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On paper, there’s nothing inherently strange about Robert Eggers making a Viking movie. He’s a popular filmmaker who has made two movies – The Witch and The Lighthouse – that critics absolutely adore. (Not to mention, The Witch, on a $4 million budget, made $40 million.) Eggers’s movies have a surreal tone, mixed in with some dread, and a healthy dose of the supernatural. And The Northman has all that – but it also has staggering choreographed (and very gory) battle scenes that is not at all a hallmark of prior Eggers films. It’s got a hefty budget around $70 million and it’s very much all on the screen. There’s no point while watching The Northman where you’re thinking, where did the money go? You know, it’s one of those kind of movies they don’t make anymore. Except they did. And for Eggers, it was a new experience. And, as he openly admits, not always a happy one. (At one point he refers to post-production on The Northman as, “the most painful experience of my life.”)

Alexander Skarsgård stars as Amleth, a Viking prince who vows to avenge the killing of his father, who was murdered by his uncle (played by Claes Bang), who then marries his mother, (Nicole Kidman). It’s not so much based on Hamlet as it is the story that Hamlet was based on. In other words, in Hamlet there isn’t a naked sword fight on top of a volcano.

Despite Eggers’s fraught experience, the end result is remarkable. It’s true he didn’t have as much control over the final product as he’s used to, but, for his part, he admits he thinks it made the movie more entertaining. But would he go through this process again? Eggers admits, as we get further and further away from the production, his hesitancy is waning. A feeling he compares to the birth of a child, how many parents swear they won’t go through that again, then decide later, yeah okay let’s do it again.

From some prior interviews you’ve done, I can’t figure out if you enjoyed making this movie.

I love what I do. I am so incredibly grateful and fortunate to be doing what I want to be doing, but it isn’t easy. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love it, but it is hard. I think coming from theater, production is probably my favorite part of the filming. I honestly love all aspects. Writing is great because you haven’t made it yet. So it’s always a masterpiece in that case. It’s always great. But I think because of theater, I really, really love production. But this was the hardest time I’ve ever had in post-production.

So, in production, there was a different kind of weight and pressure because of the scale and the budget. That was something that I almost had to just ignore, because it would’ve been so completely crushing if I ever had to really understand what all that pressure was about…

Well, that’s what I’m getting at. Knowing what you know now, would you do it again? Because, as you said, it doesn’t seem you enjoyed post-production very much.

But it doesn’t matter. Post was awful! But it made for a better film. But, like I said, I knew I wasn’t going to have final cut going into this thing. As Michael Schaffer, one of the studio executives said after a really tough meeting in post, “Welcome to making big movies.”

Wow.

I think I’ve said it was the most painful experience of my life and it totally was. But, also, I don’t think if I had had the studio pressure to make something the most entertaining version, I don’t think I could have done it. I don’t think I could have done it.

But I feel you won, even though you said you had a bad experience. I feel like you’ve made a great, very unique movie.

But like I said, it doesn’t matter. I still loved it. You can still enjoy something that’s painful. After I had a kid, I don’t have time to fucking grind my coffee beans by hand and do a pour-over. By the way, I enjoyed it. But, also, that was a pain in the ass. You know what I’m saying? Now I just put the espresso pod in the machine and it’s easy. But, in a weird way, I enjoyed the pain in the ass of making the coffee the stupid long-ass hipster way more. It’s more gratifying because it’s harder.

Well, what I’m getting at, do you want to do this type of movie again? I know you don’t like talking about what you’re upcoming projects, but a movie of this scale again, is that at all appealing?

When I did the New Yorker piece, I was very much like, I don’t think I’m going to do this again. I think that maybe it’s like childbirth?

Oh, I see.

You forget the labor pains. But I would say that it was so hard on me. I have a lot more gray hair, and I think it was from post-production. I’m looking forward to doing something a little smaller where I can have final cut again. The Witch, The Lighthouse, I had studio notes. I had people telling me, “No, you need that.” But not to this extent next time. I just would like a little bit more space next time.

I’m curious if next time you go into a movie of this size, will you want a little more say in final cut?

I would always want a final cut.

On the outside looking in, your movies are revered so much at this point, it surprises me you didn’t have more say at this point.

But dude, I made a three-and-a-half-million-dollar movie about fucking pilgrims that’s boring as hell.

It is not boring as hell. People love that movie and you know it.

Yeah. But it made $40 million. If this movie makes $40 million, we’re screwed. The Lighthouse doesn’t really have a plot. I’m proud of The Lighthouse. I love The Lighthouse. But doesn’t really have a plot. It barely made a profit, which was fine. Everyone knew that was going to be what that movie was about. So now people are giving me $70 million net, whatever that means, a lot of money to make this thing. These people’s jobs are on the line, brother. You know what I’m saying?

I know. That’s true.

Think about the marketplace with COVID and everything. So, obviously, they’re not going to give me final cut. It’s just not wise. It’s not a wise business decision, even if – I’m grateful to – people in the film, fan world who think that I deserve that.

Well, a lot of people do think that, yes.

But it doesn’t make financial sense.

You’ve talked about your experience with test audiences. I did a piece recently on how movies feel longer now because they keep going after the plot ends. Every filmmaker I talked to said it’s because of test audiences. Getting every little thing wrapped up, not being ambiguous, and setting up sequels. I think that’s bad.

Yeah, no, it’s annoying for sure. And certainly there were plenty of feedback forms that wanted more clarity on the maiden king or more clarity on what happens to certain characters.

See, I’ll figure it out on my own. I don’t want to be explained everything. I like trying to figure that out on my own.

Me, too.

See, I trust a movie more in your hands than I would just some random guy off the street going, “Here’s what I think.”

One hundred percent. I think you’re going into a movie and you’re being told, ”this isn’t done and your opinion matters.” So you’re going to have an opinion. Which is fine. Look, I learned something from the process and are definitely like, “Oh, a lot of people really aren’t getting X.” Or, “Wow. A whole lot of people really aren’t getting Y. I guess I do need to think about that.” So there are things to be gleaned from these test screenings.

By the way, on The Witch, I made my own test screenings with New York, Brooklyn, intelligence, filmmakers and psychologists and stuff. But I wanted feedback. But the real problem, the biggest problem with test screenings is that the studios act like there’s enough data that actually means something empirically. Any statistician will tell you there is not enough data to actually fucking mean anything. So they’re still a useful tool, but they can’t be held to such a high, importance level by the studio because it’s just not scientifically provable.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but usually these things require almost immediate reactions. People need a few days sometimes with movies and you’re not getting that with test audiences.

So I guess my thing is I would actually want to continue to do this…

Well, I hope you do, because I enjoyed this movie very much.

But you can’t have somebody saying, “Look at this. This is the reason why everything isn’t working.” Sometimes I would use it to my advantage and would say, “Well, actually, I tallied all this stuff up together and only 12 percent of people said they didn’t like that. But then of course I’m lying, because again, the stats don’t really matter.

The fight scene at the volcano to end the film is stunning.

Thank you. Thank you. It was really hard on Alex and Claes Bang.

You’ve kind of said you don’t really know how to shoot action. Well, I think you do, because that was a tremendous scene.

Well, thanks. CC Smiff, the stunt coordinator, is immensely talented and we got along really easily. Particularly with that fight, we were able to show off some hypothetical Viking fighting techniques, based on the way the weapons were designed, in what some historians think that Vikings may have fought. There was this quarry outside of Belfast with Mark Huffam, one of the producers, kept trying to get us to use for something. Craig Lathrop, the production designer, brought in all this black earth to make it more Hekla-like. Then the special effects department, Sam Conway and his team, brought in all these gigantic flames and cinders and smoke and all this. Then they dug out these big troughs and put LED lights in them that were moving. So all the lava streams were moving. And then Angela Barson, our VFX supervisor, went to the eruption that was going on in Iceland and took copious amounts of documentary footage of the lava and used that as reference to then put CG lava over the LEDs. But that’s why all the lighting is so well integrated, because of the LEDs.

See, I don’t want you to be miserable, but I also want you to keep making movies like this, just selfishly. I’m being selfish, but I enjoyed it so much.

I’m not saying this is this good, but did you want Werner Herzog having a good time making Fitzcarraldo? No.

Yeah … I bet they were having a laugh a minute. Anyway, you seem happy now, so that’s good.

Yeah.

‘The Northman’ will open in theaters on April 22nd. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

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.

For the past year and a half, New Jersey rapper Coi Leray has faced scrutiny. After her 2020 song “No More Parties” became a staple of both playlists and radio, rap fans wondered where she came from. That scrutiny intensified when she was selected as one of XXL’s 11 Freshmen for 2021. Some of the skepticism was warranted; some wasn’t. While fans’ attention focused on Coi’s physique and colorful, unique bearing, her performances on both the moody, melodic “No More Parties” and her unusual XXL Freshman freestyle left many fans questioning what was once the only thing that mattered in hip-hop: “Can she really even rap?”

On her debut album, Trendsetter, she doesn’t exactly look to put that speculation to rest. Instead of proving that she can rap, she focuses on proving that she can do nearly everything else. Across the album’s 20 tracks, which include the “No More Parties” remix featuring Lil Durk as well as follow-up hits like “Twinnem” and “Blick Blick” with Nicki Minaj, she admirably accomplishes this mission. An expression of her exuberant personality and her eclecticism, Trendsetter should show that Coi Leray isn’t just a fly-by-night one-hit-wonder.

It’s hard to blame rap fans for their skepticism — and their ignorance. After all, Coi, who’d been releasing mixtapes since 2018, seemingly popped up out of nowhere with the success of “No More Parties.” Rap fans are often skeptical of overnight success stories, especially when they seem to be beneficiaries of industry nepotism. You see, Coi’s father is Boston impresario Benzino, former co-owner of The Source magazine, who used to rap in groups like the Almighty RSO and Made Men before joining the cast of Love & Hip-Hop: Atlanta. While Coi’s had viral hits like “Huddy” in 2018, the first time many folks ever heard of her was on “No More Parties.”

Coi already demonstrated a solid grasp of different deliveries on her mixtapes Everythingcoz and EC2. Still, Trendsetter in many ways represents her first opportunity to prove naysayers wrong. To that end, she shows her bite on tricks like “Thief In The Night” with G Herbo and “Box & Papers,” on which she directly addresses the attention she’s received lately. “They be like / How you do that there?’ / They ask me, ‘Baby, how you so viral? I see you everywhere,’” she snaps with the pointed delivery of someone fed up with the ongoing inquisition.

She also displays surprising vulnerability on songs like “Anxiety,” “Clingy,” and “Paranoid.” Diagnosed with ADHD, she’s open about her struggles with mental health. These more introspective songs are marked shifts in tone away from the seemingly upbeat singles she’s released so far, but scratch the surface, and it’s clear that she’s been speaking these truths all along. “Anxiety” is a microcosm; couching serious subject matter in bubbly production can sometimes obscure the content. But with Trendsetter‘s more therapeutic tracks, Coi makes the subjects plain — which, in turn, makes it harder to criticize her for being a surface-level mumble rapper, as she has been.

She even dabbles in Afrobeats on “Aye Yai Yai,” an endeavor that comes early enough on the project to throw listeners who only know her from her more effervescent songs. Whether this is a good thing or not depends on your point of view. However, I think I agree with Nicki Minaj, who both praised and critiqued her host’s album. The sequencing is the album’s weak point, as is its length and sometimes scattershot approach. But that’s a minor quibble and when Coi inevitably figures out how to present her ideas more cohesively, whether that means sharper edits or more focused storytelling, she’s shown she has the versatility to manage it.

Trendsetter is out now on Uptown Records. Get it here.

In a move to bolster its ad-supported streaming service (or AVOD, if you nasty), Amazon has announced that it’s rebranding its IMDb TV service as “Freevee.” The rebrand will officially go down on April 27, and with it, comes a commitment to expanding the original programming on the service by a whopping 70 percent, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“Over the past two years, we have seen tremendous growth for our AVOD service and are committed to bringing our audiences premium, free-to-consumer content,” Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, said in a press release. “We’re looking forward to building on this momentum with an increasing slate of inventive and broadly appealing originals, and are excited to establish Freevee as the premier AVOD service with content audiences crave.”

Amazon tipped its hat last year towards a larger commitment to its ad-supported service by announcing a new Bosch spinoff for the platform that’s technically just more episodes of Bosch, which is a big deal. Bosch is a consistent performer for Prime Video, so it only makes sense that Amazon would use the series to lure viewers over to what is now Freevee. Parks and Rec creator Mike Schur is also teaming up with Shea Serrano to bring a new scripted comedy, Primo, to the service.

As for that name, well, the reactions are mixed. Some people are feeling it while others are having a field day with the name that’s rife for the dunking.

You can see reactions to IMDb TV rebranding itself as Freevee below:

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

Wherever QAnon goes, Batsh*t is right there alongside him. But even by wacky conspiracy theory standards (Trump-JFK Jr. 2024, anyone?), a new documentary called Watch the Water is jaw-droppingly insane. Or, as NBC News senior reporter Ben Collins describes it: “It is even more insane than usual.”

Among the many claims made in the documentary, according to Raw Story, are that the COVID “vaccines contain a mixture of magnets and snake venom with the goal of transferring ‘Satan’s DNA’ into human bodies.”

Satan’s. DNA.

According to Collins, the movie and its inane theories are gaining quite a bit of traction in QAnon-following circles. In it, so-called “experts” claim that getting jabbed means injecting yourself with metal bits which will magnetize you. (What that has to do with Satan, we’re not sure.)

In the trailer, where the sound cuts out several times so as not to reveal the total bullsh*t being spewed, we hear some pretty dire warnings from Dr. Bryan Ardis—a very vocal critic of Remdesivir, the drug that has been used to shorten the lifespan of the COVID-19 virus in many hospitalized patients (including Donald Trump when he was hospitalized with COVID in 2020).

In the trailer for the film, Dr. Ardis claims that while he’s been terrified to speak up, he knows he must. Because when the National Institutes of Health issued a final report confirming the benefits of Remdesivir for COVID patients, Ardis knew it was a lie. More specifically, he knew that Dr. Anthony Fauci “was lying.” And that the drug “was going to be used to mass murder a whole bunch of innocent people in America that did not need to die. Then he was going to sell the world on the idea, in the media.”

Ultimately, Dr. Ardis decided to come forward with his story because God spoke to him through a fortune cookie.

You can watch the trailer—bleeps and all—above.

(Via Raw Story)

Fanclubwallet (aka Hannah Judge) has a new album, You Have Got To Be Kidding Me, on the way in May. The March lead single “Gr8 Timing!” was a tantalizing taste of the record, as it sees Judge expand on her rhythm-driven indie-pop brand. Now she’s back with an introspective new single that continues in that direction, “Trying To Be Nice.”

Judge says of the song:

“‘Trying To Be Nice’ was written over the course of a couple years. The first half of the song includes lyrics I wrote on the Greyhound to my hometown after deciding to move back home, and the second half was written a few years later in a studio in the woods. Both parts of the song were written at different times when I was feeling really unsure of myself. It’s all about wondering what people think of you and questioning what you think of yourself.”

She also previously noted of the upcoming album, “I think I spend a lot of time trying to be like the cool, chill, calm girl. This album’s kind of me being like, maybe I’m not cool, calm, and collected.”

Watch the “Trying To Be Nice” video above. Fanclubwallet also has some tour dates coming up this summer, so find those here.

You Have Got To Be Kidding Me is out 5/20 via AWAL. Pre-order it here.

To paraphrase the immortal words of Russ Hanneman, The Northman f*cks. It’s a rapturously received Viking film from the director of The Witch and The Lighthouse starring Hollywood bad boy Alexander Skarsgård, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Björk that features a naked sword fight on a volcano. There’s a lot to be excited for there.

The historical epic follows a Viking prince, played by Skarsgård, “on his quest to avenge his father’s murder.” This apparently involves setting straw-covered homes on fire, wearing a bear’s head as a hat, and getting absolutely shredded. “Alexander Skarsgård looks like an absolute beast,” actor Ralph Ineson said about his The Northman co-star. “[There’s] a scene where he beats this guy in a battle, bends down, and rips his throat out with his teeth, screams to the gods and he’s got his shirt off, and you think, my god that’s not a bodybuilder doing a scene, that’s like a proper serious actor!”

As for the naked volcano fight, director Robert Eggers called it a must have. “When I first thought, ‘I want to make a Viking movie,’ I knew three things,” he said. “I knew it needs to take place mostly in Iceland, it needs to have a revenge story, and it needs to have a naked sword fight on a volcano.” There’s no reason every movie can’t have a naked sword fight on a volcano. Yes, even Paddington 3. Winner takes all (the marmalade).

The Northman, which also stars Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Ethan Hawke, and Willem Dafoe, opens on April 22.

Months before the release of his critically acclaimed album, The Blueprint in 2001, Jay-Z performed a memorable set at the annual Hot 97 Summer Jam. For over two decades, Jay-Z‘s hour-long set has remained one of the hip-hop festival’s most iconic moments, footage has proven difficult to find.

Until yesterday, when Jay’s set resurfaced via a YouTube account called HipHopVCR.

The set consists of Jay performing several of his hits and debuting new tracks. He performed “Takeover,” a response to Nas’ scathing diss track “Ether.” “Takeover” was produced by Kanye West, who, at the time, was relatively unknown. “Takeover” was targeted at both Nas and Mobb Deep, particularly one-half of Mobb Deep, late rapper Prodigy. During the performance, Jay broadcast a photo of a young Prodigy in dance classes on the jumbotron.

Later on in the set, Jay brought out Michael Jackson. Though the two didn’t perform together, Jackson can be seen blowing kisses and tossing peace signs to a roaring crowd.

Jay would later collaborate with MJ on Blueprint cut “Girls, Girls, Girls,” on which, Jay claims Jackson sang background vocals, despite not appearing in the song’s credits. In 2010, a song called “(I Can’t Make It) Another Day appeared on Jackson’s posthumous album, Michael. The track was originally written as a collaboration between Jackson and Lenny Kravitz for Jackson’s 2001 album Invincible, but did not make the final tracklist. It was later rewritten and recorded as “Storm” and included on Kravitz’s 2004 album Baptism, as a collaboration between Jay and Kravitz.

Though footage of the Summer Jam set has remained scarce over the years, the performance has been held to high regard in the realm of hip-hop. Jay would reference the performance in a remix of Jeezy’s 2008 hit, “Put On,” rapping, “I put Mike Jack on stage at Summer Jam, Billie Jean / I put Prodigy in his place on that Summer Jam screen.”

Check out the full Summer Jam set above.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star Simu Liu celebrated an important anniversary this week: Getting fired from his accounting job. Ten years ago, the Canadian Marvel hero got laid off from Deloitte after spending a significant amount of time and money trying to please his parents. Turns out, he couldn’t be more thankful to have gotten the axe.

In a lengthy Instagram post marking the momentous anniversary, which makes Liu “introspective” every year it comes around, the burgeoning actor thanked the people who fired him.

“To Paul Gibbon and the offices of Deloitte Toronto; sincerely, honestly, THANK YOU,” Liu wrote. “You did for me what I never had the courage to do myself; you destroyed a life that I was building for someone else, so that I could finally begin to build a life for me.”

After being fired, Liu dedicated himself to breaking into acting, taking whatever jobs he could get. The stars began to align when he was cast in the Canadian sitcom, Kim’s Convenience, which snowballed into his newfound fame in the MCU. But even if his career wasn’t a success, he still would’ve been thankful for leaving the accounting world behind:

“I know luck has played a substantial role in my successes but I am sure that if I hadn’t been cast in two life-changing roles, I’d still find purpose and meaning in the pursuit of success on my own terms. Not my parents’ definition – MINE. I don’t know who needs to hear this right now, but no amount of money is worth compromising your vision for yourself. The pursuit of a dream- YOUR dream- against all odds… that’s what life is all about.”

You can read Simu Liu’s full anniversary post below:

(Via Simu Liu on Instagram)

It’s gotta be a pretty powerful artistic feeling to imagine what your songs might sound like backed by a full orchestra and then making it happen. That’s exactly what Faye Webster is doing on her newly announced Car Therapy Sessions EP. The release is a compilation of three songs from 2021’s I Know I’m Funny Haha, a suite of both versions of “Jonny,” off of 2019’s Atlanta Millionaire’s Club, and the new song, “Car Therapy.”

The video for “Car Therapy” is out now, with Webster (who’s about to embark on a tour with Haim) playing the song backed by a 24-piece orchestra. Like the album, the song is conducted and arranged by Trey Pollard at Richmond, Virginia’s Spacebomb Studios, which was the recording home for amazing albums like Natalie Prass’ self-titled debut and Julien Baker’s Sprained Ankle.

Webster said in a statement:

“I chose these songs mostly for them being some of my favorites but also thinking about how different they would sound with an orchestra. Especially ‘Cheers,’ I feel like that’s the one song people wouldn’t think I would choose but that’s exactly why I did. Trey also made all the arrangements so that they start off playing songs of mine that I didn’t end up choosing, which I thought was brilliant. The recording experience was beautiful, I was truly fighting tears. I think I had actually even cried listening to the demos. I was put in a position where I could see the conductor as well as the producer, which I needed because I honestly couldn’t pick up on my cues sometimes even though I wrote the songs. I was so distracted in how beautiful the orchestra sounded I would forget to sing sometimes.”

Watch the video for “Car Therapy” above and check out the album artwork and tracklist for Car Therapy Sessions below.

1. “Kind Of (Type of Way)”
2. “Sometimes (Overanalyze)”
3. “Car Therapy”
4. “Suite: Jonny”
5. “Cheers (To You & Me)”

Car Therapy Sessions is out 4/29 via Secretly Canadian. Pre-order it here.

Since Mike Richards was fired at Alex Trebek’s replacement in August 2021, Jeopardy! has split the hosting duties between Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik. Both have expressed interest in the full-time gig, but no decisions will be made until at least the end of season 38, which concludes on July 29. It’s clear who Jeopardy! fans want as the permanent host, however, based on a poll conducted by TV Insider.

“Of the [29,683] votes cast, Jennings took the lead with a majority of 70 percent with 20,885 votes — meanwhile, Bialik came in at 30 percent at 8,798 votes. While both had a strong showing of support, it’s clear who’s favored to be the permanent host among our readers, and that would be Ken Jennings,” TV Insider reported.

Jennings is also the favorite among children who write freaking adorable letters to game show hosts, as well as Jeopardy! champ Amy Schneider. “Ken Jennings should be the host,” she told CNN. “I didn’t necessarily think that before going into this because, yes, he was a great champion, but this is a different skill set. But you could see the work that he put into it, and I just thought he did a really great job. That’s my endorsement.”

Meanwhile, Bialik has said that she would “love” the full-time job, and she’s even received Trebek’s family’s blessing. “I got to meet them when we dedicated the stage and just feels so humbled around them,” she told Entertainment Tonight. “I want to only honor and you can’t match him and so there’s no need to try, but [we] really do continuously kind of want their blessing, that they feel what we’re doing is supporting that legacy.”

Counterpoint: let the Muppets host Jeopardy! No one will be mad at that.

(Via TV Insider)