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‘First Cow’ — A24’s Beautiful Tale Of Food And Friendship — Is Like ‘The Revenant’ Meets A New Yorker Cartoon

Seen in its most positive light, A24’s First Cow (from festival titan Kelly Reichardt and writer Jonathan Raymond) is a work of 19th-century hobo food porn, a combination of words I never knew could exist, let alone be something I wanted.

John Magaro and Orion Lee play Cookie Figowitz and King Lu, respectively, two penniless drifters who’ve made their way to the still mostly unspoiled Oregon Territory seeking their fortune. With a meet-cute involving murderous Russians and grouchy beaver trappers, the two become fast friends and eventually hit on a scheme to sell primitive funnel cakes using poached milk (as you may have surmised from the title, the territory has recently welcomed its first cow, owned by a rich guy in a top hat played by Toby Jones). (*Eddie Vedder voice* “I don’t miiind, stealin’ miiiilk, from the moooouths of decadeee-eeence…”)

Reichardt, clearly from the Terrence Malick memorial tone poem school of cinematic impressionism, is at her best when filming the two pals frying up their “oilycakes” for Fort Tilicum’s rogue’s gallery of filthy roustabouts. The entire sequence (shot, like the rest of the movie, in a squarish aspect ratio that positively screams “hey check it out, we got creative with the aspect ratio”) is a stirring tribute to the power of food and made me immensely hungry.

Cookie and King have an adorable relationship and the mortal danger they’re in just for wheezing a little milk under the stars belies the otherwise droll exercise that is this movie (“at its heart, it’s really a critique of the American Frontier”). Cookie even occasionally tells jokes, like “do you know what side of a tree has the most branches? ….The outside.”

It’s unfortunate, though, that it never gets much beyond adorableness. First Cow has a tendency to feel more like a This American Life vignette than a film, shot with the same timid sensibility that makes you wonder if they were trying not to wake a sleeping baby in the next room. The cinematography is sensual and impressionistic, yes, and at its best when dealing with the food, for which sensuality and impressionism are well suited. But it’s also a touch navel-gaze-y, and I’m still of the opinion that being able to get more information from a film’s written synopsis than from the film itself is a bad thing.

It also seems intended as a beautiful portrait of friendship, and I suppose I can believe that a caring, platonic, mutually beneficial friendship between two men is possible, especially in a gold/beaver rush territory without many women. But it also feels chaste to the point of denial, like acknowledging the existence of sex as more than something you read about in The New Yorker would somehow sully a nice gentle movie like this. For two former indentured servants making their living off funnel cakes made from stolen milk, King and Cookie are almost meticulously un-rascally. These two make Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn look like British football hooligans at a punk show by comparison. Would it have killed them to let these guys have a little fun? Maybe drink and swear and smoke on occasion? They don’t, presumably because this is a movie by and for bookworms (that is, bookworms in personality, not in proclivity).

A largely uneventful lullaby of a movie like First Cow is a departure from dumbed-down multiplex fare, but it also feels like such a reaction to it as to almost be beholden. Doing the exact opposite of what a Marvel movie would do isn’t a good thing 100% of the time.

Those oilycakes sure did look good though. There’s a lot of beauty in First Cow, I just wish I could turn the volume up.

‘First Cow’ hits digital platforms July 10th, from A24. Vince Mancini is on Twitter. You can access his archive of reviews here.

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Zendaya And John David Washington Secretly Made A Movie During The Pandemic

The film and TV industry has been for the most part shut down for almost four months now, and given California’s recent spikes in cases that’s likely to remain so for a while still. But some talent has thought outside the box. Rian Johnson was able to direct a Pokemon Go commercial remotely. And, as per Deadline, the creator of Euphoria secretly made a movie with Zendaya and John David Washington, all while the pandemic raged.

It’s called Malcolm & Marie, and it doesn’t sound all that escapist. In fact, while its plot has not been revealed, Deadline claims it’s not unlike Marriage Story, Noah Baumbach’s harrowing divorce saga starring Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver. It was, in fact, Zendaya’s idea: The actress reportedly phoned her Euphoria creator, Sam Levinson, in mid-March, asking him to write a movie about the quarantine. Six days later he had it.

Most surprising of all: They didn’t film it at home, each actor staring into their webcam. The film was shot between June 17 and July 2 at the environmentally conscious, all-glass Caterpillar House in Carmel, CA, all while complying to WGA, DGA and SAG-AFTRA approvals and COVID-19 safety protocol. Cast and crew “were tested for COVID before working, wore protective gear, and stayed on a separate property to maintain the healthiest working environment possible.” What’s more:

Once cleared, production began with no more than 12 people on set at any given moment. Some of the precautions taken included temperature checks at the beginning and end of every day. Extra time was always allowed for the crew to sanitize the set and gear. No crew member could be in close contact with the actors without the proper personal protective equipment. Sets were pre-dressed well in advance to limit crews, and the director would check in on a video call in advance.

The full and extensive list of rules for shooting a movie during a pandemic can be read at Deadline. Meanwhile, what are the odds you’ll see Malcolm & Marie before you see another John David Washington movie, Tenet?

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‘Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’ Has Been Cancelled At Netflix After Four ‘Parts’

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina — the dark take on the Archie comic book series that also inspired a lighter ’90s series starring Melissa Joan Hart — has been cancelled, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It lasted four “parts,” rather than seasons, with the final batch of episodes still due at as-yet-revealed date later this year. (Part Three dropped earlier this year.)

The show, which bowed in October of 2018, starred Mad Men’s Kiernan Shipka a half-human, half-witch attending a high school. It was imagined as a kind of companion series to Riverdale, which took Archie itself and made it serious (and sexy). Where the earlier screen iteration, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, which ran from 1996 through 2003, was a straight-up sitcom (and even originated on ABC before moving to The WB), Shipka’s incarnation went to some dark places, including her wrestling with being the daughter of Satan.

As usual with Netflix, no reason was given for the cancellation. They don’t release data, unless said data is (they claim) off the charts, as with Bird Box and various Adam Sandler joints. In the meantime, at least fans suddenly won’t have any future Chilling Adventures in their lives; Part Four is still due at some time this calendar year. After that, pour one out.

(Via THR)

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MLS Had A Black Lives Matter Demonstration With Players From Across The League Before Their First Game

The MLS Is Back Tournament began at Disney’s Wide World of Sports on Wednesday night with a game between Orlando City SC and Inter Miami, following the NWSL as the second team sports league to return to action in the United States.

While there’s concern about how well the proverbial bubble is doing at keeping players from contracting the virus after FC Dallas had to withdraw from the tournament and Nashville SC’s first game was postponed and their fate remains in question after nine positive tests, the tournament is moving forward as planned as of now. Prior to the first match, players from teams across the MLS joined Orlando SC and Inter Miami on the pitch for a Black Lives Matter demonstration, as Black players from around the league stood, fist raised, around the field as the players from the two squads getting set to play kneeled on the center circle.

On the video board behind the action, a graphic that simply read “#MLSIsBlack” was posted, turning their official slogan for the return of the league into a message about the importance of their Black players. It was a strong statement for the league to open with out of the gate and follows leagues from around the world that have held various demonstrations prior to games as sports have returned.

Of course, more important than a strong visual is that there are strong actions that follow, but it was a powerful statement that will hopefully lead to continued efforts by MLS.

The players that were a part of the demonstration represented the coalition Black Players for Change, which is partnered with the NFL’s Players Coalition in pushing for social change through humanitarian and educational efforts.

The MLS players originally announced their new effort on Juneteenth of this year. Their mission focuses not only on human rights and racial equality, but to eliminate racism from the game of soccer, which has been – and in many ways continues to be – plagued with systematic inequality around the world. The group has already secured $75,000 in charitable contribution commitments from MSLPA in support of the organization.

“We’re excited to formalize and announce our partnership with Players Coalition,” said Quincy Amarikwa, a co-founder of the newly-launched effort of MLS players. “Through this partnership, we see an opportunity to create a path that brings all players across all sports leagues together in our fight to overcome and move past the racial and discriminatory practices within our world..”

The group hopes to use their platform and voice to bring attention to issues of racism in the sport and beyond, and used Monday night’s opener on ESPN to make their strong statement.

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Aerial Powers Is Hosting An All-Female ‘NBA 2K’ Tournament Called ‘Powerz Up’

Much like the NBA, the WNBA is preparing for an abbreviated season later this month at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. The WNBA season was originally supposed to begin in mid-May, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed it indefinitely. In what’s affectionately being called the “Wubble,” players will embark on their shortened season with strict safety guidelines in hopes of preventing the spread of the disease that has infected more than 3 million people in the U.S.

Back in May, when there were no pro sports on television for the first time in many people’s lifetimes, ESPN got the novel idea to air an NBA 2K tournament featuring stars from around the league. On Wednesday, Aerial Powers of the Washington Mystics announced she was putting together her own NBA 2K tournament, Powerz Up, featuring several stars from around the WNBA.

DIME spoke to Powers earlier this month about her side hustle as an up-and-coming 2K player, which is now putting to good use in this latest venture.

“It’s an all female 2K tournament,” Powers said. “I have WNBA players in it, some pro 2K players in it, and of course, you know I gotta have the fans.”

Powers announced that the tournament will feature WNBA stars like Diamond DeShields and Brittney Griner, among others, as well as pro 2K players Chiquita Evans and Hazel Childress.

Powers has been streaming almost daily on Twitch and has been using the quarantine time to sharpen her skills and increase her presence in the gaming universe. In the video, she also hinted at a tournament that may take place while players are inside the Wubble in Florida.

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New Frotcast: Hamilton Stans Vs. Hamilton Virgins, With Francesca Fiorentini And Andrew Law


Click to download here.

The time has finally come for the Frotcast to finally discuss Hamilton, a play Matt has seen and loved and thus far failed to convince me to watch. That is… until now! So, is Hamilton the defining theatrical achievement of our times or some cheesy overhyped schoolhouse rock bullshit? You’ll have to listen to find out. No refunds.

Joining us in our discussion this week, we have Francesca Fiorentini, host of the Bitchuation Room, founder of Newsbroke on AJ+, and frequent guest on The Young Turks, who once, along with Matt once forced me to listen to the Hamilton soundtrack on our way to the Russian River in the back of Matt’s Honda Civic; and Andrew Law, aka IllyBocean on Twitter and cohost of the BoontaVista Podcast, who, like me, was a skeptical Hamilton virgin, only in his case has the added hurdle of being an Australian who wasn’t forcefed the Founding Fathers and Constitutional Convention in school. Will this make him love Hamilton more or less?

It’s a spirited discussion, and naturally, Matt turns in many analingus puns for his Hamilton parody about eating butt, Lumilton.

Hey, we’ve got lots of amazing bonus content, especially these past few weeks, including me and Matt reviewing The King Of Staten Island. Hear them right now by signing up to our Patreon, Patreon.com/Frotcast. You will absolutely love it. Your hair will grow back, your dog will come home, and your kids will start calling again. And again, no refunds.

EMAIL us at [email protected], leave us a voicemail at 415-275-0030.

SUBSCRIBE to the Frotcast on iTunes.

SUPPORT at Patreon.com/Frotcast. You can add the bonus feed to regular podcast app!

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The Brooklyn Nets Have Reportedly Agreed To A Deal With Jamal Crawford

The Brooklyn Nets are in Orlando for the NBA restart, but are without a number of their key players. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant both quickly ruled out a bubble return from injury early in the hiatus, and Wilson Chandler announced his intentions to opt out of the restart, citing family reasons, last week.

Then, three players — Spencer Dinwiddie, DeAndre Jordan, and Taurean Princetested positive for COVID-19 over the past week and have been ruled out of the restart, leaving the Nets with a roster that looks almost nothing like the one they had when the hiatus arrived, much less the one they started the season with. Justin Anderson was the first substitute player the Nets signed, after starring in the G League this season, in hopes he can bring them some depth at forward, but still had three spots open for substitute signings.

On Wednesday, we learned one of those spots would go to veteran guard Jamal Crawford, who has not played since he was a reserve on the Suns a season ago.

Crawford has been hoping to get a chance to play in his 20th season, but his lack of efficiency towards the end of his career coupled with his struggles on the defensive end were the chief reasons he had not gotten a call. The Nets, however, desperately need someone who can create on offense and there has never been a question of Crawford’s ability to do that. The former sixth man extraordinaire will look to give the Nets a much needed offensive boost in the bubble and prove he still belongs in the league.

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Elena Delle Donne Didn’t Travel To Florida With The Mystics As She Awaits A Medical Evaluation

The majority of WNBA players have made their way to Bradenton, Florida for the league’s 22-game season that hopes to start later this month, but there are a number of notable names that have opted out of this year’s season for various reasons.

Jonquel Jones, Natasha Cloud, Liz Cambage, Renee Montgomery, and others have all decided against going to IMG Academy for the WNBA season, with some citing health concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic while others are taking time away to focus on social justice reform. The reigning WNBA champion Washington Mystics are already without two key contributors in Cloud and LaToya Sanders, but may see their MVP Elena Delle Donne and former MVP and 7-time All-Star Tina Charles, who they traded for in April, also sit out.

The team announced both Delle Donne and Charles had not traveled with the team to Florida as they are awaiting results from a league medical evaluation to determine if they are medically excused from competing in the bubble. Delle Donne explained on Twitter that she is waiting to learn if her battle with Lyme disease puts her at high-risk for the virus.

As Kareem Copeland of the Washington Post notes, the key difference in being medically excused from playing is players that are excused not to play still get paid their salary, while those that opt out do not.

Delle Donne is coming off an historic season, in which she averaged 19.5 points and 8.2 rebounds while joining the 50/40/90 club with a preposterous 51.5/43.0/97.4 shooting split en route to a second career MVP award. Charles joined the Mystics from the Liberty in a draft night trade, coming off a season in which she averaged 16.9 points and 7.5 rebounds in her least effective and efficient season of her career, but hoped to bounce back in a big way with a Mystics team primed to compete for another title.

Losing Delle Donne and Charles would be an even bigger blow to the Mystics hopes of repeating as champions. Adding to the difficulty of the entire situation, training camp was hopefully to start on Friday, but any replacement players they would sign after getting results back would have to quarantine after arriving in Florida and further delay their time to try and put together a cohesive unit.

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‘Batwoman’ Has Found The Actress Who Will Replace Ruby Rose, And She Represents Another Milestone

Back in May, word broke that, after a single season, Ruby Rose would be leaving her post as the star of DC’s CW show Batwoman. The reason for the actress’ decision was reportedly less than amicable, and although they would be replacing her with both a new actress and a new character, they wouldn’t be killing her off. As per EW, they’ve found the new Batwoman, and, like the casting of Rose, it’s another milestone.

Javicia Leslie, one of the stars of God Friended Me, will now lead the show, which will follow a character named Ryan Wilder, who’s described as “nothing like Kate Kane.” Here’s more from the official character description:

With no one in her life to keep her on track, Ryan spent years as a drug-runner, dodging the GCPD and masking her pain with bad habits. Today Ryan lives in her van with her plant. A girl who would steal milk for an alley cat and could also kill you with her bare hands, Ryan is the most dangerous type of fighter: highly skilled and wildly undisciplined. An out lesbian. Athletic. Raw. Passionate. Fallible. And very much not your stereotypical All-American hero.

When Rose was cast in the role, she became the first out LGBTQ+ protagonist in a superhero show. Leslie’s casting makes her the first black woman to assume such a role, and it sounds like they’ll be retaining the show’s queer aspect. In a statement, Leslie wrote, “I am extremely proud to be the first Black actress to play the iconic role of Batwoman on television, and as a bisexual woman, I am honored to join this groundbreaking show which has been such a trailblazer for the LGBTQ+ community.”

(Via EW)

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Hamilton’s missing ‘Cabinet Battle #3’ addresses the slavery issue the show glossed over

“The issue on the table…”

Two of Hamilton’s most beloved numbers are the Cabinet Battles between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. In Cabinet Battle #1, the issue on the table was Hamilton’s national financial plan. In Cabinet Battle #2, the issue was whether to provide France assistance in their revolutionary war.

But there was a third rap battle written for the show, which was cut due to time and because it didn’t actually move the plot along. The issue on the table for Cabinet Battle #3? Slavery.


One of the few criticisms of the Hamilton musical is that it goes light on the issue of slavery—criticism that creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and others in the original cast say they welcome and hope people talk about more.

Squeezing a founding father’s life and a huge chapter in American history into a 2.5 hour stage production with adequate character development, plot movement, musical flow, etc. is a herculean task, and Miranda has said he wrestled mightily with what to keep and what to cut. Slavery is obviously a huge issue, but since none of the founding fathers in the show actually did anything to end it, the light treatment makes sense from a plotline perspective.

From a historical perspective, however, the omission is glaring. Much can be said about how the men who founded the United States thought about and engaged with the institution of slavery—and how their beliefs and actions were often at odds with one another.

Jefferson called the slave trade an “assemblage of horrors,” and slavery itself a “moral depravity” and a “hideous blot,” yet he kept more than 600 men, women, and children enslaved in his lifetime and fathered six children with one of them.

Washington became increasingly anti-slavery in his later years and was the only slaveholding founding father to free his slaves—but he only did so in his will. (He also had false teeth that may have been made up of the teeth of enslaved people.)

Madison argued that slavery was incompatible with the values of the Revolution, but he himself enslaved people his entire life, even selling people for a profit.

Hamilton himself, though publicly against slavery, did nothing of consequence to change it.

All of these hypocrisies and contradictions are highlighted as these men debate the issue in Cabinet Battle #3. It’s too bad it didn’t make it into the final cut of the show, but it can be found on the Hamilton Mix Tape album. And someone made a nice animatic video for it, making it a bit clearer who is speaking (since the recording has Miranda rapping all the parts):


Cabinet Battle #3 (Animatic)

www.youtube.com

And there you have it. “Let’s hope the next generation thinks of something better.”

As much as many of us would love to see the slavery problem tackled more directly in Hamilton, the truth is that at that time and in that place and with those men, slavery wasn’t going anywhere. It was wrong and they knew it, but they benefited from it. It was a sin and they knew it, but like Hamilton with Mariah Reynolds, they didn’t say no to it. Instead, they chose to pass the ticking time bomb to their descendents.

Miranda explained Hamilton’s slavery complicity in an NPR interview last week. “Hamilton—although he voiced anti-slavery beliefs—remained complicit in the system. And other than calling out Jefferson on his hypocrisy with regards to slavery in Act 2, doesn’t really say much else over the course of Act 2. And I think that’s actually pretty honest. … He didn’t really do much about it after that.”

“None of them did. None of them did enough,” Miranda added. “And we say that, too, in the final moments of the song. So that hits differently now because we’re having a conversation, we’re having a real reckoning of how do you uproot an original sin.”

Here’s another video of the song with the lyrics and names to make it easier to follow:


The Hamilton Mixtape – Cabinet Battle 3 (Demo) Music Lyrics

www.youtube.com