Category: News

Each week our staff of film and TV experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish shows available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.

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1. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (Disney+)

After WandaVision proved that Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige could still bring their A+ game, even on the small screen, we’re getting the (begrudging) buddy comedy for Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes that was forecast when they grumbled over a back seat in Captain America: Civil War. Baron Helmut Zemo (portrayed by Daniel Brühl) is the big bad, but what Marvel viewers will truly love to see is the return of Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp), who’s kicking ass and making her aunt’s Peggy’s spirit proud. Also, yes, “Who will be the next Cap?” will be the question on everyone’s mind, so get ready. Watch it on Disney+.

2. Made For Love (HBO Max)

Cristin Milioti stars in this delightfully weird comedy about a sociopathic tech billionaire’s trophy wife who doubles as his human guinea pig. After ten years of being trapped in a terrible marriage, she decides to make a run for it to escape and, well, hilarity ensues. Watch it on HBO Max.

3. Solar Opposites (Hulu)

Solar Opposites is a reverse Rick and Morty. Instead of Rick and Morty visiting other planets to interact with aliens, it’s the aliens who are living on Earth in the Hulu animated series, including an adorable pupa… who will eventually destroy Earth. Putting people’s lives in danger through comical misadventures? In that sense, Solar Opposites is a lot like Rick and Morty. Both shows also share a creator, Justin Roiland. But mostly the “lives in danger” thing. Watch it on Hulu).

4. Mayans M.C. (FX/Hulu)

This season, the Sons of Anarchy spinoff is getting downer-and-dirtier with more biker drama and less family-related theatrics. That’s a good thing because warring guys-in-leather are where it’s at, and the two rival M.C.s coming no closer to peacefully coexisting, so prepare for (you knew this was coming) war. Showrunner Elgin James is officially taking the show into the post-Kurt Sutter era of the Sons Of Anarchy franchise, so let’s ride. Watch it on Hulu.

5. The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers (Disney+)

Finally, the Emilio Estevez comeback we’ve all been waiting for is here. In this reboot series, a 12-year-old boy forms a hockey team of underdogs with the help of the Ducks’ original coach, Gordon Bombay (Estevez), who has become a despondent owner of a low-level ice rink over the years. Watch it on Disney+.

6. Invincible (Amazon Prime)

This animated romp will please both fans of The Boys and The Walking Dead, and the latter reference has everything to do with the source material penned by Robert Kirkman. Invincible is an ultraviolent deconstruction of the superhero, and yes, we’ve seen plenty of dismantling already, but this story has heart. Stephen Yeun makes a fantastic leading man here, and the cast (J.K. Simmons, Sandra Oh, Seth Rogen, Walton Goggins, Jason Mantzoukas, Zazie Beetz, Zachary Quinto, Mark Hamill, and several TWD names) is ridiculously good. Watch it March 26 on Amazon.

7. WandaVision (Disney+)

Wanda Maximoff finally got her due, and this show manages to be everything that Marvel fans hoped for and almost nothing like what they expected. We’re now in Phase Four, baby, with magnificent cameo troll jobs throwing us off the scent of a story that delivers a rather touching medication on loss and trauma with all sorts of witchy shenanigans there to help us actually, you know enjoy the ride. Fun is the name of the game, after all, and all eyes are now pointing ahead toward The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Watch it on Disney+.

8. Q: Into the Storm (HBO Max)

Sure, there was hesitation involved with watching HBO’s new docuseries on QAnon (“Do we really want to expose ourselves even more to the lunacy of these people?”) but once we started digging into the screeners we just couldn’t stop. It’s a fast-paced docu-mystery, one that even comes with a satisfying payoff at the end of the final episode: the unmaking of Q. Watch it on HBO Max.

9. Ted Lasso (AppleTV)

Ted Lasso shouldn’t have worked. It’s a show based on a character with a funny name and a thin premise (American football coach starts coaching English soccer team), both of which first appeared during a commercial campaign. The fact that it’s good at all, let alone this good, is a minor miracle. He’s a sweet man with a lovely mustache and he just wants to help. You could do far worse in a television show. Watch it on Apple TV+.

10. Waffles + Mochi (Netflix)

Waffles + Mochi is a charming show about eating vegetables. It’s more than that, sure. It’s got puppets and celebrity cameos and Michelle Obama, who produced the show as part of the family’s big deal with Netflix. But what it is, mostly, if you boil it all down, is a show about getting people to eat healthier. It has no right to be as entertaining as it is. And yet, there you’ll be, won over by adorable puppets and goofy guest stars, thinking about eating a bowl of carrots instead of an entire bag of chips. Watch it on Netflix.

Godzilla vs. Kong is a movie about a giant gorilla fighting a giant lizard. It is filled with disaster movie cliches from beginning to end. At one point, during the final battle, Kong dislocates his shoulder and forces it back into the socket by jamming it in the side of a crumbling skyscraper. And as I watched it all this week, as I watched impossibly attractive scientists do impossibly improbable science things, as I watched two monstrous CGI beasts wallop each other on aircraft carriers and in the rubble of what was Hong Kong as recently as five minutes of screen time earlier, I found myself feeling… comforted? I think that’s right. It was all very comforting.

Here’s the best explanation I’ve been able to come up with for that feeling: We haven’t had a good, huge, occasionally silly blockbuster movie in well over a year. The ninth Fast & Furious was supposed to come out last summer and we’re still waiting for it. Things have been, to be very obvious about it all, weird. Watching two monsters pound on each other and destroy billions of dollars worth of property as characters spout off generic lines of dialogue was, in some way, especially for idiots like me, a return to normalcy. Would I have preferred to see it on a huge IMAX screen with 100 other rowdy goofs? Yes, of course. Did I still have a blast watching it on the 42-inch television in my bedroom with the lights out? Reader… I did. Baby steps.

Let’s do it. Let’s talk about it. Let’s discuss Godzilla vs. Kong.

Why were Godzilla and Kong fighting?

Excellent question. There are a few answers here. One has to do with a long-simmering feud and a quest for dominance, with the term “the alpha” getting tossed around by every character in the movie who has a Bachelor’s degree in science. Another has to do with an evil corporation doing evil science business in the name of profits. But the best answer to this question, I think, is because it freaking rules to see Godzilla and King Kong punch each other a lot. I mean, look at this.

And this.

If they didn’t fight, none of that would have happened. I think that’s reason enough

Be honest, you just wanted to post those GIFs.

… Maybe.

So you’ve referenced science stuff a lot. This seems like a movie that would have a Jeff Goldblum in it, one of those cool and/or quirky scientists and/or nutcases who uncovers the secrets that will save humanity. Does Godzilla vs. Kong have a Jeff Goldblum in it?

Buddy, Godzilla vs. Kong has THREE Jeff Goldblums in it. In no particular order:

— Alexander Skarsgard plays a scientist who has Hollow Earth theories that are proven correct. When we first meet him, he has a beard and a grungy sweater and is being recruited to help because he’s the best there ever was, or something close to that. The next time we see him, he has shaved and is wearing a cool guy vest and sunglasses. He is the most Goldblum-y character in the movie by far.

— Brian Tyree Henry plays a conspiracy-obsessed podcaster who has various theories about the big evil corporation that are also proven correct.

— Millie Bobbie Brown plays the daughter of some sort of government-type director played by Kyle Chandler. She is also obsessed with conspiracies and is the only one who discovers the podcaster’s secret identity even though he has been working at the evil corporation for years and podcasts using his regular voice and the evil corporation can apparently build a giant evil robotic lizard but can’t figure out one of its employees is discussing company secrets on a popular podcast.

That’s a lot of Jeff Goldblums.

And that’s before we even get to Rebecca Hall’s character, who a) is raising a young deaf girl who communicates with Kong via sign language, b) cannot, for some reason, communicate with Kong herself even though she also knows sign language was was introduced earlier in the film via a magazine cover that identified her as “the Kong Whisperer.”

First of all, I love it.

As you should.

Second of all, tell me more about this evil corporation.

Happy to. The evil corporation is called Apex and it is run by Demian Bichir, or at least a character played by him. This guy hits all the great evil CEO beats. He has a goatee and a general vibe that is kind of like “if Logan Roy from Succession were younger and about 50 percent more of a sociopath.” He shows up to recruit Skarsgard wearing an overcoat draped over his shoulders without his arms through the armholes, like a Yakuza boss. He’s always drinking from a glass filled with brown liquor and preparing to give a speech about The Way Things Really Are, even when Kong and Godzilla are leveling Hong Kong.

He’s perfect. I love him.

This movie sounds like it rules.

It does.

So you said there’s some questionable science in here. What kind of questionable science are we talking about?

You mean besides the thing where a giant gorilla and a giant lizard were apparently created inside the planet’s hollow core and this hollow core contains some sort of hyper-powerful energy source that the giant gorilla can use to charge up a huge ax until it glows a pulsing neon blue and can be used to deflect the pulsing neon blue laser breath that the giant lizard shoots out of its mouth?

Uh, yes?

Well, there’s also a lot of talk about a “gravitational inversion” that happens when one attempts to travel to the Hollow Earth, wherein the entire planet’s gravity flips and crushes anything caught inside it. This is what killed Alexander Skarsgard’s brother, which is mentioned like one time and then discarded, and is all brushed away very quickly here by two revelations: One, Apex has created a spaceship-type thing that negates all of this through methods best described as “hey, don’t worry about it, guy”; two, it does not affect Kong, for similar reasons.

I respect this. There’s no time to get into the scientific weeds when we have monsters to pit against each other.

Exactly. Especially since, once we get to the Hollow Earth, before Kong gets the magical ax, he is attacked by huge winged beasts, one of which he knocks out of the sky with the other one like he’s freaking Albert Pujols, complete with a triumphant bat flip…

… and another of which he decapitates with his bare hands before slurping its green brain goo right out of its head.

Gross.

Yeah, it was very unnecessary but I still laughed out loud in the empty room when I saw it.

Let me see if I have this straight so far: Godzilla and Kong are fighting each other, but there might be a nefarious capitalism reason behind it, and a slew of scientists and small children are trying to help Kong in the fight, and Kong has a magical ax, and Paper Boi from Atlanta and Eleven from Stranger Things are involved in some podcast-related way, and Coach Taylor from Friday Night Lights is involved somehow?

Basically, yes. And this brings us to the Mechagodzilla.

Excuse me?

Here’s the short version, via bullet point:

• Godzilla had been peaceful, but attacked the Pensacola headquarters of Apex, because of course Florida would be involved somehow
• It turns out that Apex has been building a huge robot Godzilla to give humans a leg-up over the other monsters
• The robotic Godzilla has been making the real Godzilla mad, which is why he’s been attacking humans
• Kong has been fighting Godzilla to protect humans
• The evil corporate guy sent his daughter to the Hollow Earth to extract some of the pulsing blue energy so they could inject it into the Mechagodzilla and make it more powerful
• But when they did, it became sentient and killed the evil corporate guy mid-speech and started running amok in Hong Kong, which really got the short end of the stick in all of this, as far as destruction goes

Long story short: Godzilla and Kong have to become friends and team up to beat the robot.

YES.

My thoughts exactly.

Is this where Kong bashes his shoulder back into socket against the skyscraper?

Oh, you know it is.

And so these two beasts who spent the whole movie trying to tear each other apart work together to save the world in the last 15 or so minutes and then everyone just lives happily ever after?

I mean, yeah, kind of, except for the millions of people in Hong Kong who died or had their property turned into rubble by three hundred-foot-tall monsters, one of whom was a sentient robot powered by a mythical energy source from the center of the Earth.

Oh, right.

Yeah. It would be fun if the sequel to this movie were just a two-hour Erin Brockovich-style courtroom drama about various class action lawsuits against Apex. Not a single monster in the whole thing.

You were right. I really missed having this kind of movie in my life. It’s so much fun to be sitting around just goofing about it all.

And it was a lot of fun to watch! It’s nice to just turn off your brain sometimes and fill your eyes with cookie-cutter Hollywood destruction. This movie checked all of those boxes. It was delightful.

Hey, wait. One last thing before you go.

Shoot.

This really feels like the kind of movie that would have Lance Reddick in it, maybe as some sort of high-ranking politician or military leader. You haven’t mentioned him yet, though. Am I going crazy or is Lance Reddick in this movie?

I knew it!

Godzilla vs. Kong did not disappoint in any substantial way. We all needed this.

Over the past few days, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been drawing attention to the Mexico border, where she’s concerned about the “dehumanizing” conditions that the Biden Administration is still struggling to improve after four years of Donald Trump. As always, her criticisms are bipartisan, but she has been drawing attention to Republicans like Ted Cruz who are suddenly concerned about what’s happening at the border and attempting to frame the situation as an “invasion.” Via Business Insider:

“Anyone who’s using the word ‘surge’ around you, consciously, is trying to invoke a militaristic frame. And that’s a problem. Because this is not a surge, these are children,” she said. “And they are not insurgents. And we are not being invaded, which, by the way, is a white supremacist idea, philosophy, the idea that if an ‘other’ is coming in the population, that this is an invasion of who we are.”

After AOC promoted her quote from the Business Insider article in a Twitter thread about her thoughts on how to best handle incoming immigrants humanely, Cruz pounced on the thread and accused the congresswoman of attempting to abolish ICE and leave the border completely open.

“@AOC explains the real Dem position: abolish ICE,” Cruz tweeted. “Full open borders. Which would make the #BidenBorderCrisis even worse. She says nothing else works. Really? Last year, we had the lowest illegal immigration IN 45 YEARS. This year, we have the highest in 20 years.”

Of course, Cruz should know by now that messing with AOC never ends well for him. She quickly responded to his tweet and reminded the Texas senator how he handled the last “crisis” in his home state by booking a trip to Cancun.

“Ted, this is pretty rich coming from someone who fled their own home (and responsibilities) during an environmental crisis to cross the border and seek refuge in Mexico,” AOC tweeted. “Also you funded cages, expanded cages, and yet you’re complaining about cages. You have no policy, just puff. Maybe Mexico shouldn’t let YOU in the next time you try to run away from your job to sip umbrella drinks in Cancún.”

Maybe one day Cruz we’ll learn his lesson about taking shots at AOC, but for now, we’re pretty sure he’s a glutton for punishment because he keeps coming back for more.

(Via Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter)

On Wednesday night, the Knicks and Timberwolves game came down to the final shot. With the Wolves up one, the Knicks had an opportunity for the win in the closing moments of the game. New York couldn’t find a good shot, however, as RJ Barrett was forced to take a fading jumper that came up well short of the basket.

It wasn’t a great look for the Knicks, and after the game, Wolves rookie Anthony Edwards didn’t try to hide what Minnesota’s strategy was defensively for that final possession: Make RJ Barrett take the last shot.

“We told Jaden, try not to let Randle catch the ball we want to make someone else beat it. Gladly, RJ Barrett caught it and if he would have made the shot we would have lived with it because that’s who we want taking the shot. We don’t want anybody else taking it.”

Edwards’ brutal honesty is one of his most endearing qualities in terms of his interactions with the media, and this is a spectacular example of that. Coaches and players absolutely think this in end-of-game situations. They even say these things in the huddles before plays in such situations, but rarely do they offer those thoughts publicly to the media after. Edwards says the quiet part out loud here, as most would simply say, “We just didn’t want them to get the ball to Randle and to make anyone else take a tough shot.” He, instead, chose a bit of violence by making sure everyone knew the gameplan was to funnel the ball specifically to Barrett, because they believed that was their best chance to preserve the win by making him take the last shot.

This might not be an approach that makes Edwards a ton of friends around the league, as he’s not exactly diplomatic, but it’s also what makes him, well, him. His lack of a filter makes his media appearances absolute gold, and while it might ruffle some feathers at times, he’s certainly never boring even when talking about situations that don’t often produce any spice.

When your brand is literally called MSCHF, it shouldn’t be a shocker that there’s a good dose of actual mischief embedded in the ethos. That’s exactly what the label behind Lil Nas X’s wildly viral Satan shoes promises to deliver with each of its bi-monthly drops. Note we didn’t say “bi-monthly sneaker drops” — because while the most famous MSCHF products are shoes, they’ve also launched tongue-in-cheek bath bombs, internet browser add-ons, AI-generated feet photos, and rubber chicken bongs, along with various other weird shit and ephemera.

The Satan shoes aren’t the brand’s first brush with viral fame, either. Launched in 2016 and based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn (obvi), MSCHF is the same brand that brought you this year’s Birkinstocks — Birkenstock sandals made using the leather from real Birkin bags and those dope as hell all-white Nike Aix Max 97s filled with 60CCs of Holy Water sourced from the River Jordan back in 2019. So while it might feel like they’ve come out of nowhere, stunt marketing like this is very much their #brand.

Everything out of MSCHF comes wrapped in layers of nihilistic irony that attempts to reflect the absurdity of a world where people get hyped over things like Supreme stamped bricks and shrug off stuff like an attempted coup from a game-show-host-turned-President as just another Wednesday in the waning days of the American Empire. But by adopting the uber-capitalistic “bi-weekly drop” cadence of a modern streetwear company, MSCHF is very much part of the world they’re skewering. (The line between viral marketing and literal trolling gets very tough to see when you look at things like MSCHF’s ClickSwipe app, which swipes right on Tinder for you every time you click something with your mouse).

“Our perspective is everything is funny in a nihilistic sort of way,” MSCHF CEO Gabriel Whaley told Business Insider in an interview. “We’re not here to make the world a better place. We’re making light of how much everything sucks.”

If you take those words at face value, MSCHF feels a lot of the old Supreme — which gained legitimate clout via viral product drops. When the Supreme brick happened it was product-as-commentary, a release that reflected the absurdity of the hype machine surrounding the counterculture skatewear brand itself. The fact that people actually paid for it is what made the brick such an iconically dark moment in streetwear history.

These days, Supreme plays its relatively safe, favoring official collaborations over everything, though they’ll still drop a random accessory here and there. The gap in the “is this a real commentary on commerce or just commerce in disguise as commentary?” space that Supreme left behind has since been filled by MSCHF. And the relationship is a weirdly reciprocal one — with MSCHF’s ironic products hitting harder because we saw how well that model actually served Supreme.

Now bring all that context to bear on the Satan shoes — which a judge has just ordered the brand to stop selling. Note, that this isn’t an official collab. MSCHF calls them “art pieces” and that’s correct, though Nike is arguing that the general public isn’t sophisticated enough to know that this devil-themed footwear wasn’t actually made by Swoosh & Co., which also seems to be true. While sneaker customization isn’t illegal, when you’re selling 666 customized sneakers with blood in the air bubble and freaking out square Christian parents across the country, the brand whose shoe you’re using has every right to ask you to chill.

MSCHF will surely cease and desist and their next drop will be all the more anticipated because of this episode. Nike lawyers could squash them, but why would they? Their brand got a little badass-rebel energy from this dance and their PR machine will fight to correct misperceptions among their core suburban fanbase. Round and round we go.

Eventually, the two brands will probably collaborate for real. Again, Supreme laid down the playbook for this.

What you think of MSCHF’s actual products depends on your life stage and whether its model feels fresh or tired to you. Do you think blood in a shoe is bold? What about a bath bomb shaped like a toaster? Or an Instagram account that proudly proclaims “DO NOT FOLLOW US“? If that sounds corny or if you’re past it because it feels like a retread of Supreme, feel free to look away.

For the rest of us, MSCHF is infusing the world of streetwear and accessory drops with some conversation-starting fun, re-capturing the counter-culture energy of an industry that has become commercialized to the point of banality. Whether it’s capitalism masquerading as rebellion or rebellion masquerading as capitalism is impossible to say. But maybe that, too, is part of the point.

If you want to sign up for early access to MSCHF products click here.

Whoever said summer was blockbuster season clearly never lived through a pandemic because the spring movie line-up is here, and whether you’re streaming these films from your couch or braving a trip to the theater — as long as it’s safe to do so — it doesn’t really matter. That’s because the movie gods have taken pity on us mere mortals and decided to unleash a heavy-hitting roster of dramas and monster flicks and Disney-fied villain origin stories to keep up entertained.

Here’s what’s worth watching, and where you can catch it. (Err bad choice of words there but you get our drift.)

Godzilla vs. Kong (streaming on HBO Max March 31st)

Do you like Godzilla? Do you like King Kong? Well, they are both in this movie and they fight. And they fight quite a few times, with the first fight happening around the 45-minute mark. I’m not sure what else you need to know honestly. If you want to see Godzilla and Kong fight, you will get your money’s worth (or your HBO Max subscription’s worth). If you wish these two titans would settle their differences peacefully, or if you’re looking for a character drama that really explores how humans would realistically react to such events, you will most likely be disappointed. — Mike Ryan

Concrete Cowboy (streaming on Netflix April 2nd)

Based in part on the book Ghetto Cowboy by Greg Neri, Cole (Caleb Washington) is headed down a bleak path after one too many run-ins with trouble and the police. His mother, at her wits’ end, decides Cole should spend the summer in Philadelphia with his father, Harp (Idris Elba). Harp is part of a local group, the Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club, which owns and tends horses in Philadelphia. Director Rusty Staub uses actual members of the Fletcher Street Riding Club in the film, and the film also serves as a pretty good history lesson explaining why there are Black cowboys on horses in the middle of large cities. — Mike Ryan

Thunder Force (streaming on Netflix April 9th)

Don’t expect this movie to win any awards because that’s not the point. Instead, prepare for the silliest of moments from Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer as two inept superheroes who fight crime, long after their childhood best-friend days, and together, they learn what it’s like when two ordinary people are suddenly tasked with stopping supervillains. In other words, sit back and embrace the chaos because there’s plenty of it coming your way. The supporting cast includes Bobby Cannavale, Pom Klementieff, and Melissa Leo. Plus, Jason Bateman is onboard, which instantly makes any movie or TV show better. — Kimberly Ricci

Mortal Kombat (streaming on HBO Max April 23rd)

I’ll be up front here, the main reason I’m itching to stream this movie from the comfort of my own couch (thank you HBO Max) is because its first official trailer baited me with a perfectly-timed “Finish Him!” call-back to its video game predecessor. Dammit, 90s nostalgia! You’ve won again. Aside from the cheesy, over-the-top fight commentary, the film also promises a ton of action, following a group of skilled warriors who enter a tournament in the hopes of saving Earth. I could care less who wins. I’m just here for the sound effects. — Jessica Toomer

Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse (streaming on Amazon Prime Video April 30th)

Tom Clancy is a name you’d probably find on your grandpa’s bookshelf but you gotta respect Michael B. Jordan for taking a property as old and tired as this series — it’s literally the Boomer of spy novels — and giving it a modern makeover. The plot is mostly what you’d expect. Elite soldier’s wife is killed so he goes on a killing spree to find the men responsible and ends up uncovering a bigger conspiracy. But Jordan’s watchable in pretty much anything and the action looks top-notch. — Jessica Toomer

Things Heard And Seen (streaming on Netflix April 30th)

I don’t know if Amanda Seyfried will win an Oscar for acting in a movie that asked the audience to believe she was the same age as Gary Oldman, but if she doesn’t, the next best thing is having another hit on a streaming platform. This horror adaptation sees her playing a wife who moves to a house in upstate New York and quickly discovers its dilapidated, haunting interior is as rotted as her own marriage. Not in the mood for horror, you say? Well too bad. Amanda needs this. — Jessica Toomer

Stowaway (streaming on Netflix May 6th)

For All Mankind arguably sets the bar too high for every other space travel-focused streaming offering out there, but listen up because the cast is the real treat. Anna Kendrick, Daniel Dae Kim, Shamier Anderson, and Toni Collette are a dream-team when it comes to delivering the drama. As you may have guessed from the title, there’s an (inadvertent) stowaway aboard a three-person mission to Mars, and that’s going to affect the oxygen supply in a crucial way. It’s not the most original space crisis you’ll ever see, but with a cast like this, the freak-out performances (and the solving of the dilemma within mere hours) are guaranteed to be worth the click. — Kimberly Ricci

Wrath of Man (premiering in theaters May 7th)

While it was Guy Ritchie who made Jason Statham indie famous in Snatch and Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, he didn’t become the Jason Statham we all know and love until The Transporter established him as the Cockney Clint Eastwood. Now Jason Statham is back with Guy Ritchie for a proper Statham vehicle in Wrath Of Man. Which is actually a remake of an even-better-named French film called “Cash Truck.” The Stath plays an armored truck driver with a particular set of skills in a film that promises to give us all the fit birds, flash sazz wagons, and proper thrashins we expect from a Jason Statham movie, plus all the sassy Chav dialogue we expect from a Guy Ritchie movie, now don’t we, Tommy? Hits theaters May 7th. — Vince Mancini

The Woman in the Window (streaming on Netflix May 14th)

This Joe Wright-directed thriller was originally scheduled to hit theaters in October of 2019 but by some divine hand of providence, it’s dropping now. Perhaps the streaming gods knew that watching Amy Adams play an agoraphobic woman who struggles to do the right thing — i.e. leave her apartment and get help — when a neighbor goes missing would just hit different after a year spent on lockdown. The pandemic has changed us all enough that Adams might just come out the hero of this whole thing instead of a weirdo who sits inside all day in her pajamas and avoid human contact at all costs. We can totally relate. — Jessica Toomer

Spiral: From the Book of Saw (premiering in theaters May 14th)

When Saw came out in 2004, Chris Rock had just starred in the presidential comedy Head of State and Samuel L. Jackson’s Mace Windu was a year away from getting Force lightning’d to death in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Seventeen years later, Rock and Jackson are in the ninth Saw movie, the wonderfully-titled Spiral: From the Book of Saw, as a detective and his retired cop father who are searching for the elusive Jigsaw Killer. I hope he’s not found until Saw 18, coming out in 2038. Jackson, at 99 years old, will somehow still have more energy than his much-younger co-stars. — Josh Kurp

Those Who Wish Me Dead (streaming on HBO Max May 14th)

Taylor Sheridan has a gift for crafting edge-of-your-seat Westerns for these modern times — we’re thinking of Hell or High Water specifically — so it’s pretty much a given this adaptation about a teenager trying to escape a pair of twin assassins in the middle of a Montana forest fire was always going to be good. But then you add names like Angelina Jolie and Jon Bernthal and Nicholas Hoult and … well, do we need to do any more convincing? — Jessica Toomer

Army of the Dead (streaming on Netflix May 21st)

Sure, I love a good zombie flick (and Zack Snyder’s previously delivered with his Dawn of the Dead remake), and only a monster would turn away from a heist story, but a lot of the appeal here also has to do with runtime. That is to say, Snyder has never been known for brevity, and with this zombie heist story, he’s giving us a 90-minute movie. After his far-too-long Justice League cut, I welcome the literal change in pace. Not only that, but the story’s zombie plague migrated from Area 51 to Las Vegas, which is where a group of mercenaries are attempting to heist, which is all deliciously bonkers. Dave Bautista stars, and the disgraced Chris D’Elia got the boot in favor of Tig Notaro, so it’s damn near impossible to pass on this film, especially with a franchise in the works. — Kimberly Ricci

A Quiet Place Part II (premiering in theaters May 28th)

It’s pretty remarkable that A Quiet Place did what it did. Here’s a movie about aliens who can only hunt by detecting sound, a movie that has very little dialogue, that cost next to nothing (as far as studio movies cost anyway), and grossed $340 million worldwide. It’s the kind of thing that just rarely happens anymore for movies not part of some sort of pre-existing franchise. On one hand it’s still surprising that there’s another one now, because the first one felt like such a complete story. Yet this sequel delivers without betraying what made the first movie so special. And, yes, I saw this movie over a year ago – literally the last film I saw in a theater – and it is still sticking with me. Though, it does make sense why watching a movie in March of 2020 about impending doom would stick with a person. — Mike Ryan

Cruella (streaming on Disney+ May 28th)

I have no idea if Cruella will be “good,” but I can’t wait to find out. The usual origin story template is to give a villain a tragic backstory, allowing viewers to sympathize with them. But I’m not sure that’s possible with Cruella de Vil, an animal-killing, chain-smoking monster in 101 Dalmations. You can’t “misunderstood anti-hero” your way out of murdering puppies. It’s an unusually risky bet for Disney, but one that could pay off if Cruella lets Cruella just be, well, evil. Either way, at least Emma Stone looks like she’s having fun. — Josh Kurp

In the Heights (streaming on HBO Max June 17th)

Hamilton was the biggest musical of the 2010s, a Pulitzer Prize-winning sensation that turned Lin-Manuel Miranda into a household name. He also got to play a Resistance trooper in Star Wars, the greatest honor of all. But it was not his first Broadway sensation — or even his first Best Musical winner at the Tonys. Miranda wrote the music and lyrics for In the Heights, a steamy musical set in New York City’s Washington Heights that has been adapted into a movie by Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu. The tagline in the trailer reads, “This summer, we’ll be back to dancing in the street together.” After a year spent indoors, we deserve this. — Josh Kurp

Earlier this week, hit TV series The Voice surprised fans by announcing that a big-name star would be joining their roster. Ariana Grande is officially replacing Nick Jonas as a judge for the series’ 21st season this fall. But that’s not the only celebrity they’ve recruited. The Voice announced that Snoop Dogg will also be joining their team to coach contestants and share his advice on how to make it in the music industry.

The rapper broke the news about his new guest role Thursday. He’ll be joining Blake Shelton, John Legend, Kelly Clarkson, and Nick Jonas as a “Mega Mentor,” or someone who offers contestants advice ahead of the Battle Rounds, the segment where two contestants go head-to-head to deliver a rendition of the same song.

In a statement, The Voice shared their excitement about Snoop joining the show, saying: “Drawing from his unique experience in navigating the music and entertainment industry as a renowned rapper, producer, and performer, Snoop Dogg will impart a new and fresh perspective to help the artists craft their performances. Coaches alone choose the winner to advance from their team. Each coach has one steal in the Knockouts.”

Snoop’s official The Voice appearance will take place on 4/19 and airs at 8 p.m. EST. Tune in here.

The Milwaukee Bucks cruised to a 112-97 win over the Lakers on Wednesday night in L.A., as they simply had too much firepower for the shorthanded Lakers — who saw their new starting center, Andre Drummond, leave after his toenail got ripped off. The Lakers hung around but the game never felt much in doubt, and down the stretch it became more a family reunion than anything, as the three Antetokounmpo brothers all shared the court for the first time in their careers, with Kostas getting some run for the Lakers and Thanasis and Giannis playing for the Bucks.

It was just the second time in NBA history three brothers have shared the court in the same game, as Giannis now shares that honor with teammate Jrue Holiday and his brothers Justin and Aaron. After the game, Giannis was asked about that and seeing Thanasis splash a stepback three in Kostas’ face, joking that it was “ruthless” of Thanasis to do that to his little brother, but reflected on an “amazing” night and the journey the family has taken to get there.

Giannis seems most proud of how he and his brothers represent the family with a smile and carry on their father’s legacy as best they can. Seeing how happy he was with getting to share the court with his two brothers was very cool, and the trio shared an embrace and a moment on the floor after the game, with Giannis seemingly imparting a little brotherly wisdom as they got to do something extremely rare for an NBA family.

Kudos to Ryan Reynolds for both being a master of promoting his various ventures on social media and resisting doing so while pointing toward the bigger picture. That would be the outpouring of hope that the United States is daring to feel while the masses get vaccinated against COVID-19. Los Angeles County is going into overdrive with many thousands of vaccinations daily (in a quest to reach herd immunity by summer), and Reynolds joined in the good times this week. Naturally, the Deadpool and Free Guy star captured the moment for posterity. Alongside a photo that showed him getting the jab, he added this caption: “Finally got 5G.”

Reynolds is, of course, referring to the much-mutated conspiracy theory that aims to convince people that 5G is somehow responsible for the pandemic. The obviously false claims blame 5G for either directly infecting people with the COVID-19 virus or even weakening people’s immunity. Some people even tried to argue that the crisis was manufactured (according to Snopes) “in order to keep people at home while 5G engineers install the technology everywhere.” All of that stuff is wild and right at home with the QAnon crowd, but Reynolds has the 5G, man, and he’s excited about it. Props to him for not promoting his wireless company in the process.

Reynolds’ wife, Blake Lively, got her shot, too. “Find you someone who looks at you like I look at the heroic nurse vaccinating me,” she wrote on Instagram. Yeah, I did that (to a pharmacist), too.

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

The right voice can make even the most generic boasts sound not just convincing but compelling. That’s the lasting impression left by Rod Wave’s third studio album SoulFly after a few listens. Content-wise, the project leaves a lot to the imagination; Rod doesn’t reveal much about himself, his circumstances, or his worldview… but he sounds absolutely great singing his ghetto blues.

There’s oddly little biographical information out there about the trapsoul crooner from St. Petersburg, Florida, which would seem to run counter to the intense fervor he apparently inspires in fans. He doesn’t do interviews and he maintains a relatively low-key social media profile, mostly tweeting the sort of one-line platitudes you’d read on an office poster with a photo of a chimp in a suit.

Yet, his last album, Pray 4 Love, debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with relatively little promotion from either Rod or his label. SoulFly is reportedly on track to exceed that accomplishment, even though the rollout started with Rod goading his label, threatening to withhold the project unless some kind of dispute involving his pay was sorted out. It apparently was; the rest of the rollout proceeded without a hitch, with Rod dropping two singles, “Street Runner” and “Tombstone,” before dropping the album itself.

Even the music is atypical of most chart-toppers today; aside from one feature from Polo G on the new album, Rod seemingly avoids collaborating with bigger names to expand his fanbase. To date, his highest-profile collaborators appear to be Lil Durk, Lil Baby, and Yo Gotti, the latter duo only being added to the deluxe re-release of Pray 4 Love four months later. He’s an iconoclast in a music landscape where iconoclasts — especially commercially successful ones — are quickly becoming an endangered species.

So what gives? How does a rapper who barely promotes his work, who doesn’t work with other artists, and who doesn’t dazzle with pyrotechnic displays of lyrical wizardry end up fronting the XXL Freshman cover and topping the Billboard charts? After playing back SoulFly multiple times and wrenching my critical brain for something that explains it, there’s only one possibility: That damn voice.

It’s the sort of voice honed in a Baptist pulpit, mellowed by handles of whiskey, and put through its paces by the demands of turning dry missives like “I play the game that was taught to me / I fry the beef that was brought to me” into soulful, blues-inspired croons. It’s a warm, inviting tenor, shot through with just enough vibrato to suggest emotional turmoil, along with a sprinkling of grit, like a pinch of pepper flakes in a salt shaker.

It allows him to convincingly sell hustler narratives and their resulting trauma without getting into the authentic details that you usually need to make them work. To his credit, there are enough true-life tales that undergird the framework of those narratives to hold them up, even when you scratch the surface. On “Pillz And Billz,” he details watching “my cousin smoke crack his whole fuckin’ life,” lamenting, “Fentanyl hit the street and he OD’d the same night.” There are enough truthful moments underlying the boasts that the boasts feel earned.

If these attributes don’t necessarily make Rod Wave a singular artist — his sole guest on SoulFly, Polo G, convincingly uses similar methods in his own work — Rod has the fortuitous timing to exist at a time when he can just be the artist he is, without bothering with courting the algorithms or resorting to attention-grabbing social media shenanigans.

It’s impressive that there are still artists who can do it with just a voice. While there’s not a tremendous amount of true introspection or innovation on SoulFly, there is, however, a supreme level of self-assurance and technical craftsmanship. What Rod lacks in wit he makes up in emotion, and where his stories lack detail, he imbues them with a powerful sincerity that makes them read just as truthfully, resonating as deeply as an impressionist portrait. Maybe at a time when cryptocurrency is the future and math runs just about every aspect of our day-to-day lives, what people really want — really need — is music with some soul

SoulFly is out now on Alamo Records. Get it here.