Rihanna now holds another record, as the singer and makeup mogul surpassed Katy Perry this week to become Twitter’s most followed woman. According to SocialBlade, Rihanna sits at 108,278,326 to Perry’s 108,261,949 when this was written, giving her about a 20,000 lead now. Overall, RiRi has the fourth-highest follower count on the social platform, behind (sigh) the company’s owner Elon Musk, Barack Obama, and Justin Bieber. Rihanna needs a few million more followers to pass Bieber and become the most-followed musician on the platform, as Bieber currently sits at 113,156,831 followers.
In terms of other musicians that round out the top ten of Twitter’s most followed, Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande follow close behind at No. 7 and No. 10.
This comes on the heels of an already big year for Rihanna, between playing the Super Bowl Halftime Show just a few months ago and announcing she’s having a second child with ASAP Rocky. She also performed her song “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever‘s soundtrack at the Oscars, where it was also nominated for an award.
She was also the only female musician to make this year’s Forbes Billionaire List, with her net worth estimated at $1.4 billion, through her music, partnerships, and her Fenty Beauty empire. (Jay-Z and Jimmy Buffett were the only other two performers on the ranking.)
While fans are probably still waiting for new music, Rihanna’s return, whenever it happens, now has an opportunity to be major considering her constantly growing following.
Paul Rudd is good at keeping things light. Even in the MCU, that’s the case, and that could be a reason why Ant-Man: Quantumania (which was not a breezy Ant-Man movie) didn’t keep doing gangbusters in theaters after opening weekend. People expect levity from Rudd, you know? He’s the guy who engineered a great massage story from Seth Rogen, after all. And Rudd was there (in a much different way) for one of his other good friends, Jeremy Renner, while he recuperated from his snowplow accident earlier this year.
Renner, who is promoting Disney+’s Rennervations, visited Jimmy Kimmel, and in the process, he revealed another Paul Rudd instant classic. As revealed after the 8:30 mark above, Rudd did pay proper hospital visits to Renner, where he was “making my day,” but also, he made a faux “Cameo” video that even had the Cameo logo all over it. “He made a fake one, like I paid him money,” related Renner, and then Kimmel played the video, which included Rudd telling him to simply “let the snow melt” if this happens again:
“Hey Jerry, I hear you’re a little banged up. Got in a fight with a snowblower, apparently? Anyway, I just wanted to send this video. It’s really from the heart and I hope you’re feeling better … Apparently, you’re a pretty tough guy … take care and take it easy for a while. And next time, maybe just let the snow melt! Feel better, Jerry!”
There hopefully won’t be a next time, but fortunately, Renner looks to be making a miraculous recovery. Considering his incredibly long list of injuries and that 911 call, one could conclude that the actor who portrays Hawkeye might have some real-life superpowers.
After delivering the back-to-back horror sensations, Hereditary and Midsommar, Ari Aster is back with Beau Is Afraid. Starring Joaquin Phoenix as the titular character, the film eschews the more traditional horror trappings of Aster’s previous work and instead goes for a marathon-length Freudian nightmare that’s confounding critics.
At two hours and 59 minutes, Beau Is Afraid is either a psychological tour-de-force, or an overly self-indulgent slog that’s punctuated with brilliance, but not enough to justify the runtime. The critical reactions are all over the map, which you can see for yourself below:
In “Beau Is Afraid,” Aster tracks his titular antihero from birth to death, from psychoanalysis to this cheeky subversion of Freud, where the child assumes responsibility for his parents’ trauma, rather than the other way around. But he’s crammed so many ideas into this unwieldy container, the film capsizes. In retrospect, “Hereditary” did too, but we forgave it because its finale was frightening, at least. Here, wrapping with an anticlimax seems to be Aster’s idea of a joke.
It’s reminiscent, in a way, of Southland Tales, Richard Kelly’s sweepingly bizarre follow-up to Donnie Darko, which drew deafening boos at its disastrous Cannes premiere in 2006. But Kelly’s film (which is now enjoying something of a cult revival) always felt like it had been made with the best of intentions: it was an ambitious but muddled big swing from a young auteur earnestly running with his newfound creative freedom. Beau is Afraid, on the other hand, seems like Aster sat down one day and said to himself: right, I’m going to make a Southland Tales.
Did you ever hear the one about the boy who feared his mother? “Beau Is Afraid” tells this joke for three gobsmacking, sometimes exhausting, always beguiling hours. At the center is a fascinating performance from Joaquin Phoenix, who actualizes what it looks like for a boy to suddenly stop growing up and merely age into a graying body. Phoenix makes his mouth tiny as if he were still suckling, and his voice intensely frail. His eyes, often used to signal a primal nature, have never seen looked so soft. His character will prove to be far too innocent for this world.
The newest entry to this ignoble pantheon is Ari Aster’s Beau Is Afraid, an insufferable three-hour slog that would make Terry Gilliam say “reel it in a bit, would ya?” It is juvenile and pointless, loud and abrasive, and not anywhere as clever as it thinks it is. There are, however, individual moments sprinkled throughout that genuinely hum with greatness.
Eliciting laughs of an astonished sort, the willfully unhinged Beau is Afraid is like a funhouse-mirror plunge into Aster’s psyche, where M.C. Escher, Philip Roth, Grant Wood and The Purge all crazily cohabitate. No matter its many inspirations, though, the auteur’s latest is a true American original, and proof that, while the hype surrounding him may have been early, it wasn’t wrong.
Beau Is Afraid may or may not be autobiographical — Aster isn’t saying, nor should he if he ever wants to attend another Thanksgiving dinner. But there are clearly some issues its creator is working through in this epic tale of an Oedipal wreck. And though this may share a certain anything-goes absurdity and deliriousness with another recent A24 hit, the fact that the studio has now given us that Oscar-winner’s evil twin is itself a riotous hoot. This is the anti-Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Three hours that definitely put the odd in odyssey, Beau Is Afraid could be said to suffer from the same bloat, wandering through bizarre detours of varying effectiveness before arriving at a wonderfully overripe operatic climax elevated by Patti LuPone as the Lydia Tár of single mothers. But even if its pacing is uneven, this is a movie of undeniably impressive big swings.
This unmoored epic about a zeta male’s journey to reunite with his overbearing mother eventually stiffens into what might be the most terrifying film he’s made so far. Mileage will vary on that score — the scares are typically less oh shit Toni Collette is spidering across the ceiling and more oy gevalt, Joaquin Phoenix’s enormous prosthetic testicles are causing me to squirm under the weight of my own emotional baggage — but anyone who would sooner die for their mom than answer the phone when she calls should probably mix a few Zoloft into their popcorn just to be safe.
Pedro Pascal proudly holds the title of the internet’s “daddy” (but please don’t ask him to read thirst tweets about himself, that’s weird). The Mandalorian star is still trying to figure out what the term means, exactly, but The Last of Us co-creator Craig Mazin has some ideas about the actor’s daddy appeal (Pascal, Oscar Isaac, and Ethan Hawke should start a band called Daddy Appeal).
“I think everybody either has fond memories of a positive father figure in their life or they have a terrible gaping space in their heart where a positive father figure ought to have been. Nostalgia or longing for let’s call it nontoxic masculinity. And he has that, but he also has this expressive pain behind his eyes,” he told Esquire. Pascal himself has another theory: “Plus, I’m old.”
Sarah Paulson, the “mommy” to Pascal’s “daddy,” also shared her thoughts on the internet’s obsession with her friend. “Knowing Pedro as intimately as I do, I would not want him to be my daddy, personally. I want him to be my pal that I can hang out with until all hours of the night, but Daddy?” she wondered.
Today (April 11), Stranger Things actress Millie Bobby Brown seemingly announced her engagement to Jake Bongiovi via Instagram. In the photo, she is seen being embraced by Bongiovi, as she shows off her rock of a ring.
The post’s caption reads, “I’ve loved you three summers now, honey, I want ’em all,” which Taylor Swift fans will immediately recognize as one of her fan-favorite ballads.
What Taylor Swift song did Millie Bobby Brown use in her engagement announcement?
The lyric comes from Swift’s song “Lover,” the title track to her seventh album, which was released in 2019. The line can be heard in the song’s second verse, as Swift sings:
“We could let our friends crash in the living room
This is our place, we make the call
And I’m highly suspicious that everyone who sees you wants you
I’ve loved you three summers now, honey, but I want ’em all.”
The song was written during her relationship with Joe Alwyn, which reportedly came to an end this past weekend.
At the time of writing, Swift herself is currently on a break from The Eras Tour, but is set to return to the stage this Saturday (April 15) in Tampa, Florida.
Known for her role as Eleven in Stranger Things, many fans of the series first met Millie Bobby Brown back in 2016 when she was just around 12 years old. Now, the actress is 19, and she just surprised the internet by seemingly announcing her engagement to Jake Bongiovi — her longtime boyfriend.
However, some who’ve just heard the news might be wondering: Who exactly is he?
As it turns out, he’s 20 years old and an actor as well. Oh, and if Bongiovi’s last name sounds familiar, it’s because he’s the son of Jon Bon Jovi, from the band Bon Jovi. He’s the youngest of Bon Jovi’s four other children, younger than siblings Romeo, Jesse, and Stephanie. His parents have remained high school sweethearts — which might explain the replicated young love.
Bongiovi is also friends with other members of the Stranger Things cast, as he went to a Harry Styles concert with Noah Schnapp, who plays Will Byers on the Netflix series. Brown was also there, as her boyfriend (now fiancé) posed for Instagram snaps with them both.
During an interview, Brown revealed that the pair initially met on social media. “We met on Instagram, and we were friends for a bit, and then, what can I say?” she said. The two would go on to make several red carpet appearances together throughout last year.
Congrats to the happy couple! Continue scrolling for some more cute social media snaps of Brown and Bongiovi.
After months of speculation, Warner Bros. Discovery is reportedly set to unveil its new streaming service this week. Ever since its merger, the newly formed media conglomerate has signaled that it would somehow Frankenstein together HBO Max and Discovery+ into some sort of super app, and that day is quickly approaching. Soon, viewers will be able to watch House of the Dragon and Milf Manor all in one place.
As for the name of this streaming Voltron, WB Discovery is reportedly going with “Max,” which has been a top contender since the ambitious project was announced.
On Wednesday, Warner Bros. Discovery executives will unveil plans for the new combined streaming service, bringing together classic HBO series like “The Sopranos” and “Succession” with Discovery series like “Dr. Pimple Popper” and “Fixer Upper.” The service will be called Max and debut in the next month or two, according to three people with knowledge of the decision.
The streaming service will cost roughly $16 a month — the price of HBO Max now — though there will be several price tiers, including a less expensive one with advertising, the people said.
As of this writing, there have been no details on how Max will affect current HBO Max subscribers who have access to that app thanks to their HBO cable subscription. Most likely that will be addressed during Wednesday’s big reveal, or that decision could remain in limbo like the time you couldn’t get HBO Max on Amazon Fire TV or Roku because all three companies were mad at each other. Making streaming apps is hard, folks.
During their residency on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the band discussed what it was like to have young music lovers just now find them through that Netflix series.
“Well we wrote that song for Stranger Things in 1980-something,” James Hetfield joked about “Master Of Puppets.” When Kimmel asked if anyone was against the use of the track for Stranger Things, Hetfield said, “No one was against it for sure. Anything that’s gonna get us out there, especially older music… It still blows my mind that people like that song, first of all, and that the younger generation are embracing it.”
“It’s like a 9-minute heavy metal song from 1986,” said drummer Lars Ulrich, “that predates most of these people by 25-30 years. It’s just insane. Who would’ve thought, right?”
Kimmel also mentioned that bassist Robert Trujillo’s son played the guitar part. Trujillo patted guitarist Kirk Hammett on the shoulder and said, “Kirk taught him the part, so Kirk is a good teacher.”
Watch the interview above.
72 Seasons is out 4/14 via Blackened Recordings. Find more information here.
Directed by Danny and Michael Philippou (of the RackaRacka YouTube channel), Talk to Me is about a group of friends who discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, and “become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces,” according to the official plot synopsis. I don’t know why the dog gets put into the hallway when the cool teens are messing with the creepy hand, but I don’t like it.
When asked by the Moveable Fest where the idea for the hand came from, Michael replied, “The film’s all about connections, real and false, and so [main character] Mia is rejecting the genuine connections and attracted to these false connections and the hand is a physical representation of that. It’s all about touch – that’s why there’s a lot of that in the movie.”
Talk to Me, which stars Sophie Wilde (who appears to give an Anya Taylor-Joy-in-The Witch-level breakout performance), Miranda Otto, Alexandra Jensen, Joe Bird, Otis Dhanji, Zoe Terakes, and Chris Alosio, hits theaters on July 28.
After the end of a long day, nothing beats a cold, crisp lager. Tons of other beer styles fit the bill to a degree, including IPAs, sour beers, and pale ales, but none that scratch that proverbial itch the way a lager does. There’s something about the lightness combined with a hint of hop and malt that hits just right.
This is why even with the bazillion beer styles available, you’ll always find a few lagers in our fridge on the regular. A crisp pilsner, malty lager, or one of the numerous other lager styles always have a place in our refrigerator. This is because a great lager is like a Swiss army knife. You always want it on hand to make use of in any situation.
Brewers agree with this sentiment. That’s why we asked a few well-known brewers, craft beer experts, and brewing professionals to tell us the one lager they always keep stocked in their fridges no matter the season. Keep reading to see all of their selections to see what you need to grab a tuck away in your fridge.
Goldfinger Original Lager was my favorite beer on a recent Chicago stop. I could drink this all day and be very happy. Also apparently it has a 4.0 on Untappd, which after the “lager curve” probably means it’s the best beer in the world.
Tasting Notes:
The helles-style beer was clean and easy to drink, yet packed with light bready flavor, a clear balancing bitterness, and a touch of both sulfur and hop flavor.
Wedge Helles Bock
Wedge
Clay Carlisle, co-founder and head brewer of Bevi Bene Brewing Co. in Charleston, South Carolina
ABV: 6.4%
Average Price: Limited Availability
The Beer:
This may be obvious, but I have to go with a maibock such as the Helles Bock by Carl Melissas at Wedge Brewing. It’s the perfect lager to get you excited for spring, with its pale golden color, noble hop bitterness that keeps you wanting another sip, and a higher abv to thaw out your bones.
Tasting Notes:
When you find a well-made maibock, the floral aroma of the hops mixes with the complexity of decoction, and the lengthy lagering process helps it all come together to produce the perfect crisp fridge lager for springtime.
When I can find Pivo Pils by Firestone Walker, it’s going into the fridge. This is a beefed-up version of a European lager, meaning that while the alcohol stays low (five and some change), the bitterness is robust (40BU) and it has my favorite thing in the world: dry hops.
Tasting Notes:
However, it is with a variety I’ve yet to play with myself, Saphir, which gives a soft, floral honeysuckle jasmine as opposed to the resinous pine sap of American hops. And who doesn’t want a beer dry-hopped with blue jewels right?
I love a good old fashioned American lager, like New Belgium’s Old Aggie. It’s a low-ABV beer that works great with a wide variety of food and occasions. It’s super easy to drink and sometimes, or honestly a lot of the time, that’s all I want at the end of the day.
Tasting Notes:
It’s so balanced in its character with just enough malt to keep your mind on the beer and no bitterness getting in the way of a nice smooth finish.
Death & Taxes by Moonlight Brewing in Santa Rosa, California is an absolute must-have. Moonlight is one of the finest craft lager producers out there today and Death & Taxes is a hallmark of their skill. This is one of those beers that always calls for another one. Absolutely a fridge staple.
Tasting Notes:
A dark lager, it’s basically a California version of a dark Czech lager and hits that perfect spot of flavor and complexity meeting drinkability.
What do you get when you pair the crisp, light, and refreshing qualities of clean lager yeast with the roasted, bitter chocolate flavor of a stout? The schwarzbier. A sometimes overlooked style, the schwarzbier (which literally means black beer) is crisp enough to drink in the summer but hardy enough for the winter. Spring is likely the best time to stock it in the fridge. A local favorite of mine is Midnight Special by Yellowhammer Brewing in Huntsville, Alabama.
Tasting Notes:
It features a stronger roasted coffee flavor with a light, almost peppery hop addition, along with 5.8% ABV.
Perennial Pils
Perennial
Garth E. Beyer, certified Cicerone® and owner and founder of Garth’s Brew Bar in Madison, Wisconsin
Pils from Perennial Brewing is the lager that I always have within reaching distance. It’s a classic German-style lager — slightly bitter, but what I love most is that they dry-hop it with more German hops to make the nose of it even more pronounced.
Tasting Notes:
Overall, it’s a highly attenuated pilsner with punctual floral and spicy characteristics. Its brightness forces you to slow down and enjoy every ounce of it.
Honest Weight Artisan Beer Prescott is named after one of the Western Massachusetts towns that was flooded nearly a century ago to create the Quabbin Reservoir, Boston’s primary water source. Prescott is a German-style pilsner that never disappoints.
Tasting Notes:
A subtle Bavarian water profile, German malt, and Noble hops set the stage for an effervescent and crispy crusher that leaves you wanting little else — other than knowing when the next release will be.
Lager in my fridge: Jack’s Abby House Lager. It’s a simple, crisp, clean, easy-drinking lager. Jack’s Abby makes nothing but lagers and this is their flagship beer for a reason.
Tasting Notes:
It’s a wonderful example of Helles, light bread, light hops, clean and to the point.
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