On Wednesday, March 29, a vigil was held to mourn the victims. Dr. Jill Biden, the First Lady Of The United States, was in attendance. Sheryl Crow performed her 1993 single “I Shall Believe” at the piano before Margot Price gave an a capella rendition of “Tears Of Rage.” The crowd remained silent until Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor led a banjo sing-along to The Carter Family’s “Will The Circle Be Unbroken.”
If you are ready to assist, please pass sensible gun laws so that the children of Tennessee and America at large might attend school without risk of being gunned down.
4 dead so far in an elementary school shooting in Nashville this am.
Can I ask you, @GovBillLee why you passed permit less carry in 2021? Our children are dying and being shot in school but you’re more worried about drag queens than smart gun laws?
Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn’s tweeted that her office “is in contact with federal, state, & local officials, & we stand ready to assist,” to which Crow responded, “If you are ready to assist, please pass sensible gun laws so that the children of Tennessee and America at large might attend school without risk of being gunned down.”
Similarly, Price encouraged her followers to attend a rally scheduled today, March 30, at the Tennessee State Capitol “to advocate for an end to gun violence & stronger gun laws in [Tennessee].” She also tweeted at Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, “Prayers aren’t enough. Grow a pair.”
In an act of preparation that would put the producer of this podcast to shame, Leah dug up a clip from a Dominic West and Micheal K. Williams’ audio commentary on episode six of this season, in which you hear, in rapid succession, Dominic West complimenting his own looks, and then the two of them reverently assessing Nicky’s girlfriends “beautiful knockers.” The death of the DVD commentary is the worst thing to happen to media in our lifetime.
This episode of The Wire, if you can even believe it, is a bit of a bummer. Frank is walking directly into his almost certain death to try to help his dumbass son Ziggy out of another mess. Omar is hoodwinked by Stringer Bell and, oopsie, shoots the wrong guy. Meanwhile, Daniels realizes that Landsmen bungled his Sobotka connection. It’s almost like these guys don’t really care about solving problems and just want to not get yelled at, cash a check, and hang out at a bar with no wives.
Tell us your favorite DVD commentary track in a five-star review on Apple Podcasts
Support the Pod: become a patron at patreon.com/Frotcast to get more bonus content than you could ever want. Sign up for the Pod Yourself a Shoutout tier to hear Vince give you a corner nickname on the podcast, like this week’s newest members: Snake, The Viking, Wafer, and Karate Kid.
After starring in an ad for Crypto.com back in October 2021, Matt Damon quickly became the center of intense ridicule, and the situation only got worse following the crypto crash in mid-2022. When everything was said and done, Damon got ripped apart on social media, and even South Park, for a solid 6-8 months. It was not his best work.
However, Damon has finally opened up about why he agreed to star in the heavily mocked ad, which obviously, did not look great after a tumultuous 2022 that saw both the crypto market crash and the FTX collapse. According to the Air star, his intentions were entirely charitable.
“We had a down year in Water.org and I did that commercial in an attempt to raise money for Water.org,” Damon told the Associated Press. The actor claims he used every penny from the crypto spot to finance the non-profit clean water project he co-founded with philanthropist Gary White. On top of that, Crypto.com also tossed in an extra donation to the charitable org.
“I gave my whole salary to water.org because we were down, and Crypto.com heard about that, and they gave $1 million to water.org completely on their own,” he said. “I definitely have a lot of gratitude to them for what they did for our foundation.”
As for why Damon waited until now to make that revelation is anybody’s guess, but it does sound like a solid reason to make one of the most embarrassing commercials of his career.
WrestleMania 39 will take place on Saturday, April 1, and Sunday, April 2, from SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The two-night event is the biggest weekend of the year for the promotion, and as such, the card is absolutely loaded.
On Thursday’s edition of First Take, we learned which matches will take place on which nights. Unsurprisingly, Night 2 will feature men’s Royal Rumble winner Cody Rhodes taking on Undisputed WWE Champion Roman Reigns, while things are a little less clear on Night 1. While the long-standing rumor was that Smackdown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair would defend her title against Rhea Ripley, who won the women’s Royal Rumble, Stephen A. Smith indicated that WWE would instead close the evening with a United States Championship match between Austin Theory and John Cena.
To kick off WrestleMania on Saturday, here’s the full lineup for Day 1:
United States championship match: Austin Theory vs. John Cena
Smackdown Women’s Championship match: Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship match: The Usos vs. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens
Becky Lynch, Lita, and Trish Stratus vs. Damage CTRL
Seth “Freakin” Rollins vs. Logan Paul
Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio
Braun Strowman and Ricochet vs. The Street Profits vs. Alpha Academy vs. The Viking Raiders
Day 2 of WrestleMania will feature:
Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match: Roman Reigns vs. “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes
Raw Women’s Championship match: Bianca Belair vs. Asuka
Intercontinental Championship match: Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus
Hell in a Cell match: Edge vs. Finn Bàlor
Brock Lesnar vs. Omos
Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez vs. Natalya and Shotzi vs. Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler vs. Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green
The other week, news broke that the board of an elementary school in Wisconsin banned Cyrus’s “Rainbowland,” her collaboration with Dolly Parton, to be performed during the annual spring concert.
They claimed it “could be perceived as controversial” because of lines such as, “Where we’re free to be exactly who we are / Let’s all dig down deep inside / Brush the judgment and fear aside / Make wrong things right / And end the fight.” This censorship sparked a lot of conversation on social media, though neither singers responded.
However, now Cyrus’s Happy Hippie Foundation made posts on social media addressing to the situation by making a generous donation to Pride and Less Prejudice, an organization that “provides free LGBTQ age-appropriate books to classrooms from preschool to third grade,” according to their Twitter.
“To the inspiring first grade students at Heyer Elementary, keep being YOU. We believe in our Happy Hippie heart that you’ll be the ones to brush the judgment and fear aside and make all of us more understanding and accepting,” the tweet read. It continued: “In honor & celebration of your BRIGHT future Happy Hippie is making a donation to @lessprejudice to help make classrooms more inclusive!”
In honor & celebration of your BRIGHT future Happy Hippie is making a donation to @lessprejudice to help make classrooms more inclusive!
— Happy Hippie Foundation (@happyhippiefdn) March 29, 2023
Last weekend, West claimed on Instagram, “Watching Jonah Hill in 21 Jump Street made me like Jewish people again.” He continued, “No one should take anger against one or two individuals and transform that into hatred towards millions of innocent people. No Christian can be labeled antisemite knowing Jesus is Jew. Thank you Jonah Hill I love you.”
Cue Seth Rogen’s famous laughter.
Rogen was promoting the forthcoming The Super Mario Bros. Moviewith CinemaBlend when he was asked about Hill and 21 Jump Street magically making West “like Jewish people again,” which, to be clear, is not a viable approach against antisemitism. Rogen roared his distinctive laugh before saying, “You know what? [Hill] can have it. Happy to be left out of that one. But you know what? Good! Cured!”
Rogen added, “They should send that movie around the world — let everyone watch it! I wrote some jokes for that movie, so I feel slight ownership.”
Last December, Rogen poked fun at Kim Kardashian after she didn’t show at The Hollywood Reporter‘s Women In Entertainment breakfast (as noted by Page Six).
“Are we going to talk about how Kim Kardashian didn’t show up? Is that going to happen?” Rogen said at the podium. “I’ll say this … I have seen every episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians. I know she is not doing something more important than this. I’ve seen 100,000 hours of her. She’s never done something more important than this. This would be the climax of the show.”
And Rogen subtly snuck in a perceived jab at West, “She’s probably dealing with a lot right now.”
Kardashian and West reportedly finalized their divorce last November, per People, and Kardashian has been open about how “f*cking hard” it is to co-parent with West.
A shooting at Yo Gotti‘s Memphis restaurant, Prive, left two people dead and five injured, according to TMZ. Memphis police told TMZ that around 11:30 pm Wednesday night (March 29), a confrontation at the restaurant escalated into gunfire in the parking lot.
When police arrived, one man was found dead in the parking lot, while another died at a local hospital. Four other men and one woman suffered injuries but were driven to hospitals for treatment. Police did not give any updates on their conditions.
Memphis police confirm a shooting tonight @YoGotti ‘s restaurant Prive in Hickory Hill. It appears at least one person is dead. Stay with #wreg for the latest #privepic.twitter.com/NRrZ5TD6Pf
Yo Gotti, who owns the restaurant, was not in Memphis at the time of the shooting. TMZ noted that the restaurant was temporarily closed in 2021 after the death of rival Memphis rapper Young Dolph over concerns that someone assuming Gotti’s involvement in Dolph’s death might retaliate. Fortunately, nothing came of those concerns.
The assailants fled the scene of the shooting and are still at large. Police have not shared any theories about the cause of the shooting.
Last year, a Yo Gotti show was targeted for a mass shooting, but police were alerted to the plan and took the suspect into custody for medical evaluation. Gotti thanked the Memphis Police Department for apprehending the would-be shooter on Twitter, writing, “I would also like to thank the Memphis Police Department for their swift and proactive action in ensuring that all attendees returned home safely.”
Each week our staff of film and TV experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish movies 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.
Tár is a performance piece for Cate Blanchett, which is great because Cate Blanchett always deserves a place to do stuff like that. Here, she plays composer Lydia Tár, a kind of mad genius who is a few days away from a huge symphony performance and dealing with everything around her falling apart. It’s a psychological roller coaster and can be a heavy lift but if you want to see Cate Blanchett give it the full Cate Blanchett, buddy, Tár is the movie for you.
Lots going on here, all of it intriguing. We’ve got Julianne Moore and Sebastian Stan and John Lithgow all starring in what Apple describes as a twisty neo-noir thriller where a con artist takes on a slew of Manhattan billionaires. That’s probably enough to get you excited, at least a little. You could do a lot worse, that’s for sure. The world needs more Julianne Moore.
Idris Elba is back once again as John Luther, the now-disgraced London cop who finds himself in prison for reasons that tie directly into the thing where he is now disgraced. This time… ahh, screw it. Let’s go ahead and quote the official blurb on this one, if only because it’s a lot of fun to read: “Haunted by his failure to capture the cyber psychopath who now taunts him, Luther decides to break out of prison to finish the job by any means necessary.” Don’t you guys just hate it when that happens to you. Ugh, the worst.
Babylon bombed at the box office, but someday, it will find the audience it deserves. That day could be today if you watch it on Paramount Plus. Which you should. Damien Chazelle’s debauched chronicle of Hollywood’s transition from silent films to talkies is the rare three-hour movie that’s never boring. Babylon is full of glitz, glamor, cocaine, an S&M dungeon, and a pooping elephant. It’s also got Margot Robbie fighting a snake — what more could you want?
“It’s not cocky, it’s real,” says baseball legend Reggie Jackson in an archival clip during the trailer for his eponymous Amazon Prime documentary. The film promises to let Jackson tell his story, all the way from his youth in the segregated south to his time as a back page and on-field legend for the Yankees (where everyone quarreled with him even as he was establishing himself as the biggest star in sports and a pop culture juggernaut) onto his post-playing career and his role as an ambassador for the game. A lot of these authorized sports docs can feel one-sided or self-serving, but regardless of if Reggie follows that same path, we know one thing: at least it’ll be interesting.
Boston Strangler tells the true story of the, uh, Boston Strangler, which you probably guessed from the title. It’s all right there. Keira Knightley and Carrie Coon play a pair of journalists and amateur sleuths who put the pieces together and uncover one of the country’s most notorious cases of serial killing. Looking for a period piece about a couple people hunting a murder in 1960s Massachusetts? Well, here you go. That was easy.
Director Suzanne Hillinger talks with Adult entertainers and anti-porn crusaders in this documentary about the rise and near fall of PornHub. From a near economic apocalypse for those performers to questions about who is to blame for the rise of illegal and horrific content on the site, Hillinger works to lay out the details of this story with great care.
Make it the love child of Chucky and the Terminator, drop it on audiences inundated by stories of automation and AI, and then make it fabulous. M3GAN lived up to the hype, dancing into the hearts of horror fans as the emotional support doll from hell. Now, as she sets her sights on streaming, we’ve been given a new promise: more carnage with an unrated version that’s set to pull off more ears and carve up more yuppy scum. It’s all we could have ever wanted short of a sequel that once again pits M3GAN against avenging aunt (and reigning Queen of elevated horror) Allison Williams.
Cocaine Bear isn’t quite as non-stop as you might think from all the hype. It also occasionally feels the strain of trying to carry the story of a few too many characters, but there’s no denying that when it hits full speed, it’s unstoppable. The spectacle of some of the most intense, action-packed scenes and the outrageousness of the idea: “Hey, what happens when a bear becomes instantly addicted to and powered by cocaine?” are sure to win you over and paper over any possible flaws. You’ll laugh (at some really inappropriate and gruesome moments), you’ll cry (baby bear cubs!), you’ll be so glad you weren’t in the woods standing between the bear and her supply.
The trailer will give you international intrigue vibes, which might seem strange, considering the bare-bones concept of the video game, but as it turns out, this movie might not be serious enough for the dark themes that inhabit its walls. Taron Egerton plays the man who wishes to bring this game to living rooms everywhere, and weirdly enough, double-crossing begins to happen. The description promises “a Cold War–era thriller on steroids,” which is at least something that you don’t hear every day in 2023.
We’re never going back to the valley of existence between the fall of twisty mystery shows and movies (like Clue and Columbo) and the rise of a new class that’s inspired by those that came before (Knives Out, etc). We refuse. LFG Monk Movie! Keep pumping out Psychs and Poker Face seasons, Peacock! Let’s get Benoit Blanc and some muppets on a train, dammit! And yes, by all means, keep it going with these Murder Mystery romps that put Adam Sandler, Jennifer Anniston, and a fun supporting cast in breathtaking locales while navigating danger and trying to get to the bottom of a murder or, in this case, a kidnapping.
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.
Reboots and long-delayed restarts scratch a nostalgia itch while usually falling short of equalling their past greatness, but somehow Party Down returns with its bite largely intact. The cast (anchored by Adam Scott) still plays well together, but it’s the story that sets this one apart with all the subtle ways these characters have and have not changed, marking the passage of time but not necessarily the rise of maturity.
The first season of Abbott Elementary was a feel-good network sitcom that caught a massive wave of popularity and won a bunch of Emmys in a time when feel-good network sitcoms are kind of not supposed to do that. Credit for this goes to creator and star Quinta Brunson, who realized that an underfunded inner-city public school was exactly the right place to show us people with good hearts working inside a system that can be cold. Kind of like Parks and Recreation but in Philadelphia. The second season is underway and does not appear to be missing a beat. This is basically a miracle, all around.
An impressively bearded Bob Odenkirk is back with Lucky Hank, his follow-up to Better Call Saul.
An English professor at a middling university, Hank is sleepwalking through life, trying to dodge the consequences of being uncareful with his words with a student and aspiring writer. He’s also mildly participating in an outwardly happy marriage that needs to revolve around his career and nursing a 15-years-long estrangement with a father whose career achievements loom large.
Hank’s redeeming qualities are, at this point, well hidden as he frustrates, causing you to want to stab him, but it’s Bob Odenkirk, so you know at some point we’re going to see why people put up with a character that’s like a canker sore in loafers. That or he’s just going to be so good at being a prick that we can’t turn away, enshrining Hank beside such other beloved assholes as Greg House. Either way, this slow burn is well worth the watch.
To this show’s credit, they’re trying to switch up their formula by transforming Stalker Joe into Stalkee Joe. Sadly, that’s caused the series to lose a lot of bite because part of the fun was roasting Penn Badgley’s horrific character as he fumbled his way through violent crimes, often barely escaping by the seat of his pants. This season wraps up with his new persona, Professor Jonathan Moore, headed towards a possible reckoning, so will Joe truly get what he deserves? Viewers will know soon enough.
At once, it’s worth wondering if the world asked for another adaptation of this Charles Dickens classic, but it’s also quite true that it took too long for Olivia Colman to be cast as Miss Havisham. Writer Steven Knight (Spencer, Peaky Blinders) does does the literary honors here while bringing us an updated take on Pip and how he navigates his messed up new world. In the end, we’ll likely receive a class system critique like the original project but in an unconventional way, given that Ridley Freaking Scott and Jiu-Jitsu King Tom Hardy are in producing seats here, along with many other minds from FX’s A Christmas Carol.
What’s the best way to get you to watch Swarm, the unsettling, nightmarish new thriller from Donald Glover and Janine Nabers, premiering on Amazon Prime Video this week? Would teasing that it’s a dark, seriously disturbed portrait of pop culture obsession that features a Beyonce stand-in work? How about if we said Dominique Fishback is deliciously deranged as Dre, a young woman willing to kill to get closer to her celebrity crush? Maybe the eerie use of Twitter’s bird-chirping notification in the show’s trailer, which feels like a Safdie brothers Gen-Z fever dream, will do the trick? No, really. What’s it going to take to convince you to watch this thing? Because we’ll do it.
Okay, maybe this has happened to you. You’re sitting in a basement in the White House and the phone rings and BLAMMO you are suddenly sucked into a situation loaded with dead spies and international intrigue and a young girl whose life you are now sworn to protect. If that sounds familiar, maybe you will like The Night Agent! You might enjoy it anyway, even if none of that has ever happened to you, but it’s always nice to have a frame of reference when you’re starting a show.
Break out your biscuits and put on your custom-bedazzled Diamond Dogs silk bomber jackets because the best mustache on TV is back, baby. This might be the last season of Ted Lasso which is a bittersweet pill to swallow but it’s best not to dwell on all of the loose ends still in need of tying. Ted wouldn’t. Instead, let’s just enjoy these characters as long as we have them. And hope something awful (but not irreversible) and humiliating (but appropriately so) and devastating (but ultimately life-changing in a positive way) happens to Nate “not so great” Shelley.
The nice thing about The Mandalorian is that it delivers exactly what the people need and expect. Want to see — or at least, like, hear — Pedro Pascal do various space cowboy things with his lasers and ships? Done, no problem. Want to see little Baby Yoda — apologies, Grogu — make cute little faces and occasionally use the Force to defeat an enemy? Yup, that’s there, too. Want to see a slew of recognizable faces from season to season — Timothy Olyphant, Giancarlo Esposito, Carl Weathers, etc. — as well as a bunch of fun little callbacks to the Star Wars universe? Buddy, this show has you covered. There’s very little to complain about here on any major level. Sometimes that’s all you can ask for out of a big show like this. An adorable little green guy helps.
It’s time to go back to the wilderness, where this season doubles down on the darkness and refuses to apologize for it. The show still puts forth one of the most solid examples of dual timelines in TV history. Not only that, but all four sets of leads are firing on all cylinders this year. Sure, Juliette Lewis can pull off this type of role in her sleep, but we love to see her do it. Christina Ricci chews everything up, and Melanie Lynskey is finally getting her due. Oh, and don’t forget about those earworms. Get ready for the return of the Antler Queen, gang. Spooky.
Good news and bad news, ladies and gentlemen. The good: The cretins and weasels of Succession are back for a fourth season full of drama and dark comedy and more than a little delightful flailing by Cousin Greg. The bad: This is also the final season. So… you’re going to have to come to terms with that as things play out. It’s a lot to deal with, especially with the frenetic pace things have been and are shaking down. This is one of our best shows. It’s going to sting to say goodbye. But let’s all agree to enjoy the ride while we can.
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: From our interview with Seth Rogen for “The Super Mario Bros. Movie”) 
