Category: Viral

January 15th, 1994, wasn’t just any other winter day. It was the day when the now-iconic rapper Snoop Dogg dropped his debut album Doggystyle. It’s also the day we first heard Snoop’s tribute to pot-smoking, drink sipping, and house-partying called “Gin & Juice.”

This week, more than 25 years later, Snoop is paying homage to the classic song about the simple cocktail of gin and fruit juice (usually grapefruit juice) by launching his own gin brand. It should come as no surprise that the man who set a world record when he made a 500-liter gin and juice cocktail (a Paradise cocktail technically) back in 2018 would eventually start his own gin brand. It’s called INDOGGO, and even though it immediately makes us think of IndieGoGo, it was designed to be a “laid-back” California-style gin.

It should come as no surprise that while Snoop Dogg knows an awful lot about crafting lyrics, he doesn’t know much about making gin. That’s why he partnered with Keenan Towns of Trusted Beverages — a beverage supplier known for creating celebrity wine and spirits brands — as well as Prestige Beverage Group to make his gin-filled dream a reality.

“I can’t wait for the world to taste my remix on gin,” Snoop said in a press release. “When I wrote ‘Gin & Juice’ back in ’94 it was about good feelings and real experiences, it just naturally became a global anthem.”

His goal with INDOGGO was to recreate those same feelings from 25 years ago. He did this by making a gin that was distilled five times and is smooth enough to drink on its own as it is to mix into his favorite cocktail. It’s made from seven herbs and botanicals but really makes a statement by being infused with natural strawberry flavor. Unlike many gins, it doesn’t rely on a large kick of juniper to get its point across. Instead, it carries a lot of orange peel, coriander, and cassia bark flavors in an effort to make it more well-rounded.

It should be noted that this isn’t Snoop Dogg’s first foray into the booze world. This summer, he collaborated with 19 Crimes Wine to launch Snoop Cali Red, a blend of Lodi-based Petite Syrah, Zinfandel, and Merlot.

The wine is readily available, but the gin is set to launch this month in California only. If you live anywhere else, you won’t have to wait long to make your own gin and juice as it will be available throughout the U.S. by the spring of 2021.

It’s not the same thing as a fancy in-person world premiere, complete with a red carpet and photographers screaming “over here! over here!” at celebrities, but Shithouse had its digital world premiere at this year’s called South by Southwest, where it won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative. The college romance was written and directed by Cooper Raiff, who also stars as a college freshman who’s having a tough time adjusting to his new life away from home. But then he meets a sophomore played by Dylan Gelula (Xanthippe from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt!). They quickly become friends until things get complicated after — you know where this is going — they sleep together.

The plot may sound familiar, but as IndieWire‘s David Ehrlich writes in his glowing review, “Here’s the catch: It’s good. Like, really good. And more than that, it somehow feels completely singular despite its lo-fi approach and even lower-concept premise.” I would also accept, “Sh*thouse? More like, not a sh*tty movie!” as a review.

Alex (Cooper Raiff) is a lonely, friendless college freshman who is seriously contemplating transferring to a college closer to his mom and sister, to whom he is still extremely tethered. Everything changes one night when Alex takes a leap and attends a party at his campus’ party house “Shithouse,” where he forges a strong connection with his RA, Maggie (Dylan Gelula).

Shithouse opens in theaters and debuts on VOD on October 16.

It feels like just yesterday that we were all bouncing around house parties singing along to The Front Bottoms’ “Flashlight” from their 2011 self-titled debut. But somehow the New Jersey duo just released their fifth LP, In Sickness & In Flames. The band is more focused than ever, honing in on their ever-improving pop sensibilities, which come fully into form across the album’s twelve tracks. In Sickness & In Flames features the band’s biggest choruses to date, anchored with hooks and deeply personal songwriting that will turn heads. Watching this band grow over the last several years from writing eccentric acoustic ballads to arena-filling pop-rock anthems has been a true joy.

To celebrate the new album, Brian Sella and Mathew Uychich talk Marvin Gaye, hot dogs, and Alaska in the latest Indie Mixtape 20 Q&A.

What are four words you would use to describe your music?

Fun punk rock poetry.

It’s 2050 and the world hasn’t ended and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?

As a good time. Don’t take life so serious.

What’s your favorite city in the world to perform?

Fairbanks, Alaska.

Who’s the person who has most inspired your work, and why?

We find a lot of inspiration and support in each other. So we’re always finding ways to imagine new things.

Where did you eat the best meal of your life?

Hotdogs in our toaster.

What album do you know every word to?

We can’t even remember all the words to our albums.

What was the best concert you’ve ever attended?

Manchester Orchestra at the Ryman Auditorium.

What is the best outfit for performing and why?

No shoes, only socks. It’s the way we’re most comfortable.

Who’s your favorite person to follow on Twitter and/or Instagram?

We don’t have personal Twitter or Instagram accounts.

What’s your most frequently played song in the van on tour?

“How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)”

What’s the last thing you Googled?

“How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)”

What album makes for the perfect gift?

The new TFB album, In Sickness & In Flames

Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?

A chicken house.

What’s the story behind your first or favorite tattoo?

Mat’s first tattoo is a music note, no big story behind it, he just wanted to get a tattoo.

What artists keep you from flipping the channel on the radio?

One we have never heard of before.

What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?

Listened to our music.

What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?

“Do what you want to do!”

What’s the last show you went to?

Corona Capital Festival in Mexico City.

What movie can you not resist watching when it’s on TV?

Cast Away.

What would you cook if Kanye were coming to your house for dinner?

We guess we’d leave that decision up to Kanye.

In Sickness & In Flames is out now on Fueled By Ramen. Listen here.

The Front Bottoms are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Gus Dapperton first captivated audiences with his slow-burning bedroom pop sound on his 2017 debut EP Yellow And Such. But with his upcoming sophomore album Orca, the singer is honing his sound and shifting to more introspective, moody pop ballads. Offering another preview of the record, Dapperton shares “Medicine,” one of his most stripped-down efforts yet.

The singer previously said much of his album was written after he had come off a tumultuous tour. Dapperton was stuck in unhealthy habits on the road and turned to drugs and alcohol to cope. “Medicine” is an example of a track Dapperton penned after deciding to get help. Opening with melancholy piano keys, Dapperton croons a reflection on healing and struggling to kick an addiction. “I always say I’ll get ahead of it / But every time they try to fix me up / I get addicted to the medicine,” he sings.

In a statement alongside the single’s release, Dapperton “this track defines the album most explicitly. I wrote it as a song that would narrate my life. ‘Medicine’ is about someone who is self destructive so that they can get high off of the process of healing. the hurting phase is of no concern to them.” The singer added on Twitter that the track is his “favorite” song he’s ever written.

Listen to Dapperton’s “Medicine” above.

Orca is out 9/18 via AWAL. Pre-order it here.

Another week, and another controversy for the Mission: Impossible 7 production as it pushes through Europe to completion.

This time, the Tom Cruise spy thriller finds itself in hot water after renting a pair of cruise ships in Norway. According to reports, at least one of the boats will serve as a “hotel-ship” for the cast and crew, but there is no official confirmation on their intended use. However, the more concerning issue is that the production is allegedly violating the Norwegian Immigration act by using the ships’ underpaid Filipino crews. The move has put Cruise and the filmmaking team in the crosshairs of two local labor unions.

Via Variety:

“It is completely unsustainable that it should be possible to only dock a boat with a wage level down to NOK 29 [$3.30] per hour,” union leader Johnny Hansen told the Norwegian Seamen’s Association.

“It is not okay to use a ship that is to go in international shipping as a hotel in Stryn, close your eyes, and hope no one will find out that the employees are not close to the pay and working conditions that are statutory,” Fellesforbund leader Jørn Eggum told Verdens Gang.

Back in July, Cruise personally called Norway’s Culture Minister in an effort to jumpstart Mission: Impossible 7‘s paused production as quickly as possible, so it remains to be seen whether this controversy will cause friction with government officials after allowing the film into the European country. The labor issue also arrives on the heels of trouble in Poland where the production faced criticism over its plan to blow up a bridge. Media headlines claimed the bridge scheduled to be detonated was a “national monument,” but director Ralph McQuarrie set the record straight in an open letter. According to McQuarrie, the bridge had no historic value, and local officials were enthusiastic about the production doing the local economy a favor by removing it, so a new one could be built to increase tourism.

(Via Variety)

Halloween as we know it (parties, costumes, bars) probably shouldn’t happen this year for obvious reasons. However, Blumhouse Television and Amazon Studios have teamed up to bring Halloween to your living room — in the form of four horror movies. Beginning on October 6, Amazon Prime will start releasing these titles, so you can start feeding those spooky urges as the witching month heats up. They might be best enjoyed while pilfering through a mixed candy bag and chomping on Snickers, who knows? But skip the candy corn. That stuff is trash.

Some recognizable faces, including Joey King in The Lie, pop up in the above trailer, as well as a new song by FJØRA, “What’s Up,” which was produced by the late 4 Non Blondes lead singer, Linda Perry. Here’s a list of all four movies:

– Black Box (Oct. 6): A single father involved in a tragic car accident agrees to an experimental treatment that results in a terrifying identity crisis.

– The Lie (Oct. 6): Two parents race to cover up the crime after their teenage daughter confesses that she killed her best friend. This, naturally, results in even more lies and deception.

– Evil Eye (Oct 13): A mother grows convinced that her daughter’s boyfriend actually holds a dark connection to mom’s past. Uh-oh.

– Nocturne (Oct 13): An elite music academy becomes an unsettling setting when a mysterious notebook (belonging to a dead student) invigorates a timid girl’s practice.

Blumhouse rarely swings and misses, so this is promising news for those Saturday nights when big Halloween gatherings won’t be such a good idea in 2020. Stay safe everyone, and pop some popcorn for a few double features.

The New Mutants, an X-Men spinoff originally produced by Fox (which itself was acquired by Disney 2019) slunk into mostly empty theaters this past weekend. Which, to be fair, was probably more a function of the timing than of the movie itself.

Given that the film was originally shot in 2017 for a 2018 release, and the studio declined to screen it for critics or offer it on VOD in the midst of a pandemic (there were vague intimations that they were contractually obligated to give it a theatrical run), it seems fair to infer that Disney — who, again, didn’t even make it — were just trying to get rid of The New Mutants as quickly and as quietly as possible. Of course, why would we ever want to let them do that? The more a studio wants to hide a movie, the more I want to see it.

Considering The New Mutants‘ weird release and its studio’s seeming embarrassment about it, this seemed like the perfect time for Plot Recreated With Reviews. That’s when we try to recreate an entire movie using only expository quotes from the critics who saw it. Because sometimes it’s just more fun to hear a movie described than actually see it.

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Directed by “The Fault in Our Stars” helmer Josh Boone, who co-wrote the screenplay with Knate Lee, “The New Mutants” takes place at an abandoned hospital where five teenage mutants reside semi-voluntarily while learning about themselves and their powerful abilities. –TheWrap

THE GANG’S NOT HERE

We don’t see Wolverine, Professor X, Magneto, Jean Grey, anybody. Instead, we meet a crew of mutant nobodies, who have zero control or understanding of their dangerous powers, and therefore are forced to live on a gross, crumbling campus in hopes of one day becoming proper X-Men. –NY Post [The NY Post guy REALLY seems to hate the building for some reason -Ed.]

Even Professor X, the patron saint of post-pubescent angst, is merely alluded to with a wheelchair and a look. –NY Times

OUR HERO

The film stars the spectacularly named Blu Hunt as Danielle Moonstar, a Northern Cheyenne teenager whose whole Reservation has been wiped out by . . . something. –Vanity Fair

…computer-generated carnage outside: an ominous cloud formation, too targeted to be a tornado, that flips cars and smashes mobile homes, emitting a deep, demon-like growl as it destroys all in its path. The phenomenon obliterates the reservation. –Variety

THE DEMON BEAR

Three times Dani repeats the proverb of the Demon Bear: “Inside every person there are two bears, forever locked in combat for your soul. One bear is all things good: compassion, love, trust. The other is all things evil: fear, shame, and self-destruction.” –Polygon

Which one emerges victorious? The one we feed. -TheWrap

[Oh God, not this “two animals inside you” shit again. At least it wasn’t wolves this time. -Ed]

THE ASYLUM

When Dani wakes up handcuffed to a hospital bed, it is revealed that she is the sole survivor from whatever happened at her reservation. –LA Times

Dani finds herself ominously kept prisoner/patient at an asylum of sorts run by Dr. Reyes (Alice Braga), whose soft tones and frowning concern for her charges belie obviously dire motivations. -VanityFair

There are many red flags at this facility. Mount Sinai, it ain’t. This dump looks like an abandoned insane asylum, and it’s run by just one stern woman, Dr. Reyes, who is a mutant with the power to create impenetrable force fields. -NY Post

“This isn’t a hospital,” Dani is told. “It’s a cage.” –South China Morning Post

THE GANG THAT IS HERE

The mutants in question are five deadly teenagers who, shortly after their powers kicked in at puberty, each killed someone (or some entire town, in the case of the distraught Dani). -NY Times

Handsome enough to begin with, jock-like Roberto da Costa (Henry Zaga) turns scorching hot when his libido kicks in. Rahne Sinclair (Maisie Williams, “Game of Thrones”) may seem mousy, but she’s actually a kind of werewolf who can transform on command. -Variety

I think she can turn into some kind of angry badger. Very scratchy when threatened. She can also morph into a standard dog if anything needs to be fetched. –National Post

Sam Guthrie (“Stranger Things” big brother Charlie Heaton) has a thick Southern accent and the ability to shoot, rocket-like, across the sky. –Variety

Anya Taylor-Joy makes for a compelling Illyana Rasputin. Presented as a victim of child slavery (and presumably rape) –Forbes [thanks for making that connection clear there, bud -Ed]

she’s a sword-conjuring sorceress who snarls that she’s killed 18 men. -South China Morning Post

Her character carries a pterodactyl hand puppet at all times -Variety

and is able to teleport and turn her eyes and arms into weapons. -Variety

Dr. Reyes, says they’ve been incarcerated to keep them from harming themselves and others with their nascent powers, but I think they’re undergoing AART, or Atrocious Accent Reversion Therapy. How else to explain the fact that Illyana Rasputin is rocking a ra-ra-Rasputin Russian voice? (Her other superpower seems to be perfect bangs.) Or that Charlie Heaton’s Kentucky drawl occasionally wanders as far south as Nashville, and up into Ohio? Meanwhile, Henry Zaga, actually born in Brazil and playing a Brazilian, somehow sounds Californian. –National Post

DR. REYES

Dr. Reyes tells Dani that baby rattlesnakes are more dangerous than their grownup counterparts because they don’t know how to control their venom. So Dani and her fellow captives are there for their own good, to protect themselves and others until these magic adolescents can more carefully realize their full potential. -Vanity Fair

Dr. Reyes, who works for the mysterious Essex Corporation. -South China Morning Post

swears she can soothe their guilt with a mix of talk therapy and constant camera surveillance. The sickly teal walls are the first hint that this dormitory isn’t what it seems. -NY Times

It looks an awful lot like the hospital in “Shutter Island.” That’s because both were shot at the Medfield State Hospital, an imposing late-19th-century red-brick asylum that makes for an ideal horror-movie location. -Variety

MUTANT BONDING

As Dani works to understand her talents’ true nature, her newfound friends find themselves plagued with nightmares about the lives they’ve taken. And before long, these nightmares begin to manifest themselves in the physical world, creating real-life monsters that the patients are powerless to resist. -ThePlaylist

Like “The Breakfast Club” on steroids, these five misfits slowly overcome their differences, bonding and becoming friends. -Variety

Naturally, the kids rebel with a dance montage. -NY Times

MISFITS MAKE GOOD, SORT OF

This is the first Marvel movie to depict an openly queer relationship, giving Dani a lesbian love interest. -Variety

“It’s going to get better,” Maisie Williams’s character says, in Panglossian fashion, at one point in The New Mutants. -Vanity Fair

Boone assigns teen mutants to teenage clichés, like the misunderstood jock (Da Costa) or mean girl with a dark back story (Rasputin) and expects the audience to feel something because there are violins playing in the background. –Polygon

Glimpses of a TV playing episodes of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” help drive the point home. –LA Times

STYMIED EXPECTATIONS

In the comics, these guys become known as Wolfsbane, Sunspot, Cannonball, Magik and Mirage. Those nicknames are never used here -NY Post

and we’re only given passing glances at their abilities. -TheWrap

None of the patients ever step foot outside the hospital grounds. -ThePlaylist

For the most part we’re meant to be invested in the twin mysteries of (A) what is Dani’s secret power and (B) is Dr. Reyes a good doctor or an evil one? -National Post

When the true mastermind behind the villainy is unearthed, it’s a deep cut throwback to a franchise that no longer exists. –CinemaBlend

POWER UNLEASHED! SORT OF

Fox’s 20-year, 13-film X-Men series goes out not with a bang or a whimper . . . but a bear attack. Yes, every camper’s worst fear is the asinine conclusion of a two-decade stretch of mutant movies -NY Post

Once unleashed on a series of computer-generated whatsits (including a phalanx of gangly, befanged disco dancers), the teens’ inability to control — or explain — their skills just makes them look goofy. -NY Times

Featuring a demon bear, -NY Post

wolves and sharp-toothed skeletons, -South China Morning Post

it’s a messy action orgy that explains Dani’s mysterious powers. -NY Post

While their elders boast the ability to control weather or metal or minds, the fledglings appear to have gotten the dregs of a white elephant exchange. Illyana has the gift of flickering into an alt-world where her hand puppet becomes a belching, parrot-size dragon. As for Sam, an explosive miner’s son from Kentucky, his biggest moment is when he chains himself to a post and bangs around like a tetherball. -NY Times

If it wanted to be the first Marvel horror movie – a very interesting choice for a story about mutants locked up in an institute – it’s never scary. -CinemaBlend

Without any palpable atmosphere, the jumpy moments and creepy suggestions arrive like only more exposition, -Vanity Fair

scares that you’ll forget about as you’re watching. -Empire

All of its awe is perfunctory, its reveals of superpowers and troubled backstories thunking around like particle board—dense with the pulp of other things -Vanity Fair

IN CONCLUSION

The New Mutants is like watching a lousy TV pilot for a show that you know didn’t get picked up. -Forbes

Part of me wishes its new owners had continued to punt its opening date ever farther into the future. It could have attained mythical status as the film always on the verge of opening, but never quite making it. Sometimes the best X-Men film is the one you don’t see. -National Post

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Well, there you have it, folks. It doesn’t sound so bad, but then it doesn’t sound that good. Probably a solid B+. Honestly I wanted to know more about the pterodactyl hand puppet.

Also, one more thing, I couldn’t fit this quote into the format, but I felt like you should see it.

Most baffling sentence award: Dan Buffa of KSDK:

“Anya Taylor-Joy’s accent doesn’t just come and go; it overwhelms you the way a bad karaoke singer would right after a bad plate of nachos.”

Look out, everyone! The man has a simile and he’s not afraid to use it! Two points for anyone who can figure out what the hell that means.

Vince Mancini is on Twitter. You can read more ‘Plot Recreated With Reviews’ here.

ASAP Mob co-founder ASAP Illz had some choice words about fellow member ASAP Ferg on Tuesday. Claiming Ferg was no longer a part of the crew, the rapper wrote: “Sorry guys. That n**** burnt out, songs dumb trash. Mr. Anthem can’t get right.” While the news shocked ASAP Mob fans, crew member ASAP Nast has backtracked on Illz’s comments, denying Ferg was officially let go.

Nast took to Twitter to refute Illz’s statements, saying the group had a “dispute” but that doesn’t mean Ferg is out for good. “Disputes happen in families all over the world everyday,” Nast wrote. The rapper continued to say that Ferg “was not and will not be kicked out of A$AP.” Nast also went on to apologize for group members airing grievances in public but says the situation will be “taken care of the right way.”

After Illz stated that Ferg was kicked out of the crew, Ferg seemingly responded to the situation with a vague post on Instagram. The rapper didn’t directly respond to Illz’s comments. Instead, he’s shared a clip of him listening to Meek Mill’s 2016 Dreams Worth More Than Money track “Cold Hearted.” The snippet played over Diddy’s verse which addresses disloyal friends, seemingly making a dig at Illz’s comments.

See Nast’s defense of Ferg above.

Meek Mill is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Taylor Swift released her self-titled debut album in 2006, and it didn’t take long for her to become a superstar. She followed that in 2008 with Fearless, and that album and all the ones that have come after it have topped the charts and been certified multiple times Platinum (except for the new Folklore, but that will surely happen soon enough). She has told many stories throughout her career, and now one superfan has converted them into theme park form.

Matthew Ables has shared a video in which he breaks down a Swift-themed theme park that he designed. He wrote in the video description, “I really enjoy going to theme parks and attending Taylor Swift concerts and had arrangements to do both of those things this summer, but evidently, 2020 had other plans. And those plans apparently included me designing a Taylor Swift theme park called Wonderland with 60+ attractions, because, well, that’s what I did!”

The park has areas based on Swift’s albums — Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, Reputation, Lover, and even Folklore. Attractions of the park contain references to Swift’s discography and life, like Abigail’s Cafeteria, the Fearless zone (one of the park’s more intense areas), and more.

Watch Ables explain his park in the video above.

Dune (1984) is a confounding, often-incomprehensible movie, which is to say, it’s a David Lynch movie. But unlike earlier works like Eraserhead and The Elephant Man and later masterpieces like Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive, there’s something… off about it. Dune has its hardcore defenders, of course, but even Denis Villeneuve, who directed the 2020 adaptation, admits he felt “half satisfied” while watching Lynch’s most expensive film.

“I’m a big David Lynch fan, he’s the master,” the Blade Runner 2049 and Arrival filmmaker told Empire. “When I saw [Lynch]’s Dune, I remember being excited, but his take… there are parts that I love and other elements that I am less comfortable with. So it’s like, I remember being half-satisfied. That’s why I was thinking to myself, there’s still a movie that needs to be made about that book, just a different sensibility.”

That “different sensibility” involves Big Dave looking like helmet-less Vader. I can’t wait.

Anyway, Villeneuve was respectful in his criticism of 1984’s Dune, but no one (with the exception of Roger Ebert) has fewer kind things to say about the film than Alan Smithee, I mean, David Lynch. “With Dune, I sold out on that early on, because I didn’t have final cut, and it was a commercial failure, so I died two times with that,” he recently told Deadline. We’ll find out what he thinks of Villeneuve’s Dune (and whether he agrees that Timmy has “insane charisma”) on December 18, when the film is scheduled to come out.

(Via Empire)