Category: Worldwide

Michael Bay may make the bro-iest action movies, arguably in history, but he’s often managed to attract a diverse group of non-bro-y actors. His last movie, the pricey Netflix thriller 6 Underground, starred goofball Ryan Reynolds, while his second-ever blockbuster, The Rock, co-starred an even-more-wigged-out-than-usual Nicolas Cage — hot off his Oscar win for Leaving Las Vegas, no less. His latest get is a good one, too: nice guy and occasional weirdo Jake Gyllenhaal.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, the acclaimed actor is in talks to headline Ambulance, the latest powder keg of Bayhem. It sounds a touch smaller than the usual Michael Bay extravaganza, though its plot seems no less ridiculous. THR describes the plot like this: “The project is described as a three-hander that tells of two brothers that steal an ambulance that is already in a heightened state with a female paramedic and a patient who is in critical condition.” Gyllenhaal would play one of the brothers, with Dylan O’Brien circling the other. Eiza Gonzalez is also in talks.

It’s currently unclear who would be paying for it. Bay got Netflix to put up 6 Underground’s hefty budget after burning through arguably too many Transformer episodes, which got increasingly bizarre and, with The Last Knight, finally stopped making money. Will Bay tap into Gyllenhaal’s recent yen for wacky roles, some of which feature him singing about music? Here’s hoping.

(Via THR)

Let Him Go, in select theaters this past weekend from Focus Features, is an odd one. The producers clearly saw Kevin Costner and Diane Lane playing Ma and Pa Kent in those Superman movies and thought Costner/Lane as a married couple from the great plains was worth another 90 minutes or so. I can’t say I blame them, Costner/Lane do make effective avatars of homespun Americana, effortlessly evoking prairie populism and moral rectitude with one wizened squint towards the horizon, like Diane Arbus shooting a Viagra ad.

Which is to say: Let Him Go is strong on people and place. Costner and Lane play George and Margaret Blackledge, living on a farm in sixties Montana with their son, stepdaughter, and grandson, hooking us with setting. But soon as the story kicks in, it sort of falls apart. Let Him Go, adapted by director Thomas Bezucha from a Larry Watson novel, is a bit of a tweener, unable to find a balance between realism and genre pulp, playing like a weird mishmash of Yellowstone, Taken, and Tyler Perry. It comes off as not quite exciting enough for genre movie and not quite believable enough for cinema.

The Blackledges are a big happy family until one day, George and Margaret’s son falls off his horse and breaks his neck and dies. As if the heartbreak from a dead son wasn’t tragedy enough, they soon lose their new stepdaughter, Lorna (Kayli Carter) and grandson too (a big fat adorable baby) when Lorna goes off to live with her new husband, Donnie Weboy (Will Brittain). Margaret’s unease with Donnie is confirmed when she’s driving by one day and sees Donnie beat both his new wife and stepson.

Much as in a Tyler Perry movie where no character is ever forced to make a truly difficult decision and the audience need not ever ponder where they should stand, Let Him Go is almost entirely without nuance or subtext. When Lorna gets a new husband, we don’t like him already for taking away Margaret’s grandson. Before we can even process that, he’s also revealed to be a wife-beating child abuser, thereby absolving us of any empathy or uncertainty whatsoever. Well shucks, it sure is nice not to have to think!

At Margaret’s behest (she’s the stubborn one, you see) she and George eventually set out after Lorna and Donnie, who have mysteriously packed up and left town one night. George, a retired lawman, eventually tracks them to North Dakota, where they’ve gone to live with Donnie’s family, the Weboys, who are, according to the locals, not to be trifled with. But trifle they do, and George and Margaret eventually meet Blanche and Bill Weboy (Leslie Manville and Jeffrey Donovan) who immediately announce themselves as EVIL with shark-toothed smiles and lengthy Bond-villain monologues. It must be so disconcerting to meet someone who immediately starts vamping around the kitchen spilling whiskey and delivering their entire life story, can’t say it’s ever happened to me. The Blackledges, meanwhile, can’t even feign politeness. Which seems like both a strategic error on their part and not that interesting for us to watch.

White hats and black hats work better in a shoot-em-up. Let Him Go instead requires us to sit through less than believable conversation. It eventually gets to the shooting (and worse), but by then we’ve sort of lost interest. It’s a shame, because Kevin Costner and Diane Lane do look great as a cowboy couple, our idealized rural mom and dad. Turns out Let Him Go is better as a catalogue than it is a movie.

‘Let Him Go’ hit theaters November 6th. Vince Mancini is on Twitter. You can access his archive of reviews here.

Rising Dallas rapper Mo3, whose real name is Melvin Noble, has died on Wednesday. The Dallas Police Department has confirmed that the rapper was shot while driving on Robert L. Thornton Freeway in Dallas, Texas.

According to CBS 11 News in Dallas, Mo3 was driving northbound on the freeway around 12pm local time when a car pulled up next to him. The suspect then stepped out of the vehicle with a gun and approached Noble’s vehicle. Officers say Noble stepped out of his car and began running southbound on the freeway before the gunman shot at him multiple times, with at least one round hitting him. TMZ reports that the fatal wound was a shot to the back of Mo3’s head.

An innocent bystander was also injured in the wave of gunshots, but they were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. News of Mo3’s death comes after a graphic video circulated on social media, showing Mo3 laying on his back while a bystander performed CPR.

This was apparently not the first time Mo3 was shot in recent months. Back in December, he had survived a bullet injury in his hand. Seconds after the shooting, Mo3 had taken to his Instagram stories to show his wound and assure people he was alright.

Mo3’s musical career was on a steady rise before his tragic death. He had just finished a stint of successful shows which had recently seen a sold-out crowd in Indianapolis. Mo3 was associated with Boosie Badazz’s label Bad Azz Music and the two even teamed up earlier this year for the 15-track LP Badazz MO3.

(via CBS 11 News and TMZ)

Hugh Grant has more range than he’s sometimes given credit for. You can currently see him being incredibly serious — and incredibly good — on the HBO’s The Undoing, opposite fellow Paddington baddie Nicole Kidman. But in the public eye, he’s still known as the type he’s played in Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, and others: witty, self-deprecating, stammering, and cartoonishly British. It’s a role he often leans into in his talk show appearances, even when — as on Tuesday night’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert — he was talking about what it was like to suffer through COVID-19.

As the pandemic seems to be exploding into another wave in the U.S., we could all use some levity, even gallows humor. Grant provided it. He surprised Colbert by revealing that he, and his wife, actually tested positive for the virus in the early days. He started off seriously but quickly turned to amplifying his Hugh Grant-ness.

“It started as just a very strange syndrome where I kept breaking into a terrible sweat. It was like a poncho of sweat. Embarrassing, really,” Grant recalled. “Then my eyeballs felt about three sizes too big and this feeling as though some enormous man was sitting on my chest — sort of Harvey Weinstein or someone.”

This was early days, mind you, back during the last winter, so when Grant realized he was one of the people who’d lost his sense of smell — as some who tested positive did — he was confused. “I thought, ‘I don’t know what this is,’” he said. “And then I was walking down the street one day and I thought, ‘I can’t smell a damn thing.’ And you start to panic.”

Grant said he then started smelling everything he could find. “I started sniffing flowers, nothing,” he said. “And you get more and more desperate. I started sniffing in garbage cans. You know, you want to sniff strangers’ armpits because you just can’t smell anything.”

“I eventually went home and sprayed my wife’s Chanel No. 5 directly into my face,” he added. “Couldn’t smell a thing. But I did go blind!”

It’s classic Hugh Grant. It just happens to be about a highly contagious pandemic that has made 2020 one of the worst on record. But we need some quality humor now, so thank you, Hugh.

You can watch the full interview above. The stuff about COVID starts around the 3:20 mark.

After an admittedly slow week, SNX DLX is back with not just a top-five but a top-six! Six dope sneaker drops in one SNX DLX? Believe it, folks. The weeks ahead are either going to feed us some of the year’s best colorways or we’re going to hit a sharp decline until 2021. But considering the sustained drops during the pandemic, we’re going to bet on the former.

This week, we’ve got amazing colorways out of Nike, a dual drop of Yeezys, and what may go down as Supreme’s final brand collaboration before their $2.5 billion dollar sale goes through. On the apparel end, we’ve got a light week — with collections from Stüssy and Comme des Garçons and a winter-focused Palace drop that should have us well equipped for cold weather.

Let’s dive into the best sneaker and apparel drops of the week!

Nike SB Dunk Low Elephant

This is the type of release that alienates people from diving into the sneaker game. The Nike SB Dunk Low Elephant is a colorway Nike should be dropping on their main site, it’s not a cross-brand collaboration, so why Nike? Why limit one of the best SB Dunk colorways to a small release through skate shops and Nike Orange Label retailers like Berrics Canteen?

That move ensures that a lot of people won’t be able to get their hands on a pair of these and that’s unfortunate. You just can’t beat a liberal use of elephant print with a bright teal swoosh. It just dope, through and through. (And yes, we get the exclusivity/rareness factor that Nike is trying for here.)

The Nike SB Dunk Low Elephant is set to drop on November 11th for a retail price of $110. Pick up a pair at The Berrics Canteen or other Nike Orange Label retailers.

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Adidas Yeezy 700 V3 Safflower

Ye makes two types of Yeezys. There are the ’90s-influenced earthy barf colored sneakers, ala The Powerphase, or the Wave Runners. And there are the alien-looking futuristic silhouettes, like the 350s, 380s, and 500s. The 700 V3 lands in that latter camp.

The Safflower is dressed in a mix of white, grey, and tans, and is the first 700 V3 to use Ye’s dusty Calabasas color palette, as all the 700 V3s to date have utilized more stark combinations. We’re loving this change-up.

The Adidas Yeezy 700 V3 Safflower is set to drop on November 14th for a retail price of $200. Pick up a pair at Yeezy Supply or through the Adidas webstore.

Adidas Yeezy BOOST 350 V2 Fade

Lately, Ye has been borrowing some of the colorway ideas from the V1 BOOST 350s and applying them to the V2, which is resulting in some of the best designs for the silhouette to date. The 350 V2 Fade uses a heavily woven look on its Primeknit upper with a stripe that resembles denim and pairs nicely with the haphazard patterning it’s laid against.

Unfortunately for us, this one is an Asia Pacific market exclusive. This means you’re going to pay a chunk of change in shipping or you’ll have to grab this one from a reseller. So far, there is no indication that a stateside release is coming, either — so don’t hold your breath.

The Adidas Yeezy BOOST 350 V2 Fade is set to drop in November 12th for a retail price of $220. Pick up a pair at Yeezy Supply or through aftermarket sites like StockX.

Air Jordan 1 CO.JP Midnight Navy

I will not stop beating on this drum: the best Nike colorways come from Japan, specifically the CO.JP branded label.

This week sees the release of the Midnight Navy colorway, which dropped a month ago in Japan and Europe and features navy nubuck leather paneling over a pure white leather upper with a metallic silver swoosh and Air Jordan emblem. Easily a top tier colorway for the Jordan 1.

The Air Jordan 1 CO.JP Midnight Navy is set to drop on November 14th for a retail price of $170. Pick up a pair through the Nike SNKRS app or Nice Kicks.

Nike Dunk High Pure Platinum

The Nike Dunk is experiencing a bit of renaissance in the sneaker world, this we’ve seen the Chunky Dunkies, the Grateful Dead Dunks, and now we’re getting an ultra-clean Pure Platinum colorway of the Dunk High. This drop is so fire that we’re hoping it kicks off a high-top Dunk renaissance in 2021 to match the steady clip of Dunk Lows we’ve been getting in 2020.

The Pure Platinum features a premium white leather upper with a platinum wrap around swoosh, and high-top padded collars for extra support.

The Nike Dunk High in Pure Platinum is set to drop on November 13th for a retail price of $120. Pick up a pair through the Nike SNKRS app.

Supreme x Timberland Fall Winter 2020 Collaboration

Supreme was just sold to VF Corp — the same brand that owns Dickies and Timberland — in a 2.5 billion dollar deal, and while that has definitely affected the brand’s counter-culture cool, it hasn’t watered down any of their collaborations. Yet.

This three colorway 6-inch boot still looks like classic Supreme. The collection is an updated take on Timberland’s classic 6-inch Waterproof Boot and features a premium nubuck leather upper with Timberland’s rugged work-site focused construction with some of Supreme’s high fashion design flair.

The boots drop in a beige, black, and powder blue colorway. Our pick is powder blue, easily.

The Supreme Timberland FW 2020 collection is set to release on November 12th at the Supreme webstore.

CDG x Stüssy 40th Anniversary Collection

Stüssy has been steadily collaborating with all sorts of different streetwear labels this year, in celebration of the label’s 40th Anniversary. This week sees the California label linking up with Comme des Garçons for an exclusive capsule of winter-focused fits. The collection features a green satin MA1 bomber jacket, Bing pinstripe jacket, and a few dual-branded graphic t-shirts.

Rounding out the collection is a cotton tote bag and of course, a bucket hat. It wouldn’t be a new Stüssy collection without a bucket hat.

The Comme des Garçons Stüssy 40th Anniversary Collection is set to drop On November 13th. Shop the looks at the Comme des Garçons online store and the Stüssy webstore.

Palace Winter 2020 Drop 7

If selling out ends up ruining Supreme — for the record, we don’t think it will — then Palace will be there to pick up the crown. For their seventh Winter 2020 drop, the brand is unloading some warm layers to bundle up in, like the GORE-TEX equipped Infinium Puffa in four alternate colorways (already picking up where Supreme left off), and India, New Zealand, South Africa, or West Indies-branded Bowl Out Crewneck Sweaters.

Rounding out the collection is a substantial collection of hats including 6-panels, beanies, and a plaid Palace logo set.

The 7th Palace Winter 2020 Drop will release on November 13th. Shop the looks at the Palace webstore.

HBO Max been around since late May, for nearly half a year, and it’s honestly an incredible streamer. Not only does it have HBO stuff but also DC, Adult Swim, TCM, Studio Ghibli, tons and tons of Looney Tunes, plus a lot of other assorted miscellany buried on its vast coffers. There’s just one catch: It isn’t available to stream on Roku. Still. But now there’s a workaround for those sick of using their HDMI cables to connect their laptops with their giant television just to watch Citizen Kane, Sealab 2021, or the cartoon where Bugs Bunny repeatedly humiliates a snooty opera singer.

This life hack comes from Variety, which notes that a new Roku update allows select 4K streaming devices, soundbars, and TVs to connect with Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit. That means Roku users can now stream content directly from their Apple gizmos — their iPhones, iPads or Macs. And that means they have a way — a roundabout way, but still a way — to “cast” HBO Max content through Roku. (So, just as there’s a catch with HBO Max, there’s a catch with this update: it only works for those with 4K devices.)

No, it’s not the same as having a native HBO Max app on Roku, but it’s still less of a hassle than other HBO Max-to-Roku workarounds. For now, you’ll simply have to wait for WarnerMedia and Roku to cut a deal, although it’s a little more complicated than one side asking for too much money. According to Variety, “Roku wants to continue to sell HBO as a channel, while WarnerMedia wants HBO Max to be a discrete app in the same way Roku distributes Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus and other services.” So there!

The Roku devices that qualify for this update, FYI, include: Roku Ultra (4800x, 4670x, 4661x, 4662x, 4660x, 4640x); Roku Premiere (4630x, 4620x, 3920x); Roku Streaming Stick Plus (3811x, 3810x); Roku Streambar (9102x); and Roku Smart Soundbar (9101x, 9100x). The updates have reportedly already started rolling out, so a number of you may already have an easier way to watch old Mr. Show episodes or the 1976 version of King Kong starring Jeff Bridges without busting out your HDMI cable.

(Via Variety)

Visionary writer and director Taika Waititi is the creative force behind the new Coca-Cola Christmas commercial, and man, we hope you asked for a box of tissues this year because you’re gonna need them. The two minute spot features an oil worker who finds himself locked into an unyielding quest to deliver his daugther’s letter to Santa. While the ad doesn’t feature the CGI wizardry and outlandish humor of Waititis’s Thor Ragnarok, the emotional journey will hit you harder than the God of Thunder’s hammer when it reaches its surprise ending.

In a sign of these pandemic times, Coca-Cola also included a special message on YouTube that encourages everyone to embrace the spirit of the holidays by reaching out to friends and family however you can:

This Christmas, give something only you can give.

Be it in person, over an awkward video call, or just a quick message, making time for the ones you love is what makes Christmas truly the most special time of year, no matter how you do it.

Wherever you are, we hope you have a good one.

Merry Christmas

The Christmas commercial is an unexpected treat from Waititi who’s had a very busy schedule. He’s been showing off his acting chops on The Mandalorian and upcoming roles in The Suicide Squad and Free Guy. He’s also about to start production on Thor: Love and Thunder, and shortly after that, he’ll be delivering a new Star Wars movie for Disney. That film will have the daunting task of kicking off a new era in Star Wars following the conclusion of The Skywalker Saga in 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker. Like we said, the guy has a full plate, so we have no idea how Taika found the time to deliver what’s essentially a short film for Coca-Cola, but he sure as hell pulled it off.

Tim Duncan decided to make the leap into coaching full-time this past season with the San Antonio Spurs, but the future Hall of Famer and arguably the best power forward to ever live will apparently be cutting his coaching career off after just one season.

According to Marc Stein of the New York Times, Duncan’s foray into the coaching space will not continue in the 2020-21 season with the Spurs, as he returns to the retired life.

This was apparently expected all along by the Spurs, per Stein, and it isn’t a huge surprise as the grind of being an assistant coach in the league is pretty grueling. What we do know is that this surely won’t be Duncan stepping back completely from the Spurs, as before he became a full-time assistant coach he was a regular fixture in the practice facility, helping the Spurs bigs work on their craft and offering some tips and tricks of the trade. That will continue, but he just won’t be on Gregg Popovich’s bench anymore for games, as he’ll likely return to his car shop and do the things a retired legend is afforded.

Duncan will retire at an unofficial 1-0 as a head coach, as he picked up a win in Charlotte while filling in for Pop back in March.

Wine can often feel intimidating. There are terms to learn, regional differences to memorize, and various grapes to be aware of. Styles are nuanced and flavors are often subtle. It’s all a lot to take in and, frankly, can sometimes feel clogged with marketing bullshit and snobbish gatekeeping.

We say, “forget that noise.” Wine should be fun, drinkable, and, with any luck, affordable. The rest is ancillary. At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is whether or not you actually dig what’s in your glass.

To help you get into wine without breaking the bank, we’re calling out ten bottles that all clock in under $10. These aren’t spectacular bottles — no need to exaggerate. But they do taste good while being very reasonably priced. That’s a pretty solid one-two punch. They’re also all fairly findable coast-to-coast or you can get them delivered by simply clicking on their prices.

Let’s dive in!

Yellow Tail Shiraz

ABV: 13.5%
Average Price: $5

The Wine:

This 100 percent Shiraz from Australia is the gold-standard of cheap-yet-quaffable red wine. This is the sort of wine that acts as a gateway for a lot of people, due to its wide-ranging accessibility at nearly every grocery store and liquor store across the nation.

Tasting Notes:

Red berry fruit mingles with a hint of anise-leaning-towards-licorice. A note of vanilla lingers in the background, as hints of cinnamon-forward spice add a nice depth to the sip.

Bottom Line:

Look, it’s five dollars a bottle. It’s not going to wow anyone, but it’ll certainly get you tipsy while offering a little something in the body of juice without any astringent alcohol.

Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling

ABV: 12%
Average Price: $6

The Wine:

This Washington State Riesling is a classic Pacific Northwest wine. The crisp body of this wine is dialed-in to amp up the clarity of the fruit, with an easy sense of the old-school German Reisling varietal.

Tasting Notes:

Citrus, dry, and mellow all come to mind. There’s a fruit orchard feel to the juice with a focus on stone fruits, pears, and plenty of grapefruit zest. The wine comes into focus with the citrus and a nice sense of apricots.

Bottom Line:

Pair this with a flight of raw oysters or a Dungeness crab salad. It really does shine as a raw seafood accompaniment.

Trapiche Malbec

ABV: 13%
Average Price: $7

The Wine:

This Argentine Malbec is a big, chewy wine. The grapes are all pulled from vineyards around the Andean foothills of Mendoza. The wine is built to be paired with the heavy, fiery proteins Argentina became famous for.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a real plumminess to this wine. The fruit leans more towards a ripe red cherry as the body maintains balance and heft. The end of the sip has a minerality to it that’s part mossy and part mushroom, with a final note of oaky vanilla.

Bottom Line:

If you’re eating steak and/or mushrooms, this is the wine for you. Again, it’s not going to be mind-blowing. But it’ll be perfectly satisfying.

La Vieille Ferme Rosé

ABV: 13.5%
Average Price: $7

The Wine:

This rosé from the Rhône river valley in France is a light, almost airy addition to any wine cabinet. The juice is a blend of late summer harvested Cinsault, Grenache, and Syrah berries. The end result is French sunshine in a bottle.

Tasting Notes:

There’s sharp citrus that’s punctuated by wildflowers and stone fruit. The fruit is peachy and vibrant, with a nice acidic underbelly to even things out. A note of cherry arrives late, rounding out the sip.

Bottom Line:

This is almost too easy to drink. Make sure it’s deeply chilled and enjoy it with a light meal or cheese course. Or just because.

Apothic Cab

ABV: 13.5%
Average Price: $8

The Wine:

This California Cabernet is a good value with a solid drinkability. There’s a real body to this wine that doesn’t overpower, making it a solid middle-of-the-road drinker.

Tasting Notes:

Blackberry jam, dark chocolate, and vanilla all mingle on your senses. An oaky sense helps tie the whole sip together and bring about a dry-yet-full-bodied finish.

Bottom Line:

This is a very easy wine to drink with dinner or after work. It doesn’t ask too much of your palate while delivering on familiar and tasty flavors.

Dark Horse Pinot Noir

ABV: 13.5%
Average Price: $8

The Wine:

This California Pinot has no business being this tasty at this low price point. Winemaker Beth Liston finds some of the best fruit in Modesto to create this powerhouse bottle of wine while still keeping the price low for you. It’s a great balancing act.

Tasting Notes:

Fruit — red berries in particular — really lead the way on this sip. That fruit marries mild notes of spicy oak and fresh vanilla pods. The velvet body pops with dried flowers as the fruit embraces your senses.

Bottom Line:

This is one of those bottles that feels like it should cost $20. Since it’s less than $10, you can easily buy two without hesitation.

Gnarly Head Cabernet

ABV: 14.5%
Average Price: $8

The Wine:

This California red from Lodi is a masterful blend from several local vineyards. Each vineyard’s grapes are chosen to add an extra layer of depth to the final product, which is very easy-drinking.

Tasting Notes:

Berry jams and Christmas spice mix with dried herbs and florals. The sip really leans into the dark fruit jams and black pepper spice with a nice hint of oak. The body is dry-yet-welcoming with a svelte texture.

Bottom Line:

This is a really solid pairing wine for meaty Italian pasta, pizza, or even some backyard BBQ.

Robert Mondavi Private Selection Chardonnay

ABV: 13.5%
Average Price: $8.50

The Wine:

This award-winning California Chardonnay is a solid bottle at a great price. This could easily be a $20 bottle given the quality of the juice, but it’s not. Advantage, you.

Tasting Notes:

Tropical fruit, apples, pears, and creamy butter balance nicely on this one. The apples and pears take on a baked quality with a note of cinnamon and more of that butter coming to the surface of the sip. A note of citrus cuts through the creamier side and leads towards an oaky yet still buttery finish.

Bottom Line:

Again, this is a really solid bottle for a steal. Make sure to really cool this one down and then pair it with a nice seafood feast.

Cupcake Light Hearted Chardonnay

ABV: 8%
Average Price: $9.50

The Wine:

This new line from Cupcake out in Calfornia aims to lower the caloric intake of your average wine without sacrificing the flavors. And we have to say: it holds up.

That’s not to say this is a perfect wine. It’s solid, affordable, and a nice break from the heftier ABVs on this list.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a very clear sense of acidic pineapple, pear, and creamy-but-slightly sour Greek yogurt up front. A hint of nuttiness and vanilla come through with a whisper of oak as the fruit and yogurt dominate the palate.

Bottom Line:

This is a nice change of pace while still being clearly a Chardonnay that hasn’t sacrificed any flavors.

Campo Viejo Rioja Tempranillo

ABV: 13.5%
Average Price: $9.50

The Wine:

This Spanish wine is a very easy sipper that charms as much as it satisfies. The Tempranillo grape grown in Rioja creates a deep red that doesn’t overpower your palate while still giving you plenty to ponder.

Tasting Notes:

Red berries, spicy oak, vanilla, and dry sweet grass greet you. The taste leans into the vanilla, oak, and berries while adding a layer of dark cacao near the end. The finish is long, velvety, and marries the dark chocolate to the spices and vanilla nicely.

Bottom Line:

This is a great entry point into the wider world of fine Spanish wines, especially those from Rioja. This is also an easy pairing wine that goes well with most meals, big and small.

The Liberator (Netflix series) — Based upon Alex Kershaw’s book, The Liberator: One World War II Soldier’s 500-Day Odyssey, this four-part series tackles the true story of the bloodiest World War II march to victory. U.S. Army officer Felix Sparks and his infantry aim to liberate Europe, and the visuals introduce a new, rotoscope-esque technology to visualize the CGI-live-action performance by its cast.

Eater’s Guide to the World (Hulu series) — Maya Rudolph narrates this serial tour of the Eater’s Guide to the World with all kinds of local culinary destinations. Epic meals are the mission, and adventures with kind and interesting souls along the way.

Aunty Donna’s Big Ol’ House of Fun (Netflix comedy sketch series) — Aussie comedy group Aunt Donna introduces their absurdist style to a whole new audience who may not be prepared for their wacky musical numbers. Ed Helms produces as part of Pacific Electric Picture Company, along with Comedy Bang! Bang!

Devils (CW, 8:00pm EST) — Patrick Dempsey’s character is still fighting to clear his character’s name after being lured into a deadly scandal in the London finance world. Yes, there’s an intercontinental conspiracy, why do you ask?

Coroner (CW, 9:00pm EST) — The realm of true crime podcasts becomes a case focus for Jenny and Donovan, but it’s awfully hard to solve a murder when there’s no body.

Jimmy Kimmel Live — Maren Morris

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Michael Strahan, Brené Brown, Patty Smyth

The Late Late Show With James Corden — Max Greenfield, Ashe and Niall Horan

Late Night With Seth Meyers — Ethan Hawke, Lewis Black

In case you need some early Christmas viewing material, here’s a fresh-ish offering.

Holidate (Netflix film) — Here we go, everyone. The holiday season has officially begun, according to Netflix, which drops a romantic comedy starring Emma Roberts and Luke Bracey. Both their characters loathe the holidays, including family gatherings and friend-loaded celebrations, so despite being strangers, they make a pact to do the “holidate” thing with each other for a full year. Because this is a romcom, they will obviously vow to never have romantic feelings for each other, but you know how that always ends, right? Oh, let’s just embrace the clichés, already. It’s 2020.