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There are three characters in Finch, and only one of them is human. Luckily that human is Tom Hanks, playing a dying scientist training a robot to take care of his dog in the delightful latest release from Apple+.

That we’ve already seen and loved Tom Hanks screaming at inanimate objects for an entire movie (Castaway – WILSON!) and enjoyed whimsical, anthropomorphic robots wheeling around post-apocalyptic landscapes searching for the meaning of life in another (the great Wall E) makes it seem like a concept combining the two would be somehow hack, derivative, unoriginal. Yet Finch feels downright innovative, boldly trusting that Tom Hanks training a robot to take care of his dog in a post-cataclysm Earth is a sentiment sweet and humane enough to carry an entire movie.

It is. And the fact that Miguel Sapochnik and his writers, Craig Luck and Ivor Powell, simply trusted this impulse enough not to saddle it with unnecessary narrative fluff makes it even sweeter. Virtually any other movie like this would’ve given Finch Goldstein (Hanks’ character) 10 unnecessary sob backstories, about his wife, about his family, about his important work as a scientist, and blah blah blah. But that would’ve only cheapened it. For all the movies where the hero, or worse, the thousands more where a tertiary character, sacrifice themselves to save their child or for the good of humanity, is there anything more altruistic and life-affirming than a guy spending his final hours trying to provide for a creature that shares none of his DNA in a world where humans may be extinct? What a sweet idea.

Caleb Landry Jones voices the robot, Jeff, who sounds a little like a computerized Borat at first, and increasingly human as he learns to communicate. With a character design that lands somewhere between The Iron Giant and Johnny 5, he works at least as well as any human character would. Which, like his forebears, makes him function as a simple affirmation of consciousness. The dog, it must be said, is also an incredibly handsome boy, a dead ringer for Spots from Isle Of Dogs who steals every scene he’s in.

Produced by Amblin Partners, a descendant of Amblin Entertainment, which gave us ET and Back To The Future, Finch is every bit the Amblin Entertainment version of Chappie; nothing more and nothing less. Little else even needs to be said. For all the filmmakers who have invoked Amblin and eighties Spielberg as a stylistic touchstone, Finch comes about as close as I’ve seen to actually capturing it.

‘Finch’ premieres November 5th on Apple+. Vince Mancini is on Twitter. You can check out his film review archive here.

As of this writing, Travis Scott’s third Astroworld Festival is already underway, where he’s expected to preview at least one or two new songs from his upcoming album Utopia after releasing “Escape Plan” and “Mafia” earlier today. However, before then, he’s shared the video for “Escape Plan,” which finds him living like a boss, directing a team of brawny security guards, and running on a treadmill on a yacht.

Anticipation for Travis’ album, the follow-up to the critically acclaimed commercial juggernaut Astroworld, is at a fever pitch thanks to the new singles, as well as Travis’ recent appearance at Rolling Loud in New York and his features on projects from the likes of Baby Keem, Don Toliver, Drake, Lil Baby and Lil Durk, and Young Thug. He also expanded his Astroworld Festival to encompass a full week of events and philanthropy, including the opening of several Nike-sponsored basketball courts and the premiere of his A24-produced film.

For fans excited to see what Travis’ set will look like but are unable to attend the festival in person, he’ll be live-streaming the set exclusively on Apple Music later tonight, beginning at 7 pm PT/10 pm ET. You can watch a preview here.

Watch Travis Scott’s “Escape Plan” video.

Indigo De Souza has established herself this year as a uniquely existential force in indie. On her latest album, Any Shape You Take, songs like “Real Pain,” “Kill Me,” and “Hold U” show her navigating through love and knowledge of self in unpredictable and alluring ways. So it’s fitting that her latest release is a Frank Ocean cover.

With her version of “Ivy,” De Souza presents it alongside a video of her singing in a hallway rocking a very loud, and very awesome shirt from 2 Chainz’s debut album, Based On A T.R.U. Story. But the nods to the Southern rapper end there as De Souza lays down a super sweet version of Ocean’s “Ivy” over a modest drum beat. In the clip, double box screens of her dancing, dancing with her dog, playing bass, and then of her dog happily running in the grass seem to act as the many corners of her mind as she sings through the wavelengths of the song’s emotions. The epilogue for her, is that she’s happy through it all after delivering a dynamite rendition of a song about sincere heartbreak.

In a statement she reflected on what the track means to her:

“I deeply love Frank Ocean’s songs and “Ivy” has a truly special place in my heart. I have cried many times to this song and can see so much of my own inner world in it. I wanted to fully embody the song myself in honor of its gorgeous existence. Thank you Frank Ocean.”

De Souza also shared additional fall and winter tour dates. Watch the “Ivy” video above and check out the tour dates below.

11/14/2021 — Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge ~
11/15/2021 — Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle ^
11/16/2021 — Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle *
11/17/2021 — West Columbia, SC @ New Brookland Tavern *
01/20/2022 — Charlotte, NC @ Amos’ Southend *
01/21/2022 — Richmond, VA @ Richmond Music Hall
01/22/2022 — Washington, DC @ Black Cat
01/23/2022 — Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
01/24/2022 — Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
01/27/2022 — Boston, MA @ Royale
01/28/2022 — Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground
01/29/2022 — Camden, CT @ Space Ballroom
01/30/2022 — Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer

~ with Allie
^ with Ex Gold
* with Truth Club

Any Shape You Take is out now via Saddle Creek.

Despite owning the NBA’s second-best record at 6-1, the Golden State Warriors rank 25th in turnover rate (14.5 percent) this season, much to the dismay of head coach Steve Kerr.

During the first quarter of their win over the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday, Kerr said he “was so disgusted with (the team’s) play that he was pouting and (his) body language was terrible.” Draymond Green noticed this from Kerr and told his coach about it.

“I was kind of embarrassed,” Kerr said. “I was like, ‘You know what? You’re right.’ After all the turnovers, I’m just sitting there like, ‘Fine, fine, whatever,’ acting like they were on their own out there. It was not my best moment as a coach. It was great for Draymond to remind me they need my energy too.”

Friday morning, Green followed up Kerr’s post-game comments by illuminating his own perspective on the topic. Green said he thinks when coaches animatedly react to turnovers, it leads players to become more hesitant to make passes. By the time they decide to pass, the window has closed and more giveaways are the result — exactly the dynamic he saw play out Wednesday night.

“To me, it started to look like guys were turning the ball over trying not to turn the ball over,” he said. “I just went up to (Kerr) and said, ‘Coach, we need your body language. … We look over to the bench and it looks like somebody died over here. It’s deflating.’

“And he’s like, ‘Well, I’m trying to stick with you guys. What am I supposed to do about the turnovers?’ I said, ‘Coach, if you want to, cuss us out.’ He said, ‘I did that.’ I said, ‘Well, keep going. But if you keep dropping your head, it’s killing us.’ … His energy changed like that, and our energy changed like that.”

Despite trailing at the end of the first quarter, Golden State would go on to beat Charlotte, 114-92.

Sufjan Stevens is in the midst of perhaps the most productive stretch of his career. In 2020 and 2021 alone, he has released four total albums: 2020 brought the Lowell Brams collaboration Aporia and the solo effort The Ascension, while this year has yielded the solo album Convocations and September’s joint project with Angelo De Augustine called A Beginner’s Mind. Now, though, it appears Stevens is looking to take some time off to unwind.

In a recent interview with WYNC (as Exclaim notes), Stevens declared that it may be a while before he releases a new album, saying, “I’m always working on something, and I always have like three albums just on the sidelines, waiting to happen. But, I think it’s time for me to take a break, you know? And step back and just be, and listen.”

Exclaim also notes that this isn’t the first time Stevens has said something like this in recent times, as in a 2020 interview about The Ascension, he told the publication, “It’ll probably be another five years before I have another record. So I might as well get as much as I can.” Of course, after The Ascension, he promptly proceeded to release two more albums.

While Stevens has been busy lately, his career hasn’t been without lengthy breaks between releases, as his four most recent solo albums (before this year’s Convocations) arrived about five years apart: There’s 2005’s Illinois, 2010’s The Age Of Adz, 2015’s Carrie & Lowell, and 2020’s The Ascension.

A little under two years removed from his surprise breakout with the original Yellow Tape, Memphis upstart Key Glock has returned to the project that made him one of hip-hop’s names to watch with Yellow Tape 2, which dropped today via Empire and Young Dolph’s Paper Route Empire. The project, which clocks in at 20 tracks — four more than its predecessor — contains no features but does have beats from notable producers like BandPlay, Buddah Bless, Juicy J, and Tay Keith.

In addition to dropping the album, Key Glock also shared the video for “Something Bout Me,” a rough-riding single produced by Tay Keith. In the video, KG runs several operations with the help of a squad of scantily clad companions. When business wraps up for the night, the women disrobe even further for an after-hours party where they twerk for the rapper as he relaxes and appreciates their talents. The single follows the video for “Ambition For Cash,” released a month ago to start the promo cycle for the new album.

Yellow Tape 2 brings Key Glock’s catalog of releases since 2020 to three projects, including his summer 2020 mixtape Son Of A Gun and his early 2021 joint album with Young Dolph, Dum And Dummer 2. He’s turning out to be quite the prolific creator, contributing to his growing profile as one of hip-hop’s hottest rising stars.

Watch Key Glock’s “Something Bout Me” video above and listen to his new project Yellow Tape 2 here.

A significant amount of Jeopardy! fans want Mayim Bialik to become permanent host once this era-of-sharing (with champ Ken Jennings) runs its course. And it’s a good thing that Mayim clarified her vaccination stance and came out on the pro-COVID jab side of the equation because, well, no one wants another Mike Richards fiasco. No sir, producers surely want someone as non-controversial as possible, even if there’s no way to find someone for the job who’s as beloved as Alex Trebek.

That’s a valid concern, which also jibes with reports that Jennings was initially passed over as host because of his past tweets. And for a little while, it looked like Aaron Rodgers could have been the pick, given how impressively prepared he was during his guest host stint. Well, we all know what happened next. Richards took the job, and Rodgers kept doing his GQ thing for the Green Bay Packers.

Fast forward, and life comes at you fast. Earlier this week, Rodgers tested positive for COVID, so he’ll miss this Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Cue a firestorm amid speculation that he lied about his vaccination status (he’s since revealed himself as a skeptic who reportedly questions fertility implications of the shot), and Rodgers followed up his positive test by going on a rant about the “woke mob” and “cancel culture casket.” He also revealed that he’s taken COVID advice from his friend and fellow Ivermectin proponent (!) Joe Rogan.

Boy, this is a mess for the NFL. It could be an even bigger mess if Rodgers had somehow become the Jeopardy! host. Fans of the show are both aghast over the near-miss and breathing a sigh of relief.

Talk about a game-show bullet dodged.

It’s an old truth that bears repeating: those close to us are never truly gone. They live on through our memories, our traditions and, most importantly, our love.

Just under a year ago, in December of 2020, style editor for the TODAY show Bobbie Thomas suffered the tragic loss of her husband Michael Marion. In the blink of an eye, she became a single parent to their 6-year-old son Miles.

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A post shared by Bobbie Thomas (@bobbiethomas)

Showing undeniable emotional resilience, Thomas recently posted a quick recap of her October, sharing that it “was a month filled with celebrations (& sweets).” She then added: “up first was Michael’s birthday…”

The post included two side-by-side photos. One showing Michael’s birthday a year prior, with the whole family gathered around the cake for that last, final time. And the other showing little Miles on the beach with donuts, “remembering daddy.” Bobbie shared that donuts on the beach was a “favorite pastime” for father and son.

Bobbie previously told TODAY that keeping Michael’s memory alive for Miles was an utmost priority, saying that it not only helps heal and navigate through the uncharted waters of grief, it also helps alleviate the knowledge that she can’t always protect him from pain.

The post continued “A few weeks later, I turned 47… not being able to share that day with Michael made his loss a hyper reality…”

October is usually a time to kick off more family bonding, to don silly costumes and begin celebrating the simple joys of life. But for those like Bobbie, holidays can often serve as a devastating reminder for what is now gone. Luckily, she had her son Miles, who stepped in to help Mommy deal with grief. Apparently it was a piece of cake.

“Miles was a rockstar and asked our neighbor to help him get a piece of birthday cake (all his idea she said),” Bobbie captioned. The photo depicts Miles sporting the proudest grin, clearly knowing he did a good job, and a fantastically decadent cake slice. A rockstar indeed.

And just like that, poof, a moment that was at first sad and lonely transformed into a beautiful memory to cherish. Say what you will about sugar, desserts have a magical way of making certain moments that much sweeter (though kids seem to never forget it).

When Bobbie lost Michael in 2020, she shared an Instagram post with the message: “Hold onto what you do have right now instead of focusing on what you don’t. One thing we all have is kindness. Absorb it, extend it, exhaust it. Because in the end the ONLY thing that matters is love.”

Bobbie and Miles are living out that statement with every beach donut, birthday cake and moment of remembrance. Does it take away the pain? No. But it does remind us that love is stronger and eternal. If there’s someone near and dear to your heart who has passed, it’s never too late to feel gratitude for the impact they had on your life. Like a delicious piece of cake, savor the sweetness of their spirit and they won’t ever be fully gone.

Oh, you thought Mariah Carey didn’t have any new Christmas music coming? The Queen Of Christmas is a truly benevolent one and as you’re getting ready to fire up her Mariah’s Christmas: The Magic Continues special this holiday season, there’s a new slow jam on deck to help you warm up the fireplace.

“Fall In Love At Christmas” is an R&B croon at its core. Heck, Carey even brought on R&B sensation Khalid to lend a hand on this one. In the song’s delightfully extra video, the pajama clad pair (Carey sleeps in a Chicago Bulls jersey, because comfort) are sitting on a couch in the immaculately decorated “The Butterfly Lounge,” at Carey’s house. A 7x Platinum plaque for The Emancipation Of Mimi casually hangs behind them on the wall, next to the 8x Platinum plaque for her iconic Merry Christmas album, the best-selling Christmas album by a female artist of all time. These are merely reminders that when it comes to Christmas, Mariah Carey means serious business. And while she and Khalid sport a sumptuous duet, two piano players join them, one of which is none other than gospel music titan Kirk Franklin.

The song’s second movement is Franklin’s time to shine. His gospel choir of carolers join in to up the stakes as Mariah ranges into high notes as only she can. As the song closes, Franklin stoically proclaims: “Listen, more than ever before, love needs to be something we do, not something we say. This holiday season, let’s give love away.”

Listen to “Fall In Love At Christmas” above.

More details are emerging about the recent failed QAnon Ressurection in Dallas this week and, if you thought the story about MAGA followers making a pilgrimage to Texas to see John F. Kennedy, Jr. rise from the dead to reinstate Donald Trump as president couldn’t get any more insane … boy, do we have news for you.

Turns out, the great QAnon Migration was launched by a middle-aged anti-semitic demolition worker named Michael Brian Protzman. Protzman’s been focused on becoming a right-wing conspiracy theorizing influencer over the past few years, launching his own sub-cult within the larger fanatical group where he regularly spews anti-semitic nonsense — the normal, incredibly unoriginal Holocaust-denying, pro-Hitler bullsh*t you’d expect — and occasionally tries to get his fans to invest in foreign currency via his personal website. You know, your basic online grifting nonsense.

Despite how eye-rollingly average Protzman appears on paper though, he was able to convince hundreds of QAnon cult members to travel to Dallas recently where he predicted that John F. Kennedy, Jr. would be resurrected — along with former President John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jackie Kennedy Onassis who Protzman views as the second incarnation of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene. Obviously, that did not happen — though believers who went to the Rolling Stones concert later that day to see JFK, Jr. open for the English rock band did claim to see the spirit of Michael Jackson amongst the crowd — but the lack of physical evidence hasn’t stopped Protzman or his fans from buying into these truly bizarre doomsday prophecies.

Apparently, Protzman is so obsessed with the Kennedy family because he believes that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and had four children. Their bloodline is the source for many of today’s famous celebrities, including the Kennedys. Along with JFK and Jackie’s role in this reincarnation theory, Protzman also believes that JFK, Jr. is Archangel Michael, and Donald Trump is the Holy Spirit. And he’s selling this wild con by co-opting a Jewish numerology system that assigns numerical values to names, words, and phrases which, in turn, lets him infer whatever mystical b.s. he wants to back up his oracle-like visions.

Protzman also believes that people with an O blood type share a bloodline with Christ and that the COVID-19 testing system is just the government’s way of swabbing for DNA so that they can identify those specific descendants. And look, this would all be a real riot if it was coming from that crazy estranged uncle drinking his own piss out in West Virginia, but Protzman has hundreds of thousands of followers on his Telegram account that are ingesting this mental bile every day. So please, go check on your grandparents and those second cousins who bought out entire feed stores-worth of horse-powered Ivermectin to make sure they haven’t fallen prey to this piece of work.

(Via Vice)