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Brendan Fraser has received resounding accolades for his work in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, which our own Vince Mancini declared does qualify as an arthouse stunt, but it’s a damn fine arthouse stunt. Fraser portrays a 600-pound man who’s struggling towards redemption with his daughter, and the project has been held out as Fraser’s “comeback” film, although his real fans have been watching Doom Patrol for years. (Head over to HBO Max and do the same, if you are so inclined.)

The beloved 1990s mainstay will likely receive an Oscar nomination, and over the weekend, he prepped for the occasion by winning a Critics’ Choice Best Actor Award. TMZ reports that “he pretty much had the whole room in tears,” and from the below clip, it’s easy to see why:

The George of the Jungle and Airheads actor did send praises to his co-stars, including Sadie Sink, but that’s not all. “Darren Aronofsky, I was in the wilderness,” he declared. “[A]nd I probably should have left a trail of breadcrumbs, but you found me. And like all the best directors, you merely just showed me where to go to get to where I needed to be.”

Fraser continued with words of encouragement for anyone feeling adversity. “If you, like a guy like Charlie, who I played in this movie, in any way, struggle with obesity, or you just feel like you’re in a dark sea,” he tearfully told the audience. “I want you to know that if you too, can have the strength to just get to your feet and go to the light. Good things will happen.”

One example of a good thing: PEOPLE has a photo of Fraser and his Encino Man co-star, Ke Huy Quan (who recently won a Golden Globe), embracing at the ceremony. For these two, more good things are sure to come.

(Via TMZ, Philip Lewis on Twitter & PEOPLE)

In November, OpenAI introduced ChatGPT, a free language processor “capable of generating human-like text and has a wide range of applications, including language translation, language modeling, and generating text for applications such as chatbots,” as relayed by Science Focus. People have played around with the new AI tool, leading to an explanation of quantum theory in the style of Snoop Dogg and other hilarious responses. Think AOL Instant Messenger’s SmarterChild, but better.

Well, Nick Cave is not impressed.

A fan named Mark asked ChatGPT “to write a song in the style of Nick Cave,” which Cave posted on his The Red Hand Files website. The AI-generated chorus goes, “I am the sinner, I am the saint / I am the darkness, I am the light / I am the hunter, I am the prey / I am the devil, I am the savior.” Cave’s response is much less succinct. Although, at one point, Cave simply surmised, “This song sucks.”

Read his full entry below.

“Dear Mark,

Since its launch in November last year many people, most buzzing with a kind of algorithmic awe, have sent me songs ‘in the style of Nick Cave’ created by ChatGPT. There have been dozens of them. Suffice to say, I do not feel the same enthusiasm around this technology. I understand that ChatGPT is in its infancy but perhaps that is the emerging horror of AI – that it will forever be in its infancy, as it will always have further to go, and the direction is always forward, always faster. It can never be rolled back, or slowed down, as it moves us toward a utopian future, maybe, or our total destruction. Who can possibly say which? Judging by this song ‘in the style of Nick Cave’ though, it doesn’t look good, Mark. The apocalypse is well on its way. This song sucks.

What ChatGPT is, in this instance, is replication as travesty. ChatGPT may be able to write a speech or an essay or a sermon or an obituary but it cannot create a genuine song. It could perhaps in time create a song that is, on the surface, indistinguishable from an original, but it will always be a replication, a kind of burlesque.

Songs arise out of suffering, by which I mean they are predicated upon the complex, internal human struggle of creation and, well, as far as I know, algorithms don’t feel. Data doesn’t suffer. ChatGPT has no inner being, it has been nowhere, it has endured nothing, it has not had the audacity to reach beyond its limitations, and hence it doesn’t have the capacity for a shared transcendent experience, as it has no limitations from which to transcend. ChatGPT’s melancholy role is that it is destined to imitate and can never have an authentic human experience, no matter how devalued and inconsequential the human experience may in time become.

What makes a great song great is not its close resemblance to a recognizable work. Writing a good song is not mimicry, or replication, or pastiche, it is the opposite. It is an act of self-murder that destroys all one has strived to produce in the past. It is those dangerous, heart-stopping departures that catapult the artist beyond the limits of what he or she recognises as their known self. This is part of the authentic creative struggle that precedes the invention of a unique lyric of actual value; it is the breathless confrontation with one’s vulnerability, one’s perilousness, one’s smallness, pitted against a sense of sudden shocking discovery; it is the redemptive artistic act that stirs the heart of the listener, where the listener recognizes in the inner workings of the song their own blood, their own struggle, their own suffering. This is what we humble humans can offer, that AI can only mimic, the transcendent journey of the artist that forever grapples with his or her own shortcomings. This is where human genius resides, deeply embedded within, yet reaching beyond, those limitations.

It may sound like I’m taking all this a little too personally, but I’m a songwriter who is engaged, at this very moment, in the process of songwriting. It’s a blood and guts business, here at my desk, that requires something of me to initiate the new and fresh idea. It requires my humanness. What that new idea is, I don’t know, but it is out there somewhere, searching for me. In time, we will find each other.

Mark, thanks for the song, but with all the love and respect in the world, this song is bullsh*t, a grotesque mockery of what it is to be human, and, well, I don’t much like it — although, hang on!, rereading it, there is a line in there that speaks to me —

‘I’ve got the fire of hell in my eyes’

— says the song ‘in the style of Nick Cave’, and that’s kind of true. I have got the fire of hell in my eyes – and it’s ChatGPT.

Love, Nick”

Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine is about to cross the one-year mark. It’s safe to say that the Russian president didn’t expect this to draw out for so long. Or at least, he didn’t expect to have suffered such enormous manpower losses that he’s reportedly calling up even more troops (in addition to the recent 300,000-strong draft) to send into Ukraine. He did recently admit that he failed to provide basic medical and strategic supplies for his men, but he’s also been losing his temper when any subordinates question his decisions. Reuters is now pointing towards heavy delusion from Putin, who has declared that things are going fantastic. In his eyes, a rare victory (in the eastern Ukrainian city of Soledar) from his troops will carry them to take the whole country.

That claim of a victory may or may not be based upon fact, as CNN reports that Ukraine has pushed back on Putin’s insistence that he’s taken the city. Ukrainian spokesperson Serhiy Cherevaty responded to Putin’s words, which Ukraine insists are “not true” and that fighting continues within Soledar. CNN also sums up the situation, which is that even if Russia takes the city, it’s not a “strategic win” but more of a “symbolic” one. Here’s what Putin’s said about Soledar, which he seems to believe is a turning point after a string of Russian losses, via Reuters:

“The dynamic is positive,” Putin told Rossiya 1 state television when asked about the taking of Soledar. “Everything is developing within the framework of the plan of the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff.”

“And I hope that our fighters will please us even more with the results of their combat,” Putin said.

Back at home, however, Russians have spoken with the Wall Street Journal to communicate their despondent feelings while not knowing whether deployed family members are alive and dead. They’re especially on edge following a New Year’s Day Ukrainian strike on Makiivka, which has been occupied by Russian troops, “at least 89” of whom died, according to Wall Street Journal. That number, of course, pales in light of the thousands upon thousands of lives lost so far, even as Putin continues to hand out fancy “rings of power” to those dwindling allies who continue to support him.

(Via Reuters, CNN & Wall Street Journal)

Will it be another year for the K-pop girlies? With GOT the beat back, it may just be.

After the success of “Step Back” last year, SM Entertainment‘s multi-generational project group, GOT the beat, returns with their very first EP alongside their second single “Stamp On It” today (January 16). Initially performed at SM Entertainment’s annual online new year concert, SMTOWN LIVE 2023 : SMCU PALACE @KWANGYA earlier this month, the super girl group unveiled the music video to “Stamp On It.”

BoA, Taeyeon, Hyoyeon, Wendy, Seulgi, Karina, and Winter are caught in between scenes resembling blockbuster movies in the music video, while as they show off mesmerizing vocals and beautiful formations in their choreography. According to a press release, “Stamp On It” is best described as “an impressive dance song with a catchy piano melody and punchy 808 bass beats, with lyrics about reaching the top of a fierce stage competition”

GOT the beat is a sub-unit under SM Entertainment’s project girl group Girls On Top that debuted last January 2022 with their debut single “Step Back.” The sub-unit consists of seven members including members from Girls’ Generation (Taeyeon and Hyoyeon), Red Velvet (Wendy and Seulgi), aespa (Karina and Winter), and soloist BoA, all who represent a generation of K-pop under SM.

Check out the full track list to GOT the beat’s Stamp On It EP below.

1. “Stamp On It”
2. “Goddess Level”
3. “Alter Ego”
4. “Rose (가시)”
5. “Outlaw”
6. “Mala”

What is it like to question a fabulist with no apparent self-awareness? Just ask the lawyers who had to interrogate Donald Trump. Last week a judge unsealed key excerpts from the former president’s deposition from last October in regards to the lawsuit filed against him by E. Jean Carroll. Trump may have ruined his chances before it began, and even from what little has been made public, it’s clear Trump not only didn’t want to be there but was predictably throwing one of his petulant hissy fits.

Carroll is suing Trump for defamation after he said some potentially libelous things about her after she accused him of sexual assault. Not content to have already landed himself in hot water, he went to his rinky dink Twitter clone to trash the case mere days before he was set to be deposed. Once he got there he was a classic hostile witness, promising frivolous lawsuits to everyone once this was all over, as seen in transcripts obtained by Politico‘s Kyle Cheney (which were caught by The Daily Beast).

Of the accusation of rape, Trump called it “false,” adding, “Never happened, never would happen.” As per the reckless Truth Social posts, he was remorseless — and vengeful.

“And I posted and I will continue to post until such time as—and then I will sue her after this is over, and that’s the thing I really look forward to doing,” he said, adding, “And I’ll sue you too.”

At the end of Trump’s lengthy spluttering, the lawyers asked him what prompted his Truth Social diatribe.

“Her false story and that I have to waste a whole day doing these ridiculous questions with you,” Trump steamed.

This happened in mid-October. His life has changed dramatically since then. Long story short, there’s a good chance he’s screwed. Then again, this is Teflon Don we’re talking about.

(Via Politico’s Kyle Cheney and The Daily Beast)

Two of Argentina’s biggest pop stars collided in Madrid last week. On Friday night, Tini and Lali had an epic reunion during Fiesta Bresh. Spanish pop star Lola Índigo danced with the iconic duo as well.

Tini and Lali are two of Argentina’s top female pop stars. As women, they have gotten pitted against each other by the media over the years, though they have shown that they’re close friends. While working in Madrid this past week, Tini and Lali had a chance to catch up at the Fiesta Bresh event. Tini was in town to promote her new single, “Muñecas,” while Lali was celebrating the release of season three of her Netflix series Sky Rojo.

When Lali was invited to the Fiesta Bresh stage to perform her song “N5,” she grabbed Tini by the hand to join her. The two Argentine pop stars had the crowd and social media going wild as they danced together. Índigo joined them as well. One fan on Twitter wrote, “A song by Lali and Tini is not what I want, it’s what I need.”

Later, Tini performed “Muñecas” on the Fiesta Bresh stage. Índigo danced with her to her new collaboration featuring Steve Aoki and La Joaqui. Índigo also sang her song “La Niña De La Escuela” alongside Tini during the event.

Unfortunately, invasive reports have followed Britney Spears into 2023. Over the weekend, TMZ reported that Spears and Sam Asghari, her husband of six months, made a scene at the Los Angeles-area restaurant Joey on Friday, January 13.

“The dinner was a bust for Britney. Patrons pulled out their cell phones and began shooting footage of her. Britney got pissed and things went south quickly,” TMZ relayed. “Eyewitnesses say Britney became ‘manic,’ yelling and talking gibberish — not another language, just unrecognizable speech. We’re told Sam got visibly upset, abruptly stood up and stormed out the door.”

Spears responded on Sunday, January 15, with an Instagram post that compared the situation to the 1994 film Natural Born Killers. Asghari also appeared to downplay it with an Instagram Story that simply said, “Don’t believe what you read online people” (as noted by Page Six).

“I’m sure I brought a billion SMILES to me LOOKING LIKE SHREK at a restaurant,” Spears captioned her post, in part. “Even my best friend couldn’t WAIT TO SEND IT TO ME, THEY DON’T THINK TWICE because we are all natural born killers … I know the news is all hyped about me being a little drunk at a restaurant … it’s like they’ll be WATCHING MY EVERY MOVE [eyes emoji] !!! I’m so flattered they talk about me like a maniac THEN have the balls to talk about all the negative things that happened in my past !!! Honestly it would be safer for me to compliment this world and f*ck up because if I become a prophet and don’t create history, we might have something y’all… I’m just KIDDING, but it’s a good thought.”

Spears continued, “I know y’all are rooting for me and all and make sure you check out the shocking Shrek picture of me … I was like damn that’s horrific yet there were two pics where I was normal [thinking emoji] … either way honestly I know nobody gives a flying f*ck what I do !!! I’m just bored writing this paragraph like a damn idiot.”

Before that post, Spears had posted a video of her dancing along to Divinyls’ “I Touch Myself” and flipping off the camera. See both posts below.

If there’s anything foreshadowing TXT‘s new year, it’s the fact they’re booked and busy.

With HYBE’s 2023 plans shared last year, it was already revealed the Big Hit boy group would be making their comeback this month with an all new EP. However, less than two weeks away from the actual release (January 27), BigHit Music dropped the surprising news last night (January 15) announcing TXT’s upcoming world tour. Titled TOMORROW X TOGETHER WORLD TOUR , the tour will take place in Asia and the US with “more to come,” according to the post.

TXT will kick off their tour in Seoul for two nights on March 25 and 26, then will make stops in Singapore, Taipei, and major cities in Japan such as Osaka, Saitama, Kanagawa and Aichi in April. Following that, the ACT : SWEET MIRAGE tour will fly west to the US for a nine concert, six-city tour in early May. The quintet will embark on the US leg of their world tour in Charlotte, North Carolina and will touch down in cities like Belmont Park, Washington, DC, Duluth, and San Antonio, before concluding in Los Angeles, California by the end of the month.

Thought more details on ticketing have yet to come, MOAs (TXT fans) can already save the date and anticipate the new performances TXT has to offer from their upcoming release, The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION.

It looks like the next BTS solo project is happening soon: According to a report from Korean news outlet DongA, BTS member Jimin is set to make his solo debut in February.

In response, a representative from the artist’s label, BIGHIT Music commented saying a release schedule will be shared once all is finalized.

The news of Jimin’s solo debut kind of comes to no surprise as his name has been floating around for the past couple of weeks.

Just last week, BTS’ main dancer and lead vocalist was featured on Taeyang’s comeback single after six years. Known to be highly inspired and influenced by the second generation icon, Jimin’s feature on Taeyang’s “Vibe” can only hint on what’s to come from him or showcase the other genres he’d like to explore for his solo project.

Though no further information has been provided in regards to Jimin’s solo debut, ARMY can already anticipate next month’s release from the BTS member. This would make Jimin the fourth member of the pop group to drop a solo project.

BTS’ solo projects have slowly made waves since last summer starting with J-Hope and his EP Jack In The Box, followed by Jin’s “Astronaut” in the fall, and RM’s first studio album Indigo released last month.

Shakira is continuing to shatter records with “BZRP Music Sessions #53,” her collaboration with Bizarrap. On Friday (January 13), the Colombian superstar claimed the record for the most-streamed Latin track in a single day in Spotify history.

Last week, Shakira surprised the world surprised with “BZRP Music Sessions #53,” which turned out to be her diss track about her ex Gerard Piqué. With clever wordplay in Spanish, she name-checked Piqué and his current girlfriend Clara Chía Marti. Her cutting lyrics generated countless memes. Bizarrap, who is the most-streamed artist from Argentina on Spotify, produced the song.

On Friday, Shakira and Bizarrap’s “BZRP Music Sessions #53” debuted at No. 1 on Spotify’s Global 50 chart. With over 14.4 million streams, Shakira smashed the record for the Latin track with the most-streams in a single day on Spotify. Shakira, who is in the fourth decade of her music career, celebrated the news in a post on Instagram. She described the song as a “catharsis” and a “relief.”

“I never thought that I would reach number one in the world at 45 years old and in Spanish,” Shakira wrote. “Women who defend what they feel and think, and raise their hands when they disagree, while others raise eyebrows, they are my inspiration.”

In another post, Shakira continued to express how the song was a way for her to process her feelings. “This goes out to all the women who taught me that when life throws you sour lemons, there’s no other choice but to make lemonade,” she wrote.