Danny Ocean released a second part of his album @DannOcean today (November 11). The Venezuelan singer’s updated LP features Mora, Beéle, and Elena Rose.
Ocean first released his @DannOcean back in February. He scored a massive hit from the LP with reggaeton track “Fuera Del Mercado” that went viral on TikTok. The song has amassed over 288 million streams on Spotify. Dominican star Tokischa, Argentine singer Tini, and Puerto Rican artist Justin Quiles featured on the original edition of the album.
In his new single “Si Es Amor,” Ocean blends salsa music with elements of R&B music. Colombian singer Beéle adds a sultry touch to the collaboration.
“This song is very personal,” Ocean said in a statement. “It’s about someone I love very much. It’s a love story in which alcohol isn’t necessary to know that you’re in love. When the universe connects two people and everything just flows.”
On the flip side, there’s “No Es Amor” with Puerto Rican artist Mora. Ocean seamlessly mixes bachata music with reggaeton beats and electronica influences. He also uplifts fellow Venezuelan acts like Big Soto, who features on “Disfruta Tu Viernes,” and Rose, who sings on the dreamy “Las Estrellas/Si Tu Me Love Me.”
Early next year, Ocean will tour the US for the first time in support of the @DannOcean album. The Danny Ocean Tour 2023 kicks off February 2 in San Francisco.
@DannOcean is out now via Warner Music Latina. Listen to it here.
Some artists mentioned here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Awards season is upon us and the 2023 Grammy Awards — officially dubbed the 65th Grammy Awards — are on the horizon. The nominees will be announced by stars like Olivia Rodrigo, John Legend, Machine Gun Kelly and more, ahead of the 2023 Awards presentation broadcast. But when are the 2023 Grammy Awards actually happening?
When Are The 2023 Grammy Awards?
The 65th Grammy Awards show ceremony will take place on Saturday, February 5, 2023 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The Awards show will be broadcast live on CBS and will stream live and on demand via Paramount+ as well. The broadcast is set to begin at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT and should last for about three and a half hours.
Once the nominations for the 2023 Grammys are announced on Tuesday, November 15th, we’ll have a better idea of who the favorites in each category are. The major category presentations will be televised. This includes the “big four” categories of Album Of The Year, Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Best New Artist.
A pre-telecast happens every year as well, where other awards will presented. This year, will mark the first time that new awards categories like Best Alternative Music Performance and Songwriter Of The Year, Non-Classical will be presented.
There’s no word yet on who will be hosting the 65th Grammy Awards ceremony, but the host in 2022 was Trevor Noah.
(No Black Panther: Wakanda Forever plot spoilers will be found below.)
Following the death of Chadwick Boseman, Ryan Coogler had the unenviable task of striking the right tone while lining up the succession plan for King T’Challa. In the process, a silent introduction paid incredible (and emotional) tribute to Boseman, who will forever be missed in this franchise and the world at large. As well, Kevin Feige would like more Black Panther movies in the future, but the relatively somber occasion may have caused Marvel Studios to deviate a bit from the usual MCU routine.
With that said, is there a Black Panther end-credit scene? Well, sort of. Generally speaking, the MCU films feature a pair of such scenes, including both a mid-credits and a post-credits scene. These also usually drop hints towards the next installment(s) on the way for audiences, since everything is so linked up in the MCU. However, this particular sequel only contains a mid-credits scene without a followup. In other words, if your bladder can’t take any more waiting, feel free to head on out once that first scene rolls. Do stick around for the mid-credits scene, though, because it’s important one for the future.
Following Black Panther 2, we can look forward to Phase 5’s launch with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which is scheduled to arrive on February 17, 2023. From there, we’ll see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Marvels, and Captain America: New World Order, along with Thunderbolts, starring Sebastian Stan, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and god only knows who else that Countess Valentina rounded up on her ambiguously-intended team. The MCU, it simply will not stop.
We’re living in the middle of one of the greatest bourbon booms in all of history. We’re not quite back to the hay day of pre-Prohibition — when there was a still on damn near every other corner around the country — but… we’re getting there. And that means there’s a literal shit-ton — the official metric for measuring bottles on shelves — of bourbon in stores these days. Every price point is covered from under $10 for a plastic bottle of mostly neutral grain spirit blended with a drop of bourbon to the cheap but good stuff under $50 to the bottles behind the glass that’ll set you back a mortgage payment. Plus everything in between.
The middle is what I’m concerned with today. The cheap but good stuff under $50 is the prime slice of the bourbon pie. These are the bottles that are 1) affordable, 2) taste really f*cking good, and 3) you might actually be able to find at your local whiskey store.
For the ranking, I’m going on the depth of the flavor profile. The bottom 10 (numbers 20-11) are all very good-tasting whiskeys but lean a little more towards mixing up great cocktails. The top 10 (10-1) are all killers. You can sip them, pour them over some rocks, or mix up a rad cocktail with any of them and you’ll be set.
Sound good? Let’s dive in!
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
This is the entry point to Costco’s new lineup of Kentucky Bourbons (along with a Bottled-in-Bond and Single Barrel release). The whiskey in the bottle is from Sazerac’s Barton 1792 Distillery in Bardstown with a mash bill of 74 percent corn, 18 percent rye, and eight percent barley. That juice is left to age for four to five years before being blended, proofed, and bottled for Costco.
Tasting Notes:
Apple and pear open the nose up toward peach taffy with a hint of black licorice ropes, old leather, sweet winter spices, and a whisper of Nutella. The palate lets the vanilla linger while a sweet and mild Red Hot vibe mixes with classic cherry cola, dried sweetgrass, salted caramel candies, and apricot jam on a Southern biscuit with a drop of fresh honey and butter. The end stays pretty classic with a sense of spiced cherry tobacco, rich vanilla, and a few old oak staves.
Bottom Line:
This is a great place to start. This small batch expression has some serious pedigree while also delivering a serious flavor profile. This is an exceptional deal especially if you’re looking for a great and cheap way to practice your cocktail mixing skills.
This is a celebrity-owned bourbon from UFC’s Bruce Buffer. The juice in the bottle is a blend of four to six-year-old bourbons from Kentucky that are touched with a little proofing water after blending.
Tasting Notes:
This has a slightly tannic nose (think old, red-wine-soaked oak) with woody vanilla, nutmeg, and a lush vibe. The palate mixes up the sweet vanilla with sweet yet sharp spice, some dark chocolate, and a hint of orange zest. The end combines everything into a lush finish that highlights old oak, soft nutmeg, and a soft orange-chocolate vibe with a hint of clove and anise.
Bottom Line:
This has grown on me over the past couple of months. It’s straightforward but also has real nuance. While I tend to keep this for mixing quality old fashioneds, it works on the rocks too or even in a nice and fizzy highball.
18. 1792 Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
This whiskey from Barton 1792 Distillery is a no-age-statement release made in “small batches.” The mash is unknown but Sazerac does mention that it’s a “high rye” mash bill, which could be exactly the same as Kirkland Signature Small Batch — or not. The juice is batched from select barrels and then proofed down and bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
This opens a little woody with cherrywood next to a hint of sour apple that develops into sour mash grains (kind of like walking into a distillery) that are all cut by caramel and vanilla notes with a cherry vibe that goes from sweet to spicy enough to feel like Cherry Coke. Moving onto the palate, there’s a clear “classic” bourbon vibe with rich caramel and smooth vanilla that hits a spicy heat on the mid-palate.
Bottom Line:
This is a little step up from the Costco bottle above (both of which come from the same place). I’d argue that while this is primarily a bourbon for mixing cocktails, it’ll work in a punch as a quick sipper or really high-quality shooter.
This is a sourced bourbon from around Kentucky. The age, mash, and vital details are undisclosed. What we do know is that the team at Jefferson’s spends a lot of time tinkering with their barrels to create accessible and affordable bourbons.
Tasting Notes:
This opens pretty thin with hints of caramel, vanilla pods, and maybe a touch of leather and oak with a mild berry vibe. The palate is either subtle or thin … I can’t decide. There are notes of classic bourbon caramel and vanilla countered by a hint of stewed apple, buttery toffee, and maybe a hint of nutmeg. The end stays pretty mild but does build to a nice finish full of classic bourbon notes.
Bottom Line:
This is good and straightforward. That said, it’s a little on the lighter side, which makes it great for building a cocktail.
This is a quality whiskey from Heaven Hill’s expansive bourbon mash bill (78% corn, 12% malted barley, and 10% rye). That means this is the same base juice as Elijah Craig, Evan Williams, several Parker’s Heritages, and Henry McKenna. It’s a bottled-in-bond, meaning it’s from similar stock to their iconic Heaven Hill Bottled-in-Bond, amongst others on this very list.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a clear sense of cream soda cut with cherry syrup next to Hot Tamales cinnamon spiciness, dry leather gloves, caramel chews, and a hint of a Graham Cracker crust for a pie. The palate opens with a rush of classic cherry-vanilla creaminess next to plenty of nutmeg and cinnamon toast with a hint of woody pipe tobacco. The end has a note of creamy eggnog with a woody cinnamon stick dipped into cherry syrup and rolled up in an old tobacco leaf.
Bottom Line:
This is one of the best deals on this list. The price is so low (especially if you can get it in the Ohio Valley) while delivering a really solid profile. It’s also a workhorse. You can shoot it, mix it, or just sip it over some rocks.
This is Elijah Craig’s entry-point bottle. The mash is corn-focused, with more malted barley than rye (12% and 10% respectively). Originally, this was branded as a 12-year-old whiskey. The brand decided to move away from that labeling and started blending younger whiskeys to create this label.
Tasting Notes:
Classic bourbon notes greet you with a clear focus on vanilla, caramel, oak, orchard fruit, and a touch of fresh mint. The palate holds onto those flavors while adding in mild Christmas spices with a touch of oak and tobacco. The end is short, simple, and will leave you with a warm Kentucky hug.
Bottom Line:
This is a quintessential small batch bourbon. It’s pretty easy to get with a nice flavor profile that screams classic bourbon. You can’t beat this in an old fashioned or mixed into some creamy eggnog.
This is a standard “small batch” from Buffalo Trace’s budget brand, Benchmark. There’s not a whole lot of information on what this is exactly when it comes to the mash bill or aging. The “batch” could be 20 barrels or 200. The bourbon is cut down to 90-proof before bottling.
Tasting Notes:
This opens with a clear sense of old boot leather, wet wicker with a hint of mold, floral honey, and dried chili-infused cherry crumble with a scoop of malted vanilla ice cream with just a speck of dark chocolate and salt. The palate is classic bourbon with sweet cinnamon, dark cherry, eggnog creaminess, and a hint of toffee mocha lattes. The end has a hint of butter cornbread next to rum-raisin, vanilla white cake, and cherry-bark tobacco stems in an old cedar box.
Bottom Line:
This is where things start taking a notch up. This is a very affordable whiskey that has a great and deep flavor profile that has true balance. On the rocks or in a cocktail, you cannot go wrong with this one.
Buffalo Trace doesn’t publish any of their mash bills. Educated guesses put the wheat percentage of these mash bills at around 16 to 18%, which is pretty average. The age of the barrels on this blend is also unknown as well. Overall, we know this is a classic wheated bourbon, and … that’s about it.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a tannic sense of old oak next to sweet cherries, vanilla cookies, and that Buffalo Trace leathery vibe with a hint of spiced tobacco lurking underneath. The palate has a creamy texture kind of like malted vanilla ice cream over a hot apple pie cut with brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, and walnuts next to Frosted Raisin Bran with a hint of candied cherry root beer. The end takes that sweet cherry and apple and layers it into a light tobacco leaf with a mild sense of old musty barrel warehouses.
Bottom Line:
Yes, this will be harder to find if you’re not in a region with a big allocation. But this is a great entry-point expression into both Weller and wheated bourbons in general. Plus, you can make a hell of a cocktail with this whiskey.
Pronounced “be-voo-ak,” this whiskey celebrates the take-it-easy and travel-light ideal of many travelers in Northern California and the wider Pacific Northwest. The actual juice is sourced from Bardstown, Kentucky, and blended from two bourbons. 95% of the blend is a pretty standard 74% corn, 18% rye, and 8% malted barley whiskey. The other 5% of the blend is a high-malt bourbon that’s aged for eight years.
Tasting Notes:
This opens with a sense of sweet vanilla next to apricot jam cut with nutmeg and allspice, a hint of apple pie, and some dry straw baled up with thick twine. The palate opens with sweet creamed honey inside dark chocolate bonbons with a dash of salt and sweet cinnamon next to a scone covered in that apricoty jam with a dollop of brandy butter. The end warms slightly with the cinnamon and allspice toward peach tobacco rolled with old cedar bark and loaded into an old leather pouch for safekeeping.
Bottom Line:
This is a nice, classic bourbon with a few extra bells and whistles. It is a very easy sipper that also creates a great base for cocktails.
This is Jim Beam’s small batch entry point into the wider world of Knob Creek. The juice is the low-rye mash aged for nine years in new oak in Beam’s vast warehouses. The right barrels are then mingled and cut down to 100 proof before being bottled in new, wavy bottles.
Tasting Notes:
The nose on this feels classic with a bold sense of rich vanilla pods, cinnamon sharpness, buttered and salted popcorn, and a good dose of cherry syrup with a hint of cotton candy. The palate mixes almond, orange, and vanilla into a cinnamon sticky bun with a hint of sour cherry soda that leads to a nice Kentucky hug on the mid-palate. That warm hug fades toward black cherry root beer, old leather boots, porch wicker, and a sense of dried cherry/cinnamon tobacco packed into an old pine box.
Bottom Line:
This is another stone-cold classic bourbon. The flavor profile on this one is probably what you dream of when you think “bourbon” with all that cherry, vanilla, spice, and woodiness. This is another one that bridges the world of easy sipper and great cocktail base as well.
This bottle from Beam Suntory marries Kentucky Bourbon, California wine, and Japanese whisky blending in one bottle. Legent is classic Kentucky bourbon made by bourbon legend Fred Noe at Beam that’s finished in both French oak that held red wine and Spanish sherry casks. The juice is then blended by whisky-blending legend Shinji Fukuyo.
Tasting Notes:
Sticky toffee pudding with a hint of sour grapes, sweet red berries, old oak staves, vanilla husks, and salted toffee all mingle on the nose. The palate has an almost bitter cinnamon and cherry bark vibe that smooths out toward creamy nutmeg-heavy eggnog with a hint of clove next to dried cedar bark and raisins. The end mixes wild berry jam with a sense of buttermilk biscuits, brown butter, sultanas, dates, and winter cake spices as old wine-soaked oak staves add a gentle woodiness to the finish.
Bottom Line:
Now, we’re getting into the unique stuff. This whiskey has a subtlety to it that helps elevate it beyond classic bourbon to something a little more special. This also makes one hell of a Manhattan … if you get tired of slow sipping it on a rock that is.
9. George Dickel Tennessee Bottled in Bond Whisky Fall 2008 Aged 13 Years
Nicole Austin has been killing it with these bottled-in-bond releases from George Dickel. This release is a whiskey that was warehoused in the fall of 2008. 13 years later, this juice was bottled at 100 proof (as per the bottled-in-bond law) and left to rest. This fall, new releases of that Tennessee juice were sent out to much acclaim.
Tasting Notes:
Another classic nose! Maple syrup on buttery pecan waffles leads toward apple chips, old leather, and a mix of winter spices and sour cherry vanilla wafers. The palate leans into an apple pie with plenty of nuts, spices, and raisins next to malted vanilla milkshakes, blueberry cotton candy, and a hint of dark chocolate milk powder. The end has a hint of dry anise mixed with cherry and brown sugar with a slight nuttiness leading toward a cherry-cinnamon tobacco finish.
Bottom Line:
This is just good whiskey. It wins huge award after huge award and stays a low, low price under $50. That’s commendable alone. The fact that you also get a unique buttery flavor profile with true depth is a great bonus.
This whiskey was sourced for Costco’s Kirkland Signature brand from the famed Barton 1792 warehouses by Sazerac. The juice is made from a base of 74% corn, 18% rye, and 8% barley. The barrels were aged for at least four years per “bottled in bond” regulations before they were blended and proofed down for this special release.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a clear sense of old leather gloves next to brandy-soaked cherries covered in dark chocolate, creamy honey, and eggnog spices with a hint of sour mulled wine next to pecan waffles, brown butter, and maple syrup. The palate has a big cherry moment that fades into fresh pears and winter spices — cinnamon, allspice, star anise, black licorice — before hitting a soft woody wicker note with a hint of wild sage. The end lets the cherry and pear shine as old musty cellar beams and old red bricks with a hint of pear tobacco rolled with cedar bark.
Bottom Line:
This is another excellent whiskey from Costco. This also squarely falls in the easy sipper/great cocktail base category. It rises into the top 10 thanks to having great balance and nuance as a classic bourbon.
This is Heaven Hill’s hand-selected single barrel Evan Williams expression. The juice is from a single barrel, labeled with its distillation year, proofed just above 86, and bottled as is.
Tasting Notes:
This has a really nice nose full of woody cherry, salted caramel with a tart apple edge, and a soft leatheriness. The palate feels and tastes “classic” with notes of wintry spices (eggnog especially) with a lush creaminess supported by soft vanilla, a hint of orange zest, and plenty of spicy cherry tobacco. The end is supple with a hint of tart apple tobacco with a light caramel candy finish.
Bottom Line:
This is a great single barrel whiskey. It’s also very affordable for something that’s truly special from Heaven Hill. I like this over a few rocks at the end of the day. It’s not taxing while still delivering great flavor.
This whiskey is from Jack’s bonded warehouse. The mash of 80% corn, 12% barley, and 8% rye is twice distilled before it’s run through Jack’s very long Lincoln County process of sugar maple charcoal filtration. The spirit then goes into the barrel for at least four years — per bonded law — before it’s batched, cut down with that Jack Daniel’s limestone cave water, and bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Yellow sheet cake with vanilla frosting leads the way on the nose with dry cherry candy, new leather jackets, sweet fir bark, and a hint of orange tobacco. The palate is full of still-warm apple fritters with plenty of winter spice and a sugar glaze that hits a moment of nutmeg-rich creamy eggnog. The mid-palate veers away from all of that with a sweet white grits vibe with brown sugar and butter that’s topped with stewed cinnamon apples and a raisin or two. The finish mellows toward a Cherry Hostess Pie stored in a cedar box with a leaf or two of sticky pipe tobacco.
Bottom Line:
This is a winner from Jack Daniel’s. The higher proof really helps amp up the subtler flavors in a good ol’ Jack whiskey. I like this over a couple of rocks with a dash of bitters to brighten it up a bit. Or just in an old fashioned.
This might be one of the most beloved (and still accessible) bottles from Buffalo Trace. This juice is made from their very low rye mash bill. The whiskey is then matured for at least ten years in various parts of the warehouse. The final mix comes down to barrels that hit just the right notes to make them “Eagle Rare.” Finally, this one is proofed down to a fairly low 90 proof.
Tasting Notes:
Old leather boots, burnt orange rinds, oily sage, old oak staves, and buttery toffee round out the nose. Marzipan covered in dark chocolate opens the palate as floral honey and ripe cherry lead to a winter cake vibe full of raisins, dark spices, and toffee sauce. The end has a balance of all things winter treats as the marzipan returns and the winter spice amp up alongside a hint of spicy cherry tobacco and old cedar.
Bottom Line:
This is the perfect, classic bourbon to have over one huge rock in a glass. It’s subtle, flavorful, and delivers pure bourbon flavors.
This is the mountaintop of what Wild Turkey can achieve. This is a blend of the best barrels that are married and bottled untouched. That means no filtering and no cutting with water. This is a classic bourbon with nowhere to hide.
Tasting Notes:
This opens like a dessert table during the holidays with crème brûlée next to a big sticky toffee pudding with orange zest sprinkled over the top next to a bushel of fresh mint. The palate hits an early note of pine resin as the orange kicks up towards a bold wintry spice, soft vanilla cream, and a hint of honeyed cherry tobacco. The end keeps the winter spices front and center as a lush pound cake feeling leads to soft notes of cherry-spiced tobacco leaves folded into an old cedar box with a whisper of old vanilla pods lurking in the background.
Bottom Line:
We’re into splitting hairs territory with this ranking. This isn’t that much better than Eagle Rare above, just a little spicier and sharper. Great when you’re looking for a pick-me-up on the palate.
3. Michter’s US*1 Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Michter’s really means the phrase “small batch” here. The tank they use to marry their hand-selected eight-year-old bourbons can only hold 20 barrels, so that’s how many go into each small-batch bottling. The blended juice is then proofed with Kentucky’s famously soft limestone water and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with a hint of ripe peach next to maple syrup, vanilla pancakes, and a hint of cotton candy. The palate leans into the vanilla cakes as the stonefruit takes on a grilled vibe next to peppery spice, fatty cream, and a touch of singed marshmallow. The finish leans into wintry spices as the stonefruit almost becomes smoked while toffee and vanilla cake counterpoint everything. The end has a nice layer of old cedar next to maple/vanilla tobacco leaves.
Bottom Line:
This is another quintessential bourbon. The flavor profile is classic. It works as well as a sipper as it does as a cocktail bourbon. And you cannot beat that price for a quality bourbon like this.
Jim Beam’s single-barrel bottlings are pulled from single barrels that hit just the right spot of taste, texture, and drinkability, according to the master distillers at Beam. That means this juice is pulled from less than 1% of all barrels in Beam’s warehouses, making this an exceptional bottle at a bafflingly affordable price.
Tasting Notes:
You’re greeted with vanilla pound cake drizzled with salted caramel, mulled wine spices, and a cherry hand pie with powdered sugar icing that’s just touched with dark chocolate and maybe some broom bristles and corn husks. The taste leans into floral honey cut with orange oils next to sticky toffee pudding and cherry tobacco packed into an old leather pouch. There’s a hint of coconut cream pie next to woody winter spices on the finish with a touch more of that cherry tobacco married to salted dark chocolate all layered with dry sweetgrass and cedar bark.
Bottom Line:
This has no business being as good as it is at this price point. This works really well as an easy, everyday sipper. Plus, you should be able to find it on every shelf.
1. Kirkland Signature Single Barrel by Barton 1792 Master Distillers
This Costco release is sourced from Sazerac’s other Kentucky distillery, Barton 1792 Distillery down in Bardstown, Kentucky. The whiskey in the bottle is very likely the same distillate/barrels as 1792 Full Proof. However, this is proofed down a tiny bit below that at 120 proof instead of 125 proof, adding some nuance to this release.
Tasting Notes:
This is a classic nose full of salted caramel next to dried red chili, Mounds bars, mulled wine spices, and creamy vanilla malt milkshakes with a cherry on top. The palate really leans into the sour mulled wine focusing on star anise, cardamom, allspice, cinnamon, and maybe even some cumin next o brown sugar clumps, creamy eggnog, and a cherry-dark chocolate tobacco vibe with a slightly woody edge. The end into the spiciness and wood with a hint of black potting soil, firewood bark, and warm cinnamon in a cherry-apple hot buttered rum cider.
Bottom Line:
This is one of the best bourbons at this price point but also a great single barrel overall. It’s versatile and deep while still being approachable and kind of light-hearted. Overall, you can use this as a neat sipper or a great cocktail base or however you want to.
It’s good no matter what and the absolute best value in all of the bourbon-verse.
We still have a few months to wait for the The 65th Annual Grammy Awards, as the ceremony is scheduled for February 5, 2023. As for who’s going to be nominated come the big night, the full list of nominees is getting announced soon: on Tuesday, November 15 starting at noon ET.
As for how to watch the nomination announcements live, fortunately, that’s pretty easy. The Recording Academy makes the broadcast available in a number of ways, like on the live.grammy.com site and YouTube. It will also be viewable via the Academy’s social media platforms: Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.
In regards to who you’ll see during the show, it was recently announced that artists set to participate in the nomination announcement broadcast are Olivia Rodrigo, Machine Gun Kelly, John Legend, Luis Fonsi, Smokey Robinson, Jimmie Allen, and Ledisi, along with Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. and CBS Mornings co-anchors Gayle King and Nate Burleson.
In terms of the works you can expect to see up for consideration, works released between October 1, 2021 and September 30, 2022 are eligible for nomination this year. Nominees were then voted on by Academy members between October 13 and October 23, 2022. New categories this year include Songwriter Of The Year, Best Alternative Music Performance, and Best Americana Performance.
“Sometimes kids say bad words about the black kids,” Armageddon Time‘s protagonist, Paul Graff, tells his grandfather, played by Anthony Hopkins, during an outing to the park.
“And, what do you say when they do?” Grandpa Aaron Rabinowitz asks in response.
“Well nothing, of course,” shrugs Paul.
“And do you think that’s smart? …Because I think it’s f*cking bullshit,” grandpa says, suddenly turning foul-mouthed.
He goes on, but the gist of wise old grandpa’s speech is that in order to “be a real mensch,” you should always tell racists to stick it up their ass. Not once does Armageddon Time actually explore what it looks like to tell the racist kids to stick it up their ass, or grapple with their reactions, or with how any black character might be helped by this. This is a movie that seems to come from the Beto O’Rourke school of politics, where the best way to deal with injustice is to use cusswords on it to show how much you care. The mere calling out of injustice is an end unto itself.
—
Handsome coming-of-age tale period pieces set during the director’s formative years are all the rage right now, and to go along with Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans and Sam Mendes’ Empire Of Light, this fall also brings us Armageddon Time — named for a line in a Ronald Reagan speech and also a Clash reggae cover, not the actual apocalypse — from director James Gray (Ad Astra, Lost City Of Z).
Normally this kind of movie is right in my wheelhouse, and between the sumptuous production design, superlative acting, and Clash songs (pandering directly to my sensibilities now), I can understand Armageddon Time‘s glowing reviews. The movie glows. And yet, something about this coming-of-age tale feels transparently self-preserving, trapped in an adolescent’s point of view. It offers a story about race where everyone gets off too easily, where it seems the most important thing a white person can do is to acknowledge that racism exists while carrying on.
Banks Repeta plays Paul Graff, a Jewish kid from Queens who dreams of being an artist and whose lax attitude towards school and smart mouth put him on an inevitable collision course with fellow detention-getter Johnny Davis (Jaylin Webb), a black kid from a broken home repeating the sixth grade for the second time. Their teacher hates them both but Johnny seems to get the lion’s share of the blame.
Paul and Johnny become friends and get into mischief together, though Johnny has a flair for the nihilistic where Paul is merely naughty. Paul, unlike his older brother, goes to public school, where any trouble he gets into naturally incites a conversation between his working-class parents, played by Anne Hathaway and Jeremy Strong, and his mom’s rich parents, who want to pay to send Paul to private school with Ted (Ryan Sell), away from all the “bad influences” in their neighborhood (aka, the black kids being bused into his local public school)
In Private Parts, young Howard Stern depicts himself as having to be his parents’ progressivist guinea pig, suffering bullying and penis envy at black majority schools, thanks to his liberal-minded parents, who refuse to join in the white flight going on all around them. Paul’s family is moving in the opposite direction, and the movie catches them at a transitional point — as Paul’s dad says, “you have to take every advantage you can get.”
This puts a strain on Paul’s relationship with Johnny, who clearly needs help, which Paul doesn’t know how to provide without giving his parents even more reason to try to separate them. When they inevitably get into some big trouble together, it’s even more inevitable, and clear to all involved, that Paul is going to skate and Johnny isn’t. Johnny is fatalistic about it, in a very movie way, offering a variation on that classic movie trope where the wounded buddy urges the hero to go on without him. “Just go, it wouldn’t have mattered what you do anyway,” Johnny tells Paul, or something to that effect.
This, again, strikes me as not only something that rings slightly false for the Johnny character, but as a kind of self-preserving revisionist history from Paul. “It wouldn’t have mattered anyway” feels more like something Paul would tell himself later, to absolve himself of responsibility. So that it could just be a tragic inevitable story about racism and the time you had a black friend who introduced you to Sugar Hill Gang before you went off to private school.
It’s not that I’m advocating for false happy endings or phony heroics here, but what does Paul learn and what does he actually stand for? It seems like the movie is saying that the most important thing is to always feel bad when your black friend takes the blame for your crimes. Grandpa’s words ring in Paul’s ears: when you go off to private school, tell those racists to stick it up their ass! Okay, then what?
At least in the much-derided Amsterdam (which even I must admit was pretty uneven for the first 95% of its run time) there was an acknowledgment that the hero’s big speech at the end warning against the perils of fascism didn’t actually do much to stop fascism. It acknowledged both that hearing stirring words feels good and that they have their limitations. Sometimes a nice little speech is all you get.
Armageddon Time, by contrast, really does depict Grandpa Hopkins as this font of saintly wisdom, like the key to life actually is just distinguishing yourself from those racists at private school. Racists who in this case include, and maybe you’ve already done the “early 80s + Queens” math here, the actual Trump family. The Trumps are the big donors at the Graffs’ private school, and Fred Trump (John Diehl) shows up occasionally, with Maryanne Trump, played by Jessica Chastain, even making a speech.
By not offering any insight or exploration into what standing up to injustice actually looks like, it feels a lot like what Armageddon Time is saying is that the key to being a mensch is just not being the Trumps. It’s the perfect feel-good, origin story for the Clintonian liberal, to depict simply not being the Trumps as a heroic act.
Armageddon Time is specifically Jewish, but carries a sentiment familiar to a lot of non-Jews. “Respect your heritage by not doing racism, because when you say racist things, you sound just like the people who persecuted us.” My grandparents tried to convey similar things when I was a kid. It’s a nice thing for a kid Paul’s age to hear, but by the time you grow up you should start to notice a whiff of the self-exonerating about it.
‘Armageddon Time’ is available in theaters everywhere November 4th.Vince Mancini is on Twitter. You can read more of his reviews here.
The Community movie may have been prophesized years ago, but it didn’t really come to life until very recently. Still, they did confirm it so they really can’t back out now!
The movie was announced via social media in September when the show’s cast — consisting of Joel McHale, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Gillian Jacobs, Jim Rash, and Ken Jeong — all posted about the occasion. Then showrunner Dan Harmon seemed to confirm that Donald Glover is going to return as well. Again, they can’t take it back after all this. It’s going to happen now.
In a new interview with GQ, Pudi shared a bit about how the whole thing came together, which was orchestrated by noted community college group project leader McHale. “Joel McHale started it, texted me. But it was truly so last minute. Everything is last minute,” Pudi explained before going into details about that fateful day when every core Community cast member tweeted out the announcement.
He continued, “I get a text from my agents saying, ‘It’s going to be announced tomorrow morning.’ Then I’m talking to Joel and we’re figuring it out, and he’s telling me what time he’s going to post,” he added. Remember when Twitter was used to announce good things? That was just a few weeks ago. Time flies when you’re on a sinking ship!
Even though the announcement rollout was quick and chaotic, Pudi says that the movie is something they had been working towards for a while. “But it was so exciting because this is something we’ve been talking about and waiting for and hoping that this would actually take place. And turns out the prophecy has come true.” It’s either that, or we are in a really bad timeline.
In 2008, a young boy named Johnny Jackson went swimming and accidentally swallowed some water.
He had a short coughing fit, toweled off, and then went home. No big deal.
Or so his parents thought.
A few hours later, after going down for a nap, Johnny passed away.
In 2014, a toddler named Ronin came frighteningly close to the same fate. He slipped briefly into a pool before being pulled to safety by his mother. Ronin was shaken up but seemed fine.
Later that night, he lay stretched out in an ambulance as it screamed toward the hospital, where he arrived just in time.
Stories like these have resulted in an outburst of news coverage around what’s being referred to as “dry drowning.” But that’s a bit of a misnomer.
Since we’re entering the season of pool parties and beach trips, here are a few things you really need to know about what actually happened to Ronin and Johnny.
Ronin is doing great, by the way. Here he is learning how to swim. Photo from Delighted Momma, used with permission.
With dry drowning, water never enters the victim’s lungs. Rather, it causes the vocal chords to spasm and shuts off airways without actually filling the lungs with water. Otherwise, it looks a lot like normal drowning because it occurs in real time and causes asphyxiation.
Delayed drowning, sometimes called secondary drowning, is a bit different. In cases like Ronin and Johnny’s, water gets into the lungs in small amounts — not enough to disable breathing right away. Instead, it sits there and inhibits the lungs’ ability to oxygenate blood. From there, the victim starts to have more and more trouble breathing over the course of several hours.
Second, drowning doesn’t look the way it does in the movies.
Whether you’re dealing with normal, dry, or delayed drowning, don’t expect a dramatic scene full of thrashing, coughing, and yelling.
According to Dr. Anna Mendenhall of the Children’s Physicians Medical Group, 9 out of 10 children who drown do so even though they were being supervised by a parent because it’s so easy to miss the signs.
Here’s what you need to look for, even hours after you’ve left the pool or beach:
Difficulty breathing, coughing, chest pain, or throwing up. Look for rapid and shallow breaths, nostril flaring, or a pronounced gap in the ribs when breathing. These are all signs a child is working too hard to get oxygen.
Extreme tiredness. Big-time fatigue can be a sign that the brain isn’t getting enough oxygen.
Any odd change in behavior. Kids in the beginning stages of delayed drowning may be really cranky, argumentative, or combative.
Odd physical changes. Look out for blue lips or pale skin.
Most likely these symptoms will go away over time. But if they don’t or they get worse, you might want to call your pediatrician on the way to the emergency room.
And the best way to watch for drowning in the moment? Get in the pool with your kids and stay within an arm’s reach. It’s the only way to make sure you don’t miss anything.
Watching from the patio is a no-no. Get in the pool! Photo from Thinkstock.
There’s no getting around it. This is really scary stuff, especially to a parent.
I have a 2-month-old daughter, and my first reaction to all of this is to literally never let her near a swimming pool. Ever.
But as scary as they are, these unusual cases are just that — unusual.
It’s a really good idea teach your kids about basic water safety and get them comfortable in the pool with swim lessons at an early age (experts say 4 or 5 is a good age to start). But I’ll say it again:
The single best thing you can do to protect a child from drowning — wet, dry, or otherwise — is to get in the pool with them.
As long as you’re prepared, pools can be great for fun things like throwing your children! Photo from Thinkstock.
At least until they’re old enough to be embarrassed by your presence.
When you see or hear an Amber Alert, what do you usually do?
Sometimes it’s the middle of the night, and the buzz of your cell phone stirs you out of a deep sleep before you can silence it. Other times, the alert interrupts your favorite song on the radio. Maybe you wait patiently for it to end. Maybe you change the station.
After all, who hasn’t wondered, “What are the odds?”
Sure, the alerts are heartbreaking, but what are the odds you’ll bump into the missing kid? What are the odds you’ll see the getaway car? What are the odds you’ll be able to do anything about it?Turns out, better than you think.
Here are five recent stories of people who suddenly found themselves face to face with a kidnapped child … and rose to the occasion.
High intensity situations require calm nerves and quick thinking. Kudos to these people for noticing the Amber Alerts at the right time and, in some cases, for having the courage to act right then and there.
1) 2-year-old Ronnie Tran was found when his baby sitter, John Tuong, saw an Amber Alert … for Ronnie.
John Tuong had no idea he was baby-sitting a missing kid.
Ronnie was kidnapped by his 65-year-old maternal grandmother, who, along with an accomplice, had attacked and restrained his mother. She left Ronnie with a family friend, John Tuong, who merely thought he was baby-sitting his sister’s boyfriend’s son.
Tuong saw an Amber Alert on his phone the next morning and realized the kid in the alert was actually asleep in the next room. John called the police immediately and Ronnie made it home safe.
2) 6-year-old Kloe was taken from her bed on February 21, 2015. Thanks to a gas station employee, she was back home on February 22.
Kloe was abducted in the middle of the night by a family friend. After she was reported missing, an Amber Alert went out, which, luckily, was seen by a clerk at a local gas station. The clerk recognized Kloe from the alert and tipped off police that he had seen the girl, the man who had taken her, and the van he was driving.
The clerk’s account helped police narrow their search, and Carlin was eventually stopped on the interstate by a trooper, some 300 miles from Kloe’s home, and taken into custody.
Kloe made it home to her family safe and sound the next day.
3) Leah and Jordan’s kidnappers’ RV broke down. The cops that pulled over to help had just seen the Amber Alert.
Amber Alerts aren’t just for bystanders, they’re for law enforcement too.
After 3-year-old Leah and 4-year-old Jordan were taken by relatives of their mother, the kidnapper’s RV broke down on the side of the highway. Two deputies stopped by the vehicle to try to help them get back on the road. Luckily, the deputies had seen the Amber Alert and recognized the kids inside the vehicle.
Both made it back home safely the next day, but who knows what might have happened had the RV not broken down or if the cops weren’t on the lookout for the missing kids.
4) A stranger stole a car with 3-year-old Bella inside. Later, a quick-thinking bystander physically pulled her to safety.
Leslie and Bella pose inside her bakery, Mini Cupcakes. Photo courtesy of Leslie Fiet, used with permission.
A strange woman asked to bum a cigarette from Bella’s father as he walked into the 7-Eleven convenience store. He gave it to her. Then, the woman jumped in the car, with Bella still inside, and drove off.
Later on, the owner of a local cupcake bakery, Leslie Fiet, spotted the car after seeing the Amber Alert and she heroically pulled Bella from the backseat.
“My initial thought was to call 911 (when I discovered the car) but then I looked closer and saw Bella was in a tremendous amount of stress, hyperventilating and crying,” Fiet told ABC News. “I just dropped my phone and ran out the door.”
She locked Bella, and herself, inside the bakery until Bella’s parents and police could arrive.
5) A pizza shop employee on her break spotted 7-year-old Nicolas and followed his kidnapper until police could arrive.
Courtney was brave to follow the kidnapper; and it paid off. Photo courtesy of KRIS TV.
Courtney Best, who was working at a small pizza shop in Corpus Christi, Texas, saw an Amber Alert on her phone while on her smoke break. She looked up and just happened to see the vehicle in question, a white Dodge Avenger, sitting in the parking lot in front of her with a child inside.
She followed the car, while on the phone with police, as it drove away.
“Cause, what are the odds? What are the odds of me looking at my phone?” Courtney told KrisTV. “And I usually don’t even look at Amber Alerts, as bad as that sounds. I look at them and I don’t really pay attention.”
Thanks to her quick thinking, the police were able to recover Nicolas and return him safely to his family.
Robert, who is Director of Special Programs at the NCEMC, told Upworthy, “You can definitely see a huge change in how fast children are recovered today. The technology out there today helps.”
In addition to wireless alerts, his organization also partners to issue alerts via Internet service providers, search engines, Internet ad exchanges, and even digital billboards.
And, Robert adds, if you ever find yourself in a situation like this, with any sort of information about a missing child, call 911 before you do anything. Emergency personnel will be able to help you navigate the situation.
We see a lot of Amber Alerts go viral, which is great, but we don’t often get to see the happy endings.
Sadly, not every Amber Alert ends with a reunion. But the more we share these alerts with our networks, the more people they reach and the more likely they are to be seen by the right people.
In the meantime, it’s comforting to know that most of these kids eventually make it home safely.
Rauw Alejandrodropped his highly-anticipated album Saturno today (November 11). The Puerto Rican superstar also released the music video for “Lejos Del Cielo” that’s in-line in the LP’s sci-fi feel.
In Saturno, Alejandro explores the roots of reggaeton music while sonically pushing the genres to new places. Two of the genre’s pioneers are featured on the LP. Alejandro remade Baby Rasta‘s classic “Punto 40” with the Puerto Rico artist himself. DJ Playero, who helped shape the sound of reggaeton, produced “De Carolina,” Alejandro’s ode to the city where he was born.
“I wanted to take my fans on a ride through my mind, my emotions, and the sounds that influenced me,” Alejandro said in a statement.
Alejandro embraces elements of electronica throughout the 18-track LP. The sexy reggaeton romp “Que Rico Ch**gamos” features flourishes of synth. “Lejos Del Cielo” is another dreamy moment where he adds an electronic allure to reggaeton. Alejandro also released the video for “Lejos” where he is working at a factory with aliens — a fitting theme since the album was inspired by his mom telling him that he was from another planet.
“I believed my mom because I knew I was destined for something out of this world. That’s why I named the album ‘Saturno,’” Alejandro said.
Alejandro also explores other genres like rock and new wave in the computerized “Corazon Despeinado” and frenetic “Dime Quién???” He will be performing at the 2022 Latin Grammy Awards on November 17. He is up for eight nominations. Alejandro is tied with his girlfriend, Spanish pop star Rosalía, who also received eight nominations.
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