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Remember when Matthew Perry kicked off his goodwill tour by wishing that all-around good guy Keanu Reeves was dead? That was weird!

In his memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir, the Friends star wrote, “Why is it that the original thinkers like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walks among us?” Perry also revealed that when he found out that his Almost Heroes co-star Chris Farley had died, he “punched a hole through Jennifer Aniston’s dressing room wall… Keanu Reeves walks among us.”

Reeves has been quiet throughout the whole mini-scandal, but an “insider” told Us Weekly, however, that The Matrix star “thought the comments came out of left field. It’s kind of backfired on Matthew anyway, which is why he had to apologize.”

Perry’s apology was more of a bizarre explanation. “I’m actually a big fan of Keanu,” he wrote in a statement. “I just chose a random name, my mistake. I apologize. I should have used my own name instead.” Or, y’know, just not wished death upon one of the few non-problematic male celebrities. Now David Schwimmer will have to think twice before writing that Tom Hanks should face a firing squad in his memoir.

(Via Us Weekly)

Ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections, John Oliver went deep on Republican candidates who are locked and loaded to pull all kinds of shenanigans to subvert the results. While there’s always the usual tactics of voter suppression through ID laws and intimidation tactics, Oliver is more concerned with the new spate of aggressive tactics that have been sparked by Donald Trump‘s attempt to overturn the 2020 election up to and including the January 6 attack.

Oliver’s election concerns brought him to Kari Lake, the gubernatorial candidate for Arizona and Meghan McCain nemesis. Like Trump before her, Lake is already casting doubts on the election results in her state before voting has even started. She’s even attempting to subvert the media with a very MAGA statement in her new campaign ad.

“If you’re watching this ad right now, it means you’re in the middle of watching a fake news program,” Lake says in the new TV spot, which Oliver found hilarious and the perfect opportunity for a self-deprecating joke for his own show. Via Deadline:

“If you just saw that ad for the first time on this show, you’re clearly not watching it on a fake news program. You’re watching it because you left the TV on after The White Lotus. That is what is happening right now,” he joked.

Jokes aside, Oliver ended the segment by emphasizing this worrying new post-Trump trend of rejecting the results of a democratic election.

“Everything that we’ve talked about tonight has the capacity to overwhelm our system, making it harder to certify elections quickly, leading to confusion, which sows doubt in the process, and in turn causes absolute chaos,” Oliver said via Rolling Stone. “Which is very worrying given that we’ve all seen what confused but motivated people are capable of doing when they think the process is broken.”

(Via Deadline & Rolling Stone)

The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame 2022 induction ceremony was the Eminem show at Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theater on Saturday night (November 5). Em was inducted in the performers category alongside Carly Simon, Dolly Parton, Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Lionel Richie, and Pat Benatar, but he invited a few other legends to join in on the fun, too.

Eminem began his performance medley with “My Name Is” and “Rap God.” Fellow Rock Hall inductee Steven Tyler (with Aerosmith) sang the “Dream On” chorus of The Eminem Show standout “Sing For The Moment,” and Ed Sheeran fulfilled something of a childhood dream by joining Eminem for “Stan.”

Eminem’s moment continued at the podium, where Dr. Dre formally inducted Eminem and the multi-platinum Michigan legend metaphorically shared the stage by using his speech to shine a light on over 100 hip-hop idols who influenced his legendary career. He even addressed the more ominous aspects of his journey with a touch of Em-specific humor.

“I’m probably not supposed to actually be here tonight because of a couple of reasons. One of them that I’m a rapper, and this is the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. And there’s only a few of us right now that have been inducted in already, but there’s only a few of us,” he said. “Secondly, I almost died from an overdose in 2007, which kind of sucked. Hailie, plug your ears: because drugs were f*cking delicious, and I thought we had a good thing going, man, but I had to go and f*ck it all up and take too many.”

Read Eminem’s full speech here.

Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

On October 28th, Elon Musk tweeted, “Comedy is now legal on Twitter.” On November 6th, the notorious free speech champ, in one of his first moves after buying the cursed social media platform (outside of firing and then reportedly re-hiring a bunch of employees), banned comedian Kathy Griffin for impersonating him.

Griffin used her account Twitter name under Musk’s name and with his photo, tweeting, “After much spirited discussion with the females in my life, I’ve decided that voting blue for their choice is only right. They’re also sexy females, btw.” She added the hashtag “#VoteBlueToProtectWomen” and, in a follow-up tweet, a rocket emoji, alluding to Musk’s SpaceX program. Her account was suspended soon after.

“Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended,” Musk explained, adding that Griffin specifically was suspended for “impersonating a comedian.” No wonder he’s a hit at parties.

But Griffin found a workaround from Musk’s ban: using her dead’s mom account.

Griffin posted a series of angry responses to her suspension from the account of her late mom, Maggie Griffin, who died aged 99 in March 2020. She responded to a flurry of posts about her suspension — including Musk’s joke that she’d been “suspended for impersonating a comedian.”

“I mean… you stole that joke, you a–hole. People have been posting that joke for hours, you hack,” she wrote. “Look, please do a better job running this company. It used to mean something. This is KG btw.”

Griffin repeatedly used the hashtag #FreeKathy — just for others to reply with #pleasefreeusfromKathy.

Musk’s reign as Twitter Lord is off to a great start!

(Via the New York Post)

Eminem has gone from 8 Mile to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. The 2022 induction ceremony took place Saturday (November 5) at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, and Eminem was among this year’s class of inductees in the performers category with Carly Simon, Dolly Parton, Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Lionel Richie, and Pat Benatar.

Dr. Dre inducted Em — nine months after their epic Super Bowl LVI halftime show. Then, Slim Shady stood up to the podium and made sure to single out everybody who ever had an impact on his unprecedented career arc. His speech also touched on his near-fatal 2007 drug overdose, highlighting that his induction was significant not just because he’s one of few rappers to have earned the honor but because he was “probably not supposed to actually be here tonight” at all.

An edited version of this weekend’s star-studded ceremony will be available to watch on HBO come November 19. In the meantime, read a transcription of the speech (via The Detroit News) and watch clips from it below.

“Can y’all hear me? I can’t hear me. Can you hear me?

This sh*t’s crazy. So I wrote some sh*t down tonight that I’m never going to f*cking remember, so I had to read it off the paper and sh*t, but it’s from the heart. I realize what an honor it is right now for me to be up here tonight, and what a privilege it is to do the music that I love, and the music that basically saved my life.

Where’d the man… where did Dre go? The man who saved my life, ladies and gentlemen, Dr. motherf*ckin’ Dre. So I’m going to try to make this as quick and painless as possible. I’m f*cking stuttering and sh*t, I mean Jesus Christ.

So I’m probably not supposed to actually be here tonight because of a couple of reasons. One of them that I’m a rapper, and this is the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. And there’s only a few of us right now that have been inducted in already, but there’s only a few of us.

Secondly, I almost died from an overdose in 2007, which kind of sucked. Hailie, plug your ears: because drugs were f*cking delicious, and I thought we had a good thing going, man, but I had to go and f*ck it all up and take too many. G*ddamn. OK Hailie.

OK, so… hold on, I lost my motherf*ckin’ spot. Paul, did I say… I said drugs were delicious, right? And finally, I had to really fight my way through man to try and break through in this music, and I’m so honored and I’m so grateful that I’m even able to be up here doing hip-hip music, man, because I love it so much.

And they say you won’t work a day if you love your job and sh*t. This part I’m not crazy about? But, OK.

My musical influences are many, and they say it takes a village to raise a child. Well, it took a whole genre and culture to raise me. They say success has many fathers, and that’s definitely true for me. So whatever my impact has been on hip-hop music, I never would have or could have done this sh*t without some of the groundbreaking artists that I’m about to mention right now.

And this is a list, man. I put this list together yesterday, and I kept adding to the sh*t, adding to the sh*t, and if I forget anybody, I apologize. But these were my teachers right here.

I’m gonna start with the 2 Live Crew, Tupac, 3rd Bass, Alliance, Apache, Audio Two — Milk Dee, what up! — Awesome Dre, the Beastie Boys, Big Daddy Kane, Big Pun, Big L, Biz Markie, the Notorious B.I.G. of course, Black Moon, the Boogie Monsters, Brand Nubian, Brother J from X Clan, Buckshot, Casual from Hieroglyphics, Chill Rob G, Chubb Rock, Chuck D and Public Enemy, Cypress Hill, D-Nice, Dana Dane, De La Soul — now I’m about a third of the way done.

De La Soul… did I say De La Soul? Def Jef, Del The Funky Homosapien, DJ Quik, Dr. Dre of course, Dre’s from Black Sheep, Ed O.G., EPMD, Fat Boys, Fat Joe, Fu-Schnickens, Gang Starr, Geto Boys, Heavy D, House Of Pain, Ice Cube, Ice-T, the Intelligent Hoodlum, JJ Fad, Jaz-O, Jazzy Jeff And The Fresh Prince, Just Ice, K-Solo, Kid & Play: I’m a tenth of the way done.

King Sun, King Tee, Kool G Rap, Kool Moe Dee, KRS-One, Kwame, Lakim Shabazz, Large Professor, Leaders Of The New School, the one and only LL Cool J — love you bro. Lord Finesse, Lords Of The Underground, Mantronix, Masta Ace, MC Breed, MC Lyte, MC Shan, Melle Mel, Merciless Ameer, Mobb Deep, Monie Love, Nas, Newcleus, Onyx, Organized Konfusion, Outkast, Andre 3000, Paris, Pharcyde, Queen Latifah, Rakim, Redhead Kingpin, Pete Rock and CL Smooth… I’m almost done.

Redman, Roxanne Shante, Run DMC, Salt-N-Pepa, Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh, Snoop Dogg, Souls Of Mischief, Special Ed, Stetsasonic… now I’m all down to the S’s. Super Lover Cee and Casanova Rud, the D.O.C., the Roots, Black Thought, the Skinny Boys, Tony D, Too Short, Treach from Naughty By Nature, A Tribe Called Quest, U.T.F.O., Whodini, Wise Intelligent and the Poor Righteous Teachers, Wu-Tang Clan, and YZ.

Those were my rock stars, man, and I just want to say, like, those are just a few of the names that I hope will be considered in the future for induction. Because without them, a lot of us wouldn’t be here. I know I wouldn’t.

So that’s all I had to say, man. I know this induction is supposed to be me talking about myself and sh*t, man, but f*ck that. I would not be here without them. I’m a high school dropout, man, with a hip-hop education, and these were my teachers. And it’s their night just as much as it is mine, so thank you.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Vladimir Putin’s stubbornly continuing his war on Ukraine even after all signs have pointed to continuing disaster for Russia. Nearly all year long, we’ve heard that joining his army (voluntarily or not) is essentially a death sentence, which is why Putin began recruiting from the most hellish prisons before drafting 300,000+ more troops. Ukraine came into mountains of unplanned firepower because Putin’s soldiers had either died or abandoned ship, and the last thing we heard, there were about 8-10 men in companies, which should regularly deploy while at least reaching the 100-man mark.

Now, The Moscow Times has revealed that an elite unit, the 155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade, penned a letter to drag the Russian president for treating them as “cannon fodder.” The letter arrives after the unit lost 300 men within days while launching what they called a “baffling” offensive on a Ukrainian village. The publication notes that even “pro-war reporters” cannot understand why this mission happened, given that Russians were reportedly at a “strategic disadvantage” before launching the assault. Here’s more:

“We lost about 300 men killed, wounded and missing in four days as a result of a ‘carefully’ planned offensive by the ‘great commanders’,” the letter said.

It’s grim stuff, given that the loss of life from one mere weekend in Ukraine adds up to more Russian troops lost than during the first Chechen war, way back in the 1990s. This now lends an even more doomed sense of morale for this elite Naval unit, which has been (as Forbes notes) the chief Russian formation in eastern Ukraine since the war began. Putin has insisted that he’s in this to win this, but it ain’t happening.

(Via The Moscow Times & Forbes)

This weekend, Eminem entered the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Predictably and appropriately, it was longtime associate Dr. Dre who was there to induct him. Dre gave an entertaining and moving speech, during which he also made time for some humor.

At one point, Dre joked about Eminem’s history with drugs, saying, “Em would go on to overdose, relapse, and recover not only on his albums, but also in real life. Let me tell you something: this guy goes through a lot of sh*t just to get a concept for a song.”

Eminem addressed the overdose in his own speech, too, saying, “I almost died from an overdose in 2007, which kind of sucked. Hailie, plug your ears: because drugs were f*cking delicious, and I thought we had a good thing going, man, but I had to go and f*ck it all up and take too many. G*ddamn. OK Hailie.”

Read a full transcript of Dre’s speech below (via The Detroit News) and find Eminem’s full speech here.

“OK, let me get serious.

Over 20 years ago, Jimmy Iovine, who is also one of tonight’s inductees and one of my best friends, played a demo tape for me from a guy who called himself Eminem. The first thing I said when I heard it was, ‘What the f*ck did he just say?’ I loved it so much that I couldn’t stop listening to it.

A few days later, Jimmy called me and said, ‘You know he’s a white guy, right?” F*cked me up! The last thing I was thinking about when I was listening was that he was white. It never even crossed my mind. Looking back, I don’t know why it didn’t cross my mind. He certainly didn’t sound like a Black rapper, especially because of what he was saying. I guess it was my ignorance at the time, thinking that if you’re a really good rapper, you must be Black.

Not too long after that, we met for the first time. We hit it off and the next thing you know, we’re at my house working. The first time I put on a beat, he gets on the mic and says, ‘Hi, my name is.’ Boom! And that was the beginning of what became an amazing creative collaboration.

Then came the backlash. ‘Look at him, Dre! He has blue eyes! You can’t sign him!’ There was a massive amount of resistance from my own team and from a lot of people around me: people who had never even heard the music, but didn’t want me to sign him or work with him simply because he was white.

While everyone else around me had their doubts, I knew that his gift was undeniable. His raw, dark, and humorous lyrics coupled with an impeccable cadence stood out from anything I had ever heard before, and he was hungry. Both of us were. We were two artists in do-or-die situations: he was desperate to find a way to feed his family and I was searching for something to sink my teeth into creatively. Each of us was exactly what the other needed and I was willing to bet my entire career on it.

My rebuttal to those naysayers went something like this: ‘He’s going to be the biggest-selling artist on our label.’ Little did I know he was going to be one of the best-selling music artists of all time.

From the moment he introduced himself to the world with The Slim Shady LP, he skyrocketed to the top of the charts and stayed there for 100 weeks while earning a Grammy for Best Rap Album and Best Rap Solo Performance.

Can you believe after promoting violence to little children and killing his daughter’s mother, this guy still had more sh*t to get off his chest?

Well, then The Marshall Mathers LP dropped. On that album alone, his alter ego, Slim Shady, tied me up in his basement, had sex with his mother, and killed his daughter’s mother, again, while proceeding to offend just about every special interest group we have. It clearly struck a collective chord and became one of the fastest selling solo albums in United States history.

Em would go on to overdose, relapse, and recover not only on his albums, but also in real life. Let me tell you something: this guy goes through a lot of sh*t just to get a concept for a song.

But here is Em’s genius, with his incredible wit and wild imagination: he was able to hold up a mirror to White America while also expressing the pain of living through poverty in dysfunctional families devoid of hope. Eminem brought hip-hop to middle America and offered kids who looked like him a way to connect to it.

Hip-hop wasn’t just for Black kids in desperate inner-city circumstances anymore. People of every stripe could have the art form speak to their struggles, too.

Eminem wasn’t just the underdog who broke through the glass ceiling of hip-hop. He shattered it: 220 million albums sold, 13 No. 1 albums, 10 of which all consecutively debuted at No. 1, making him the first artist ever to achieve this. Grammy Awards, an Emmy, and an Oscar. Best-selling music artist of the 2000s. Best-selling hip-hop artist ever. And he doesn’t care about any of that. I care about it more than he does.

What’s most important to him is that he’s earned the respect of his peers as one of the best to ever do it.

Turns out this unassuming white guy with blue eyes from Detroit went from being repeatedly turned down to turning everything we thought we knew about hip-hop on its head while forcing us to confront our own biases, growing not only the genre, but all of us right along with it.

It is my great honor to induct my friend, Eminem, into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.”

There was some sad news this weekend: Aaron Carter, best known for fun singles like 2001’s “That’s How I Beat Shaq” and his 2000 gold-certified hit “Aaron’s Party (Come Get It),” died at 34 years old. This was tough for many to swallow, but especially for Backstreet Boys, of which Aaron’s brother Nick Carter is a member. On Sunday (November 6), the group put on a concert in London and emotionally paid tribute to Aaron.

At the O2 Arena, the group performed 2019 single “No Place” and dedicated it to Aaron as a photo tribute played on screens behind them. After the song, Kevin Richardson noted the tune is “very special to us because that song is about family.” He also said, “We’ve been through highs and lows and ups and downs — we thank you for being with the Backstreet family for 29 years, for all the love. Tonight we’ve got a little bit of heavy hearts because we lost one of our family members yesterday. We just wanted to find a moment in our show to recognize him.”

As Richardson spoke, Nick was clearly emotional and seemingly holding back tears. Nick’s bandmates also each took a moment to give him a hug.

Check out the moment below.

Eminem had one of the biggest moments of his career yesterday (November 7): He was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Aside from performing with Ed Sheeran, he also gave a speech, which he used to shine a light on the many rappers who helped pave the way for him.

Em spent a significant portion of his speech listing off a lengthy roster of rappers. Among many others, the list included Tupac, the Beastie Boys, Biz Markie, The Notorious B.I.G., Chuck D, De La Soul, Dr. Dre, EPMD, Fat Joe, Ice Cube, Jazzy Jeff And The Fresh Prince (the latter of whom is now better known as Will Smith), Kid & Play, LL Cool J, Nas, Outkast, Andre 3000, Queen Latifah, Rakim, Redman, Run DMC, Salt-N-Pepa, Snoop Dogg, Stetsasonic, The Roots, Black Thought, Too Short, A Tribe Called Quest, and Wu-Tang Clan. All in all, Em named over 100 rappers.

Read a transcript of Eminem’s full speech below (via The Detroit News).

“Can y’all hear me? I can’t hear me. Can you hear me?

This sh*t’s crazy. So I wrote some sh*t down tonight that I’m never going to f*cking remember, so I had to read it off the paper and sh*t, but it’s from the heart. I realize what an honor it is right now for me to be up here tonight, and what a privilege it is to do the music that I love, and the music that basically saved my life.

Where’d the man… where did Dre go? The man who saved my life, ladies and gentlemen, Dr. motherf*ckin’ Dre. So I’m going to try to make this as quick and painless as possible. I’m f*cking stuttering and sh*t, I mean Jesus Christ.

So I’m probably not supposed to actually be here tonight because of a couple of reasons. One of them that I’m a rapper, and this is the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. And there’s only a few of us right now that have been inducted in already, but there’s only a few of us.

Secondly, I almost died from an overdose in 2007, which kind of sucked. Hailie, plug your ears: because drugs were f*cking delicious, and I thought we had a good thing going, man, but I had to go and f*ck it all up and take too many. G*ddamn. OK Hailie.

OK, so… hold on, I lost my motherf*ckin’ spot. Paul, did I say… I said drugs were delicious, right? And finally, I had to really fight my way through man to try and break through in this music, and I’m so honored and I’m so grateful that I’m even able to be up here doing hip-hip music, man, because I love it so much.

And they say you won’t work a day if you love your job and sh*t. This part I’m not crazy about? But, OK.

My musical influences are many, and they say it takes a village to raise a child. Well, it took a whole genre and culture to raise me. They say success has many fathers, and that’s definitely true for me. So whatever my impact has been on hip-hop music, I never would have or could have done this sh*t without some of the groundbreaking artists that I’m about to mention right now.

And this is a list, man. I put this list together yesterday, and I kept adding to the sh*t, adding to the sh*t, and if I forget anybody, I apologize. But these were my teachers right here.

I’m gonna start with the 2 Live Crew, Tupac, 3rd Bass, Alliance, Apache, Audio Two — Milk Dee, what up! — Awesome Dre, the Beastie Boys, Big Daddy Kane, Big Pun, Big L, Biz Markie, the Notorious B.I.G. of course, Black Moon, the Boogie Monsters, Brand Nubian, Brother J from X Clan, Buckshot, Casual from Heiroglyphics, Chill Rob G, Chubb Rock, Chuck D and Public Enemy, Cypress Hill, D-Nice, Dana Dane, De La Soul — now I’m about a third of the way done.

De La Soul… did I say De La Soul? Def Jef, Del The Funky Homosapien, DJ Quik, Dr. Dre of course, Dres from Black Sheep, Ed O.G., EPMD, Fat Boys, Fat Joe, Fu-Schnickens, Gang Starr, Geto Boys, Heavy D, House Of Pain, Ice Cube, Ice-T, the Intelligent Hoodlum, JJ Fad, Jaz-O, Jazzy Jeff And The Fresh Prince, Just Ice, K-Solo, Kid & Play: I’m a tenth of the way done.

King Sun, King Tee, Kool G Rap, Kool Moe Dee, KRS-One, Kwame, Lakim Shabazz, Large Professor, Leaders Of The New School, the one and only LL Cool J — love you bro. Lord Finesse, Lords Of The Underground, Mantronix, Masta Ace, MC Breed, MC Lyte, MC Shan, Melle Mel, Merciless Ameer, Mobb Deep, Monie Love, Nas, Newcleus, Onyx, Organized Konfusion, Outkast, Andre 3000, Paris, Pharcyde, Queen Latifah, Rakim, Redhead Kingpin, Pete Rock and CL Smooth… I’m almost done.

Redman, Roxanne Shante, Run DMC, Salt-N-Pepa, Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh, Snoop Dogg, Souls Of Mischief, Special Ed, Stetsasonic… now I’m all down to the S’s. Super Lover Cee and Casanova Rud, the D.O.C., the Roots, Black Thought, the Skinny Boys, Tony D, Too Short, Treach from Naughty By Nature, A Tribe Called Quest, U.T.F.O., Whodini, Wise Intelligent and the Poor Righteous Teachers, Wu-Tang Clan, and YZ.

Those were my rock stars, man, and I just want to say, like, those are just a few of the names that I hope will be considered in the future for induction. Because without them, a lot of us wouldn’t be here. I know I wouldn’t.

So that’s all I had to say, man. I know this induction is supposed to be me talking about myself and sh*t, man, but f*ck that. I would not be here without them. I’m a high school dropout, man, with a hip-hop education, and these were my teachers. And it’s their night just as much as it is mine, so thank you.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Multiple times per week, our TV and film experts will list the most important ten streaming selections for you to pop into your queues. We’re not strictly operating upon reviews or accrued streaming clicks (although yes, we’ve scoured the streaming site charts) but, instead, upon those selections that are really worth noticing amid the churning sea of content. There’s a lot out there, after all, and your time is valuable.

TIE: 10. Enola Holmes 2 (Netflix movie)

Henry Cavill might be everywhere right now (and will leave The Witcher building soon), but for now, you can enjoy him in this charming followup to Millie Bobby Brown’s introduction as Sherlock Holmes’ plucky little sister. She’s got her own detective shingle now, and she’s digging into a case that strongly resembles infamous match-factory happenings. That subject’s a grave one, but the mood stays relatively breezy nonetheless. Get ready for more madcap hijinks.

TIE: 10. Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities (Netflix series)

October might be over, but the spooks continue with this anthology series that’s chock full of sinister happenings and led by an array of passionate directors, including The Babadook helmer Jennifer Kent and O.G. Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke. Who says the witching season should only be confined to one month out of the year? Especially with Daylight Savings time ending, you gotta get in on the literal darkness by enjoying episodes starring Ben Barnes, Andrew Lincoln, Rupert Grint, and more.

9. All Quiet On The Western Front (Netflix movie)

There’s a surplus of WWII films, and plenty of them lately, but this one happens to be the best of the most recent bunch. No gimmicks here, only pure-war drama. It’s visually stunning and viscerally grueling, and fortunately, Daniel Brühl (Inglorious Basterds) shows up because that’s practically obligatory at this point.

8. Don’t Worry Darling (New Line/WB Film on HBO Max)

Finally, the steep PVOD price has yielded to HBO Max streaming, so you can see what all the fuss is about after Harry Styles didn’t spit on Chris Pine after all. That was only the beginning because Olivia Wilde drummed up enthusiasm about the sex scenes and then didn’t seem to understand why people were excited about them. Yet the actual movie itself failed to scintillate as much as one would expect. Still, it’s not a bad way to spent 2 hours and 3 minutes, give or take.

7. From Scratch (Netflix series)

Are you in the mood to cry? Well, you’re in luck, and you wouldn’t be alone. This series (starring Zoe Saldana) adapts the From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home memoir by Tembi Locke, and tells the story of loss and love that reaches beyond the grave. Saldana’s Amy falls in love with an aspiring chef in Italy, and the story moves to Los Angeles, where everything should be perfect, but then a tragedy strikes. Yes, it sounds like a Nicholas Sparks novel for solid reason, but it’s good counter programming for all the superhero and dark-fantasy shows that have recently prevailed on streaming.

6. The White Lotus (HBO series streaming on HBO Max)

The second season’s debut episode dissed Ted Lasso; for better or worse, and this season’s already hitting satiric beats with Aubrey Plaza and Theo James’ uncomfortable exchange. Everyone wants to know who that floating body belongs to, and I’m secretly hoping that it’s the latter, or maybe Murray Bartlett’s Armond made it all the way to Sicily after his demise? Don’t put it past this franchise to go there, but the best thing about this season is that Jennifer Coolidge returns for one hell of an awkward sex scene. There’s been no poop in a suitcase yet, but this season is young, so we’ll see what happens.

5. Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (Netflix series) and Conversations With A Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes (Netflix docuseries)

This late serial killer won’t stop dominating the Netflix charts, first with Ryan Murphy’s dramatized limited series (starring Evan Peters) and next with Joe Berlinger’s docuseries that takes a more hard-hitting approach to a serial killer who flourished until “that smell” brought him down. Yes, this is difficult subject matter to watch, but that hasn’t stopped the masses from continuing to binge this content.

4. The Watcher (Netflix series)

More Ryan Murphy. You can’t escape him, and given his twin Fall 2022 successes practically guarantee that his Netflix contract will be re-upped into infinity. In this inspired-by-real-life limited series, Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannivale portray the heads of a terrorized family who’s receiving threatening letters after they moved into what they thought would be their dream abode. Soon enough, they’re questioning everything, and everyone is truly a suspect. The series has fun with every conceivable possibility while also remaining relatively innocuous in terms of triggering any old memories that you might have. The story might not be prestige TV, but the cast (including Margo Martindale, Mia Farrow, and Jennifer Coolidge) qualifies it as much.

3. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Roku movie)

Daniel Radcliffe continues to give no f*cks while proving that there’s truly creative life after starring in a franchise for over a decade. He’s obviously “Weird” Al Yankovic, the king of musical parody, in this accordion-wielding, semi-fictional biopic that co-stars Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna. Man, this will bring back memories of watching float parades themed to “Like A Virgin” while your grandmother mutters about the disgrace in front of her. The 1980s ruled.

2. Manifest (NBC-turned Netflix series)

Showrunner Jeff Rake received a second chance (after an NBC cancellation while this show sat atop the Netflix charts), and he’s attempting to bring this turbulent ride in for a semi-crash landing. This show still doesn’t make sense, and Flight 828 passengers are as clueless as the public at large when it comes to why they disappeared for five years from the mainstream human timeline. Cal is suddenly a teenager, and I’m waiting for an announcement about the Olive-only spinoff. Justice for Olive, and down with Angelina. Manifest superfan Stephen King must have some theories for this batch of episodes, and hopefully, we’ll hear about them soon.

1. Interview With The Vampire (AMC series streaming on AMC+)

If you haven’t tuned into this reboot yet, then you are sorely missing out. Lestat and Louis have decloseted their relationship, and Lestat throws the biggest tantrum over Claudia beating him at a chess game. Seriously though, this show is not only greater than the 1990s movie starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, but the show has also been renewed for a second season. It won’t love and leave you, in other words, and Jacob Anderson has moved well beyond his stoic Game of Thrones role with Sam Reid giving Lestat some irresistible swagger for the ages. This one’s about to wind down for the year, so get on it.