Category: News

When you talk to Colin Hanks he makes it pretty clear which side of the Los Angeles Football Club/LA Galaxy rivalry he’s on. The actor and director didn’t even have to mention the Galaxy’s name in comparing it to the three-year-old club he calls his own. But on Wednesday night, players from “Carson,” as he called them, will play with his squad’s All-Stars in the MLS All-Star Game.

It’s an opportunity to come together as a league in a competition that, in years past, was simply a warmup exhibition match for a big European club. This time, however, MLS will take on the Liga MX All-Stars, the top league in Mexico. Hanks will be at his home team’s stadium for the match on Wednesday night, and he talked to Uproxx about all things soccer, the rise of fan culture in MLS in recent years and how the Hollywood star picks what projects to work on in between matches at The Banc.

Uproxx: I just saw the trailer for Impeachment: American Crime Story so let’s start there. I’m not sure exactly when you filmed that but was it odd to be working on an impeachment project in the middle of two other impeachments?

Colin Hanks: Well yeah, luckily — I don’t know if luckily is the word — but I started filming in January of this year. So I wasn’t really filming during an impeachment, but it was a really interesting experience. It was my first job out of COVID, which was in and of itself strange. But I had a really great experience and I got to work with some really talented, very, very cool people. So I’m very excited for the series to premiere.

Yeah, I was kind of going through the things that I remember you from in preparing for this. Mad Men, I think, is the first one that that stood out. You have a really long list of very interesting things that you’ve done that have really stood the test of time. I wondered if that’s something you, as a performer, do you look back on that and think like,’Wow, that really held up.’ Or is it not something you really get a chance to look back on?

Well hell, I’ll be honest it’s just nice to hear you say that. It means someone is paying attention to all the tough decisions I’ve made. No, you know, more than anything else I think I’ve always really wanted to try to challenge myself and be part of shows or movies or anything. I just always kind of trusted my gut and thought well this would this would be an exercise that I think would be worthwhile and hopefully would be engaging to anyone that sees it. And you never really know what’s going to connect, you know. You hope that people do, you know. We didn’t make this season of Fargo thinking that people were going to, you know, understand exactly what it was that we’re trying to do. But you hope and luckily, they did. And so I’ve been very, very fortunate to be able to work on, you know, a bunch of different projects that somehow have been able to sort of withstand that time and people have been able to discover on their own and say ‘Oh, holy sh*t. This is actually really good.’

So I’m really happy when that happens and I just try and find stuff that is engaging and excites me and I hope that, you know, when we’re finished making it that it’s also exciting to to whomever gets a chance to see it.

Yeah, similar vein. I wanted to ask you about the 30 for 30 you did about the Giants’ Crazy Crab. Admittedly that’s not something I saw when it came out, but watching it this week it occurred to me just how perfect an idea it was. An anti-mascot like that feels like something that would happen right now with the sort of cynicism that’s in society but it happened, you know, nearly 40 years ago. What drew you to that story other than your Giants fandom?

Well yeah, the Giants fan certainly helped. You know, I’m a big sports fanatic obviously and when the 30 For 30s were were on, I devoured all of them. And when I found out that they were starting to make shorts, the opportunity came up to us to start sort of developing some ideas. And it just so happened that Stephen Leichhardt, who I was working with on my Tower Records documentary, at the time he had done a story about the whole anti mascot Crazy Crab thing that the Giants did. And I just thought ‘Oh, well that’s a fascinating story that would probably work perfect for those 30 For 30 shorts. And it just so happened that it also involved this incredibly talented, you know, classically vaudevillian trained mime who was also in Scarface, of all things. You know, it just seems like such a great sort of story that was this great cross between this odd, odd time in sports. But then also performance and acting and all that sort of stuff. So, it just sort of seemed like this great story to tell.

I was very fortunate because it was one of the first things that we were able to — it was not one of the first things I directed, it was one of the first things I’ve directed that actually came out. We directed the short, you know, somewhere in the middle of shooting the Tower doc. So it was exciting and you know, obviously, any time you get a chance to make a movie, you know, your baseball team’s home stadium, that’s a pretty fun day too. So I’m very fortunate.

I really found it fascinating because you definitely picked the right people to talk to. Like, Ray Ratto had really great quotes. I know you’re on the other side of an interview right now, but when you interview people and they give you really good stuff, that feeling really is when you know that you have something here, right? It seems like that must have happened here right away when you started working on it.

Oh, absolutely. And in fact, I think that connection you make is really one of the reasons why I felt like I can get into the documentary films. You know, having been on this side of an interview, I understand how it works. And I understand sort of how the game is played, if you will. And you know when you’re trying to tell a story and you’re trying to tell it through the mouths of other people and it’s not necessarily planned and it’s not scripted, you want to be able to try and move the pieces, so to speak, so that it gives you the best chance to be able to tell the story the way that you hope you’re going to be able to tell it.

And so, obviously, you know, having read Ratto for years and knowing what a character he is, it’s like, ‘Well clearly we have to get Ray Ratto’s take on the Crazy Crab.’ I mean, we have to do that. And then you try and, you know, you dig in and you find out who are the people that responsible and who are the people that, you know, did this and might be able to help tell that story. You spend a lot of time getting to know and trying to get them to to feel comfortable with you and hopefully, you know, you’re able to find the way to draw that stuff out of it.

I wanted to ask a few questions about the MLS All-Star Game, but I wanted to first ask when you decided LAFC was going to be your team? Because obviously there’s a pretty big rivalry there in LA that I don’t think people who may not pay attention to MLS don’t understand. So lay the groundwork here for me.

Yeah, well you know, I have always been really a big fan of soccer but I was really specifically intrigued by the football culture. The supporters culture, the supporters unions, those crazy fans that are in the sections that they’re screaming and chanting and jumping up and down and waving those flags.

And that kind of environment. I always thought was really interesting and I was kind of frustrated because I couldn’t necessarily find that environment here in Los Angeles. You know, there was a version of it that was going on down in Carson. But it really didn’t feel like, I don’t know, there was something about it that didn’t quite take for me. And I was always sort of jealous of some of the other cities like Seattle or Portland and you know, even Atlanta because they were able to sort of they had that that culture that vibe there.

I had a joke that, you know, the best thing that someone could do would be to come up with a soccer team and name it, you know, the Los Angeles Football Club. But no one will be brave enough to do it. And then lo and behold, it happens.

And not only did it happen, like everything that the organization did from the get, like, from the drop, in terms of really embracing that football culture. Really, you know, bringing the community in and placing a stadium right in the heart of Los Angeles and really making it part of the community.

There’s so much about the club that is so much more than just a team for me. I actually, you know, oddly, I take pride in the club. I take responsibility for the club when I take people to matches and I hope that they have a good time. I want them to have a good time and I don’t have, you know, I don’t have ownership stake in the team. This is just something that I believe in and that’s something that the organization really strives for.

And that kind of thing, that was the piece that was missing for me in the MLS. And I don’t think it’s a mistake that you see a lot of other organizations, especially some of the the expansion clubs, really embracing that football culture and really playing to it. And realizing that that experience of going to the match. That’s part of it, you know. Yeah, you want to see your team, you know, you want your team to win. But, you know, it’s also you want to have a great experience.

And, you know, for me, the experience of going and seeing that the black and gold play at the Banc. It’s it’s one of the most fun things to do in Los Angeles, in my opinion.

I think that’s definitely something that MLS has gotten better at in recent years especially. Like, yeah they used the same naming conventions as clubs in Spain and England. But to really understand fan culture and see it kind of grow organically, and, you know, you’re seeing it in places like Cincinnati too. And nailing that, really is really an instant draw. And it’s why people in America, you know, find soccer clubs overseas like you and I do. Although I’m an Arsenal fan, so our season’s already dead the water.

Yeah. Sorry about that.

But yeah, I mean I think that’s one of the big draws for football overseas, you know what I mean? It’s really more than just some team that you support, you know, a few days out of the week. It really is part of a community. It really is part of that. The MLS I think has done a really good job of sort of realizing that that is one of the things that makes the game so special. The league has, I think, done a good job and a lot of teams across the board, including some of the original ones, have realized that that’s really what makes the game special. And that’s what’s really going to make the league become more popular.

And you can feel it. You know the league has kind of been in this great punk rock stage, but I feel like it’s about to really sort of bust out kind of wide open. And I’m excited for that because you know it’s it’s again, it’s fun. It’s a really really great experience. I’ve yet to take someone to a game where they’ve been like ‘eh, that’s, whatever.’ I take them to the LAFC matches, they really dig it and there are a lot of other clubs that understand that and do it. You know?

Carson? Not so much, but, you know, that’s why it’s a rivalry.

That’s right. I’m not sure if you’ve been to to an All Star game before but I went to the one in Chicago a couple years back and and I think it was really fun to see just how everyone rooting for these different clubs and are rivals, they just really want to see the league as a whole perform well in these exhibition matches. I know this match is against another All-Star team, but what are you most excited about seeing this week?

So this is one of the things that I love about sports, right? It’s the storylines. It’s why I like doing what I do and why I started going into documentaries and done some sports documents. It’s the storylines. I think of the things that are really a big draw for me at least, and this match in particular, I think is really unique because it is, you know, it’s the first time that the MLS All-Stars are going to be going up against the Liga MX All-Stars. And I think there’s actually a lot of pride on the line, not only just for, you know, the MLS All-Stars but I think, you know, on the other side as well.

Because if they lose, they’re gonna be hearing about it for quite a long time. So this isn’t just some, you know, ho-hum All-Star Game in which you’re just gonna see, you know the the best players from the league play each other and then they all just sort of go there the separate ways.

I actually feel like there’s real skin in the game, so to speak, here. So I’m really excited to see the two sides go at it. I think it’s going to be incredibly exciting to see it in Los Angeles because obviously I think there’s going to be a lot of supporters for both sides. So I think the environment is actually going to be a lot more energetic than you would imagine for an All-Star Game.

But the other thing is too, I think especially with the past few years that we’ve had I’m just really excited for the week. You know, I’m excited for the concert that they’re doing. I’m excited to see Big Boi perform. And then the skills competition is gonna be a lot of really fun stuff going on. I think the MLS All-Star experience is a little bit different than some of the other leagues and most of it is because the game actually matters. It’s actually important. So I’m excited.

The 2021 MTV VMAs are right around the corner and the host will be none other than the 2020 VMAs standout Doja Cat, according to Variety. After announcing Doja would be one of this year’s performers alongside Lil Nas X, Machine Gun Kelly, and Olivia Rodrigo, the show’s producers evidently wanted more of Doja’s quirky, electric energy on stage, perhaps believing her “go-with-it” attitude could help keep a handle on any unexpected shenanigans.

Doja’s proved pretty good at rolling with unusual occurrences, turning a recent fall into some impromptu choreo, so having her host could come in handy should the VMAs’ penchant for unscripted antics rear its head. She’s also proved to be immune to being canceled, joking that she’s survived fan backlashes “maybe 350 times,” which gives more support to her case.

The hosting selection caps an eventful year for the rising star, who released her third album Planet Her in June after performing her breakout hit song “Say So” at the 2021 Grammys. The album turned out to be her highest charting one to date, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, spending four weeks at that position. She previously performed “Say So” at last year’s VMAs, impressing with an intergalactic rendition of the track blended into a medley with “Like That.”

The VMAs are set for September 12 at the Barclay’s Center in New York.

As Carol Danvers in Captain Marvel, Brie Larson seldom gets the chance to show off the muscles that she must maintain for the gig (so as to better hop from planet to planet and even rescue Tony Stark). Still, however, they exist underneath the suit, and Larson is not opposed to posting the customary social media photos to show off her hard work. On Wednesday, the Oscar winner did just that with a notable caption: “My hobby appears to be taking up new hobbies.”

Larson then posted two photos of herself enjoying some archery, and her back muscles are looking mighty ripped.

She certainly comes by the accomplishment honestly. One of Larson’s most popular Instagram posts shows off this painful looking maneuver (below). Yeah, it’s no wonder she could go up against the Mad Titan like no other Avenger (not even Thor).

Speaking of other Avengers, however, responses to Larson’s day of archery led to a lot of remarks about Clint Barton/Hawkeye. Granted, there’s some fun that could be had with this association, since Disney+’s new Hawkeye series is coming soon with Hailee Stanfield on board as Kate Bishop and Florence Pugh bringing Yelena Belova to liven up the party. No one has suggested, yet, that Captain Marvel will be making an appearance, and it’s worth noting that Larson called archery a “hobby,” not work prep. Sometimes, photos are only photos! Still, the Hawkeye jokes rolled into her replies.

Spike Lee has been on a roll the last few years, finally (finally!) winning an Oscar, having mid-pandemic streamer hits with Da 5 Bloods and American Utopia, and once again becoming a staple of commercials and the like. But the esteemed filmmaker and personality ran into some trouble recently when journalists revealed that the final episode of his new documentary series NYC EPICENTERS 9/11➔2021½ has some, shall we say, questionable content. Namely, it features quite a lot of conspiracy theorists floating wacko theories about the September 11 attacks. The furor has been such that Spike is doing something he’s never done before: He’s going back and re-working his work.

As per The New York Times — which ran the interview that inspired the controversy — Spike dropped a note on HBO’s press screener platform. “I’m Back In The Editing Room And Looking At The Eighth And Final Chapter Of NYC EPICENTERS 9/11➔2021½,” he wrote, using the capitalization-happy style he likes to use on social media. “I Respectfully Ask You To Hold Your Judgment Until You See The FINAL CUT.”

As per NYT, the final episode “prominently featured members of the conspiracy group Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, who push the debunked idea that the towers of the World Trade Center were brought down by a controlled demolition, not by terrorists who flew jetliners into the Twin Towers.”

Spike also included scientists and other non-conspiracy theorists who refuted those claims. But people accused him of giving them too close to equal time, on top of offering conspiracists a prominent platform — and in an episode that was scheduled to air on the 20th anniversary of the attack.

The filmmaker himself defended the inclusion of 9/11 “truthers,” even seeming to agree with some of their positions, including the debunked line about melting steel. “My approach is put the information in the movie and let people decide for themselves,” he said only two days before reversing course. “I respect the intelligence of the audience.”

(Via NYT)

The Jump, ESPN’s daily basketball talk show hosted by longtime network personality Rachel Nichols, came to its unceremonious end on Wednesday. The news of its cancelation was reported by John Ourand of Sports Business Journal, which included a quote from ESPN producer David Roberts confirming that there’s now a hole in the network’s Monday to Friday afternoon schedule.

The report noted that Nichols could be done at the Worldwide Leader entirely, with her contract keeping her at ESPN for another year but the expectation being that she won’t appear on television. Whatever is next for Nichols is still very much up in the air, but shortly after the SBJ report dropped, she took to Twitter and celebrated the show as it reached its conclusion.

We do know that ESPN’s early plan is to put another basketball show in the spot formerly occupied by The Jump, which had been on air in recent weeks but saw Malika Andrews take over hosting duties. The difference would be in the format, as Andrew Marchand of the New York Post noted that ESPN wants it to look more like NFL Live.

Nichols is in the midst of her second stint with ESPN, having been with the company from 2004-13 before returning in 2016. She has come under fire in recent months as audio from a hot mic that Nichols had on during the NBA’s Orlando Bubble caught her saying that now-former colleague Maria Taylor got the opportunity to host ESPN’s Finals coverage due to the network’s poor record with diversity.

What If…? (Disney+ series) — We’re in the multiverse, baby. The MCU’s officially launching headfirst into that realm after Loki‘s season finale, and this show’s Twitter account clarified official participation as well. And that sounds about right. I’ve been looking forward to these alternate-reality scenarios since catching D23 footage a few years ago, and Disney+ will show us a wealth of scenarios that stand separate from the existing canon (thus far). Last week, Agent Carter took the serum and became Captain Carter, and then T’Challa materialized as Star Lord. This week, expect Black Widow, Nick Fury, and Loki’s stories to revolve around a murder mystery, and for whatever reason, Tony Stark eats a donut.

Clickbait (Netflix series) — Adrian Grenier plays a loving family man who mysteriously disappears, only to surface in a viral internet video that accuses him of being a domestic abuser who will be killed after a certain number of views. No one’s sure whether this is a confession or a threat, and yikes. This promises to be (according to the synopsis) a “high stakes thriller that explores the ways in which our most dangerous and uncontrolled impulses are fueled in the age of social media,” but it sounds awfully stressful.

Archer (FXX, 10:00pm) — Season 12 begins with an identity crisis after the gang halts a nuclear catastrophe, and the only reward is a stay at a rat-infested hotel. Then a team-building exercise doesn’t go as planned for The Agency.

Evil: Season 2 (Paramount+ series) — A skeptical psychologist and a Catholic priest in training team up in a bit of an X-Files dynamic that’s exclusively focused upon unsolved mysteries within the church. Expect an examination of true evil as scientific and religious perspectives face off.

Post Mortem: No One Dies in Skarnes (Netflix series) — A small Norwegian town takes center stage due to its stagnant death rate, which is causing a family-driven funeral home to suffer. One of those family members, Live Hallangen, dies and wakes up on a forensic table, and she’s dying of hunger. This leads her to quite a conundrum: will she help the family business survive by helping herself survive, and by sacrificing the lives of the town’s residents? Dark stuff.

Riverdale (CW, 8:00pm) — Following a bizarre time jump and, uh, literal war, Season 5 sees Archie attempting to sort out his Army-induced trauma while Eric struggles with his own PTSD. Elsewhere, the gang’s taking up the case of the Lonely Highway killer with Betty and Tabitha taking the lead.

American Horror Story: Double Feature (FX, 10:00pm) — A struggling writer moves to an isolated town to buckle down for winter. Sound familiar? Well, this story takes place in a beach town, not the Overlook Hotel, and there are “residents” in the town that won’t lie low.

Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens (Comedy Central, 10:00pm) — Awkwafina’s semi-autobiographical series returns for a second season, in which she gazes into the future with starry eyes. In the present, however, Nora and Melanie are mourning the NYC that used to be while Grandma receives a visitor.

The Late Late Show With James Corden — Bradley Whitford, Lorde.

Late Night With Seth Meyers — Michael Keaton, Teyonah Parris, Chris Stapleton

In case you missed this streaming pick from last Wednesday:

Nine Perfect Strangers (Hulu series) — Nicole Kidman’s one of several A-listers who’ve made themselves at home on the so-called “small screen” in recent years, and after a few Emmys and a Golden Globe for Big Little Lies and a Globe nomination for The Undoing, she’s not done yet. She portrays a wellness guru that might remind you of certain celebrities who shill bizarre products and claim that they’ll change your life with a dash of snake oil. Yes, the Paddington villain is here to shake up your little world again.

Solo: A Star Wars Story is widely considered to be the least-great Star Wars movie (it’s still a Star Wars movie, so it’s not that bad). Donald Glover is a fun Lando Calrissian; the White Worms are a cool weird alien design; and the train heist is a genuinely thrilling set piece. Of course, the sequence would be a lot more fun if Val, played by Thandiwe Newton, didn’t die at the end for no reason. This was not the original plan, however.

“I felt disappointed by Star Wars that my character was killed. And, actually, in the script, she wasn’t killed. It happened during filming,” the Westworld actress told Inverse. “And it was much more just to do with the time we had to do the scenes. It’s much easier just to have me die than it is to have me fall into a vacuum of space so I can come back sometime.” The scene in the script had her falling “and you don’t know where she’s gone. So I could have come back at some point.” But that proved to be too complicated and expensive, “so they just had me blow up and I’m done.” Newton continued:

“But I remembered at the time thinking, ‘This is a big, big mistake’ — not because of me, not because I wanted to come back. You don’t kill off the first Black woman to ever have a real role in a Star Wars movie. Like, are you f*cking joking?”

The only women of color with lead roles in the 11 Star Wars movies are Kelly Marie Tran as Rose Tico (who was sidelined for much of The Rise of Skywalker), Newton as Val (who died), and Naomi Ackie as Jannah (who had little to do in Rise). Newton’s right: that is a big, big mistake, one that needs to be rectified in future Star Wars projects.

(Via Inverse)

When Saints Row first released it was a bizarre, but albeit mediocre, Grand Theft Auto clone. However, there was one part about it that separated it from GTA and would go on to become the bread and butter of the franchise. It was incredibly over the top. Not that GTA was ever known for being tame, but Saints Row took everything up another level whether it was the hit missions that required beating up people in hot dog suits, or throwing yourself into traffic to commit insurance fraud. The game was a relative success, with everyone praising the more absurd aspects of it, and every game afterward built on what made the first game work.

Once we reached Saints Row IV and Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell the development team had really run out of options. They gave their characters superpowers, blew up the earth, and tackled God. For a franchise that had been built on absurdity, there was nowhere else to go. This is why it wasn’t really all that surprising to find out that they were planning to reboot the game.

After teasing the reboot on social media for a few days, Saints Row was officially announced at Gamescom Opening Night Live. The trailer featured a group of friends getting ready to ambush a deal gone wrong so they could steal their weapons. However, mid-theft they’re caught and are chased all across a town that is a less than subtle nod to the American southwest. Amidst the trailer, we get to see some of that classic Saints Row absurdity before it ends on a shot of the main character.

This was a fun way to announce the revival of the Saints Row franchise. It’s been six years since the last game and fans have been anticipating a new one for quite some time. We were lucky enough to see the game early and we can say that, while it will feel familiar, this is still going to be a very different Saints Row game.

Let’s start with the new. The biggest difference being the Southwest America setting that the game is going to be taking place in. The fictional town of Santo Ileso is something like a weird mix of Las Vegas and New Mexico. This is a big change from the previous two games which were set in the metropolitan Stilwater and Steelport. While the world itself has been advertised as the largest they’ve ever built, there’s a different feel to this setting compared to the previous cities. The previous games were dominated by an urban setting that featured skyscrapers and alleyways. This setting helped contribute to the larger-than-life feeling that the game’s previous protagonists all lived with.

The new Santo Ileso setting, at least from early video and screenshots, doesn’t give off quite the same vibe. They have promised an urban setting, but anyone that’s ever been to Vegas can confirm that there’s much more to the American Southwest than just the Vegas Strip. It feels more enclosed. Buildings aren’t quite as big. Looking off in the distance shows mountains and desert. This helps everything feel more packed in and assists with the more grounded story the developers are trying to tell.

“Saints Row is a reboot.” said CCO of Deep Silver Volition, Jim Boone. “This is a chance for us to go back to our origins and get back to that more contemporary crime angle, that we love and what Saints Row is known for. It was a great opportunity for us to tell the story we wanted to tell and most importantly tell a story that is contemporary that we think the people will relate to.”

Creating a story that is meant to be contemporary is obviously a stark difference from previous games where the idea of the main character being a murdering psychopath was played off for laughs. The way they made sure nobody ever felt weird about that fact was by making sure everything around the character was even more over the top than them. Villains? Somehow even more murderous. The setting? Yeah sure gang fights are going to take place and that’s just a part of life. By the third game, the Third Street Saints were pop culture icons. This was a world that matched the characters in it and the reboot will need to do the same if a contemporary setting is going to work.

One way they’re trying to emphasize how this game is different is that, during the presentation, none of the developers ever called the player group a “gang” but instead chose to call them a business. Members of the business were “employees” and not gang members. This implies a game that is trying to move away from the street gang origins of the original and move into something a little different.

While the setting and characters may be new, this is still a Saints Row game and that means there are going to see familiarities. For example, the city has been divided up into three different groups all with different personalities and quirks. Each group owns a different portion of the city and the player will be battling them for territory throughout the game. That was the original Saints Row formula and it is nice to see it returning. However, unlike previous games, instead of just throwing opposition groups into random districts they’re meant to reflect the personalities of the areas they reside in.

“This is the most variety that we’ve ever packed into a Saints Row game.” said Frank Marquart, Art Director at Deep Silver Volition. “Rancho Providencia has a grittier, weathered identity to it that reflect the Panteros home turf. The El Dorado district is grime mixed with glitz, with colorful and illuminated nighttime displays competing for attention. And in contrast Monte Vista offers pools and parties. Home to gated communities of the rich and powerful.”

There will of course be side-missions to complete and this is where we are going to find the most of that old Saints Row feeling. Even if the main story is going for a more grounded feel that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun throwing ourselves into traffic. These side missions have always been the heart and soul of the Saints Row franchise and it just wouldn’t be the same without them.

Gemma Colón was dining at Local 92 in the East Village in New York City when she witnessed a wonderful sight—a man eating dinner with his dog. Now, it’s not uncommon to see a dog hanging out on an outdoor dining patio but this pooch was perfectly perched on a seat and looked more civil than most humans.

“I was presented with one of the most unexpectedly heartwarming views,” Colón told The Dodo. “I noticed this dog seated across from his owner, perched upon a chair, acting like an absolute proper gentleman.”

In the video, the man can be seen politely sipping on a glass of red wine, enjoying a crossword puzzle while his dog enjoyed a bowl of water. We’re unsure whether the dog’s water was bottled, sparkling, or New York tap.

The image of a man eating with his dog shows how wonderful our bond with our pets can be. It’s also a tribute to whoever trained this magnificent dog. Most dogs would be running around trying to grab an appetizer off someone’s plate.

According to Colón, the sighting wasn’t a one-time occurrence. “I heard a waitress comment on how good the dog was at one point, and the man replied saying he brings the dog with him everywhere,” Colón said. “It definitely seemed like a very pleasant date, with lovely company.”

Khalid’s career is off to a hot start: After establishing himself as one of the most promising up-and-comers with his 2017 debut album American Teen, he had his first No. 1 album with 2019’s Free Spirit. Now he’s working on his third album, Everything Is Changing. That album was given an approximate release window of this fall, but now it appears that may be in jeopardy.

On Twitter today, Khalid revealed that he’s feeling “overwhelmed” trying to finish the album, saying, “I only wanna be the artist I want to be, because creating is what keeps me from losing my my mind but my passion goes away a little more every day. I just want to finish this album and it’s really driving me crazy at this point.”

He went on to suggest that the album may be released later than initially anticipated (without explicitly announcing a delay), writing, “I’m gonna refocus, finish this album without stress, and put out something that I truthfully believe in. I’ma be me at the end of the day, that’s all I can be.”

Find Khalid’s tweets below.

“I only wanna be the artist I want to be, because creating is what keeps me from losing my my mind but my passion goes away a little more every day. I just want to finish this album and it’s really driving me crazy at this point. I ain’t even wanna come on here ranting but I gotta get this out of me lol.

I’m really sorry to keep you guys waiting for this album because I want it to be out more than anyone, so much that finishing it has became overwhelming and I need to find that joy again. I started this album and I felt free, like creativity was pouring out of me. I have some songs on here I know will change my life. I need to get back to making music how I want to make. the people who have gotten to know me over the years, I have faith that you’ll feel this music because it’s been authentic to me.

from American Teen until now I’ve made it my initiative to remain authentic to myself and who I am as an artist/person even when I had no idea what I was doing, I always trust my intuition. I write all this music from my soul, and will continue to do so. The only album I’m putting out is an album that I’m 100 percent in love with. I just can’t change myself to please anybody, I gotta live with myself at the end of the day so ima do what I want to do. when it gets to the point that the music I want out comes out… I got so much faith that it will resonate with you guys.

I’m gonna refocus, finish this album without stress, and put out something that I truthfully believe in. I’ma be me at the end of the day, that’s all I can be. I LOVE YOU GUYS. coming on here and speaking to you guys reminds me how much love we mutually have for each other. Thank you for supporting me because none of the success was possible without you guys holding me down. and that’s why ima keep doing this sh*t!”