Category: News

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In “Bloom,” a woman named Nadine is surrounded in darkness until she receives a small amaryllis bulb plant from a friendly neighbor across the street.

(Amaryllis flowers can represent determination as well as hope, which is a nice touch on the storyteller’s part.)

Nadine’s apartment consists only of dull black and white, with only the television serving as a light source. We see her shoulders slumped as her fingers lazily tap on the arm of the chair. It’s a blend of both lethargy and restlessness that many who are depressed can relate to.

In contrast, the neighbor’s world is full of the happy, vibrant colors as she tends to her windowsill garden.

The neighbor sees Nadine from across the street, and waves boisterously. And though Nadine initially flees, this is not the end of their interaction.

A knock is heard. Nadine reluctantly opens the door to find the amaryllis.

As Nadine begins to care for her gift … light returns. Joy spreads. Both women gently wave to one other. A now revived Nadine sees another soul across the way, in the same depression she knows all too well.

With a new sense of grace, Nadine is now able to help this person in the same way she was helped.

It’s a simple story with a deep, profound message. Sometimes all it takes is one act of kindness from a stranger to make the world a warmer, brighter, better place.

Lightyear doesn’t come out until June, but we got an early opportunity to talk to the filmmakers – specifically director Angus MacLane and producer Galyn Susman – about this highly anticipated Pixar Toy Story spinoff. And it’s not the first time we’ve seen Buzz Lightyear in his own adventure (in 2000 there was a direct to video film Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins, and then a series that followed) but this is something a little different. Though it’s still a little confusing and Chris Evans’s tweet explaining everything sure didn’t help. But the toy we see in Toy Story is based on the character we will see in Lightyear, which is both a movie for Andy from Toy Story and a movie for us.

There’s also the subject of the same-sex kiss, between Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba) and the woman she’s in a relationship with, that was cut out of Lightyear and restored after Disney employees protested. As Susman explains, this decision to cut, then to restore, was over their pay-grade. But I did want know what it was like from their perspective and, also, how do they even get this news internally.

I’m assuming Lightyear is not quite done, right?

Galyn Susman: We’re not quite done, no.

Angus MacLane: We’re mixing it now. It’s being mixed.

Galyn Susman: But we still have three more weeks to picture tint.

Where did this concept even come from? In that, could it work for any character? Could there be a Woody movie?

Angus MacLane: Well, Woody has Woody’s Roundup. We know Woody’s Roundup, so you can already imagine where the origin of that toy came from. For me, it was what is the universe of Buzz Lightyear? And what is that movie or TV show? What is that? So I imagine it as a larger-budget, sci-fi epic from the early ’80s, basically. And so I want to just make that movie. And because of that, making it in the universe, a movie was just a way to kind of frame it. Well, why is Andy so excited about Buzz Lightyear? What is the source of that excitement? And if Andy is meant to be the proxy for us, for the toys, then in the same way, that’s the way the movie could be seen.

I feel people had an okay grasp on what this was. And then Chris Evans tweeted. I think it’s one of the funniest tweets ever sent, just for starting, “To be clear.” Anyway, I’m curious what you guys thought of it when that went out.

Angus MacLane: I mean, Chris and I, we talked about it, and he thought it was kind of funny that he created more confusion. And for as much positioning as the movie has … it’s been amazingly challenging to kind of communicate where it is. But I think we’re on track now.

Galyn Susman: I think so, too. In the end, as long as people go out and have a good time, walk out saying, “Wow, that was really awesome. I enjoyed that movie.” if they don’t quite get it, it’s okay. That’s not the core of the film.

Angus MacLane: I think by the time it comes out … I feel like it’s like a hazy Polaroid that’s coming to be developed. I think we’re right where you can make out the faces. It’s a little yellow, a little jaundiced…

Right. I don’t think it’s that complicated. But then you read that tweet, it makes it sound like there’s a real human being out there right now named Buzz Lightyear.

Angus MacLane: I think the issue was the wording, “character” versus “hero.” Say “character,” that makes sense.

He said the “real human Buzz Lightyear.”

Angus MacLane: Yeah. Human. He is. Yes. Yes and no, so that’s the challenge of it. I pitched an idea where we’d have Chris Evans go and talk to other celebrities like, “No, no, no. You don’t understand.” So they’d be each going from person to person, trying to explain the movie and they’d be like, “So he’s a live person?” “No, it’s animated. It’s still animated!,” as a way to promote the movie.

Is he not going to do that? Because that’s a great idea.

Angus MacLane: I thought it was a great idea, too. I mean, his schedule’s pretty busy.

Galyn Susman: And I don’t think marketing thought that was a good idea.

As we know, the same-sex kiss is back in the movie. But when you first found out you had to take it out, what were you thinking? Because how is this still a thing?

Angus MacLane: That’s fair.

Galyn Susman: “How is this still a thing?,” was definitely a question. But, I mean, the important thing is that the couple was always there and the relationship was always there, and it was a meaningful relationship. And it showed what was missed, and it was clearly a loving, connected, meaningful family and relationship. So ultimately that was the goal, and we were able to achieve it. The kiss is a beautiful and sort of a touching addition to that. And we were glad that we were able to put it in. I hope that audiences enjoyed that whole montage, but the ultimate intent of the montage was always there.

So how do you get the news that you can put it back in? Did you just get an email? Is there a meeting?

Galyn Susman: That’s sort of above our pay grade.

But how does it get to you? How do you hear the news?

Galyn Susman: Pete Docter told us.

Ah, okay. So he just tells you, “Good news…”?

Galyn Susman: Exactly.

Where do you want this all to go? Are we going to have Lightyear 5 someday?

Angus MacLane: This took five and a half years to make this, so I will not survive … sure, sure.

There’s my headline. Will there be a Buzz Lightyear 5 movie? “Sure.”

Angus MacLane: I mean, that’s the whole pitch in the movie was like, it takes us five years to make a movie, right? Well, it’s the same with Buzz going on these missions. So if you go on too many of these missions, you go five missions, then everyone’s gone.

I get animation takes a long time and movies take a long time to make, especially Pixar movies. But why does it take that long? Especially with an idea like this.

Angus MacLane: I’ll explain. There’s a number of factors to consider. Let’s back up from where we are now. So once we have a full crew on, it takes two, two and a half years of solid production just to execute the film. And the amount of people we have, and all those departments working full steam, it’s like two and a half years. Then before you have probably two years of story development and execution of just storyboarding and editing it together to get the story written and designed. But more than anything, and then before that you have a year of development just trying to formulate it. Because there’s all the movies ahead of us, they’re utilizing the crew that will eventually be ours.

I see.

Angus MacLane: So it’s not five years at full 400, 500-people capacity. It starts off with like four people.

And then a pandemic happens, too.

Angus MacLane: So then that’s also the thing. I don’t think that…

Galyn Susman: It didn’t really add to our timeline.

Well, I’m looking forward to seeing the final movie. Anyway, I hope you finish it.

Angus MacLane: There are lots more exciting stuff you have not seen, we purposefully held back. So there is more… you did not see just the best bits.

‘Lightyear’ will hit theaters on June 17th. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

If the Vibe Shift is real, there’s no better artist to help soundtrack it than Girl Talk. DJ Gregg Gillis made his mark tackling the mashup genre in his own way, deconstructing and reconstructing tracks with a cohesive vision, in a way that allowed for his titled songs to be played at times individually as standalones, but also part of the overall album experience. By taking cues more from borrowers like Daft Punk and the Beastie Boys, he had artistic license with his sampling, giving new life to otherwise standard songs from a variety of genres. It was in this spirit that he leaned heavily into music discovery, giving club kids, hip-hop fans, indie heads, and others a chance to hear tracks in a new light, finding the beat in the mundane or elevating a rap song into a metal-inspired breakdown.

Back with his first album since 2010’s All Day, Gillis has a lot to celebrate. Full Court Press is a collaboration with Wiz Khalifa, Big K.R.I.T., and Smoke DZA, and it’s far different from anything he’s released commercially in his career. The album elicits threads of different genres and eras, much like his sampling, but in much more cohesive, straightforward songs that showcase the rappers’ unique styles.

On the road to support the new album – and a return to touring that was delayed by the pandemic – Girl Talk’s energy is as infectious as ever, with a live show that mirrors the ADHD-fueled mania of his earlier works. At the Regent Theater on Monday, after an inspired homecoming set from opener Hugh Augustine, Gillis brought the entire indie sleaze era into focus.

The sold-out crowd was in it from the jump, in a room that as Gillis pointed out, felt “40 degrees hotter” than any other venue on his tour. The stage was an ever-evolving mishmash somewhere between Everything Everywhere All At Once and I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson. There were no fewer than 40 people on stage (including Augustine at one point), toilet paper guns, clouds above the stage that had images blasted onto them with projectors, various sizes of balloons, confetti cannons, gigantic light-up palm trees, t-shirt guns, guys in skeleton costumes, guys in tuxedos with ski masks, a hundred-foot long condom filled with confetti, enormous inflatables that resembles cornhole bags, a dude in a Sonic The Hedgehog wig, and Girl Talk with his laptop, shedding a layer of clothing at a time.

The set was a tight 90 minutes; any longer, and the danced-out, overheated, and dehydrated crowd might’ve been in trouble. What’s always made Girl Talk inviting and even more interesting as a creative project is the lens through which Gillis sees not just music, but how people consume music. His work in the 2000s forecasted the natural evolution of crate digging into mp3s into streaming, and even the TikTok experience. Songs on TikTok take on a life of their own independent of label, time period, or even context. A song may trend and get warped into having an entirely different meaning, and it’s less important how fans come to a song than it is that they discover it at all.

One of my favorite memories of 2008’s Feed The Animals was on “Hands In The Air,” where the first, instantly recognizable lines of “Whoop There It Is” spill out into the air. But the backing beat was one I couldn’t quite place. It took me much longer than I like to admit to learn that it was “In A Big Country” by Big Country, a song I eventually would put on a bunch of playlists and still listen to today. It’s entirely possible someone out there heard Gillis use “Lovefool” by the Cardigans over a Doja Cat song at a live show, and has spent days trying to place it before the sheer joy of connecting the dots, and listening to it on Spotify.

Monday night’s show felt similar to those early days of trying to track down any beat and any song that made me feel that way, and it gets me nostalgic, but also excited for any generation that can find songs — new, old, or reworked — that inspire them. Whether it’s Olivia Rodrigo utilizing the DNA of pop-punk songs that have been around her whole life, a Fleetwood Mac hit finding new breath on TikTok, or ’90s songs slowed down and inserted into dramatic movie trailers, the flattening of culture and the inexhaustable nature of streaming makes everything, everywhere, all at once a creative well that is equally as maddening and dizzying as it is inspiring.

It’s only fitting Girl Talk gets to have his encore, his chance to stand on a table and look out at it all.

After watching a clip of Donald Trump’s upcoming interview with Piers Morgan in which the former president may or may not have stormed off, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough completely lost his composure and broke down with laughter after one particular exchange. In the now viral clip showing a seemingly testy face-off between Trump and Morgan, the British host pushed back on Trump’s claims that he actually won the 2020 presidential election, which did not go over well. Trump got so heated that he said to Morgan, “I don’t believe you’re real,” and that’s when Scarborough can be heard laughing uncontrollably during the clip.

“This is how alternative his reality has become,” Scarborough said while barely holding it together. “He’s asked a question about reality and his response is, ‘I don’t believe you’re real.’ Who says that?!”

The Morning Joe host then resumed laughing so hard that he had to take off his glasses and wipe tears from his eyes as co-host Mika Brzezinski tried to get the segment back on track. However, once Scarborough regained his composure, he offered a pretty interesting perspective on what the Morgan interview signifies for Trump’s hopes of running for president again in 2024. Via Mediaite:

“The Murdochs are quietly — not so quietly — moving closer and closer to DeSantis. People close to them know that they’re ready to throw it all behind Ron DeSantis. They’re ready to move on from Trump,” the Morning Joe host continued. “Even if it didn’t go down the way the promo suggested it did, it reveals a much bigger tell and that is that the Murdochs are blindsiding Donald Trump. The parade is moving on.”

You can see Scarborough losing it over Trump’s interview with Morgan around the 19:00 mark below:

(Via Mediaite)

Ah yes, the good old ex-President Trump pushback. And since Piers Morgan is also skilled in that same dubious art, their meeting of the minds was bound to get messy if anything contentious happened.

And reportedly, it truly did get combative. As detailed by the New York Post, Donald Trump grew belligerent and huffily stormed out of an interview (after bragging about his hole-in-one) when Morgan reminded him that he lost the 2020 election. This allegation of tantrum-y behavior was later possibly refuted by Team Trump later on, but from the presented clip, it sure didn’t look good.

Of course, Piers is no stranger to storming off TV sets. He famously did so while losing it over Meghan Markle a few years ago. And although Piers and Trump are old pals, that appears to no longer be the case. The actual interview in question won’t air until April 25 (you can see it on Fox Nation in the U.S.), but reportedly, Trump addressed Piers as a “fool” at least half a dozen times. He also declared, “I don’t think you’re real” when Piers pointed out that Trump’s never presented evidence of a stolen election.

After the news of the alleged blowout surfaced, Trump’s people issued a denial while claiming that Trump’s demand to turn the camera off actually took place later in the interview. And we’ll have to wait a few days to find out what actually transpired, and who is actually lying in this instance, but for now, Piers is standing by his version of events.

In response to a Twitter user asking for a comment on Trump’s claim of being “‘unlawfully and deceptively’ edited,” Piers offered a brusque rebuttal using one of Trump’s own customary labels: “Yes – his claim is fake news.”

Time to set a reminder for April 25, but surely, the Internet will fill you in regardless.

Anyone that wants to get a taste of the drama that comes from F1 racing may want to consider picking up EA Sports F1 22 when it gets a worldwide release on July 1. The EA Sports F1 series is back with many fan favorite modes like My Team, career mode, and of course multiplayer. One of the biggest draws of this year’s version of the game though is its use of VR, where players will get to experience being a driver inside the cockpit of their vehicles.

With an adaptive AI, varying difficulty levels, and the ability to customize your experience, this has the potential to be a great entry point for new fans of the sport. Lee Mather, the senior creative director for EA Sports F1 22, spoke about how both new and longtime fans will have plenty to enjoy in the upcoming game through a press release.

“We look forward to welcoming our players to the new era of Formula 1,” Mather said. “Alongside the real-world changes, we have updated the physics to accommodate the new aero rules and re-worked the tyre model, making the handling more true to life. With new and updated circuits, Adaptive AI, F1 Life, and expanded gameplay options, there has never been a better time for players to take their seats and live the life of an F1 driver.”

Vin Diesel is maybe the most sincere actor in Hollywood (see: his oddly touching cover of Rihanna’s “Stay”), so when he calls his Fast and Furious co-stars his “family,” he means it. He’s protective of them and the franchise’s legacy, so when his on-screen sister, Jordana Brewster, was left out of the original script for Fast X, Diesel intervened.

“When the F10 script came in, it excluded Mia Toretto. Someone whom I’ve attributed the brotherhood of Dom and Brian to…” he wrote on Instagram, referring to Brian O’Conner, the character played by Paul Walker until he died in a 2013 car crash. “I was so disappointed that I couldn’t see how I could continue… After all, I wasn’t going to make another Fast unless Brian was back in Four… I don’t need to remind you of the petitions you sent the studio for Letty’s return at the the end of FIve.”

Diesel continued:

Side note, you will never believe who corrected the very important role of Mia… my daughter, the Alpha Angel, who told the director very plainly and honestly “NO MIA NO FAST 10!” haha. The irony, is that the day she was born I was filming with Jordanna and Pablo and it was Jordanna who I first told… profound right?

Diesel still thinks about Walker every day and “every Fast film” is dedicated to his legacy, he wrote. “In the real world, I will always look after his family, because in the real world he is family. When his daughter asked me to walk her down the isle… I tear up, and then do it with pride and and honor… when his mother asks me to bring Brian back to the screen… well, I don’t have to tell you how serious I take that.” (Walker’s family has said they want Brian, who is still canonically alive, to make a “tasteful” cameo in a future film.)

The top reply to Diesel’s post comes from Brewster: “I love you brother.”

(Via Instagram)

Billie Eilish had an up-and-down night at the 2022 Grammys in February: She put on one of the show’s most striking performances but didn’t win a single one of the seven awards for which she was nominated. While that may have been a surprise for fans, it seems like not only did it not shock Eilish, but she actually had a feeling it would happen.

In a new Billboard interview, Eilish said:

“I had this feeling yesterday at the Grammys because we obviously didn’t win anything — I went into the day suspecting we weren’t going to win anything, and of course, the internet, no matter what happens, is going to be like, ‘You were robbed,’ and I’m just like, ‘I wasn’t, I have seven at home. It’s OK, it’s all good.’ […] I was nominated and that’s amazing, but getting up during a commercial break and people coming up to me being like, ‘You changed my life, your music gets me through the day,’ I’m like, ‘That’s it.’”

Finneas chimed in, “That’s the win.” Eilish then continued, “I’m getting choked up because yesterday, I was like, ‘Who gives a f*ck if you don’t have fans?’ That’s what I care about. I just want to keep enjoying the music that we make. And so that’s why I think I’m a little bit of a procrastinator when it comes to working, especially when we’re busy. In theory, I want to make a song and put out an album next year, but that means we have to make it, and it’s really hard to make music, for me. I don’t want to make something I don’t like, so I get freaked out, but I never want to stop creating the way that we create and making music that touches people. That’s it, you know? That’s the only longevity I give a sh*t about.”

Check out the full interview here.

As conservatives continue to attack The Walt Disney Company for its opposition to Florida’s recently passed “Don’t Say Gay” bill, Ted Cruz decided to take things to a whole other level by concocting a pretty specific scenario involving Mickey Mouse and his beloved dog Pluto. It’s an “incredibly disturbing image that we now all have to live with,” quipped Seth Meyers as he roasted Cruz’s weird Disney suggestion during Wednesday night’s episode of Late Night.

“I think there are people who are misguided trying to drive, you know, Disney stepping in saying, in every episode now they’re going to have Mickey and Pluto going at it,” Cruz said on a recent episode of his podcast. “Come on, guys! These are kids! You can always shift to Cinemax if you want that.”

Just so we’re clear, that was Ted Cruz imagining Mickey and Pluto having sex, which naturally concerned Meyers. Via The Daily Beast:

“The point is: Ted Cruz jumping to that conclusion makes it clear he already has some pretty pervy ideas about the Magic Kingdom,” said Meyers. “I’d hate to hear why he thinks it’s called ‘Splash Mountain.’”

However, as Meyer notes, Cruz’s Mickey and Pluto idea probably does exist. “Anytime you come up with some kinky idea involving two cartoon characters, pornography has already beaten you to it,” the late night host joked. Considering Cruz’s documented “like” of porn, maybe he’s just trying to tell us what he’s been watching lately.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Last week, Phoebe Bridgers released “Sidelines,” a song that whipped fans into such a frenzy that they crashed her website shortly after the news broke. However, the song also came with an indication that 2022 would be a relatively quiet year for Bridgers, as press materials noted, “This will be the only original new song from Bridgers this year.” Now, though, it looks like Bridgers is open to changing her mind about that.

In a recent interview, with KROQ at Coachella last weekend, Bridgers was asked if “Sidelines” will in fact be her only new song of the year and she responded, “Uh, who knows, actually. I try to do things that are exciting, so I never really know what I’m gonna do.” She jokingly added, “Dropping a mixtape tomorrow.”

She also said of how the song came about, “[Marshall Vore] had this like love song idea… he sent it to me right in the beginning of the pandemic. I was like, ‘This is insane.’ Was so obsessed with it, was playing it all the time in the house. And then when the show asked me to make something, I was like, ‘But I don’t have anything that fits.’ And Marshall was like, ‘What about that ‘Sidelines’ one?’ I was like, ‘What?!’ So we re-wrote some of it and re-recorded it and changed some stuff around, and it just kind of magically fit and was exactly what I wanted.”

Check out the interview above.