The jury’s still out on whether Donald Trump will become the first U.S. president to be indicted, but at least he’s already achieved one milestone: He’s the first U.S. president to have a failed music single. (Probably, unless Ronald Reagan once tried his hand at music and history forgot.)
Amid all the hubbub going on in Trump’s life right now, he found time to record and release a single called “Justice for All.” It’s a collaboration between him and a group known as the “J6 Prison Choir,” which is comprised of about 20 people jailed for their involvement in the Capitol riot. It’s a charity single, with proceeds supposed to go to legal aid for the latter group.
Well, as per The Daily Beast, the song did chart — but only on the Bubbling Under Hot 100. There it reached #4, close to cracking the 100, but no cigar.
Perhaps people weren’t blown away by the content. Despite Trump’s professed love for those who tried to overturn Democracy at his bidding, not a whole lot of effort went into the single. The entirety of it finds a scratchily-recorded men’s choir dutifully singing “The Star Spangled Banner” while every now and then a semi-engaged Trump occasionally reciting The Pledge of Allegiance. Not only is it lazy, but it doesn’t even sound very good. It runs a mere two minutes and 20 seconds. For perspective, that’s only less than 30 seconds longer than the super short original version of “Old Town Road” (and 17 seconds shy of the Billy Ray Cyrus remix).
It may sound cliché, but half the fun of drinking wine is learning about what’s in your glass. If we’re being honest, not even a lifetime of studying could lead to mastery of the subject but… that’s kind of the beauty of it all. However, learning the foundations is a great place to start. While there are a plethora of regions, grape varieties, and styles to understand, locking in the basics can be done with as few as 10 bottles.
First thing’s first, there are some keys to know. When tasting wines—no matter what color or style—assessing a wine’s body (light, medium, full) is always on the table, followed by acidity (high, medium, low). When it comes to red wine, tannins—that is, the astringent compounds responsible for leaving drying sensations on your tongue, cheeks, and gums—are also assessed. Put these three things together, and you’ve got a 101 understanding of wine’s structure! And that’s good to know because these components are far more foundational than “flavor” notes (think fruit, earth, and other descriptors) when assessing a wine.
Note: There’s plenty more to learn than via our list below, and the bottles can certainly be substituted with other producers, but you’ll get the drift. Check out our 10 foundational bottles to learn the basics about wine below—trust us, this may just be the most fun you’ve ever had while “studying.”
1. Cooper Mountain Pinot Noir 2019
Cooper Mountain Vineyards
ABV: 13.5% Region: Oregon, USA Price: $27.99
What This Wine Will Teach You:
For understanding what wines with lower levels of tannins and higher levels of acidity taste like, Pinot Noir is a great place to start. The low levels of tannins are due to the grapes’ thin skins, as skins are where tannins generally come from. The thicker they are, the more prominent they’ll be.
Tasting Notes:
This savory, earth-driven Pinot Noir shows flavors of red cherry, blueberry, raspberry, damp earth, and hints of sweet spice. The wine’s ample acidity and soft tannins make this bottle extremely easy to drink—especially when served with a slight chill on it.
The Bottom Line:
Pinot Noir really spans the “nuances” gamut of styles and flavor profiles. To best understand the unique differences, we recommend grabbing a bottle from California, as well as a Burgundian expression (such as this one: Domaine Pillot Bourgogne Rouge 2021) to really explore the spectrum.
2. Domaine Saint Roch Touraine Sauvignon 2021
BuyRite Wines
ABV: 12% Region: Loire Valley, France Price: $17.99
What This Wine Will Teach You:
Sauvignon Blanc is one of the most widely planted grape varieties in the entire world. While New World expressions tend to show a bit more grassiness, Old World styles tend to be a bit more flinty and smoky. In addition to fruit-driven traits, these wines will offer great examples of non-fruit characteristics, too.
Tasting Notes:
This textbook expression of Sauvignon Blanc shows crisp flavors of citrus rind, crushed rocks, and flinty undertones. Ample amounts of zesty acidity lead to long, lip-puckering finish.
The Bottom Line:
Acid, acid, acid, as well as what herbaceousness (and hints of flintiness) in wine taste like. We generally don’t suggest tasting wine with preconceived thoughts in mind, but keep these descriptors handy when actively seeking them out this time around.
3. Château de Bellevue Lussac Saint-Emilion
Vivino
ABV: 13% Region: Bordeaux, France Price: $24.99
What This Wine Will Teach You:
Merlot is usually known for producing medium-bodied wines with smooth, supple tannins and moderate amounts of acidity. For a good gauge of what a middle-of-the-road expression is in all of these facets of red wine, Merlot is a great place to start.
Tasting Notes:
Merlot is synonymous with flavors of blueberry, blackberry, and hints of red flowers, and this Right Bank Bordeaux blend shows exactly that. Expect a fleshy and juicy wine marked by pleasantly firm tannins and a palate-coating finish.
The Bottom Line:
Old World versus New World plays a big role here, in that most Old World expressions, specifically from Bordeaux, are blends (and are labeled by region), whereas New World examples are monovarietal, meaning 100%. Check out this example from Washington (L’Ecole 41 Columbia Valley Merlot 2019) to dive into the latter.
4. Domaine Mathias Bourgogne Chardonnay 2021
Astor Wine & Spirits
ABV: 13.5% Region: Burgundy, France Price: $24.96
What This Wine Will Teach You:
On its own, Chardonnay is generally pretty bland and neutral. This can be a good thing and a bad thing—good in that it can greatly reflect the terroir from which it comes, bad in that it will also very obviously reveal imbalances in wine, such as excessive use of oak.
Tasting Notes:
This medium-bodied Chardonnay is a very typical expression of White Burgundy, in that it shows supple flavors of stone fruit, lemon cream, pear, and saline-driven undertones. For those looking to understand the texture of a medium-bodied white wine, this bottle is it.
The Bottom Line:
Chardonnay is basically a chameleon, in that it will greatly reflect where it’s grown and how it’s made. Unfortunately, the majority of affordable Chardonnay out there is pretty bad—in that it’s pretty good at reflecting a lack of balance. On the contrary, great expressions, such as the one above, show beautiful balance.
5. Pecchenino Langhe Botti Nebbiolo 2020
Vivino
ABV: 13.5% Region: Piedmont, Italy Price: $17.99
What This Wine Will Teach You:
While it was tough to choose between including Sangiovese and Nebbiolo on this list, the latter really stands out in helping to learn about tannins. Even approachable styles of Nebbiolo, such as this one from Pecchenino, very obviously leave a drying sensation in the mouth.
Tasting Notes:
Ruby-hued in the glass, this perfumed Nebbiolo shows classic flavors of dried strawberries, rose petals, leather, and hints of potting soil. Don’t let its light color fool you – the tannic grip on this wine is pretty strong!
The Bottom Line:
Think about over-steeped black tea or underripe fruit – these are other ways to understand what tannins feel like. Comparing Nebbiolo and Pinot Noir side by side is a great way to understand tannins, in that both varieties produce high-acid red wines, though their tannic structures couldn’t be more different.
6. Hervé Rafflin, ‘Nature’l’ Extra Brut NV Champagne
Vivino
ABV: 12.5% Region: Champagne, France Price: $39.99
What This Wine Will Teach You:
The traditional method of making sparkling wine! There are three main ways in which bubbles are produced: the traditional method, the tank method, and the ancestral method. The first is used in Champagne (and other regions), the second mostly in Prosecco, and the third in pét-nats. Traditional method sparklers undergo a secondary fermentation in bottle, then age on their lees (AKA the dead yeast cells from fermentation), which imparts toasty flavors and ample texture to the final wines.
Tasting Notes:
Rafflin’s Nature’l Extra Brut uses Champagne’s signature trio of grapes: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier. Expect flavors of citrus, white stone fruit, brioche, and a touch of saline to lead to a vivaciously zingy finish.
The Bottom Line:
Sparkling wine is made all over the world and is produced in a variety of styles, though Champagne will always reign king. Fun fact: the traditional method is also used in Cava and crémant production, too.
7. No Fine Print Cabernet Sauvignon 2019
Gold Eagle Wine
ABV: 13.5% Region: California, USA Price: $19.99
What This Wine Will Teach You:
Cabernet Sauvignon from California is generally the stereotypical example of what “New World” style wines are, although that is shifting as climate change (and global winemaking preferences) evolve – in other words, bold, fruit-forward, and often marked by some influences of new oak.
Tasting Notes:
While many California Cabs tend to err on the jammy side of things, this well-balanced pick from No Fine Print is just right. The wine’s concentrated-yet-balanced profile is laden with flavors of plums, blackberry, and subtle hints of toasty oak. Fun fact: This wine was crafted by Pat Corcoran and Tim Smith (managers of Chance the Rapper and Skrillex, respectively), to create “wine by the people, for the people.”
The Bottom Line:
This flavor-packed and extremely fruit-forward Cabernet Sauvignon is a quintessential example of West Coast Cab, though its relatively lower ABV (most are over 14%) render it a bit more restrained than the majority of expressions—which we definitely appreciate.
8. Pfeffingen Dry Riesling 2021
Field Blend Selections
ABV: 12% Region: Pfalz, Germany Price: $23.99
What This Wine Will Teach You:
Similar to Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling is a quintessential variety used to showcase acidity in wine, as bottles produced from it are known for their laser-like depictions. This dry example from Pfeffingen is no exception.
Tasting Notes:
High-acid wine lovers, don’t sleep on this tasty bottle. Notes of lemon, lime, green apple skin, and crushed stones offer a juicy, mineral-driven finish. In short, this wine is lively, balanced, and kind of like sunshine-meets-lightning in a glass.
The Bottom Line:
Another key takeaway here – Not. All. Riesling. Is. Sweet! Dry Riesling is the perfect example to show that many grape varieties can span the entire flavor profile spectrum, from bone dry to sticky sweet.
9. Catena Malbec 2019
Young
ABV: 13.6% Region: Mendoza, Argentina Price: $17.99
What This Wine Will Teach You:
Although Malbec isn’t always included on lists like this, we believe that the wines often depict a distinct florality — which can be hard to pick up in wines. A classic tasting note in Malbec is often violets, hence the inclusion of this wine on the list (plus, historically speaking, Catena has done loads for South America’s viticultural scene. Google their story.)
Tasting Notes:
Full-bodied red wine fans, this one’s for you. The dark violet hue of Catena’s Malbec is undeniably reflected in the glass, offering flavors of ripe red and dark berries, violet, hints of and hints of coffee. Despite the wine’s concentrated palate, tingly natural acidity allows the wine to finish lengthy and bright.
The Bottom Line:
In addition to depicting florality, Malbecs are generally very fruit-forward and see some new oak, which helps to showcase the stereotypical “New World” style used on tasting grids.
10. Mary Taylor – Pascal Biotteau Anjou Blanc 2021
Vivino
ABV: 12% Region: Loire Valley, France Price: $15.99
What This Wine Will Teach You:
Chenin Blanc-based wines are bottles that novice wine drinkers generally describe as “sweet,” when they’re actually just fruit-forward. This is a great bottle to understand what wines with honeyed, fruit-driven characteristics without the presence of residual sugar taste like.
Tasting Notes:
This budget-friendly Chenin Blanc from Anjou is exactly what you’d expect from the region/grape: ripe stone fruit, honey, canned peaches, green apple, and hints of crushed rocks. Tangy, bright, and simply delicious – what more could you ask for?
The Bottom Line:
Similar to Riesling, Chenin Blanc can go the limits, in that it can be vinified bone dry, as well as into dessert-style wines. This expression beautifully depicts the notion described above – dry Chenins are often very honeyed and fruit-forward, though they don’t necessarily contain any residual sugar content.
Insults of any kind are painful, but jabs towards someone’s financial status are their own breed.
In January 2023, Singapore-based Zoe Gabriel was on the receiving end of this particular flavor of mockery when she posted a TikTok about a purse from local retail brand Charles & Keith—a gift bought for her by her father.
In her excitement, the 17-year-old called the bag, which costs around $80, a “luxury” item as she unwrapped it. Her excitement was sadly cut short by some of the negative comments she received.
One comment seemed to stand out above the rest and prompted Gabriel to post an emotional response video.
The now-deleted comment, which read, “Who’s gonna tell her?” followed by a laughing emoji, showed in the background as Gabriel tearfully explained why the purse meant so much to her as someone who grew up without a lot of money.
“We couldn’t buy new things as simple as bread from BreadTalk,” she said, referencing a popular Singaporean bakery. “That kind of thing was a luxury to us…Every time we passed by a store, my parents would just say next time, but next time would never come.”
With this context, Gabriel shared why the shameful comment was so inconsiderate.
“To you, an $80 bag may not be a luxury. For me and my family, it is a lot, and I’m so grateful that my dad was able to get me one. He worked so hard for that money.”
Gabriel’s video quickly went viral, even making its way to the actual founders of the Charles & Keith brand, Charles and Keith Wong. According to The Straits Times, the brothers were so “impressed” with Gabriel that they invited her and her father to have lunch and an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour at the company’s headquarters.
The brand later posted a photo on its Instagram page showing Gabriel modeling a lilac-colored Charles & Keith bag for International Women’s Day, even announcing her as a new brand ambassador.
You’d think it would go without saying to just let people enjoy things, but we know that on the internet simple courtesy sometimes goes out the window. However, this is a heartwarming reminder that for every ignorant remark, there are also those who want to lift others up.
Gabriel might have been ridiculed, but she has since seemed to come out on top, posting videos of herself wining and dining and dancing and traveling and basically having the time of her life. Sounds like the ultimate luxury to me.
Fans of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” are well acquainted with the “Rusical” segment, but in case this word seems like something out of Dr. Seuss, here’s a brief explainer: A Rusical is a challenge on the show where contestants put on a live parody drag musical. Since debuting in Season 6, the Rusical has become a beloved staple of the series, with some of the most popular titles being “Madonna: The Unauthorized Rusical,” “HERstory of the World” and “Moulin Ru: The Rusical.”
For Episode 12, the queens drew inspiration from the 1984 movie “Footloose” to tell a story about a small town that prohibits drag rather than dancing. The performance got a sweet seal of approval from the OG Ren McCormack himself.
“Big shoutout to @rupaulsdragrace’s Wigloose: the RuSical (and props to Heaven Bacon),” he wrote, adding that with the recent controversial legislation against drag shows, the performance “came at just the right time.”
“Drag is an art and drag is a right,” his story concluded.
LaDuca’s response? The same as anybody who just got a shoutout from Kevin Bacon would be.
“Well, I’m dead.”
Bacon wasn’t the only one to love “Wigloose.” Fans of the show were gushing about how they felt this was the best Rusical of the entire series.
Check out some of these lovely comments gleaned from Youtube.
“This was the BEST Rusical in Drag Race history across franchises.”
“Literally no one did bad, they all slayed.”
“This is one of the best rusicals they’ve ever done. Professional vocalists, catchy songs, tight choreography, and a timely and touching storyline. Everyone who had a hand in it should be super proud.”
Watch the full performance of “Wigloose: The Rusical” below:
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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100 Gecs — 10,000 Gecs
With videos featuring fireworks set off in the living room and a guitar being smashed on the ground, 100 Gecs know how to keep the attention on them. 10,000 Gecs was their highly anticipated answer to a groundbreaking debut that was hard to follow; however, the duo managed to get even weirder, making fans surprised and satisfied.
Yves Tumor — Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds)
The singles for Yves Tumor’s new album Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) previewed an atmospheric, eclectic experience, which one can already guess from the dramatic title. Together, the different songs blend together to create a cohesive, immersive listen-through. “Lovely Sewer” vibrates and buzzes with subtle excitement; “Parody” is a laid-back ballad in the realm of Tennis or Mac DeMarco. “In Spite Of War” is a memorable highlight.
Meet Me @ The Altar — Present // Past // Future
Finally, Meet Me @ The Altar unveiled their highly anticipated debut album Present // Past // Future, whose blazing singles were nothing short of exciting. But the ebullience of songs like “Kool” and “Say It (To My Face)” are also balanced with more downtrodden tracks like “A Few Tomorrows,” a thoughtful meditation on loss.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra — V
“The Garden” is a groovy, hypnotic hook for Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s new double album V. It encapsulates the dreaminess that’s to come throughout the next hour; the atmospheric songs pour into one another, sharing a spellbinding, celestial texture that keeps the listener in his hold the entire time.
Dazy — OTHERBODY
Dazy’s surprise OTHERBODY EP is a treat after they’ve unleashed the explosive OUTOFBODY last year. Those songs were reverb-drenched rock anthems with sticky melodies, especially the infectious “On My Way.” OTHERBODY is no less electrifying. “Every Little” is a fuzzed-out ripper that sounds like American Idiot on steroids; “Submarine” is a catchy, idiosyncratic ballad, still staticky.
Fenne Lily — “In My Own Time”
About “In My Own Time,” Fenne Lily shared, “This song’s about the weight of stasis — about time moving too quickly and too slowly and every mistake feeling both permanent and inconsequential.” It’s painfully relatable as she sings about the pressure of existence against soft guitars: “Sometimes I feel like I’m just killing time here / Or maybe it’s killing me.”
Feist — “Borrow Trouble”
“[‘Borrow Trouble‘] began as a contemplative acoustic morality tale and shape-shifted itself into the sound of trouble itself,” Feist said about their kaleidoscopic new song. “It’s a mess that holds its own logic. It’s the convincing cacophony that thoughts can be.” “Borrow Trouble” follows its own rules, and the lyrics are as boundary-breaking as the sprawling sound: “Even before your eyes are open / The plot has thickened ’round your fears.”
Warm Human — “Daylight Savings”
“Daylight Savings” is a mellow, lush ballad that Warm Human describes as being “my stream of consciousness about whether or not to text an ex on their birthday, and the cyclical thinking that comes from staring at a road for fourteen hours a day.” The pain is palpable in the sullen guitars and airy vocals; it’s a sprawling but heavy listen.
Phoenix, Clairo — “After Midnight”
Phoenix unveiled Alpha Zulu last year with a bang, and they’ve spiced up the track “After Midnight” by recruiting the one and only Clairo. Her voice is a wonderful contribution to the already invigorating song; her harmonies with Thomas Mars’ voice are one-of-a-kind, adding a new texture of bewitching lightness.
Lauren Early — “Good Girl Bad Boy”
Lauren Early’s new song “Good Girl Bad Boy” kicks off with a memorable hook: “Am I an incel, am I hysteric? / I don’t care, I love you, I can’t bear it / I don’t care if it’s problematic / I don’t care if it’s overdramatic.” With a lo-fi, bedroom-pop sound, Lauren Early captures the feeling of Gen Z: “Is this a romance or a horror?”
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Nic Cage isn’t really a “sequel” person per se, and maybe that’s just because he is still living with the consequences of agreeing to star in Ghost Rider 2: Spirit Of Vengeance, or maybe it’s just because he is sick of hearing jokes about stealing the declaration of independence. No matter the reason, Cage hasn’t done a sequel in years, and he doesn’t really want to. Maybe it’s because he’s Goth.
Cage recently spoke to Collider while promoting his new movie Renfield,where he plays a little-known vampire named Dracula. While he was open to the idea of returning as Draculas in the future, he says he tends to stay away from past roles. “Every time I do a movie and create a character, I’ve got to get them off of me,” the actor admitted. “It’s not healthy for me to have too many of these psychotics running around in my head.” Speaking of psychotics, have you watched Color Out Of Space recently?
Even though Cage doesn’t seek out sequels, he does have a few ideas in mind. The actor has already expressed interest in a Face/Off sequel, and now he is even open to growing out his hair for another Con Air adventure. “I think that there’s plenty of room for a Face/Off sequel. I think Con Air lends itself to a sequel,” he said, adding that he was interested in a sequel to The Rock before Sean Connery passed away in 2020.
In Con Air, Cage plays a former Army ranger who has to stop a prison break aboard a plane. Hey, it’s better than a plane full of snakes. He didn’t go into details about what a sequel would entail, but hopefully, Steve Buscemi would be open to returning in some capacity.
The actor then admitted that he tries not to think too much about sequels. “I think those two would work. I haven’t really thought too much about sequels, I really haven’t. I like trying to bring something new each time in the storytelling aspect…but I think that’s what many young people want.”
What young people really want is another Pedro Pascal/Nic Cage buddy comedy. It would go even more viral now. Throw Paul Mescal in there and you’ve got a TikTok-approved hit.
After just getting over a “major editing glitch” that accidentally led to an entire episode being spoiled, Jeopardy! fans have already moved on to a new controversy involving prolific actor Ewan McGregor. However, for a change of pace, this particular fiasco does not involve his fan-favorite role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars. Instead, it involves one of McGregor’s lesser-known films.
The incident went down during Monday’s episode when contestant Melissa Klapper fielded a $600 clue during the final round of the game.
“The force of Lasse Hallström was strong to pull in this Scot to play a fisheries expert in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen,” host Ken Jennings read to which Klapper quickly buzzed in and responded, “Who is Ewan McGregor?”
While McGregor is correct, Jeopardy! fans exploded on social media with accusations that Klapper mispronounced the actor’s name and actually said “Who is Ewan Gregor?” Some even went so far as to tag Jennings on Twitter.
“Anyone else notice that Melissa gave a response of ‘Ewan Gregor’ instead of Ewen MCGregor on tonight’s episode of #Jeopardy? Clearly the judges didn’t,” another viewer said.
One fan opted to directly address Jennings on his Twitter account, writing: “Hi Ken, on tonight’s Jeopardy, Kelly answered ‘Ewan Gregor’ to the question about Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and was given the points when the answer should have been Ewan McGregor. Were the scores ever corrected?”
You can see a video of what appears to be Klapper’s alleged mistake below:
As the controversy escalated, Reddit users came to Klapper’s aid and noted that, while it sounds like she mispronounced the name, “the judges have a direct feed to the contestants’ microphone which we don’t hear when the sound gets mixed for television, and they heard something different.”
Sure enough, a close examination of the YouTube footage at slow speed showed “the ‘Mc’ is definitely there but barely audible.” Newsweek also reviewed the footage at the same speed, and it “showed that Klapper did say McGregor’s last name correctly and in full during the round.”
Men like Nietzsche, Gandhi, and Socrates were pop culture’s original gatekeepers. If those philosophers were so insistent on convincing us that vengeance is such an empty thing that they tripped over each other to pen dramatic warnings about graves digging themselves and wounds festering, well, revenge must feel pretty damn good, right? Watching it play out on screen certainly does, and there’s no shortage of movies that trade on the entertainment value of getting even. The thing is, we need more. A lot more. And from a feminine perspective.
What began as an exercise in 70s horror exploitation with movies like I Spit On Your Grave and Lipstick has morphed into a narrative model with more than just violent delights and violent ends to its name. Revenge movies now have something to say, not only about the cruel, animalistic nature of mankind but of the evolving meaning of arbitrary concepts like “right” and “wrong.” A good revenge movie causes us to question, contemplate, and contend with our collective humanity and the systems in place that are meant to – but don’t necessarily succeed in – upholding it.
Promising Young Woman is a perfect example. When writer/director Emerald Fennell tells the story of Cassie (Carey Mulligan), a 30-something college dropout so consumed by grief after her friend Nina commits suicide that she doles out a tame method of vigilante justice on men who make sport of violating women the same way Nina once was, it’s more than fulfillment fantasy, it’s a form of protest. Not just against societal views of women that cling to life through generations like cockroaches, but against the systems in place that make it easy for perpetrators to move past their transgressions and impossible for their victims to do the same. Cassie isn’t brandishing weapons or planning elaborate schemes to punish the men who hurt Nina — not at first. Instead, she’s reveling in the sense of invincibility her simmering rage often feeds. She doesn’t fall into the stereotypes that regularly plague women’s revenge stories, eschewing the idea that a woman must be battered or scorned to deserve a chance at retribution. And she’s certainly no man — protected by plot armor and a sense of ego-stroking righteousness in his crusade against some bad apples tarnishing his gender’s on-screen reputation. She’s just a woman who is fed up and is finally doing something about it.
That Fennell never depicts violence against women, instead focusing on Cassie’s quest for revenge and trusting audiences to understand how violating and traumatizing Nina’s experience was – not just for her but for those who loved her most – is one of the most important elements of the film. Promising Young Woman never glorifies the torment that often serves as a catalyst for women’s revenge stories. Instead, Fennell invites us to enjoy watching “nice guys” reap what they sow before leaving us with a compelling idea about justice – who it’s meant for, who it actually serves, and what we’re willing to risk to get it.
Whatever reactions the film’s controversial ending sparked in audiences, just the idea that we were left thinking about the ways revenge stories have often failed women and wondering how we were meant to feel about Cassie’s final act shows how much progress we’ve made when it comes to these kinds of movies.
For a long time, women could only get revenge if they “earned it” through suffering, and only if it somehow propped up the performative machismo that made men feel better about watching it play out on screen.
One of the most prolific subsets of the revenge genre that serves as an example of this is the idea of the “rape and revenge” movie, a narrative blueprint that required female characters to experience life-altering trauma so that male characters could play their savior. In Ingmar Bergman’s The Virgin Spring, in Wes Craven’s The Last House on the Left, in Michael Winner’s Death Wish, women bear the brunt of the pain that spurs the men in their lives to later inflict it – normally on two-dimensional thugs portrayed as outcasts and criminals motivated by insanity or psychopathy. The daughters and wives who are beaten, raped, and humiliated in these early, horror-forward revenge films served as sadistic, symbolic window dressing – a cautionary tale that would further misogynistic ideas about sexual assault and a woman’s responsibility in it — and a kind of propaganda for the ultramasculine, meant to bulk up men’s ego and enshrine specific gender roles. Women got to play distressed damsels, men their unflappable saviors, and white knight syndrome continued to haunt what could’ve been a transformative period on screen for strong female characters.
Was it entertaining to watch the villains of these films suffer, sometimes in ways worse than their female victims? Duh. Vengeance activates the reward circuitry in the brain, no matter the gender of who wields it. But looking back on those movies, and the ones they inspired – we’re getting to you, Liam Neeson, hold on – we’re left with a feeling that revenge on film could be so much more.
That critique isn’t meant literally – those movies didn’t need more blood, more savagery, more machine gun ballets – but that’s what Hollywood heard when it revived the revenge genre in the aughts. It gave Neeson’s gruff, overprotective father figure a specific set of skills, sending him overseas to rescue his naïve young daughter and annihilate an underground sex trafficking ring in the process. It killed John Wick’s dog, spurring Keanu Reeves into a depressive rage cycle where he dispatched professional hitmen with ease – and an emotionless stare. It transformed Denzel Washington’s middle-aged hardware store employee into a killing machine so proficient, he can take down the Russian mob in Boston with just a nail gun and an exhaust pipe.
There were a few exceptions to the status quo, films like Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Vols. 1 & 2 – an homage to Lady Snowblood, another 70s revenge film with a woman at its center – that tasked women with kicking ass in the name of vengeance instead, but even those stylized feminist fantasies had lingering edges of the male gaze. (And it’s hard to tout Tarantino’s commitment to spotlighting violent anti-heroines when you know the cost actress Uma Thurman paid for it behind the wheel of that convertible.)
When revenge movies drifted further from their horror beginnings, and eschewed action-adventure for the teen comedy route, that’s when they began to have substance – at least in the eyes of the women watching them. Heathers angst-ridden body count, Mean Girls queen bee coup, girls belonging to disparate high school cliques banding together to orchestrate the downfall of a serial cheating school jock in John Tucker Must Die – these revenge movies relished the dramatics raging hormones often fuel and wielded them in service of empowerment stories that carried surprisingly progressive messaging. Even a film as divisive as Karyn Kusama’s Jennifer’s Body – a movie marketed to teenage boys but clearly dedicated to the girls they often torment and wrong – pushed this iteration of the revenge movie forward. When Amanda Seyfried’s character berates her demonically-possessed friend for “killing people,” only for Megan Fox to exasperatingly respond, “No, I’m killing boys,” that wasn’t just a culture shift, it was a big bang moment for how far women could now take their murderous impulses on-screen, without feeling guilty for it.
In French director Coralie Fargeat’s Revenge, Jen is a sugar baby stereotype who survives a sexual assault, an attempted assassination, and a relentless chase through the desert only for the filmmaker to flip the lens. Instead of lingering on depicting Jen’s trauma, Fargeat lets audiences gaze at the males she’s now hunting down for revenge, through the gun sight Jen has aimed at their naked, flailing bodies desperately trying to survive her savagery. And in Netflix’s Do Revenge, it’s the ending director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson gives this teen revenge refresh that feels a bit revolutionary. Instead of repenting and changing their ways, making amends to those they’ve hurt, and touting forgiveness as the best path forward the next time someone wrongs them, Drea (Camilla Mendes) and Eleanor (Maya Hawke) embrace the fact that they’re each other’s “fucked-up soulmates,” driving off into the sunset as their classmates deal with the fallout of their scheme.
When we say we want more female-driven revenge movies, this is what we mean – we want to see a world different from our own, where women take back their power (in whatever form they please) and revel in wielding it. That doesn’t necessarily equate to violence against men, but it does mean that women get to challenge the social structure men have put in place. One that says women can’t be predators because they must be protected. One that thinks masculinity is the only weapon worth wielding against injustice. One that allows women to be messy, complicated, unlikable beings to a point – but never far enough to truly appreciate the grotesque, depraved, morally deficient version of who they can be if given the right motivation. If pushed just a little too far.
Nowadays, the servers are overpowered by premium users seeking to abuse the power of AI to build businesses. Basically, Chat GPT has grown up and doesn’t have time to play around. And with the new improvements of Chat GPT-4, these boring business bro requests have only intensified.
Fear not! Even as people race to master the duller capabilities of Chat GPT, there will always be some folks prodding the light-hearted soul of this technology. Here are some quirky, fun, and ironic conversations with Chat GPT we found on the internet.
“Like the clothes that I’ve spun.” Interesting how Chat GPT characterizes this Emo Rapper as one who can sew clothing for his own personal brand. Very functional.
As AI becomes more and more prevalent, there are naturally some who will shout hallucinations of doom and gloom, and even more who will try using this new technology to make a ton of money. Everyone’s still coming to terms about what this is and what its implications could be. But amidst of all this urgency and cut-throat energy, it can’t hurt to just have some fun. Chat GPT is remarkable for so many reasons, and one of them is its witty, dry, almost innocent (at times) sense of humor.
As this technology grows, hopefully a few people will keep using it for entertainment, in addition to solving our most pressing issues.
Who makes the best fast food double cheeseburger? We tried to answer this question two months ago when we blind-taste tested our favorite fast casual double cheeseburgers. But looking back on that list, it seems a bit unfair. The burgers we selected for that list were from what you can arguably call “fast casual restaurants” and two of the three — In-N-Out and Shake Shack — are only available in a handful of states.
That leaves a lot of people out of the conversation, and we’re not about that — so we decided to run another round of blind double cheeseburger taste tests by focusing on five of the biggest brands in the fast food universe. We grabbed double cheeseburgers from Burger King, Carl’s Jr (AKA Hardee’s on the east coast), Jack in the Box, McDonald’s, and Wendy’s and put them to the blind taste test in search of the very best.
Who will come out on top in this fast food burger brawl? Place your bets now.
PART I — Methodology
This year we’ve blind taste tested double cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches, crunchy tacos, and French fries (twice), and each time I’ve pulled my hair out trying to figure out how to collect as many orders as I can while still ensuring that the food is warm, in order to be as fair as possible. That wasn’t an issue this time. We’re dealing with the big brands here, so four out of five of these restaurants were located in the same two-block radius.
The only restaurant that was a bit out of the way was Wendy’s. I picked up that burger first and hoped for the best as I rounded up the other four. Once home, I went outside, donned my trusty blindfold and waited as my always-patient girlfriend served me a cross-section of one burger at a time. I took a few bites and moved on to the next one. After the burgers were tasted, I photographed the untouched cross-sections so you wouldn’t have to see my gruesome bite marks.
The burgers used in this taste test included:
Burger King — Double Whopper With Cheese
Carl’s Jr — Double Superstar
Jack in the Box — Ultimate Cheeseburger
McDonald’s — Double Cheeseburger
Wendy’s — Dave’s Double
If you’re a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder fan, I hear you, and originally I was going to include the Double Quarter Pounder over the value menu Double Cheeseburger but several people insisted that I order the Double Cheeseburger instead (girlfriend included) claiming it to be the superior burger. In short, if McDonald’s ranks lower than you’d expect, blame my girlfriend.
PART II — The Tasting
Taste 1:
Dane Rivera
None of the ingredients are coming together here. I’m tasting onion, ketchup that’s too sweet, some savory mayo, giant chunks of overpowering onion, watery tomato, bitter wet pickles, and mealy beef that’s far too dry. The flavors just don’t seem to meld in the way they should, each ingredient is hitting my taste buds in succession rather than as a harmonious whole.
What’s worse is, none of those individual ingredients is very good on their own. We’re off to a rough start.
Taste 2:
Dane Rivera
A significant step up from Taste 1, the meat is very prominent in this burger, it has a great savory flavor and a juicy texture that doesn’t taste overcooked. It’s bursting with umami, and while the meat is thick, it’s easy to chew through. Overall it’s very greasy, and maybe a bit over-salted, but it tastes decadent in all the right ways.
The bun is soft and spongey, and the pickles, onion, and tomato medley bring a nice snap to the mouthfeel and a fresh infusion of flavor that helps balance out the beefy notes.
Taste 3:
Dane Rivera
Compared to the last two burgers, this one feels incredibly small. It’s almost bite-sized by comparison. It’s a little hard to tell it’s a double — the ratio of meat to bread is a little too weighed to the bread side — but the flavors are pretty interesting. The onions and pickles have a very strong and pungent quality, and the meat is way too salty and yet.. there is a strange, addictive pull to this one.
Each bite had me a bit thirsty for more, even though I wasn’t completely sold by the flavor. It’s not a very meaty burger, but damn is it satisfying.
Taste 4:
Dane Rivera
Hmm, this is a strange one. It’s significantly cheesier than the other burgers, and there are some creamy nutty elements to the cheese. Pretty tasty, but the rest of the burger isn’t doing it for me. The meat is very grainy and dry, the mouthfeel is mushy, and there isn’t any tomato, lettuce, or pickles to balance things out.
It’s not bad by any means, but it feels like something is missing from this burger.
Taste 5:
Dane Rivera
Very nice and meaty. The lettuce, onion, and tomato are a significant step up here, it’s got snap and it’s almost salad-like. The sauce is a bit sweet and very savory and helps to elevate the meat, which is great, but the meat is a weak point. It has a nice charred quality to it, but it’s a bit overcooked and dry. It lacks any juiciness. It needs that sauce desperately to keep it from being a chore to chew through.
Altogether this burger is good but… not great.
PART III — The Ranking
5. Burger King — Double Whopper With Cheese (Taste 1)
Ashley Garcia
I’ve long been a vocal critic of Burger King so I can’t say I’m surprised to see BK come in at last in this blind taste test. The Whopper is one of the most famous burgers in all of fast food, but it probably shouldn’t be. It just doesn’t have anything going for it that makes it special or sets it apart. Burger King’s old claim to fame was that its burgers were flame-grilled but so are Carl’s Jr’s. And they do it significantly better than BK.
At BK you can have it your way — but let me suggest that “your way” is to avoid the Whopper at all costs.
4. Jack in the Box — Ultimate Cheeseburger (Taste 4)
Ashley Garcia
The Ultimate Cheeseburger is making a statement, it’s saying “this is the best way to have a cheeseburger,” and even if it’s wrong, we applaud them for trying. My favorite part of this burger is that it has three slices of cheese on it, two American, and one Swiss. More fast food burgers should utilize Swiss, but at the end of the day it just feels like this burger needs a bit more to it to make it something special.
Maybe that “bit more” is simply adding bacon, which is probably why Jack in the Box has a Bacon Ultimate Cheeseburger, but unfortunately for them, this isn’t a bacon cheeseburger ranking.
The Bottom Line:
It’s at least interesting, but it’s not quite the “ultimate” cheeseburger it claims to be.
Okay, I get it, I’m on board with the weirdos who prefer McDonald’s Double Cheeseburger to its Double Quarter Pounder. There is just something strangely addicting about this cheeseburger, maybe because it’s the only double that you can finish and think “I could eat another one.” I’m not sure, but with the weird salty flavor and the addicting toppings, this burger just works on the pleasure centers of the brain!
The Bottom Line:
Is McDonald’s Double Cheeseburger superior to the Quarter Pounder? Absolutely. In this burger’s case, less meat is more.
Carl’s Jr gets an A rating on its ingredients. This is hands down some of the best produce you’re going to find amongst big brand fast food companies and one of the largest burgers of the lot. As I said in the tasting portion, the tomato, onion, and lettuce have some nice snap, like I was eating a salad with a beef patty on top!
What holds Carl’s Jr. back is the meat. It’s too dry and too thin to really win me over. I think Carl’s Jr knows this, which is why it has another class of burger — the Original Angus, but unfortunately, the Original Angus is not available as a double (at least officially), so it was disqualified from this taste test.
The Bottom Line:
It has a lot going for it, but the dry overcooked meat is holding it back.
Even though each of the burgers in this lineup was from big fast food corporations, Wendy’s deserves to be in another class. While the produce isn’t quite as good as Carl’s Jr’s (especially this awful romaine lettuce), the meat is bursting with savory beefy flavor. Wendy’s is the only brand out of the five that uses fresh non-frozen beef, and that really makes all the difference.
This burger just comes across as way more flavorful and therefore satisfying than the competition.
The Bottom Line:
Non-frozen meat makes all the difference. If the other big brands took a cue from Wendy’s and ditched the frozen stuff for something fresher, we’d have a significantly better fast food landscape to navigate! Until then, if you’re doing fast food double cheeseburgers from the colossal chains, make it Wendy’s.
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