Music festival season starts in just a few months, and while a number of the most anticipated lineups have been released for both old faves (Baja Beach Fest, Roots Picnic) and new startups (Jack Harlow’s Gazebo Festival, new indie fest Best Friends Forever), one that fans have been looking forward to with no word is J. Cole’s Dreamville Festival. So far, the only perfomer confirmed to be on the lineup (that isn’t also a member of Dreamville Records) is Nicki Minaj. So, when will Dreamville reveal its 2024 lineup?
As we noted late last year, we can only speculate based on prior announcements. Although Dreamville announced its 2023 lineup that February, February 2024 has come and gone (with an extra day, no less!), so it’s more likely that this year’s announcement will fall in line with the announcement from 2022, which was in early March. That means an announcement could be only days away (or even minutes, as of this writing). While we know at least some of the performers who’ll be appearing — Dreamville members Ari Lennox, Bas, Cozz, Earthgang, JID, Lute, Omen, and of course, J. Cole — it’s always fun to see how Cole and the gang will surprise us with both contemporaries like Burna Boy and Summer Walker and throwbacks like Usher and Waka Flocka Flame, who all performed last year.
Indie music has grown to include so much. It’s not just music that is released on independent labels, but speaks to an aesthetic that deviates from the norm and follows its own weirdo heart. It can come in the form of rock music, pop, or folk. In a sense, it says as much about the people that are drawn to it as it does about the people that make it.
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Faye Webster – Underdressed At The Symphony
In recent interviews, Atlanta songwriter Faye Webster hasn’t made light of how uncomfortable she is as the center of attention. The past couple of years have witnessed a spike in her popularity, as several of her tunes have gone viral on TikTok. For her first album since 2021’s immaculate I Know I’m Funny Haha, Webster reveled in solitude whenever she’s granted it. Underdressed At The Symphony is named after her recent pastime of catching the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra on a whim. She stood out in her casual clothes, but she also relished the anonymity of the crowd. Underdressed At The Symphony encapsulates the duality of visibility and invisibility. Webster may be more interested in her own branded yo-yo at this point, but her music remains just as delightful as ever.
Hovvdy – “Meant”
Next month, the Texas songwriting duo Hovvdy, composed of Charlie Martin and Will Taylor, will release their staggering, self-titled double album. The latest preview, “Meant,” is a “reflection on how the most impactful love one can offer is consistency,” as Taylor explains in a press release. Consistency also happens to be one of Hovvdy’s core artistic strengths. They have yet to release a bad piece of music, and “Meant” is easily one of their best songs yet. Its heartfelt meditations on love and loyalty are simple yet no less touching.
Mdou Moctar – “Funeral For Justice”
In 2021, Mdou Moctar released Afrique Victime, a dizzying record filled with guitar solos as incandescent as fireworks in a night sky. Moctar, along with his three fellow bandmates, bassist and producer Mikey Coltun, drummer Souleymane Ibrahim, and rhythm guitarist Ahmoudou Madassane, has returned. On May 3, the Nigerien band will release Funeral For Justice, and its lead single and title track is just as fiery as you’d expect. Moctar is unequivocally one of our greatest modern rock stars, and “Funeral For Justice,” with its kinetic, blazing guitars and start-stop tempo, is enough evidence on its own.
Mo Troper – “The Billy Joel Fan Club”
Mo Troper simply cannot be stopped. The Portland, Oregon power-pop artist has been on a roll. From 2022’s joyfully noisy MTV to last year’s Jon Brion covers album, Troper Sings Brion, Troper is among the most prolific indie rockers as of late. On the cusp of his next full-length, Svengali, he has shared its lead single, “The Billy Joel Fan Club.” As Troper puts it in a press release, the new tune is about “falling in love with someone who shares your specific interests and nurtures your enthusiasm.” Although “The Billy Joel Fan Club” is just over a minute long, Troper’s enthusiasm is as undeniable as it is infectious.
Perennial – Lemon On Plastic
Four songs in four minutes is an intriguing premise for an EP. That’s exactly what art-punks Perennial have given us with Lemon On Plastic, an EP they released last Tuesday with no prior announcement. Even within such a short timeframe, Perennial showcase their varied musical approach; opener “Art History” is a blast of post-punk adrenaline, and “Impressionism,” which directly follows it, is an ambient instrumental piece, only for matters to shift again on “Minimalism,” a song built on guitar stabs and electronic drums. It’s impressive that a band can showcase their varying sonic tendencies in only four minutes. On their new EP, Perennial demonstrates that brevity is one of their strong suits.
Bnny – “Crazy, Baby”
Love is among the most trite yet profound subjects of art. Everyone experiences it in one form or another, and some of its effects can be universal or entirely individual. “Crazy, Baby,” the new single from Chicago indie-rock quintet Bnny, navigates these conflicting feelings with a newlywed’s optimism and a recent divorcee’s dejection. “A million love songs of our past / Write one quick ’cause nothing lasts,” sings frontwoman Jessica Viscius in the first verse. In just a single couplet, she recognizes the fleeting nature of love and the necessity of finding it while you’re able. Many love songs can unwittingly descend into bathos, but Viscius is too perceptive of her subject’s intricacies to get tangled up in them.
Cloud Nothings – “Running Through The Campus”
Whenever there’s a new Cloud Nothings record, you can rest assured that it will be great. Whether it’s the 2012 masterpiece Attack On Memory or 2021’s concise, blazing The Shadow I Remember, the Cleveland indie rockers bring it every single time. Such is the case with Final Summer, their new album due April 19. Its new single, “Running Through The Campus,” is a song about running through the campus. Frontman Dylan Baldi sings about his nocturnal jogs around a college campus and the introspection that results from it: “I pass the hall / A mile long / And in the room / A ghost I knew,” he delivers in his signature rasp.
Ariella – “Blindsided”
“I’ve got nothing to lose,” Ariella sings during the first few moments of her debut single, “Blindsided.” The Los Angeles-raised indie-folk artist may have only one single under her belt, but her vision is already fully realized. Featuring tremolo-inflected guitar, gentle banjo strums, and her soothing vocals, “Blindsided” is a wondrous display of Ariella’s songwriting prowess. Containing elements like Florist’s tenderness, Lomelda’s melodicism, and Babehoven’s sincerity, Ariella leaves you blindsided with her knack for quiet beauty.
Blushing – “Tamagotchi”
Yo La Tengo, The Innocence Mission, and Low are all great bands made of wife-and-husband couples. The Austin dream-pop band Blushing, though, is made up of two married couples: vocalist-guitarist Michelle Soto and drummer Jacob Soto and bassist Christina Carmona and guitarist Noe Carmona. Together, they make swirling shoegaze music that pays homage to the subgenre’s greats. In fact, they’ve recruited Ride’s Mark Gardener and Ringo Deathstarr’s Elliott Frazier to engineer, mix, and master their forthcoming album, Sugarcoat, which is out in early May. Its lead single, “Tamagotchi,” is an enveloping exercise in rich guitar tones, as a lot of excellent shoegaze music often is.
Mannequin Pussy – I Got Heaven
Mannequin Pussy caught the world by storm with their 2019 LP, Patience. Sugary hooks, crunchy riffs, and frontwoman Marisa Dabice’s incisive lyrics have always been a staple of the Philly punks. I Got Heaven, featuring production from in-demand indie guy John Congleton, is their best work yet. Their fourth album is a mix of the different modes this band has become known for: sneering screeds, torching ballads, and wistful indie rock.
The Brothers Sun could have been Netflix’s next big hit. It had the pedigree (the cast was led by Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh) and an intriguing premise (“When a mysterious enemy targets his family, a Taipei triad member heads to Los Angeles to protect his strong-willed mother and oblivious younger brother”), but the series was canceled after a single season. What happened?
The Brothers Sun received strong reviews from critics (84 percent on Rotten Tomatoes) and spent five weeks in the Netflix top 10, but that apparently wasn’t good enough for the streaming service. According to Deadline, the series “couldn’t find a large audience. Its performance was modest by Netflix standards, with its number of weekly views staying below seven million and slipping under two million for its last two weeks in the Top 10.”
So sad to hear that The Brothers Sun was canceled. The rules and structures for renewing shows these days seem a little ??????… such a good show that really did showcase lesser known Asian American talent, like my dear friend Grace Shen who played Michelle Yeoh’s mama. https://t.co/ZtQZxdJ5rx
The cancelation was mourned by star Justin Chien, who shared an Instagram Story to thank fans of the show for their “love and support.” He added, “Thank you for riding with us on this labor of love. Your love made all of our collective work, sacrifices, and heartache, worth it.”
You can check out the trailer for The Brothers Sun below.
After completing Phantom Thread for director Paul Thomas Anderson, Daniel Day-Lewis made a startling announcement: He was officially retiring from acting and for good. The iconic actor admitted that he’s openly toyed with the idea in the past, but this time, the idea of quitting became a “compulsion” that Day-Lewis committed to like it was one of his roles.
According to a new interview with his longtime collaborator Jim Sheridan, don’t expect Day-Lewis to return to acting, and streaming certainly isn’t helping the situation. Sheridan stays in contact with his old friend and admits to trying to coax him back every now and then with a juicy role, but Day-Lewis is holding strong.
“He’s like everybody else,” Sheridan said. “He fires up a streaming service and there’s 7,000 choices, none of them are good. Film has been moved out of the public domain into a private domain: You have a remote, you can stop it. It’s not the same experience.”
If you’re having a fun time imagining Daniel Day-Lewis delivering monologues to the Roku remote, so are we. That said, Day-Lewis’ disdain for streaming is an interesting factoid considering Anderson once revealed that the actor has a soft spot for trash TV. Namely, Naked and Afraid.
During a 2018 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Anderson said Day-Lewis would not shut up about the reality series. It consumed him.
“He would always be like, ‘You’ve got to see Naked and Afraid,’” Anderson laughingly told Kimmel. “Each week he’d tune in.”
Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday 2 Tour is officially underway after months of buildup and some speculation that it might not even happen. Although she didn’t manage to secure Katt Williams as a tour opener, she did treat fans to a set highlighting both her new album and catalog classics like “Anaconda,” “Moment 4 Life,” “Monster,” “Starships” and “Super Bass.”
With such a loaded setlist, you may be wondering how much time to allot to take in the whole show. According to setlist.fm, the concert lasts from about two hours and 20 minutes, as the opening show in Oakland ran from 9:45 pm – 12:00 am, while the Denver stop went from Show: 9:30 pm – 11:50 pm.
See below for the remaining tour dates.
03/08 — Las Vegas, NV @ T-Mobile Arena
03/10 — Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena
03/13 — Phoenix, AZ @ Footprint Center
03/15 — Inglewood, CA @ Rolling Loud California*
03/18 — New Orleans, LA @ Smoothie King Center
03/20 — Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena
03/21 — Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena
03/22 — Orlando, FL @ Amway Center
03/24 — Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
03/26 — Charlotte, NC @ Spectrum Center
03/28 — Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center
03/29 — Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
03/30 — New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
04/01 — Washington, DC @ Capital One Arena
04/02 — Baltimore, MD @ CFG Bank Arena
04/04 — Brooklyn, NY @ Barclays Center
04/05 — Hartford, CT @ XL Center
04/07 — Raleigh, NC @ Dreamville Festival*
04/08 — Boston. MA @ TD Garden
04/10 — Boston, MA @ TD Garden
04/12 — Columbus, OH @ Schottenstein Center
04/13 — Milwaukee, WI @ Fiserv Forum
04/17 — Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre
04/18 — Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
04/20 — Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena
04/24 — Chicago, IL @ United Center
04/25 — Chicago, IL @ United Center
04/27 — Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center
04/30 — Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
05/01 — Brooklyn, NY @ Barclays Center
05/02 — Oklahoma City, OK @ Paycom Center
05/09 — Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
05/11 — Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center
05/12 — Austin, TX @ Moody Center
05/13 — Oklahoma City, OK @ Paycom Center
05/23 — Amsterdam, NL @ Ziggo Dome
05/25 — Manchester, UK @ Co-Op Live
05/26 — Birmingham, UK @ Resorts World Arena
05/28 — London, UK @ The O2
05/29 — Glasgow, UK @ OVO Hydro
05/30 — Manchester, UK @ Co-op Live
06/01 — Paris, France @ Accor Arena
06/02 — Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Ziggo Dome
06/05 — Cologne, Germany @ Lanxess Arena
06/07 — Berlin, Germany @ Mercedes Benz Arena
06/08 — Warszawa, Poland @ Orange Warsaw Festival
06/09 — Paris, France @ Accor Arena
06/11 — Copenhagen, Denmark @ Royal Arena
06/12 — Johanneshov, Sweden @ Tele2 Arena
06/27 — Portimão, Portugal @ Praia da Rocha
07/03 — Rho, Italy @ Rho Fiera Milano
07/06 — Dublin, Ireland @ Malahide Castle & Gardens
07/12 — London, UK @ Wireless Festival
07/14 — Liège, Belgium @ Les Ardentes
This week saw the release of a ton of great new pop music. Kacey Musgraves is continuing to carry fans through the release cycle of her Deeper Well album by sharing another calming piece of the record. For those looking to dance, Miley Cyrus dropped a previously unreleased track from her Bangerz era, while Charli XCX is channeling Y2K pop with her album’s lead single.
There are also a few past Uproxx cover stars, including aespa and Griff, who returned with new tunes that are not to be missed.
Check out the rest of Uproxx’s Best New Pop Music roundup below.
Charli XCX — “Von Dutch”
As the first preview from Charli XCX’s upcoming album, Brat, her song “Von Dutch” is a fitting confident anthem. She knows she lives in other people’s heads, and is very glad to be there, as she points out in the lyrics that tap into themes of obsession and gossip. The music video finds the pop star dodging the paparazzi, proving she is leaning into the early 2000s inspiration.
Miley Cyrus, Pharrell Williams — “Doctor (Work It Out)”
Miley Cyrus and Pharrell made magic on their latest collab “Doctor (Work It Out).” The fiery song has Cyrus playing the nurse role in a relationship, with some flirty meanings woven into what she sings. It also was originally supposed to be on Cyrus’ 2013 album, Bangerz, but ultimately didn’t make it. However, with some re-tooling, we are very thankful that we finally got to hear this jam.
Kacey Musgraves — “Too Good To Be True”
Kacey Musgraves performed her new song “Too Good To Be True” on Saturday Night Live this past weekend, as she appeared as the musical guest, and it proved just how it shines with her live vocals. By embracing a similar sound from the Golden Hour era, Musgraves emphasizes the emotion and meaning behind what she sings. The focus is placed on the words she writes and her incredible talent with a pen.
Jacob Collier, aespa, Chris Martin — “Over You”
When Jacob Collier, aespa, and Chris Martin (of Coldplay) manage to get on the same song, as they did with “Over You,” it’s already clear that it’s going to be good. Collier opens the track, setting the emotional tone by detailing the difficulty of moving on. Martin and aespa then appear in the chorus, giving added layers to the vocals. Finally, the K-pop girl group gets a chance to shine with their own verse, and they do exactly that.
Griff — “Miss Me Too”
Griff is giving it her all on “Miss Me Too.” The pop song is about her struggling with the feeling of losing a past version of herself, especially after a breakup. Despite the painful and vulnerable nature, she powers through with one hell of a music video too — using brilliant choreography and transitions to keep viewers hooked the entire time.
J Balvin, Jowell & Randy, De La Ghetto — “Triple S”
J Balvin brought Jowell & Randy and De La Ghetto into the mix for “Triple S,” where they talk about a strong woman living life on her terms. The trio brings this theme over into their music video where they land in the mansion of a “Black Widow” type of woman who is playing a murderous game with the men at dinner.
Fletcher — “Doing Better”
“I wrote ‘Doing Better’ as a way to explore my ego and call myself out, but also to tell the truth about what I was feeling at the time,” Fletcher shared of her new song, which was produced by Jennifer Decliveo and One Love. With her new album Antidote set to drop in just a few weeks, she is only building anticipation by sharing a powerful piece of her journey to be healed by love.
The Kid Laroi — “Still Yours (From The Doc)”
The Kid Laroi’s “Still Yours (From The Doc)” details his struggles to move on after a breakup. He wants to know exactly when things started to fall apart and goes through all the stages of emotions, from anger to begging.
Liam Payne — “Teardrops”
“’Teardrops’ is about the vulnerability of heartbreak and the challenge of overcoming those moments,” Liam Payne described as the meaning behind his latest release. The powerful pop track was co-written by ‘NSync’s JC Chasez and Jamie Scott. Fans also have more to expect from Payne throughout the rest of 2024.
Fred Again.., Lil Yachty, Overmono — “Stayinit”
Shortly after Fred Again.. played Knockdown Center in New York City, he returned this week with a new collaboration with Lil Yachty and Overmono, marking his first release of 2024. And it is truly a way to kick things off. “I know you / Down with the pain, see the rain / Realize everybody won’t be perfect / But I do / Try hard to fix the mistakes that I made with you,” Yachty sings in the early part of the track, before the electronic production builds and takes over. It provides two sides: the vulnerable and a moment to let loose.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Yellowstone‘s final season, which paused halfway through and will allegedly resume filming this year, has become almost synonymous with off-set drama. That’s reportedly the case for the Matthew McConaughy maybe-spinoff, too, but Kevin Costner has long since fled the building, which of course prompts questions about what the hell will have happened to John Dutton on the show. Additionally, a Taylor Sheridan-owned ranch sued Cole Hauser for alleged trademark infringement over a coffee trademark. That suit appears to have been settled, but the bad blood with Costner — at least from the Horizon: An American Saga director’s perspective — is reportedly still brewing.
That’s the case, at least, according to In Touch, which reports that Demi Moore’s decision to enter the Land Man cast (as the wife of Billy Bob Thornton’s oil company crisis manager) has rubbed old-friend (and former, hmm, Mr. Brooks co-star) the wrong way. If this is true, the beef still lives:
A source claims the Dances with Wolves star warned Demi against working with Sheridan. “He told Demi that Taylor will court you but once he has you under his control, it’s game over. You’re just another actor who can be replaced,” the insider says.
“Demi respects Kevin’s opinion,” another insider notes. “But she doesn’t get big film offers any longer. Demi figures if she’s going to be doing TV, she might as well be working with the hottest producer around!”
Costner, for his part, is doing alright these days despite losing that Yellowstone money. His two-part Horizons: An American Saga will land in theaters in June and August of this year. It’ll be a cowboy summer, y’all. And Land Man has fired up production in North Texas, where Jon Hamm has been spotted grabbing some BBQ, as one does in the Lone Star State.
Kacey Musgraves unveiled the dates for her massive Deeper Well World Tour just a few days ago, and now, fans are getting their first chances to grab tickets. Her run of shows in support of her upcoming album will kick off on April 28 in Dublin. Musgraves will play a handful of dates across Europe before making her way back to North America in the fall.
Here’s what to expect in terms of costs.
How Much Are Tickets For Kacey Musgraves’ Deeper Well World Tour?
While ticket prices for Musgraves’ tour will vary depending on the city and due to dynamic pricing, fans are still able to get a general idea about how much they are to start. Using one of her NYC dates at Barclays Center, for those with American Express early access during this presale, the General Admission floor ticket is $166.10 at the moment — or $279.55 if you want to purchase early entry to have a closer spot as well. According to the site, these also include fees before taxes.
Some of the seated tickets in the Lower Bowl have started being priced over $300 now, depending on where you sit.
Seated tickets at the top of the Upper Bowl (specifically, Section 205) are $73.05, providing a range of price options. However, these will likely change when the tickets open to the public due to Ticketmaster boosting prices based on demand and scalpers skyrocketing the amount on resale sites.
A Twitter user also shared that for Musgraves’ Boston shows, the prices ranged from $39 to $229.
it says 39-229 for the boston shows i see some platinum for 475
One might think, by now, Peter Farrelly wouldn’t care about reviews. The movies he made in the ’90s with his brother, Bobby (you probably know them as “The Farrelly Brothers”), routinely irked the critical minds at the time, yet made a lot of money and have, since – namely Dumb and Dumber, Kingpin, and There’s Something About Mary – are now considered comedy classics. And not to mention he’s directed a movie (Green Book) that won Best Picture. Yet, he does. And I witnessed this firsthand.
Back in 2022, I went to the premiere of The Greatest Beer Run Ever, a Vietnam-era comedy/drama starring Zac Efron, at the Toronto Film Festival – a movie I enjoyed quite a bit that got a great reception at the premiere. At the party after I was asked if I wanted to say hello to Farrelly. I’ve interviewed him numerous times now and he’s always a pleasant and gregarious raconteur, so I said yes. But this time something was certainly … off. Now, I am certainly open to the fact he just didn’t want to talk to me. (Trust me, many people fall into this category.) But, ahead in this interview, I asked about that night and, yep, turns out he had just been told about some early reviews. Farrelly seems like the kind of fellow who wears his heart on his sleeve, and he certainly was that evening.
Now, Farrelly reteams with Efron for the full-on comedy, Ricky Stanicky. In the film, a group of friends since childhood have always gotten out of all sorts of trouble by blaming everything they did on poor Ricky Stanicky. The thing is, Ricky doesn’t exist. Now, as adults, after skipping a baby shower to, instead, go to a concert in Atlantic City – saying, instead, they had to visit Ricky in the hospital – their friends and families are starting to doubt Ricky exists. So the only solution is to hire a pretty terrible actor, Rod (John Cena, who seems to be having the time of his life), to play Ricky. It turns out, Rod is really good at playing Ricky and starts enjoying the most success he’s ever had in his life, which creates a whole host of new problems.
Ahead, Peter Farrelly tells us how John Cena is the most prepared actor he’s ever worked with in his life. (Of course, the many, many actors who Farrelly has worked with come prepared, but Cena is on another level.) He explains why he takes reviews still so personally – and still remembers one specific review of There’s Something About Mary very well. He also talks about if he’d ever direct alongside his brother again. Which it sounds like, for now, the two still enjoy working together in other capacities, but like directing on their own.
Peter Farrelly: My first favorite catcher in the Major Leagues, Mike Ryan. Let’s talk.
You say that every time. Someone gave me his baseball card. I think it’s 1969 Topps. I still have it.
He wasn’t great, but we liked him because he was on the Red Sox. I think he was on the Impossible Dream Team, 1967.
I wasn’t alive then, but I’m very familiar with that team because I was born in St. Louis and they lost to the Cardinals in the World Series.
That’s correct. Yeah, that was a heartbreaker for us. I was 10 years old. That was my first year of really loving baseball. And I remember we had the transistor radios in the class and we were listening to it under our desks. The teachers were kind of looking the other way because they knew, they didn’t fight it, but you weren’t supposed to have them. Did I tell you? Stop me if I told you the one where I went to the 2004 game when the Red Sox won in St. Louis?
I’ve never heard this.
Okay. So it’s an unbelievable thing. The Red Sox win. It’s a sweep! We’re in St. Louis.
Oh, I remember.
But when we left the game, we’re loaded with Red Sox stuff. I’ve got my five-year-old son with me. We’re walking and everybody’s patting us on the back like, hey, thumbs up, smiling. They couldn’t have been nicer. They were the most generous, kind-hearted fans ever. And we’re walking towards the hotel and this car comes driving towards us. We’re stopped at the intersection about to walk and this car comes and starts cutting in front of us. And this guy is hanging out the passenger side window! And I pull Bob back and the guy goes by and he goes, “Congratulations!” It was like, oh my God, what a city. I was waiting for the worst and I got a drive-by congratulations.
It’s almost annoyingly friendly because I wish we were a little meaner to tell you the truth.
Nah, I’m telling you. I remember thinking, man, I wish Boston was like this.
No, you don’t.
But also, my whole life, everybody always said the two best baseball towns are St. Louis and Boston.
I agree with that.
And of course, I always argue it was Boston, but after that thing I was like, they deserve number one. It’s a great baseball town and they’re nice. So what’s up? How are you doing?
Well, you have a new movie out. They’ll probably get mad if we don’t talk about that.
Yeah. You can just say good things about it. We don’t have to say anything. It’ll be fine.
I know you probably knew this going in, but were you even amazed how good John Cena is in this? He is really going for it.
I’ve got to tell you, I expected a lot from him, but he blew my mind. I mean, when I saw him in Peacemaker? From the moment I saw him in that, I was like, oh my God, this guy’s funny. He commits. That was the main thing. He went for it. He wasn’t afraid to go for the joke or to embarrass himself. He went for it. But yes, he blew my mind. He’s the most prepared actor I ever worked with.
Wait, really?
He showed up on the set – and I’m not joking, this is the God’s honest truth – he showed up on the set and he had the entire script memorized, every scene. Not just the scenes we’re shooting that day. He had every scene.
I’m thinking of all the actors you’ve worked with. So he’s more prepared than Viggo Mortensen? He’s more prepared than Matt Damon? He was more prepared than anyone?
Nothing against those guys. Those guys are all incredibly well-prepared, but he takes it to an OCD level where he memorized the entire script. The entire script. I remember one day we got ahead and we shot a scene that we thought was going to take eight hours, but it took like four hours, so we would have been done for the day. But I thought, well, we could hop over to this other scene? And I came over to him and I said, “Hey, do you want to take an hour?” He goes, “I don’t need an hour.” I said, “Well, we’re going to skip to a scene like 40 pages later.” He started rattling off the dialogue.
I do wonder if with his background in wrestling, if he doesn’t know what everyone else is doing he could get hurt or die. So I wonder if that’s part of it. I think Dave Bautista also qualifies here.
Yeah, I think it is. I think you’re right. Because I’ve asked him how did this start. He did a couple of little parts and I said I’ve got to look at them. He goes, “No, no, no. Please don’t look at them. They’re just awful. I didn’t know what I was doing. And then I realized, okay, you’re a real actor, you better fucking get your shit together. Then I started working on my craft and learning how to act, and I got so much better.” It’s like Arnold Schwarzenegger, for a long time had that insecurity, because he was mocked. He was mocked when it started, but then he went so far past that.
I think that the more the chip you have on your shoulders, the better you’re going to be. I was an accounting major in college. And when I got out I was a salesman for a few years. And it wasn’t until my mid-20s that I started writing. And I went back to grad school for creative writing and I remember I was embarrassed. I was feeling so behind everybody – because they were English majors, lit majors – they knew a lot more, they’ve done a lot more, and it drove me. I remember thinking, I do not want to embarrass myself, and I worked hard. I remember weekends I’d just spend in my room reading books that I should have read in high school or college and trying to catch up. And I think that’s what these guys did.
This is your second movie with Zac Efron. Is he becoming your go-to actor, like Jim Carrey was?
Yeah, I like him a lot. He’s a great guy, by the way. I met him years ago before we ever worked together. And having hung out with him for two movies, now he’s just top-notch human being. But more than that, he’s a director’s dream. A lot of actors are in their head. They’re doing the math themselves. They’re thinking, okay, I could have done this, I should have done. And you’re talking to them and you realize they didn’t even know you there. But, by the way, it’s sometimes a great thing, because they know what they’re doing. But you’re not as part of the process.
I really enjoyed The Greatest Beer Run Ever, your prior movie with Zach. I was at the premiere at Toronto and it got a great reception. I am wondering if something went wrong with how you wanted that released? Or something else? Only because at the party I was asked if I wanted to say hello to you and you didn’t seem in a great mood. And granted, it could be just that you had to talk to me. I am fully aware of that possibility. But it seemed like that movie left the conversation quickly…
Well, it didn’t go away quickly because it was on Apple and it was number one for quite a while, and it still comes back into the top 10 over there a lot. However…
When I say went away, I don’t mean on streaming, but the zeitgeist. And I felt it should have stayed around longer because I really enjoyed it.
Well, first of all, I apologize if I…
No, no, no. You were not rude, you just seemed distracted by something.
Well, I do remember that night getting a couple of people come up to me involved in the thing and saying, “Yeah, you got a bad review here.” The reviews started to come out.
Oh, I see.
And people started telling me. And if you look at it, that did not get great reviews. I mean, the thing is, honestly, I like the audience reviews and that’s the one I trust most. I pay attention to the audience. And our movies are almost always like that.
You’re not kidding. Even going back to movies we consider comedy classics today, like Dumb and Dumber, did not get overwhelmingly positive reviews.
I remember the first review that I saw for – not the first review but the one that stuck in my brain – it was Rex Reed for There’s Something About Mary. And I swear you could look it up. “Sewage.” He wrote, this is sewage from the idiots who did Dumb and Dumber or something like that. It’s like, man.
Well, I agree you do have a history of that.
Well, yeah, we get beat up a lot, but whatever. It’s part of the process. But that night, yeah, I do remember getting a couple of people saying, “Yeah, we just read this thing. It wasn’t good.“ I said, “Really?” I was shocked, because I thought… I love that movie. I’m always shocked when people don’t love my movies. But it happens all the time. Yeah, I was getting bad news. It was creeping into the thing. And I try not to… I don’t read reviews. But people will tell you. I’m like, “Dude, I don’t read them for a reason. Don’t tell me.” “Oh, man, you got crushed by The New Yorker.” Like, “Ah, don’t tell me that.”
That’s always fun to hear.
I know.
Now that you and Bobby are directing movies separately, do you look at his and look at yours and think things like, when we were together here’s what he brought and here’s what I brought? Does it work that way?
Honestly, this is what I always feel. I swear to God. And no matter what I do without him, I think it would’ve been a little better with him. That’s what I always say. And I really do. I know he would’ve come in and he would’ve had this, that, and this. But you get to a point where you want to run the show. And I understand that he just directed a movie, by the way, that I wrote with Ricky Blitt. And it was at Paramount that comes out at Christmas with Jack Black.
Oh, yeah, I read about this. Dear Santa. It’s about a kid who accidentally writes to Satan instead of Santa.
Yeah. And Jack Black’s sensational. And by the way, that’s Bobby’s movie. I wrote it, but he’s the director. I like where we are. I still reach out. I tell him, he sends me Champions and says, “Watch it.” And I give him notes. And I send him my stuff, he gives me notes. But yeah, certainly, I like working with him. But I like working alone, too. And I think he does, too.
Do you see a time where you’ll reunite? Or are you both just happy doing it the way you’re doing it now?
Absolutely. We could definitely do it again. You know, Loudermilk is a great example. Where we were alternating directing, but a lot of times when I was directing he was there. And when he was directing I was there. But we would just alternate. Somebody would run with it and take on the whole thing, editing it, do the whole thing. But it was a great process, and we’d get to hang out in Vancouver for a while. But that was the perfect example of what we’d like to do now.
When I last spoke to him I asked what it was like to watch you go solo for the first time, then your movie wins Best Picture. He said you also have a Razzie so it all works out.
Like it or not, the world can’t seem to get enough of Ice Spice. The “Think U The Sh*t (Fart)” rapper is a fixture on the music charts, and thanks to her Super Bowl LVIII commercial debut, she could very well become a go-to celebrity brand ambassador. But just as the public fawns over her, Ice Spice has a fixation of her own — Lana Del Rey.
On March 4, during a sit-down with Billboard for its “Women In Music” series, Ice Spice confessed that she’s, in fact, obsessed with Lana and her moody music. When asked about women previously featured in the series, Ice Spice paid homage to Charli XCX and Dolly Parton. But, she took a moment to fan out over her “musical north star,” Lana.
“Well, first, shout out to [Charli and Dolly]; they’re iconic, each in their own way,” she said. “I would say Lana Del Rey — I’m obsessed with her, and I feel like all of her songs are hits, even the ones that aren’t as big as the others.”
Ice Spice went on to sandwich in compliments about other artists before referencing Lana again. “Before Rihanna, too,” she said. “I have both [her and Del Rey’s] vinyls. Taylor Swift. Of course, Nicki Minaj. Drake. The list is long!”
Although Ice Spice and Del Rey haven’t collaborated yet, they have met each other on several occasions. Maybe their mutual friend, Taylor Swift, can encourage a special song from the two, especially since Ice Spice is currently working on her debut studio album, Y2K.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
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