Category: News

Warning: spoilers for Don’t Worry Darling ahead.

Despite all of the bizarre drama surrounding the movie (we don’t have to get into that again) Don’t Worry Darling is still an interesting movie with some classic twists and turns that are mostly redeemed by Florence Pugh’s performance. The movie quietly appeared on HBO Max this week, so maybe you decided to sit down and watch it before realizing that it’s a little hard to follow. It’s okay! A lot of people thought that! So here is a quick explainer of what exactly went down on the screen (if you want off-screen drama, here you go).

The movie follows Jack and Alice, (portrayed by Harry Styles and Pugh) a young married couple who live a picturesque life in some 1950s-adjacent utopia known as The Victory Project, where the husbands work and the wives survive on gossip, sex, and martinis. Alice begins to worry about her neighbor friend Margaret who seems to think that The Victory Project is not as perfect as it appears, though her claims are quickly dismissed by the men in the community.

But things get even stranger for Alice, who begins to hallucinate various scenes in a past life, while being constantly gaslighted by the men in the neighborhood. It’s revealed that The Victory Project is actually a simulation that Jack forced her into so they could have “the perfect life.” Jack claims that he did it for her, though it’s also revealed that he is just a Regular Unemployed Millennial who listens to podcasts and does not have a British accent, so he is clearly not the perfect husband that he appeared to be. Instead, he has Alice hooked up to wires (the technology is…unclear) in order to get her to play into his fantasy. The movie plays out a bit like a Matrix situation, though without Keanu Reeves, so it’s just not quite as good and the imagery is a little muddled. Still, it was certainly a twist!

Alice’s friend Bunny (director Olivia Wilde) says that she knows the world is a simulation, though she stays there so she can reunite with her kids, who have died in the “real world.” Alice is determined to get out of the simulation, and eventually strangles her husband before gasping awake. And that’s…it. So what does it mean?

In the original ending, there is a newspaper clipping that shows Alice’s obituary, implying that Jack faked her death so that he could keep her away from her real life where she was a successful doctor. That bit was scrapped, so we don’t really know what happened between Jack and Alice in the “real” world.

It seems that Wilde was trying to make some sort of comment about abuse and relationships with controlling men, which is interesting since Shia LeBeouf was originally attached to star, though that clearly didn’t work out well. Wilde has since said that the Victory men are basically incels anyway, and the movie and its ending were supposed to highlight how dangerous they can be.

It’s unfortunate that the movie became overshadowed by, uh, a lot of stuff, because the movie definitely had some potential. Still, without Keanu Reeves, any type of simulation movie just feels empty!

Pavement’s 2022 reunion tour made for the best kind of ’90s indie rock nostalgia. And even if you didn’t make it to one of their dozens of shows, you surely saw some aging hipster posting about it on Twitter. The tour was truly one for the ages as Stephen Malkmus, Scott Kannberg, Bob Nastanovich, Steve West, and Mark Ibold coursed through the classics and then some. For a moment, it was as if Pavement hadn’t disappeared for over a decade (again) and perhaps they were “back” back?

But pump the brakes for a second, because lead singer Stephen Malkmus wants to make one thing clear: There is no way that Pavement could craft new songs today with the same charm and meaning that they had when they were first penned.

“These songs are good, they exist in this present,” Malkmus told NME. When asked if Pavement could be writing new music together today, Malkmus was pretty direct in his distaste for that idea. “It’d be total cringe if we did that,” he said. “I understand the impetus to put out a new record; it makes it seem like the band’s more legit or something and not just like a cash-in deal. But it doesn’t have to be that way if you just own your songs. And people can see if you’re geezers on a cash-in reunion tour or if they’re doing it because they’re having a blast.”

So, temper your expectations for the future, because Pavement clearly don’t plan to adhere to the modern-day formula for indie rock revivals. Malkmus says that’s best left for other acts: “If any band wants to make a new album, they like to do that, that’s totally rad. But, yeah, not happening.”

Katy Perry found herself in hot water today after revealing that she voted for American businessman-turned-politician Rick Caruso for the Los Angeles mayoral race.

The singer’s recent post on Instagram raised many eyebrows. Perry can be seen posing with a thumbs up from inside the voting booth, clearly indicating her vote for the former longtime Republican who only just changed his party affiliation to Democrat earlier this year.

“I am voting for a myriad of reasons (see the news) but in particular because Los Angeles is a hot mess atm,” Perry wrote with a series of hashtags such as #doyoubutjustuseyourvoteok.

In the past, Caruso has been linked to anti-abortion organizations and politicians, along with reportedly pledging $1 million to support an abortion rights proposition but has yet to donate any of those funds, according to the LA Times.

Additionally, Caruso was criticized for his time as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for USC, where the school’s former full-time gynecologist George Tyndall seemingly faced no accountability after facing dozens of accusations of sexual misconduct before being allowed to leave the school.

Perry seemed more fitting to support progressive Democrat candidate Rep. Karen Bass, especially after her support of Hillary Clinton in the past, even performing at her DNC gathering in 2016. But it looks like Perry isn’t alone in her support for Caruso — Kim Kardashian, Snoop Dogg, Gwyneth Paltrow, and new Twitter boss Elon Musk have also shared their support for the Los Angeles businessman.

After facing heavy backlash, Perry appeared to turn off her comments on the post and has yet to acknowledge the backlash.

Check out some reactions below.

When the Creed III trailer hit, sending social media into a frenzy over the bombastic showdown between Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors, there was one notable absence that stuck out like a sore thumb: Sylvester Stallone‘s Rocky Balboa. Despite the Creed films being a direct spinoff from Stallone’s iconic boxing franchise, Stallone passed on appearing in the third movie despite having a prominent role in Creed and Creed II.

At the center of Stallone’s absence is his heightened and now public battle with Rocky producer Irwin Winkler. In a fiery Instagram post over the summer, Stallone took Winkler to task for not giving him an equity stake in the Rocky franchise. Instead, Winkler’s children own a piece of the growing film universe, and that no longer sits well with Stallone. Especially when there’s been talk of bringing him back for anther solo Rocky film.

However, the ownership battle is not the only reason that Stallone bowed out of Creed III. In a sprawling new interview, he candidly reveals that he wasn’t a fan of where the story was heading. Via The Hollywood Reporter:

That’s a regretful situation because I know what it could have been. It was taken in a direction that is quite different than I would’ve taken it. It’s a different philosophy — Irwin Winkler’s and Michael B. Jordan’s. I wish them well, but I’m much more of a sentimentalist. I like my heroes getting beat up, but I just don’t want them going into that dark space. I just feel people have enough darkness.

Stallone also admitted that he’s still miffed about Rocky producers trying to launch a Drago spinoff without telling him, so don’t expect to see The Champ promoting Creed III or putting on his old boxing shorts unless there’s movement on his ownership rights. Sly wants his cut.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

House of the Dragon has the same good problem as Succession: too many excellent performances. Matthew Macfadyen (Tom Wambsgans) won Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series at the 2022 Emmys, but it just as easily could have gone to Kieran Culkin (Roman) or Nicholas Braun (Cousin Greg); same with Outstanding Lead Actor, where Jeremy Strong (Kendall) was fittingly pitted against his on-screen dad, Brian Cox (Logan), although they both lost to Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae. The acting categories will be even tougher next year with House of the Dragon in the Emmys race.

Gold Derby has learned that only two performers will be submitted in the lead categories for the winter award shows, like the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards, and the Emmys: Lead Actor for Paddy Considine as King Viserys, and Lead Actress for Emma D’Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra. (D’Arcy uses they/them pronouns, so the category may use the gender-neutral “performer” honorific if they win, depending on the award show.)

As for the rest of the remarkably talented cast:

Lead Actor: Paddy Considine
Lead Actress/Performer: Emma D’Arcy
Supporting Actor: Fabien Frankel (Criston Cole), Rhys Ifans (Otto), Matthew Needham (Larys Strong), Matt Smith (Daemon), Steve Toussaint (Corlys)
Supporting Actress: Milly Alcock (young Rhaenyra), Eve Best (Rhaenys), Emily Carey (young Alicent), Olivia Cooke (adult Alicent), Sonoya Mizuno (Mysaria )

I’m putting big bucks on Larys winning Best Feet Creep at the MTV Movie & TV Awards.

(Via Gold Derby)

At a sold-out show at New York’s 20,000-cap Madison Square Garden, a shirtless Matty Healy got down on his knees and held a raw steak in one hand and his crotch in the other. The 1975 frontman dug his teeth into the meat and everyone murmured and put their phones up to take a video. There’s something beautiful about it, or at least I think so; I have no reasoning other than that it’s ridiculous and the reactions have been visceral. Some are dissecting the meaning of this act of performance art, but more are rolling their eyes or feeling sick. After he finished chewing, he crawled slowly to a box television that displayed a catalog of ape NFTs and he climbed into the screen.

There’s a viral tweet I saw recently that comes to mind: “matty healy is disturbing, weird, embarrassing, cringeworthy and awful. and he is the love of my life.”

This statement can sum up a lot of the appeal of The 1975. Fans are disgusted by the heartthrob’s antics — whether it’s touching himself on stage or tweeting things like “might start working on my handwriting cos some of these tattoos are f*cking dog sh*t” — yet that disgust is mixed with a deep, confusing love. So much so that The 1975 sold out one of the biggest venues in New York.

They went on at 8:45 P.M. and Healy sat at a piano, cigarette in hand, slightly messing up the rhythm to “The 1975,” the opener of their bright new album Being Funny In A Foreign Language and not to be confused with their four other songs of the same title. The sound of the track is shamelessly influenced by LCD Soundsystem, who just released their first song in seven years just in time for what many people are deeming the revival of indie sleaze. Healy probably knows this, especially considering one of the afterparty DJs was The Dare whose song “Girls” is an inescapable, Manhattan-centric Peaches homage. While it’s safe to say that The 1975 have nothing to do with that scene, one could argue they’ve got the irony element nailed down. “This will get bigger, if you know what I mean,” Healy sings, opening the LP with an innuendo. But what separates them from others is that they walk the tightrope between irony and earnestness, and they do it gracefully. He continues: “And I’m sorry if you’re living and you’re seventeen.” For some reason, this line makes me and millions of other twentysomethings emotional, as if it still applies to us, as if we’re still seventeen.

That’s part of the deep love that fans have for The 1975 — the way their music feels perpetually juvenile, refusing to grow up. “I like my men like I like my coffee / Full of soy milk and so sweet, it won’t offend anybody,” he sings on “Part Of The Band,” which simultaneously questions our own ability to be sincere: “Am I ironically woke? / The butt of my joke?” Sometimes it feels like The 1975 is a social experiment, or rather just a vessel through which Healy tests the limits of what he can do, such as touching himself on stage. But that’s part of the fun — flirting with transgression. The best part about Healy is that he doesn’t want to be liked — a brave trait that’s impossible to find. The man literally said no to opening up for Ed Sheeran because it just didn’t feel right to him. He’s real. As he slouched down on the couch and touched his crotch at Madison Square Garden, the girl next to me blurted, “I’m uncomfortable.” “I’m very comfortable,” I said. She smiled and said, “We’re like yin and yang.”

I, like Healy, have been drinking too much and smoking too many cigarettes because of the ever-expanding sense of doom hovering over no only my own life, but also the world in general. It’s the kind of doom that forces everyone into apathy. For years, I only listened to songs that mimicked the emotional and mental state I was in; I filled my ears with monotonous instrumentation and passive vocals exhaling words of hopelessness. The 1975 were an unlikely respite. As they played through the new record, no one could’ve guessed that this band’s fanbase is known to be depressed. Everyone danced; the groove was undeniable and irresistible, like during “I’m In Love With You,” a buoyant love song with the simple hook. As they balance irony with earnestness, they also balance dread with hope — sometimes there doesn’t even need to be a reason for hope, it’s just an enlightening, infectious riff or an unabashed declaration of love.

Their live rendition of Being Funny In A Foreign Language was nonlinear and speckled with old songs as well, including “Roadkill” from 2020’s Notes On A Conditional Form and the fan-favorited classic “Fallingforyou” off their debut, which contains the Tumblr-iconic line: “I don’t wanna be your friend / I wanna kiss your neck,” a refrain the crowd screamed collectively. They have come a long way since that LP; their hits could’ve remained their hits, like “Chocolate” or “Robbers,” in the same way that Arctic Monkeys’ hits are still “Do I Wanna Know?” and “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?” from their fellow Tumblr-iconic album AM. But The 1975 are moving with the times and continuously unleashing memorable music that sticks. “Love It If We Made It” is a great example of that. He prefaced the song by complaining about still having to play it. I was grateful he did. The night before, I cruised down the left lane of the highway with my friend in the passenger seat and smoked a cigarette and blasted “Love It If We Made It” and screamed along, our voices getting louder every time the lyric got better: “And poison me, daddy / I’ve got the Jones right through my bones,” “Rest in peace Lil Peep / The poetry is in the streets,” “Thank you, Kanye, very cool,” to name a few. The song is a radical rejection of apathy and a brief jolt of feeling in this big cloud of numbness.

“Love It If We Made It” live was invigorating and powerful, especially followed by “The Sound” from their sophomore album I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It and then “Sex” from their debut. To continue with back-to-back bangers, they closed with “Give Yourself A Try,” a shot of adrenaline with vivacious riffs and a jittery beat. “Won’t you give yourself a try,” he repeated over and over, and it was like a continual waking up.

Take IAMCOMPTON’s name literally. The rapper, born and raised in East Compton, California, is dedicated to putting on for his city; the same streets that birthed West Coast hip-hop legends, Dr.Dre and Eazy-E.

Fans of the VH1’s Black Ink Crew: Compton may recognize the rapper as the owner of and standout tattoo artist for the city’s first tattoo shop. Outside of his ink-related endeavors, Danny “KP” Kirkpatrick, also known as IAMCOMPTON, also uses his music to put on for LA, as seen with his loosie freestyle titled “TALK OF LA,” released back in February.

Today, IAMCOMPTON pulls up to the bathroom set to perform his single “Go Numb.” Underneath the track’s catchy hook and laid-back beat are lyrics flexing his dedication to leveling up. Reminding us to “double up till it’s all gone,” his Sessions performance isn’t just a vibe. It’s gospel.

Watch IAMCOMPTON perform “Numb” for UPROXX Sessions above.

UPROXX Sessions is Uproxx’s performance show featuring the hottest up-and-coming acts you should keep an eye on. Featuring creative direction from LA promotion collective, Ham On Everything, and taking place on our “bathroom” set designed and painted by Julian Gross, UPROXX Sessions is a showcase of some of our favorite performers, who just might soon be yours, too.

This article originally appeared on 06.01.18

A teacher’s message has gone viral after he let his student sleep in class — for the kindest reason.

Teachers spend time preparing lesson plans and trying to engage students in learning. The least a kid can do is stay awake in class, right?

---

But high school English teacher Monte Syrie sees things differently. In a Twitter thread, he explained why he didn’t take it personally when his student Meg fell asleep — and why he didn’t wake her up.

Screenshots via MonteSyrie/Twitter.

Meg’s nap meant she missed an in-class essay, but she turned it in that night. “I didn’t beat her up about it. Didn’t have to,” he wrote. “In a different room, Meg may have been written up for sleeping in class and given a zero for missing and essay, but she wasn’t in a different room; she was in my room.”

Syrie pointed out that sometimes we have to “trust our instincts, even if it goes against the grain.”

Meg is a good student with a lot on her plate. She takes a zero-hour class before the normal school day and does farm chores before that. She runs track. And she’s a teenager, with all of the social, academic, and life pressures that go along with it.

Syrie teaches sophomore English in Cheney, Washington. Photo via Monte Syrie.

And she’s not alone. During the school year, teens report higher levels of stress than adults, and many students report feeling exhausted trying to keep up with it all.

“I think too often the biggest thing that people forget about high school students is that they are kids,” Syrie says. “They’re kids — kids who are having to grow up way too fast and are having way too much pressure put on them, in and out of school … even for our best and brightest, that pressure gets to be too much.”

Syrie’s compassionate story resonated with people because we’ve all been in a position of needing a little grace.

Syrie’s tweets continued, exemplifying how teachers can show kindness and understanding to students. He pointed out, “I can’t offer Meg a math class later in the day. I cannot feed her horses … I cannot run 6 race-pace 300s for her. I cannot spirit away her teen trouble. But I can give her a break.”

Syrie says he tries to be that responsive to all of his students. “Because I firmly believe that one size fits all is madness, I adjust to each student, trusting my instincts, trusting what I know,” he says. “Regardless of our responsibilities, life is hard, and we all need some grace now and then.”

Syrie says he’s had a few negative comments, but overwhelmingly the response has been positive from both students and teachers.

[rebelmouse-image 19397573 dam=”1″ original_size=”665×141″ caption=”Screenshot via Alexa Shaw/Twitter.” expand=1]Screenshot via Alexa Shaw/Twitter.

[rebelmouse-image 19397574 dam=”1″ original_size=”648×96″ caption=”Screenshot via Maria Riverso/Twitter.” expand=1]Screenshot via Maria Riverso/Twitter.

[rebelmouse-image 19397575 dam=”1″ original_size=”661×119″ caption=”Screenshot via Mrs. Chow/Twitter.” expand=1]Screenshot via Mrs. Chow/Twitter.

Syrie has words for those who say that allowing a student to sleep in class doesn’t prepare them for the “real world.”

Some may question whether letting a student sleep in class without consequence is a good idea. Syrie has a response:

“We are not working in factories, stamping out standardized products,” he says. “We are helping young humans — unique individuals — learn about themselves and their worlds. As such, when our young humans face the inevitable pressures of growing up, we need to respond with empathy.”

“And if that does not prepare them for the ‘real world’ as some may suggest, then maybe the world needs to change. I want to live in a world where there’s empathy. That’s the world I want to live in.”

You can read more about the way Syrie is rethinking education on his website.

This article originally appeared on 7.21.21

Usually the greatest fear after a wild night of partying isn’t what you said that you might regret, but how you’ll look in your friends’ tagged photos. Although you left the house looking like a 10, those awkward group selfies make you feel more like a 5, prompting you to wonder, “Why do I look different in pictures?”

It’s a weird phenomenon that, thanks to selfies, is making people question their own mirrors. Are pictures the “real” you or is it your reflection? Have mirrors been lying to us this whole time??

---

The answer to that is a bit tricky. The good news is that there’s a big chance that Quasimodo-looking creature that stares back at you in your selfies isn’t an accurate depiction of the real you. But your mirror isn’t completely truthful either.

Below, a scientific breakdown that might explain those embarrassing tagged photos of you:

The mirror is a reflection. It’s not the real you.

SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES

Although we’re the most comfortable and familiar with the face staring back at us while we brush our teeth in the morning, the mirror isn’t really the real us. It’s a reflection, so it shows how we look like in reverse. Because we’re so used to seeing the reverse version of ourselves, seeing how we look in pictures can be jarring. And unless you’re blessed with a perfectly symmetrical face, the photo version of yourself can be even more wonky.

“We see ourselves in the mirror all the time—you brush your teeth, you shave, you put on makeup,” Pamela Rutledge, director of the Media Psychology Center, told The Atlantic. “Looking at yourself in the mirror becomes a firm impression. You have that familiarity. Familiarity breeds liking. You’ve established a preference for that look of your face.”

Scientists call this the “mere-exposure” effect. Basically, it’s a behavior concocted by psychologist Robert Zajonc that says people react favorably to things they’re most familiar with. So, when you see a flipped version of yourself, you immediately hate it or even find it grotesque because it’s the opposite of what you’re used to.

So although we think we look better in a mirror, we’re more psychologically inclined to feel that way even if we truthfully look better in photos. Weird, huh?

The camera lens also plays a part.

SOURCE: ISTOCK

So if your reflection isn’t the real you, does that mean your ugly selfies are your “true self”? Although mirrors show a flipped version of yourself that tones down the harshness of your asymmetries, the myth that “pictures never lie” isn’t true either. After all, most people take more than one selfie before they find their most flattering one, and usually it takes a combination of angles, lighting, and duck lips before landing one that’s Instagram-worthy.

But the problem might not be your angles, it could be lens distortion. Because of the proximity of your face to the camera, the lens can distort certain features, making them look larger than they are in real life. Pictures also only provide a 2-D version of ourselves. Depending on your features, if you have a soft, round face, photos can flatten your features and further distort the “real” you.

For example, just changing the focal length of a camera can even change the width of your head. As Gizmodo writer John Herrman pens, the fancier the camera, the better you’ll look in the picture:

“Telephoto lenses are usually seen as more flattering, giving the impression that the subject is flattened, and slightly compressing the width of your foremost features, like your nose or breasts. So you might want to think twice before fleeing the pesky paparazzi and their fancy zoom lenses; it’s the tourist with the pocket cam whose snaps will make you look fat on the Internet.”

And because cameras don’t show the 3-D version of you, it’s easy to “trick” cameras to present a reality that’s not even true. Professional models have perfected this, which is why people can do photo sorcery like this by merely tweaking their angles:

See on Instagram

It’s also the camera flash.

SOURCE: ISTOCK

Although good lighting is the key to all flattering photos, a harsh flash from your iPhone can actually make you look a lot worse, especially if it’s taken in a dark room. In fact, according to OKCupid, harsh camera flashes add seven years to your face.

In addition to making you look shiny and greasy, cameras can’t adjust to lightness and darkness the ways our eyes naturally can. Cameras can only focus on highlights or shadows, and sometimes that can result in lighting that can be less than flattering. A good rule of thumb is to stick to natural or outdoor lighting instead.

Your smile could also be the culprit.

SOURE: iSTOCK

Everyone knows what it’s like to pose for an awkward photo, like a driver’s license or a passport. The photos never turn out looking nice, and they hardly look like our natural smiles. When you’re looking at yourself in the mirror, you’re relaxed, confident, and more likely to smile and act naturally.

If someone shouting “Say cheese!” at you makes you feel self-conscious about your unphotogenic reputation, obviously you’re going to tense up and have a photo that looks different and foreign from the version you see in the mirror. It’s best to relax when taking pictures and try to focus on something else. That tense, forced awkwardness will always translate to a bad photo.

It’s possible you’re less attractive than you think.

But no matter how many factors you want to blame for your crappy pictures, it all boils down to psychology. Perhaps the reason you look different in pictures is because the version of yourself you like best is a figment of your imagination.

According to a 2008 study, people tend to think they’re more attractive than they really are. In the experiment, researchers photoshopped pictures of participants to make them look more attractive and then mixed those with photos of strangers. Next, they asked the subjects to pick their picture out of a line-up. People were quicker at picking photos where they looked more attractive, concluding that “attractiveness” was the version of themselves they were most familiar with.

However, other experts have also said the opposite, that people tend to think they’re less attractive than they really are. Whatever the case, if you’re beating yourself up about why you look different in mirrors and pictures, there’s a good chance that all your fear and anxiety is just in your head. It’s sort of similar to how people hate the sound of their own voice. Perhaps the key to looking better in pictures is taking as many selfies as you can to help familiarize yourself with both the “mirror” and “camera” version of yourself.

“People who take a lot of selfies end up feeling a lot more comfortable in their own skin because they have a continuum of images of themselves, and they’re more in control of the image,” Pamela said. “Flipped or not flipped, the ability to see themselves in all these different ways will just make them generally more comfortable.”

Or, you know, just download FaceTune. Might as well fight science with science.

This article originally appeared on 07.14.21

Actor, comedian, and self-proclaimed “voicetramentalist,” Michael Winslow was just about everywhere in the ’80s. His incredible ability to make sound effects with his voice and uncanny beatboxing skills landed him the role of officer Larvell Jones in all seven “Police Academy” movies.

---

He also did voiceover work in “Gremlins” and appeared in Mel Brooks’ “Spaceballs.”

But Winslow was forced to scale back his career in 1993 after the death of his first wife Belinda Church. As a single father, he had to stop appearing in films so he could spend more time with his children.

He continued to star in the occasional commercial, perform stand-up comedy, and make guest appearances, but he didn’t have the profile he once had.

On Tuesday, Winslow stepped back in the spotlight with a performance on “America’s Got Talent.” After some prodding from his son, he decided it would be the perfect venue to relaunch his career on television.

In the ’80s, he was known as “The Man of 10,000 Sound Effects,” but things have changed since then, he now claims to have “hundreds of thousands.”

“Now, after raising my two kids, I’m in a different phase. I think this is my time,” Winslow, 62, said on Tuesday’s episode. “And America’s Got Talent is the place for me to show the world I still have something to offer, I still have some sounds to make. There’s still room for a little more.”

Judge Simon Cowell was excited to see Winslow when he took the stage. “We know you!” Cowell exclaimed. “I cannot tell you how thrilled I am that you are here!”

Winslow then gave a stunning performance where he impersonated the chimes on an airplane, beatboxed to Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust,” and performed Jimi Hendrix’s version of “The Star Spangled Banner.” His performance was proof that after five decades in show business Winslow hasn’t lost a step and, in fact, he may be at his peak.

After his performance, Winslow won a standing ovation from the audience and four “gigantic yeses” from the panel.

“My life has changed again for the better, and I’ve gotten another blessing,” Winslow told Terry Crews after leaving the stage. America’s Got Talent is the place for me to show I still have something to offer. I’ve still got some sounds to make, and there’s still room for a little more.”

Winslow is a great reminder that sometimes when celebrities seem to fade away, it isn’t necessarily because they’re washed up or past their prime. They are humans with real challenges just like the rest of us and real-world events can affect their career trajectories. It’s great to see such a wonderful performer get another shot at the big time.