that is filling with water and a scared young man with furious bowels stuck inside. They have to find him. But where could it be? A lake? A pond? A river? What body of water could he have flown into?

Hmm.

Hmmmmmmmmm.

GUESS

GUESS WHERE THE TOILET LANDED

GUESS

…

….

…

DID YOU GUESS “IN THE FREAKING DUNK TANK”?

I BET YOU DID NOT

DO NOT LIE TO ME

LOOK AT THIS

So, a few more things, via bullet point once again:

• I am not joking at all when I say that this stupid reveal made me laugh harder than almost anything from almost any actual comedy in the last few months
• They cut him out with a chainsaw — let’s be very clear here: “they chainsaw the portable toilet that flew through the air and into the dunk tank” — and hit him with the defibrillator to save his life
• There are better shows on television but almost none with more episodes that feature airborne portable toilets, which is something worth noting somewhere

But now you’re wondering, “Hey, what do you think your first words would be after the fire department chainsawed you out of a portable toilet that flew into a dunk tank with you in it and almost caused you to drown in chemically treated water that may have had your own poop in it from the fried fair food you ate and chased with ice cream?” It’s a fair question. And the answer is, well…

Just a beautiful piece of business all around.

Despite getting rave reviews for her role in Glass Onion, Janelle Monae recently said she doesn’t consider herself a serious actor. That’s understandable, as the multi-hyphenate triple threat originally got her start as an inventive singer and songwriter, garnering warm receptions for high-concept projects like The ArchAndroid, The Electric Lady, and Dirty Computer.

Now, with the press run for Glass Onion behind her, Monae is apparently kicking off the rollout for her fourth studio album, teasing a new single apparently titled “Float” with a spicy video compilation of her recent post-birthday vacation. In the new video, collage-style cutouts of Monae and her friends appear over beautiful shots of the vacation venue. And like the photos posted from her birthday party, she’s topless in many of the shots, making the video pretty NSFW (depending on your workplace’s policies about gold pasties).

The song finds Monae feeling herself, boasting that where she once walked into rooms with her head down, “I don’t walk, now I float.” It’s another stylistic departure for her, incorporating triumphant brass like a mid-2000s trap anthem and some rumbling 808 backline that promises the single will be an exuberant, standing-on-the-couches-ass club banger.

Although the single hasn’t been given a release date just yet, it’s a promising sign that Monae is ready to enter a new, carefree era — and bring us all along with her.

Back in 2011, Taylor Swift filmed the “Ours” music video alongside Friday Night Lights actor Zach Gilford. However, over a decade later, he made a recent appearance on the Ladygang podcast to reveal that he didn’t know her name at the time.

In the timeline of Swift’s life, she was already practically a household name with several Grammy awards under her belt.

“Here’s the thing… I’m just so out of touch,” Gilford admitted.

“They were doing all this behind-the-scenes footage on that music video, and they’re interviewing me and I’m really bad with names and I wasn’t sure if her name was Taylor or Tyler,” he added. “I’d go, ‘Ms. Swift. She’s so great. She’s so sweet. She’s so great to work with.’ And I was terrified. […] I would have been the first person ever canceled if I said her name wrong.”

Despite his confusion, he also said that Swift gave him a gift during the process of making the video together.

“This was the nicest thing,” Gilford also shared. “She gave me, like, a handwritten note of ‘Things To Do In Nashville.’ It was so sweet and thoughtful, and I think there were like little hearts over the I’s. It was really cute.”

The version of Infinity Pool that premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival is not the version of Infinity Pool that’s coming to theaters this weekend. The Sundance cut, so to speak, was rated NC-17, and “shocked” festival-goers with drugs, orgies, adult breastfeeding, and a scene where “Alexander Skarsgård’s character ejaculates, with his member in full view of the camera.” Sounds like a bunch of squares to me.

Some of the “gloriously perverse” hedonism will remain in the theatrical cut, but not all of it, considering the film is only (“only”) rated R.

“The U.S. has a sort of particular issue because of the NC-17 rating,” director Brandon Cronenberg explained to Collider. “NC-17 was an attempt to rebrand the X rating, but they didn’t do it successfully, and it came with all this stigma. You can’t actually market a film if it’s an NC-17 rating. So specifically in the U.S. that means that you can’t really have a theatrical release of any size.” In other words, if Infinity Pool had an NC-17 rating, like the Oscar nominee Ana de Armas-starring Blonde, it wouldn’t be playing at your local AMC. That’s the kind of heartbreak Nicole Kidman should have been talking about.

Cronenberg continued:

“But I knew that going into it, and it’s not a problem everywhere and usually there’s a plan to release the full film. The R-rated version isn’t hugely different, I should say. I would love people to just see it in theaters and not worry about the versioning. It’s fine.”

Mia Goth is delightfully unhinged in both versions. Infinity Pool comes out on January 27.

(Via Collider)

Shakira is not the only one breaking records with “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53.” Her collaborator, Argentine producer Bizarrap, also made history when their song debuted within the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week.

Yesterday, Shakira and Bizarrap debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53.” Bizarrap made history with the first song from an Argentine artist to debut and appear in the top 10 of the chart. Many people from Argentina celebrated Bizarrap’s milestone on Twitter. In memes, his feat was liked to another win for Argentina after the country claimed the World Cup last year.

With the success of “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” Bizarrap also became the first Argentine artist to cross over 50 million monthly listeners on Spotify. He is currently sitting at No. 35 among the most-streamed artists on Spotify. Shakira has climbed to the No. 5 spot on the list, surpassing Bad Bunny, Rihanna, and Drake.

Shakira released “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53” on January 11 as a diss track against her ex-partner Gerard Piqué and his current girlfriend, Clara Chía Marti. The song became her first top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 15 years. The last time she was in the top 10 was alongside Beyoncé for their duet “Beautiful Liar.”

New music from Chlöe is officially on the way. Ahead of her upcoming debut solo album, In Pieces, Chlöe has taken to social media to announce the lead single from the album.

The upcoming single, which is set to arrive later this week, is called “Pray It Away.” On the single cover, she is seen surrounded by candles in what looks like the chapel of a church. In the post’s caption, she noted that “Pray It Away” would be the “1ST PIECE” of In Pieces.

Yesterday, during a discord following the announcement of In Pieces, Chlöe revealed that none of her previously released solo singles — “Have Mercy,” “Treat Me,” “Surprise,” and the Latto-assisted “For The Night” — will be on the album.

While we don’t really have an idea of what to expect from “Pray It Away,” Chlöe spoke with Uproxx for our cover story, saying that the album will sound different from the music she makes with her sister, Halle Bailey, as duo Chloe X Halle.

“I’m a brand new artist and I haven’t had a body of work out [yet], so it’ll be the first thing people hear from me, really,” she said. “So I think that’ll be surprising in itself.”

Check out the cover art for “Pray It Away” below.

In Pieces arrives in March via Parkwood and Columbia. You can pre-save it here.

With his follow-up to Knives Out, writer/director Rian Johnson not only delivered a hilarious and scathing murder mystery in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, but he packed the thing full of clever Easter eggs. Everything from the title of the film to pieces of art in the background not only hinted at Glass Onion‘s secret, but there were also some clever nods to the previous film and a Brad Pitt reference for good measure.

If you missed some of these the first (or second or third) time around, don’t worry, we got you covered. Here’s a full list of the sly little hints peppered throughout Glass Onion.

The Title

Throughout the film, Craig’s Benoit Blanc repeatedly references the literal glass onion that sits atop Miles Bron’s beach house and how its contents are hidden in plain sight. According to Johnson, he got the name from an old Beatles song and a quick Google search.

“I’m always fishing for something fun that Blanc can grab onto as an overwrought metaphor that he can beat to death,” Johnson told Tudum. “This is all in plain sight from the very start. So, the idea of glass came to me, something that’s clear. I’ll be very honest. I literally got out my iPhone and searched my music library with the word glass.”

Miles’ Knick-Knacks

Not content with just using the Beatles song as a title and metaphor for the film, Johnson also peppered the movie with little nods to the “Glass Onion” lyrics. There’s a statue of strawberries, a nod to the line “I told you about Strawberry Fields,” and a little porcelain statue of a jester, a reference to the “fool on the hill” in the song.

The “Hourly Dong”

During the film, Miles boasts that the hourly dong on his private island was composed by Philip Glass. In reality, it was performed by longtime Rian Johnson collaborator Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Daniel Craig Isn’t The Only Returning Actor

While Johnson has touted Glass Onion as a completely separate mystery from Knives Out and that Craig is the only connection to the previous film, that’s not entirely true. Throughout the film, Derol (played by Noah Segan) can be seen milling about Miles’ mansion, just having a beer and seemingly oblivious to the murder mystery unfolding around him. However, this isn’t Segan’s first Benoit Blanc mystery. The actor played Trooper Wagner in the previous film. Like Joseph Gordon Levitt, Segan is also a frequent Rian Johnson collaborator and has appeared in Brick, Looper, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Serena Williams’ Book

Tennis star Serena Williams makes a cameo in the film where she apparently offers real-time training advice to Norton’s billionaire. During her brief appearance, she’s seen holding a copy of Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow. In the first film, Benoit Blanc quipped to Ana de Armas’ Marta that no one has ever actually read the book.

Benoit Blanc’s ‘Among Us’ Crew

In the early scenes of the film, a bored and despondent Benoit Blanc can be seen playing the hit video game Among Us with Stephen Sondheim, Natasha Lyonne, and Angela Lansbury of Murder, She Wrote fame. However, the scene is more than just an opportunity for clever cameos. In the game, players have to deduce the identity of a killer among them just like the plot of the film.

More Clues In The Bathroom

The Among Us scene also contained another little Easter egg. Lying on the floor of Blanc’s bathroom is a copy of the 1930 murder mystery Cain’s Jawbone. Like the film, the story is told out of order thanks to a clever printing trick.

Benoit Loves Him Some Stephen Sondheim

The legendary composer’s Among Us appearance wasn’t just a clever cameo. In Knives Out, Blanc can be seen singing a tune from Follies while navigating the first film’s mystery.

“Fool’s Mate”

When Miles’ guests all receive their intricately designed mystery box, it appears to be an array of mentally taxing puzzles. However, one of the games is a telling reveal that Miles isn’t the genius he pretends to be. In the chess box, the pieces are set to what’s known as “Fool’s Mate,” one of the least complicated and easiest positions to score a checkmate.

“Duke Don’t Dance With Pineapple”

In yet another hint that Miles’ plot really was simplistically “stupid,” he literally asks his quests for dietary restrictions in his invitation and then uses that information to murder Duke.

Miles Is A Tom Cruise Wannabe

During one of the film’s flashback scenes, Miles can be seen looking a whole lot like Tom Cruise’s character in Magnolia. Turns out, this was intentional. According to costume designer Jenny Egan, this was a deliberate choice to show that Miles is not the most original dude, so of course, he stole Andy’s business plan.

Add Brad Pitt To That List

If the shirtless portrait of Miles looked familiar, that’s because it’s a clever nod to Norton’s role in Fight Club. The painting is actually Norton’s head on top of Brad Pitt’s body. Whether that means the movie exists inside the Glass Onion universe makes our head hurts, but is a cool little callback to one of Norton’s most famous roles.

Yes, That Was Kanye In A Toga

This little Easter egg is actually Edward Norton’s favorite. Included in Miles’ extensive portrait is a painting of Kanye West as a Roman senator, and the actor can’t believe more people haven’t pointed it out.

Have We Mentioned Miles Is An Idiot?

Despite his seemingly impressive art collection, which notably includes the actual Mona Lisa, Miles truly has no idea what any of it means. According to Rian Johnson, one of the paintings from artist Mark Rothko is actually hanging upside down because, again, Miles is a moron.

Maybe Benoit’s A Little Like Batman

During the film’s reveal that Helen (Janelle Monae) is actually Andy’s twin sister, Benoit offers to help her infiltrate Bron’s island getaway. However, he notes, “I am not Batman,” which is slightly undermined by the score. As Benoit formulates a plan to catch Miles, a small sample of Danny Elfman’s iconic score from Tim Burton’s Batman can be heard.

Andi’s Full Name Was Very Fitting

While pulling double duty as twins, Janelle Monae’s Cassandra Brand was a deliberate nod to the Greek myth of Cassandra whose prophecies were ignored despite her divine gifts. In the film, Cassandra/Andi warns about the volatile nature of Bron’s new energy project, Klear, and is not only ignored but murdered for threatening his company.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is available for streaming on Netflix.