The Sex and the City sequel And Just Like That… has proven a more popular revival than others. But there’s been one character who’s scored lots of uproar: Sara Ramirez’s Che Diaz, the non-binary stand-up and podcaster who gets into a relationship with Cynthia Nixon’s Miranda Hobbes. The two broke up at the end of Season 2, and in January some of Ramirez’s Palestine-related posts got some speculating that they weren’t going to return.
Whatever the case, Che Diaz will not be back for Season 3.
Entertainment Weeklyreported the news, though so far there’s no explanation for why Ramirez has been nixed. It could simply be that the show no longer has room for them now that they’re not hooking up with Miranda. Or, EW wonders, it might be related to Ramirez’s social media activity, much like how Melissa Barrera was let go from the Scream franchise for posts attacking Israel’s response to the Hamas terrorist attacks.
In January, Ramirez posted words similar to what Barrera had written. “While they give awards away, casting directors and agents are making black lists of actors and workers who post anything in support of Palestinians and Gaza to ensure they will not work again,” they wrote on Instagram. “While they lift up some of their own clients who have spoken up against this genocide, they are firing and letting others who have smaller platforms go.”
At the time a source close to Ramirez denied rumors that they had been let go.
But for now, pour one out for Che Diaz, a character who caused the person who plays them a fair amount of grief.
Star Wars appeals to people of all stripes, even those the films’ creators would definitely say were more on the Dark Side than not. Case in point: A while back a Russian embassy account — part of an aggressor nation invading a less-equipped neighbor that has valiantly fought back — tried to paint themselves as the goodly Rebels. They even tried to dunk on Mark Hamill. Alas, they got dunked in return.
Hey @EmbassyRussia- tell me you don’t understand #StarWars without telling me you don’t understand #StarWars. (hint: the Ukrainian people are the Rebels-YOU are the Evil Empire)
Swing and a miss Russkies, but thanks for playing!
It all started in late 2022 when the aggressor nation’s embassy in South Africa got steamed about the Star Wars vet had supplied 500 drones to Ukraine to help them fend off their invaders. In a Twitter/X post, they claimed “Luke Skywalker has joined the Dark Side.”
It took nearly a year-and-a-half for Hamill — hardly on the side of Vladimir Putin or his good pal Donald Trump — to respond, but respond he did. “Hey @EmbassyRussia,” he wrote, “tell me you don’t understand #StarWars without telling me you don’t understand #StarWars. (hint: the Ukrainian people are the Rebels-YOU are the Evil Empire) Swing and a miss Russkies, but thanks for playing!”
Hamill added remains “profoundly honored to have answered the call from President Volodymyr @ZelenskyyUa to become an Ambassador of Drones to protect his country from your criminal invasion.”
George Lucas has long been very clear that the original Star Wars films were political works. They focus on rebels fighting a tyrannical government — the Galactic Empire in the original trilogy, the copycat First Order of the most recent one. Lucas has even said when he was writing the movies, his heroes were modeled after the Vietcong, the whole thing being an allegory for the Vietnam War.
Star Wars was actually an allegory for the Vietnam War, with the US cast as the genocidal fascistic empire, as George Lucas talks about here with James Cameron pic.twitter.com/oxRhAh5ibK
Of course, lots of people can see themselves as the heroes of Star Wars, even when they have more in common with Palpatine and gang. Heck, broken brained Donald Trump seems to think he’s a “dissident” and not some ousted despot who may return to power while talking like a comic book villain.
(WARNING: Spoilers for the most recent Love Is Blind episode will be found below.)
Through nine episodes of Love Is Blindseason 6, it’s clear that this season of the show could be one the most dramatic Love Is Blind has offered yet. Five couples made it out of the pods, and by the time episode nine concluded, there were only four left — Laura & Jeramey, Clay & AD, Jimmy & Chelsea, and Johnny & Amy. Kenneth and Brittany made it out of the pods, but after returning home from their honeymoon, the two decided to go their separate ways. Things aren’t perfect for the remaining couples though.
Jeramey and Laura ended episode nine on a sour note after a late-night interaction with Sarah Ann — who he made a connection with in the pods — was discovered by Laura. Clay and AD struggled a bit to get on the same page about how to delegate their free time while Jimmy and Chelsea seem okay now that they’ve met each others’ friends, but that was after Jimmy called Chelsea “clingy” which, of course, led to a huge argument. That leaves Johnny and Amy who, despite having a great and drama-free connection, have the seemingly unlikely acceptance from Amy’s parents looming over their hands. Now that you’re caught up on this season’s events. Here’s when the next
When Do Love Is Blind Season 6, Episodes 10 & 11 Come Out?
The tenth and eleventh episodes of Love Is Blind season six, titled “What Could Have Been” and “Rollercoaster Of Love,” respectively, will be available to stream on Netflix on February 28 at 3am EST/12 am PST. Episodes 10 and 11 and the last new release before the Love Is Blind season six finale which airs on Netflix on March 6 at 3am EST/12 am PST.
‘Love Is Blind’ season 6, episodes 10 and 11 will premiere on Netflix on February 28 at 3 am EST/12 am PST.
Emmy Russell, granddaughter of country music icon Loretta Lynn, proved that she was an artist in her own right during a recent episode of “American Idol.”
The 24-year-old singer-songwriter from Nashville auditioned in front of judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan during the show’s Feb. 25 episode, during which she opened up about wanting to not live in her grandmother’s shadow.
“She’s one of the biggest country music singers of all time, but to me she’s just Grandma,” she said, adding “I think I am a little timid, and I think it is because I want to own my voice. That’s why I want to challenge myself and come out here.”
Russell then went to the piano and sang an origin song titled “Skinny,” featuring raw lyrics about living with an eating disorder. All three judges were floored by her storytelling and soft, but powerful voice.
“You’re an A+ songwriter. So was your grandma. You got the gift. I don’t think you need to compare yourself to what Grandma was. You’re totally different. You shouldn’t give yourself all that pressure,” Perry said just before Russell was given the unanimous approval to go through to the show’s next round.
Viewers online seconded the sentiment. One person wrote, “apples don’t fall far from the tree. Her Grandma passed on the gift of songwriting, and now Emmy needs to take that gift and add her own special gifts to it. It’s your time to shine – enjoy the ride.”
Another added, “She definitely has a talent, and can tell a story in a song. With the right mentoring, and encouragement from people outside the family, she should fulfill the promise she shows, and step out of the Lynn shadow.”
Watch the full performance below:
Besides being a captivating performer, Loretta Lynn was known for writing deeply personal and honest lyrics. Russell does well by her role model, in a way that’s uniquely her own.
John Sayles is man of many talents. For one thing, he’s an acclaimed pioneer of the American independent film scene; his 1996 classic Lone Star, featuring Chris Cooper and Matthew McConaughey, is newly out on Criterion. For another, he’s long moonlit as a big-time Hollywood script doctor and writer of delightful genre fare like The Howling, Piranha, and Alligator. (He also wrote an unproduced Jurassic Park movie featuring human-dinosaur hybrids who work as commandos.) But now Sayles has a third occupation: guy who pisses on Trump’s dumb border wall.
In a new op-ed for The Guardian (in a bit teased out by Entertainment Weekly), Sayles reflected on Lone Star, which is set in a Texas border town and, as you can imagine, has quite a lot to say about immigration. He thinks his film still has a lot to say nearly 30 years later.
“I don’t think we’ve made any progress on border issues since the movie was made,” Sayles writes. “Back then, it didn’t have the same tension. The border patrol would just say no me hagas correr to illegal immigrants – don’t make me run – and deport them. I don’t think a wall is the answer: it’s like a Christo installation that has cost billions of dollars.”
Oh, and Sayles had one thing to add to that topic: “I recently visited it with a friend and we urinated on it.”
Sayles is an old school lefty; his directorial debut, 1980’s The Return of the Secaucus 7, is basically the original The Big Chill, only where the aging hippies don’t regret their activist pasts. All his movies teem with progressive politics, including his creature feature scripts. As such, it’s not surprising that he’d take a whizz on Trump’s pride and joy then brag about it. Heck, it’s good advertising for his excellent, newly Criterionized ‘90s indie great.
Even if you aren’t a huge dry stout fan, there’s a good chance you’ve had a Guinness or three over the years. This popular style, called Irish dry stout, is known for its dark to pitch-black appearance, roasted barley, coffee, light hop bitterness flavors, and very dry finish (hence the name).
The Irish dry stout is a great beer to drink during March because it’s winter’s last stand and because March 17th is St. Patrick’s Day. And while we know you’ll have your fair share of Guinness, O’Hara’s, Murphy’s, and other authentic Irish dry stouts on the green clover and fake orange beard-filled holiday, today it’s the US brewers’ turn to try their hand at the style.
Irish dry stout made by American brewers? We get that it’s confusing but trust us — there are a surprising number of authentic-tasting, American-made Irish dry stouts on the market that are so good you’d think they were being hand-poured at a rural pub in the Cork countryside. This is why today we’re taking a deep dive into what the US has to offer.
Keep scrolling to see some of the best American-made Irish dry stouts ranked for overall flavor and seasonal appropriateness.
When it comes to American takes on the Irish dry stout, there are few more well-known than Breckenridge Nitro Irish Stout. It might be brewed in Colorado, but this roasted barley-filled, sweet malty stout gets its creamy, memorable flavor from the use of nitro. The best part? This traditional take on the Irish dry stout is available all year long.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find classic stout aromas of dark chocolate, roasted malts, and coffee. The palate is creamy, velvety, and smooth with notes of roasted malts, coffee, dark chocolate, caramel, and a dry finish with no hoppy flavor at all.
Bottom Line:
This beer is creamy and loaded with roasted malt and chocolate flavor, but doesn’t have the bitter hop presence that some other Irish dry stouts have.
We know all about the “Irish Goodbye” — leaving a social engagement without saying goodbye to anyone. Saint Arnold is all about the Irish Hello, an Irish dry stout brewed with 2-row malted barley, pale chocolate malt, debittered black malt, and torrified wheat. It’s also brewed with Saint Arnold’s proprietary yeast and Perle hops.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is a mix of aromas of dried fruits, cocoa powder, bitter chocolate, roasted malts, and lightly floral hops. Sipping it reveals notes of roasted malts, dark chocolate, coffee, raisins, licorice, and spicy, floral, lightly bitter hops. The finish is dry and chocolatey.
Bottom Line:
Saint Arnold’s take on the Irish dry stout is all about balance. Sweet, bitter, dry, this beer has it all.
Philadelphia is known as the “City of Brotherly Love” so it shouldn’t surprise you that one of its most well-known breweries makes a popular Irish dry stout called Yards Love Stout. It’s well-known for its notes of chocolate, coffee, and roasted malts.
Tasting Notes:
Before your first sip, you’ll be greeted with aromas of coffee, roasted barley, toffee, dark chocolate, and lightly floral hops. Sipping it brings forth notes of roasted barley, raisins, licorice candy, cocoa powder, coffee beans, caramel, and snappy, spicy, earthy hops. The finish is bitter, dry, and memorable.
Bottom Line:
This is an Irish dry stout for the fans of bitter, extra dry stouts. It’s flavorful and perfectly bitter.
This popular Irish dry stout from California’s North Coast Brewing gets its name from a retired California Western Railroad steam engine (hence the image of a train on the label). It’s well-known for its balanced flavor profile featuring coffee, roasted barley, and a pleasurable dry finish.
Tasting Notes:
Freshly brewed coffee, roasted barley, caramel malts, raisins, molasses, and bitter chocolate. There’s a ton of chocolate on this beer’s palate. This is followed by black licorice, yeasty bread, dried fruits, coffee, vanilla beans, and roasted barley. The finish is dry, pleasantly bitter, and leaves you wanting more.
Bottom Line:
This beer ticks all the boxes Irish dry stout drinkers love. A ton of chocolate, coffee, and a perfect bitter finish.
If you didn’t know it, a pugilist is another word for a fighter or boxer. This beer is punch-for-punch (pun intended) one of the best examples of an American Irish dry stout you’re going to find. This award-winning classic stout is well-known for its balance of sweet, roasty, chocolate, and dry flavors.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is loaded with scents of candied almonds, roasted barley, dark chocolate, coffee, and floral, earthy hops. There’s more of the same on the palate with flavors like bitter chocolate, toffee candy, almond cookies, licorice, treacle, and roasted barley. The finish is a nice mix of sweetness, dryness, and bitterness.
Bottom Line:
Societe is well-known for its IPAs, but if you’ve never given its Irish dry stout a chance, now is the time. You’ll be glad you did.
Lawson’s Finest is another brand well-known for its IPA prowess. But what its Lawson’s Finest Nitro Stout lacks in name originality, it makes up for in aroma and flavor. This beer is as authentic as it gets in the American craft world. It’s made with imported Irish malts and gets added flavor from the use of nitrogen.
Tasting Notes:
The nose features a ton of bitter chocolate, roasted malts, charred wood, coffee, and floral, earthy, herbal hops. There’s a nice mix of milk chocolate and dark chocolate as well as roasted malts. Espresso beans, licorice, light acidity, and brown sugar. The finish is bittersweet and lightly dry.
Bottom Line:
Chocolate, roasted barley, floral hops, and a dry, bitter finish. This take on the Irish dry stout has it all.
2.) Atlantic Brewing Cadillac Mountain
Atlantic Brewing
ABV: 7%
Average Price: Limited Availability
The Beer:
First brewed way back in 1990, Atlantic Brewing Cadillac Mountain is a traditional Irish dry stout brewed with old-world ingredients like pale, crystal, chocolate, black patent, and roasted malts as well as Nottingham yeast. It gets its floral hop presence from the use of Centennial and East Kent Golding hops.
Tasting Notes:
Complex aromas of freshly brewed coffee, dark chocolate, roasted malts, gentle smoke, butterscotch, and herbal, floral hops greet you before your first sip. The palate continues this trend with a ton of coffee, chocolate, and roasted barley flavor right off the bat. This is followed by caramel malts, vanilla, dried cherries, cocoa powder, and bitter, floral hops. The finish is gently dry.
Bottom Line:
To say that this beer is complex is a major understatement. This is the kind of beer that you’ll need to sample on different occasions to unlock all the aromas and flavors.
Indiana’s 3 Floyds is a big name in the American beer world. When it comes to dark, wintry beers, one of its best is 3 Floyds Black Sun. Its take on the classic Irish dry stout is known for its mix of roasted malt, coffee, and floral hop flavors. It’s also known for its amazing balance ending with a dry finish.
Tasting Notes:
A lot is going on with this beer’s nose. There are noticeable scents of freshly brewed coffee, mint leaves, roasted barley, vanilla, dark chocolate, and floral, earthy hops. This complexity continues on the palate where you’ll find a nice base of roasted barley followed by espresso beans, dark chocolate, raisins, vanilla, licorice, and a pleasant, lightly bitter, floral finish. There’s a nice dryness to the last sips that leaves you craving more.
Bottom Line:
This is an outstanding take on the Irish dry stout style. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a better example of this style crafted by US brewers.
Netflix’s Beef premiered last spring and instantly became a hit amongst people with a history of aggressive driving (or anyone who has driven through the city of New York). The first season starred Ali Wong and Steven Yeun as two strangers who become entangled in road rage drama that sends both of them spiraling. The series swept through awards season with a handful of wins, and now it looks like season two is beginning to take place.
A second season of Beef was ordered last spring, when it was revealed that the series would continue as an anthology, rather than bringing back the same characters. This means some fresh new Beefy faces will be in the mix for season two!
Deadline reports that the second season will focus on two fighting couples.May Decemberbreakout star and Riverdale alum Charles Melton is being eyed to join the project alongside Priscilla’s Cailee Spaeny. According to the report, Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway are being eyed for another couple, who will reunite onscreen for the first time since 2010’s Love & Other Drugs, which was already a reunion of the two from Brokeback Mountain. It seems like they work well together! But their characters do not.
While nothing is official, Deadline claims that the show’s big wins this year are helping to propel the series into production this fall, so we could be seeing some beef on screen next year. Until then, you might as well get your beef elsewhere, perhaps on The Bear.
It’s time to innovate your diet. For some, that undoubtedly means making healthier choices. For others, it’s about continuing your hibernation era and letting the pounds come as they may. Though… we’ll take this time to remind you that spring is right around the corner!
Don’t let anyone tell you that all boxed pastas are the same, they’re not. We can get super nerdy and talk about the drying process of one brand over another and why that’s important, but who has time for that?
The biggest differentiating factor between good boxed pasta and the bad stuff you can pick up for $1 is the texture. A great pasta will soak up any sauce you pour over it, making each forkful of dinner an explosion of flavor and textures. I haven’t found a brand of pasta better than Rummo.
Each lot of pasta made by Rummo is tested by two separate chefs who cook the pasta and measure the firmness to the brand’s specification, and that focus on quality translates.
I recently made a white wine garlic cream sauce with shallots, fresh basil, and spinach and poured it all over a pot of Rummo’s Rigatoni’s No. 50 and was blown away by the way the noodles absorbed my homemade sauce. I also instantly regretted that I didn’t save these noodles for a thicker, tomato-based sauce — that’s where Rigatoni shines best.
Don’t make my mistake! But do get Rummo if you want the best possible dried pasta!
On a recent trip to New York City, I visited the famed Levain Bakery at the insistence of my girlfriend. Since we were dealing with a very tight schedule, I didn’t think that stopping off for cookies was worth the speed bump in our day. Boy, was I wrong.
Once I had a cookie from Levain I stopped in my tracks and proclaimed “This is the best cookie I’ve ever had in my life.” I’ve had a lot of really great cookies before, I’ve never felt the need to call one the best.
Since that day I’ve been dreaming about Levain, and then I found out, I don’t have to dream anymore — there is a Levain in Los Angeles. And even if I didn’t live in LA, Levain has an online store and will ship you fresh cookies anywhere in the country.
I think you should order whatever cookie appeals to you, they’re all good, but to get the best sense of what makes the brand great, I’d suggest the Decadent Cookie Assortment.
With this greatest hits package, you’re going to get all of Levain’s signature cookies, including Caramel Coconut Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Chip Walnut, Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip (my personal favorite), and Two Chip Chocolate Chip. Each cookie is supremely chewy and as the name suggests, wonderfully decadent.
Pick up a pack of the Decadent Cookie Assortment at Levain.
Trader Joe’s — Non-Dairy Cinnamon Bun Oat Creamer
Trader Joes
Average Price: $1.99
Why We Love It:
Looking to craft a latte or cup of coffee that reflects the flavors of winter but don’t want to brave the busy retail season Starbucks line? We feel that. This is why Trader Joe’s Non-Dairy Cinnamon Bun Oat Creamer is a must-pick-up.
This non-dairy creamer features a smooth and rich consistency that is heavily seasoned with cinnamon and sugar. There is something incredibly cozy and comforting about the flavor. Personally, I like it in coffee, which I think compliments the earthy oat flavor of its base best.
It may not be a traditional mochi flavor but Bubbie’s Pistachio mochi is flat-out delicious. This Mochie features a soft and gummy outer with a sweet, earthy, nutty pistachio-flavored ice cream and pistachio inside. It’s like a little bite of magic.
McConnell’s x Garrison Brothers Whiskey & Pecan Pralines
McConnell
Average Price: $12
Why We Love It:
There are few desserts as luxurious and decadent as boozy ice cream, and I’m not sure I’ve had a pint that is as rich as this collaboration between McConnel’s and Garrison Brothers Whiskey.
This creamy delight features chunks of roasted pecans encased in caramel, creamy vanilla ice cream, and smokey slightly spicy Bourbon notes. The way the creamy, buttery, boozy and salty flavors combine is downright addictive.
Pick up a pint of McConnel’s x Garrison Brothers Whiskey & Pecan Pralines online.
Drumstick — Lil Drums Vanilla/Chocolate
Target
Average Price: $7.79
Why We Love It:
You’ve no doubt had a Drumstick before and while I don’t want to take anything away from that classic freezer staple, the Lil Drums are even better. While you don’t have that iconic nut-crusted shell, the Lil Drum puts the focus on the ice cream itself.
Each cone features vanilla or chocolate ice cream swirled with fudge and topped with nuts, turning each bite into a mini sundae. The Lil Drums are also, true to their name, smaller in size than a traditional Drumstick — making them a better choice for late-night snacking.
Why isn’t cardamom used on grocery store sweets more often? It’s peppery, herbal, floral, citrus-y, it has such a complex bouquet of flavors that it instantly elevates anything it’s used on. With TJ’s Brown Sugar Cardamom Buns, the cardamom is the star of the show.
Each knotted bun is peppered with brown sugar and cardamom resulting in a rich pasty with a doughy bite that is perfect to pair with coffee. The Cardamom Buns aren’t sweet like donuts, they instead have a spicy savory quality and feel more like a meal than a mere snack.
St. Pierre found a brilliant market gap, which was “I bet we can beat these tired old grocery store bread brands!”
Well, guess what? They were right! They have improved grocery store rolls and bread immensely. Their brioche burger buns are my absolute go-to for burger night. Their hot dog buns turn the page on decades of stale trash. And now, their pretzel rolls give storebought kielbasa the platform it’s always deserved.
These are soft and have that gentle brioche sweetness. They don’t taste overly fake or gummy. They have a nice bite and they add a whole lot to the sausage-eating experience.
Pick up a bag of St. Pierre Bricoche Pretzel Rolls here.
EDITOR’S PICK: Heraclea Mature Harvest
Heraclea
Average Price: $16
Why We Love It:
Is there a difference between this and base-level grocery store olive oil? Yes. Can a non-food writer taste it? Also, yes. The fact of the matter is that olive oil is a product with a single ingredient. So it’s no surprise that products utilizing better olives are better.
In this case, that means some dense grassy overtones but not the green-grassiness of California-based olive oils. This is a Mediterranian oil all the way. You get richer, deeper flavor notes and just a little peppery bite.
After buying this oil in fall, I have made this my house oil for bread dipping. It deserves to be the star of the bread course rather than hidden in a cooked dish.
As Uproxx has mentioned many times, it takes a lot to impress us with jarred sauce. Well, this vodka sauce did the trick. It’s not as creamy as vodka sauces at Umberto’s Clam House and other NYC classic joints, but the spice is very much there and we salute that.
Moreover, the tomato notes here are very clean and bright. You get big tomato bursts beside Calabrian peppers. Add just enough vodka to quickly burn off and a dollop of cream plus some parm and you will certainly have people thinking this is homemade. If that’s too much effort fear not, this is a great sauce with no mods at all and will be likely to smash in our next blind test.
EDITOR’S PICK: Goodles — IPA-Inspired Mac & Cheese
Goodles
Average Price: $4.89
Why We Love It:
Goodles has long been our favorite brand of boxed mac and this new IPA flavor has been a long time coming. To be honest, I don’t like IPAs or hops but… I like this. It tastes hoppy, slightly bitter, a teeny bit piney without being overly “IPA-ish.” Overall, the “hop” flavor is more what I’d typify as a “piney-funk” — which plays well with cheese.
It doesn’t quite take the spot as my favorite Goodles flavor (Cheesy Mac still rules) but it’s my new #2 pick in the brand’s lineup.
Pick up a box of Goodles If You’re Hoppy And You Know It here.
EDITOR’S PICK: Laired Prebiotic Daily Greens
Laird
Average Price: $35 (15 pack single serving)
Why We Love It:
The problem with health stuff is… the second it takes a ton of effort, building a routine gets really thorny. But I’ve been adding these pre-biotic daily greens to smoothies and loving them. The taste is definitely “green” but it doesn’t overpower a fruit smoothie and is packed with ingredients that I couldn’t easily access on my own (chlorophyll, for example).
If you’re going to trust someone with health stuff, Laird Hamilton is that freaking guy. The dude has made health his life and his life looks pretty awesome.
https://www.instagram.com/nicoleisaacs/?hl=en
Okay, bro — you’re about to turn 60 and still surfing the biggest waves on earth? Yeah, I’m down to try your greens in my smoothie.
Pick up a bag of Laird’s Prebiotic Daily Greens here.
EDITOR’S PICK: Momofuku Noodle Variety Pack
Momofuku
Average Price: $70
Why We Love It:
We’ve all seen how bad the cheapest ramen brands are for our bodies. Also, we all like ramen and rarely have time to make our own noodles.
So what to do? Get better ramen noodles.
Momofuku’s quick ramen varieties are delicious and taste about as close to restaurant quality as I could imagine someone producing. The seasoning mix is balanced and the spice (where noted) is pretty legit. These are such an upgrade from typical three-minute ramen that I can’t imagine someone going back to the others.
I’ve been truly obsessed with this. It’s my number one condiment right now. The umami depth from the mushrooms is extreme and the spice level is excellent. Truly, I’m going through one of these every other week. They’re fantastic.
If you want more umami and heat in your food, this condiment is a must.
EDITOR’S PICK — Algae Cooking Club Chef-Grade Algae Oil
ACC
Average Price: $25
Why We Love It:
This is excellent cooking oil with a high smoke point. It’s sustainable, vegan, full of Omega-3s, and delicious (though very neutral). I have been using it on pasta dishes and with veggies and have had great success.
If you’re trying to ease into a healthier diet, this is a change you can make immediately that won’t adversely affect flavor at all!
Nearly half a century since James Clavell’s best-selling epic was published, and 44 years since it became the second most-watched miniseries of the 1980s, a new take on Shogun is hoping to prove event television can still exist in the streaming age. If early reviews are any indication, that effort is a success.
TappingTop Gun: Maverick writer Justin Marks and producer Rachel Kondo, FX’s remake is the closest thing to a Game of Thrones successor fans are likely to see. Filled with sweeping action sequences, dense historical ties, and thrilling political intrigue, the 10-part limited series tells the story of John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis), an ungovernable English pilot who washes ashore in feudal Japan just as the country’s emperor dies, disrupting long-held hierarchies and the country’s tenuous trade agreement with Spain and Portugal.
Blackthorne may be a newcomer in a strange land, but Marks and Kondo cleverly eschew those convenient white savior tropes, wielding their “main character’s” ignorance to introduce the show’s real power players – men like Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada), a respected daimyo fielding assassination attempts by his rivals within the Council or Regents, and women like Lady Toda Mariko (Anna Sawai), a mysterious samurai from a disgraced family who becomes Blackthorne’s translator.
Uproxx spoke to Jarvis and Sawai about the heavy responsibility of bringing Shogun back to life, the series’ grueling, 10-month shoot, samurai boot camp, and avoiding the mistakes of the past.
What about this story and these characters made you want to sign on?
Cosmo Jarvis: I very much appreciated how interesting of a premise it had with regard to the time period and the country it’s set in. And the archetypal story strokes that were involved in it, which wasn’t something I’d come into contact with very often. You don’t often get a chance to play archetypal work, and that was interesting to me. But foremost, it was the adventure of it.
Anna Sawai: For me, as a Japanese person, I think it was very important that if we were covering a Japanese story we were going to do it right. And meeting Justin and hearing his version of it, it really felt like they wanted to do it authentically. Hearing how Hiro was going to be part of producing it and Eriko being a producer on it too, I think it felt safe for me. It didn’t feel like we were going to [make] the same mistake that has been done, and that was important.
There’s quite a bit of action within these ten episodes. Did you have to go to samurai boot camp?
Jarvis: Well, there wasn’t really any boot camp.
Sawai: Well, there was. You didn’t have to do much. We had a little bit of a sword-fighting boot camp, which you probably weren’t part of because there’s not much sword-fighting for you.
Jarvis: Blackthorne’s a terrible sword fighter.
What’s fascinating about this period is how deeply it’s set in its customs and rituals. There’s so much intentionality in movement. Was that challenging for either of you?
Sawai: I had to forget everything that I usually do and just focus on what women back then were supposed to do. If I wanted to laugh or if I wanted to gasp, I couldn’t put my hand in front of my face normally. I would have to cover my fingers and then bring that up to my face so it would take some time. The first time I went on set and I was faced with [a scene where] Mariko’s talking to Toranaga, I was just doing it looking at him and Hiro was like, ‘You shouldn’t be looking right into my eyes. You should just be looking slightly below.’ And so I had to get used to talking to people without looking at their eyes and that would be so strange. But towards the end, I think it felt more natural. It was a lot of getting used to the mannerisms of the 1600s.
Jarvis: There were lots of things to do every day, but the workload physically wasn’t notable for me. [Blackthorne] was supposed to be fairly unruly and ungoverned by many customs. In terms of the educational process, there was still a lot of that. There would always be rules, like not stepping on the cracks between the farming mats, which even if they weren’t dwelled on too heavily in the story, they still were incredibly interesting to learn about along the way.
Sawai: I don’t know if this is a little bit off-topic, but I would hear you screaming in your trailer. Isn’t that part of physicality too, in a way? You’re [getting] your throat ready for Blackthorne’s voice?
Jarvis: I guess. I would keep things in check for Blackthorne’s vocal quality, trying to maintain consistency. I would smoke a lot of cigarettes, scream a lot.
Sawai: That’s dedication.
Because of COVID-19, you were shooting this for 10 months or more. Was there ever a breaking point or at least a thought of, ‘I might be filming this show for the rest of my life’?
Sawai: I think we were all feeling that [around] the ninth or tenth month. Every month they would be like, ‘Oh, we’re just doing one more, just one more.’ The crew were calling it The Never-Ending Show. They had a name for [it].
Jarvis: We probably shouldn’t say that.
Sawai: It was true. We really didn’t think it was going to end. It was a tough one and there was a lot of work that went into it. But I mean, I’m glad that we got to take our time because otherwise, it would’ve not been the quality that it is now. And I feel happy that I got to know Mariko for that much longer.
Does it make it harder to let go – not just of the character, but of the mannerisms, how you’ve been physically moving through the world for so long?
Jarvis: Yeah, it does. I guess part of the job is dispensing with yourself for a period of time and you can’t help but pick things up from the man that you’ve allowed into yourself, and that includes vocabulary and the way that he carries himself and how other people see him. And they didn’t see me that way afterward. So that’s all of the interesting stuff that happens.
It’s pretty sad too because it’s just been such an all-encompassing task. That’s not just for the actors, that’s for everybody involved in every department. Everybody was working their asses off and they really gave everything to it, so much love and blood went into it.
Right. Returning to everyday life – to family and friends – has to be a bit of a culture shock after something like that.
Jarvis: I tried [not] to speak to them that much.
Sawai: Really?
Jarvis: I mean I did, but it’s just about staying with the people that you’re going to be working with. Eleven months is pretty long, but it was a very necessary experience, I think, for me to be faced with such a thing, to figure out the methodology with which it could be achieved. It’s all about learning.
Women in this period aren’t normally given much to do on-screen. What about Mariko feels different compared to how similar stories have treated their female characters?
Sawai: She’s not looking for anyone to come and save her. I think that in the beginning, she’s a little bit lost, but she understands that her destiny is in her hands. She finds her own purpose. And I thought that in a lot of previous Japanese-based stories, we would see someone come and scoop the lady up, and I didn’t want this to be that. Mariko is definitely not that kind of character, so I was very happy to hear that Justin wanted to give more voice to the female characters in the show.
Anna, you’ve been in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and Pachinko. Cosmo, you’ve done Peaky Blinders and Persuasion. When something big gets put in front of you, do you ever think of what’s going to happen in your professional and personal lives once it’s done?
Sawai: I don’t think I’ve ever thought about that. Have you?
Jarvis: I try and focus on being unemployed and [then] trying to stop being unemployed, to get another job, I guess.
Sawai: I don’t think it’s as glamorous or as sparkly as it may seem.
Roughing it in Vancouver for 10 months isn’t glamorous?
Sawai: A lot of rainy days.
Jarvis: Beautiful place though. Very, very old trees.
Sawai: You love trees. How did I not know that?
Jarvis: Trees are excellent. We should look after trees.
There is nothing worse than being caught in the act when you’re up to no good. You can’t lie about it, you can’t take it back, all you can do is pray for forgiveness.
“Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon asked his viewers if they had ever been caught red-handed and their responses on Twitter were hilarious.
Here are 15 of the funniest and/or most embarrassing Tweets.
Called in sick to work one day. Saw one of my students at the beach. We nodded as we both realized we were skipping my class. #IGotCaught
This article originally appeared on February 14, 2017
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