GoneTrending

Kacey Musgraves delivered her shimmering album Star-Crossed last month, an album that featured both woozy reflections on her self-worth and kiss-off tunes about her ex-husband. Her track “Breadwinner” falls into the latter category and it recently saw an uptick in popularity thanks to some of today’s biggest TikTok stars using audio from the track’s empowering chorus. Now, Musgraves brings the hit track to a captivating performance on late-night TV.

Appearing on The Show With Stephen Colbert, Musgraves takes the stage in a black beanie and oversized bomber jacket. Backed by a full band and mounds of cash falling from the ceiling, the singer delivers cutting lyrics about giving a relationship her all and getting nothing in return. The song also warns other women to not make the same mistake with verses like, “He wants your shimmer / To make him feel bigger / Until he starts feeling insecure / I wish somebody would’ve told me the truth.”

Ahead of taking the Colbert stage, Musgraves found out her Star-Crossed isn’t eligible for any Grammys in the country music genre. The singer seemingly responded with a throwback photo of her in a hot pink cowboy hat posted to social media with the caption, “You can take the girl out of the country (genre) but you can’t take the country out of the girl.”

Watch Musgraves’ “Breadwinner” performance on Colbert above.

Star-Crossed is out now via Interscope/MCA Nashville. Get it here.

Indie music has grown to include so much. It’s not just music that is released on independent labels, but speaks to an aesthetic that deviates from the norm and follows its own weirdo heart. It can come in the form of rock music, pop, or folk. In a sense, it says as much about the people that are drawn to it as it does about the people that make it.

Every week, Uproxx is rounding up the best new indie music from the past seven days. This week we got the new album from Coldplay, Kevin Morby and Hamilton Leithauser’s first official studio collaboration, and another great post-punk track from Swedish outfit Makthaverskan. Check out the rest of the best new indie music below.

While we’re at it, sign up for our newsletter to get the best new indie music delivered directly to your inbox, every Monday.

Coldplay – Music Of The Spheres

Coldplay, a band that we recently named one of the biggest bands of the 21st century in an episode of Indiecast, is back with their ninth studio album. Music Of The Spheres is what Caitlin White calls for Uproxx “dramatically a pop album, with features from massive pop artists like BTS and Selena Gomez positioned front and center.” If you’ve been waiting to hear Chris Martin at his most maximalist, this is your chance.

Blackstarkids – Puppies Forever

It’s been almost exactly a year to the day since I spoke with Blackstarkids about their debut release with new label Dirty Hit. Now, the Kansas City trio is back with a full-length album, Puppies Forever, which continues down the path of showcasing all of their diverse musical interests to culminate in something truly unique and remarkable.

Another Michael – Unplugged Music And Big Sessions

Another Michael’s New Music And Big Pop is one of the best indie albums of the year, and the band isn’t letting up any of the momentum. The new compilation release Unplugged Music And Big Sessions brings together demos, outtakes, and live sessions that document the band’s full creative process and provide a good insight into the many iterations of this batch of songs.

Damon Albarn – “The Tower Of Montevideo”

After spending the last few years digging in with his band Gorillaz, Damon Albarn is now turning his attention to solo music, gearing up to share a new album titled The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows in November. To tide us over until the full release, Albarn has shared “The Tower Of Montevideo,” which features a basic drum-machine beat that Derrick Rossignol notes for Uproxx “is rounded out by a lush arrangement of synths, horns, and piano.”

Sunflower Bean – “Baby Don’t Cry”

After a series of stellar releases throughout the late 2010’s, Sunflower Bean are kicking of the 2020’s with “Baby Don’t Cry,” a brand new track that Adrian Spinelli describes for Uproxx as “a distinct callback to 50’s doo-wop trios on the song, but with a decidedly modern take.” Although the new song isn’t officially part of a new album just yet, here’s to hoping that there is more new music from the New York trio coming soon.

Black Country, New Road – “Chaos Space Marine”

London seven-piece outfit Black Country, New Road are back with a much-anticipated new album, called Ants From Up There. Along with the album’s announcement comes “Chaos Space Marine,” an exciting and unpredictable new single that Adrian Spinelli describes for Uproxx as opening “with a cacophonously controlled saxophone, before unfurling into a thrilling blitz of violin, piano, and drums.”

Kevin Morby & Hamilton Leithauser – “Virginia Beach”

After covering each other’s songs and announcing a co-headlining tour together, Kevin Morby and Hamilton Leithauser have just released their first original studio collaboration in the form of “Virginia Beach.” Described by Adrian Spinelli for Uproxx as “a welcome union for fans of both artists,” the track showcases the best of both artists, though Morby’s Kansas City twang certainly takes the front seat here.

Makthaverskan – “Closer”

With their fourth LP För Allting due next month, Swedish post-punk outfit Makthaverskan have shared another single in the form of “Closer.” Like the tracks that preceded it, “Closer” once again finds the band “[moving] into more of an atmospheric, melodic direction,” writes Caitlin White for Uproxx, which sets a high bar for perfect fall listening.

Snarls – “I’ll Follow You”

Over the last year or so, Columbus, OH indie rockers Snarls have been holed up in the studio with Death Cab For Cutie’s Chris Walla, crafting their new EP What About Flowers? Now, the quartet is ready to give us a peek of the resulting music, and “I’ll Follow You” follows through on the lofty expectations. Chock full of heart and shimmering guitars, “I’ll Follow You” is about being scared to love someone because of past relationship trauma.

Jim-E Stack – “FFBH”

For his new EP, Jim-E Stack decided to give away free copies of the CD inside vending machines. He also uploaded the glitchy, exciting new track “FFBH” to streaming services for those (like me) who weren’t able to pick up a copy of Promotional Only in person last week, an attempt to tide us over until the rest of the EP drops.

Keep For Cheap – “Segway
”

Minnesota quintet Keep For Cheap are proving that they’re here to stay on “Segway.” Complete with twangy guitars and beautiful vocal melodies, the track revolves around aspirations to embrace and examine all aspects of life, and cements Keep For Cheap as a band to watch as they prep a new effort.

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

“Jill and I are deeply saddened by the passing of our dear friend and a patriot of unmatched honor and dignity, General Colin Powell.”

That’s the beginning of President Joe Biden’s tribute to Colin Powell, who died on Monday at 84 years old from COVID-related complications. It continues, “Colin embodied the highest ideals of both warrior and diplomat. He was committed to our nation’s strength and security above all. Having fought in wars, he understood better than anyone that military might alone was not enough to maintain our peace and prosperity.” That’s a typical statement (even if it leaves out some key details about Powell’s legacy) for a president to make following the death of a respected general.

Meanwhile, here’s what former-president Donald Trump had to say about Powell:

“Wonderful to see Colin Powell, who made big mistakes on Iraq and famously, so-called weapons of mass destruction, be treated in death so beautifully by the Fake News Media. Hope that happens to me someday. He was a classic RINO, if even that, always being the first to attack other Republicans. He made plenty of mistakes, but anyway, may he rest in peace!”

“RINO” stands for “Republican In Name Only,” a term that Trump frequently used to disparage any Republicans who dared to not kiss the ring. Anyway, it shouldn’t be a surprise that this statement came from a man who thinks soldiers who died in combat are “losers” and “suckers,” and it’s not. But it is a reminder of Trump’s callousness — and all the gems we’ve missed since his Twitter account was taken away from him.

But anyway, may you all rest in peace.

Young Thug is suing his apartment’s owners after losing a bag full of money and unreleased music, according to Digital Music News. According to documents viewed by DMN, Thugger had been leasing an apartment at a high-end Atlanta building called Trace, where he accidentally left a $2,500 Louis Vuitton bag next to his car after returning from Los Angeles late last year. Apparently, the bag was turned into the building’s 24-hour concierge by a helpful neighbor and Thugger was contacted about the bag, which contained around $94,000 worth of jewelry and $40,000 in cash, as well as a hard drive containing around 200 unreleased songs.

Despite the concierge employee on-duty at the time leaving a clear note to contact her before releasing the bag to anyone else, another employee gave the bag to an unidentified third party, who unsurprisingly has yet to return any of the missing items. Thug’s lawsuit accuses the building’s ownership group of being “unreasonable and stubbornly litigious” and blames the group for “negligent supervision and failure to train” its concierge team members.

Meanwhile, despite losing the hard drive and the expensive items — which he says amounts to around $1 million — Thug’s not having all that bad of a year. His newly released album Punk is trending toward a top-three Billboard debut, according to Hits Daily Double, and has received positive chatter on social media.

Is it time for one last job for Marty Byrde? A better question: will he actually get his originally-intended job done? God only knows, and god help Wendy and Ruth, so let’s all salute her “I don’t know sh*t about f*ck” before the super-sized final Ozark season arrives. We’ve got a Season 4 teaser, which follows up on the blood-spattered tarmac happenings, as Marty meant to head toward Mexico. And it looks like he got there.

In other words, Marty Byrde’s back for one more play (and he’s in a heap of sh*t, as usual) after the third season lit his money-laundering world on fire. He obviously survived the mess, and Wendy went with him, meaning that she didn’t take the family and didn’t run, and we don’t get to see Julia Garner’s fan-favorite Ruth Langmore here, but we do get to hear her wondering if death would be a better option. That’s a fair question, but before we receive the answer, I want to see a capsule episode where Ruth tosses everyone off a casino boat. Make it happen.

Notably, we’re reminded here of “a beginning,” which is a direct callback to Navarro’s “today is a beginning” from the Season 3 finale after Helen takes a gunshot to the head. That truly shocking cliffhanger looks to lead directly into what we’re seeing above.

All of the show’s characters might feel like Ruth does before this show is over, but fortunately for the show’s fans, the season will contain 14 episodes, which will launch in two seven-part halves, so we might as well pretend that we’re getting five seasons. And boy, Jason Bateman has been ready to do this thing. Last summer, he declared in a statement, “I’m excited to end with a bang(s),” so I’ll (perhaps unrightfully) assume that he’s good with my multi-season mindset. Surely, he won’t mind.

Ozark will return on January 21, 2022.

Coldplay and BTS’ “My Universe” is the collaboration highlight of Coldplay’s new album Music Of The Spheres, but it’s not the only major one, as Selena Gomez also makes an appearance, on “Let Somebody Go.” Last night, Coldplay and Gomez gave their debut performance of the grand ballad on The Late Late Show, with Gomez joining the band in studio.

Chris Martin previously said of the song, “It’s just a really lovely ballad. And quite early on we realized it needed a female counterpart to the vocal. And we were very grateful that when we asked Selena to sing on it, she loved the song and was happy to do so. Collaborations in general are something that we’ve done more of recently. We never really used to do it before. When we were younger, we kind of locked ourselves in a room and felt we had to prove everything ourselves. But I think as time has gone on, it’s become more interesting for us to work with other people from different parts of the world, different genres. It just adds color and character to the music.”

Watch Coldplay and Gomez perform “Let Somebody Go” above.

Music Of The Spheres is out now via Parlophone. Get it here.

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

Think of the top scorers from last year’s regular season. Guys like Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid enter the conversation. They’re all, roughly, in their primes. Durant and Curry are 33 years old. Embiid is 27. Jokic is 26. Toss in 31-year-old Damian Lillard, 26-year-old Zach LaVine and 26-year-old Giannis Antetokounmpo if you wish. The premise isn’t threatened.

Another name belongs among the game’s most prolific scorers, someone who does threaten the premise: 21-year-old Zion Williamson. As a sophomore, Zion averaged 27.0 points on 64.9 percent true shooting, despite insufficient spacing and guard creation around him. He’s my choice to be the first player in NBA history to register at least 30 points per game on 70 percent true shooting — benefitting in part from the league-wide boon in scoring efficiency, but also making waves because he’s freaking awesome.

Forty-three players averaged at least 20 points last season. Only Durant (66.6 percent) and Curry (65.5 percent) posted better true shooting marks than Zion. Pretty esteemed company, I suppose. His career is barely off the ground and he’s already rivaling all-time greats as a scorer. That is rare. Do not brush it aside. Revel in it. Deprioritize your concerns of him.

And yet, so much of the discourse surrounding Zion seems to hyperfixate on who he isn’t or where he lacks. The fretting over his health and defensive warts strikes me as a counter to the swell of atypical hype he received as a prospect. As if the dude who was a top-20 player and All-NBA-caliber star at 20 years old is somehow falling short of expectations.

There’s no denying his defense is unsatisfactory. He improved for stretches last year, but he remains an inattentive weakside helper and frequently opens the floodgates in ball-screens, among other deficiencies. Set to miss at least a portion of 2021-22 with a right foot injury and having been sidelined for 48 games as a rookie, it’d obviously be ideal to see him play more.

Yet too often, I see those talking points dominate conversations involving Zion or constantly surface when he is complimented. He’s a budding elite offensive engine. When healthy, he’s going to spearhead one of the NBA’s most fearsome offenses this season. In an era where everyone wants to gravitate beyond the arc, he mauls his way to the rim 15 times per game, which is, at worst, as valuable and efficient a means of scoring as the three-ball — despite what people who misinterpret or misunderstand the message behind analytically inclined scoring profiles implore.

I also don’t deem the widespread criticism of his dietary and training regimens from people who aren’t privy to those habits as appropriate. Zion is not alone in such concerns either. Other superstars like Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid have received similar vitriol or critiques about their physique and diets from people who are by no means in tune with those aspects of one’s life. It shouldn’t be confined to superstars either. Any athlete — any human — should be free of these developments.

Specifically for Zion, and beyond what I think is necessary to respect one’s humanity, there are just vastly more exciting aspects of his basketball stardom to discuss and enjoy than lasering in on his defense or your unfounded claims about his diet and training. Basketball is fun, and few players embody that better than Zion.

He’s growing as a passer. His finishing creativity is exquisite and he swiftly teleports through cramped windows of space like a slippery 6’1” guard, not the 6’6’, 285-pound bruiser he is. Watching him navigate the newfound rigors of primary initiation bred from his role shift early in the season was fascinating.

He reduces hulking centers akin to overqualified perimeter players around the basket and is routinely impervious to help defenders. His offensive motor is unrelenting. He had a 23-game stretch averaging 29-7-4-1-1 on 66 percent shooting last season, which, somehow, hardly deviates from his yearlong performance. Stupefying.

His personality is equally splendid as the on-court product. He is candid and refreshing, a contagious smile or chuckle always a word or moment away. He carries himself as though all of these experiences are fleeting and surreal. As though he has not earned them through his unbridled talent and work ethic. As though he remains unaccustomed to the fanfare and praise, and is mystified that it’s directed entirely his way.

He carries himself like he’s 21, because he is. And already, he is a superstar, one we must appreciate more, tone down the ire toward and worry less about his future when the present is unabashedly incredible for so many reasons.

This week in pop music saw some anticipated singles from today’s biggest pop stars. Adele officially returned to the spotlight with her new ballad, Coldplay dropped their latest album, and Latin pop star Anitta teamed up with Saweetie for a sizzling tune.

Each week, Uproxx rounds up the best new pop music. Listen up.

Adele — “Easy On Me”

After taking a few years off of music to focus on her personal life, Adele returned this week with “Easy On Me,” her first new music in nearly six years. The soaring piano ballad showcases the singer’s signature powerhouse vocals and arrives on her upcoming divorce album 30, which is a reflection on all the changes she’s recently made in her life.

Anitta, Saweetie — “Faking Love”

With their new joint single “Faking Love,” Brazilian pop singer Anitta and Saweetie prove they’re a force to be reckoned with. The dancefloor-ready track opens with a sparse, clapping beat before adding a delicious beat drop, showcasing Saweetie’s versatile flow and Anitta’s energetic songwriting.

Coldplay — “Let Somebody Go” Feat. Selena Gomez

Coldplay dropped their anticipated album Music Of The Spheres this week, which included the Selena Gomez track “Let Somebody Go.” Unlike a lot of the singles Coldplay released for this album cycle, “Let Somebody Go” is reminiscent of the band’s early discography, delivering a reflective ballad about knowing when it’s time to move on from a relationship.

Finneas — “Love Is Pain”

After weeks of teasing, Finneas dropped his debut album Optimist this week. The 13-track effort includes the loungey song “Love Is Pain,” a tender reflection on the highs and lows of love. “It’s about how painful and heartbreaking love is,” Finneas said about the track. “I wanted to write a song about an adult relationship. The more you love someone, the more they have the capacity to cause you heartbreak.”

Lauren Jauregui — “Scattered” Feat. Vic Mensa

After starting out her debut project’s rollout with a bristling ballad, Lauren Jauregui showcases her impressive vocal range with the jazzy tune “Scattered.” The eerie single gets real about having a bad day, and Vic Mensa’s guest feature adds some clever verses about getting through a depressive episode. “I’ve come to realize that when I speak about the myriad of mental issues I go through, and speak about them honestly and with no short-cuts, not only is it a catharsis for me,” Mensa said about the collaboration. “It’s also valuable for the world because so many people are going through the same manifestations.”

Kali Uchis — “If It’s To Be”

After seeing her 2020 album Sin Miedo (Del Amor Y Otros Demonios) get a major uptick in streams thanks to TikTok, Kali Uchis returns with a brand-new single. Her track “If It’s To Be” doesn’t mark a new project, however. Instead it appears on the soundtrack to Netflix’s upcoming animated film Maya And The Three. The rhythmic track draws influences from Latin music and features Uchis’ recognizable, honeyed voice as she sings of leaving things up to chance.

Remi Wolf — “WYD”

Eccentric pop star Remi Wolf dropped her debut album Juno this week after making a name for herself with her previous EPs. The album’s track “WYD” showcases the entire album’s upbeat playfulness as Wolf sings of dispelling energy vampires over a shuffling and sparkling beat.

Noa Kirel — “Bad Little Thing”

With first English-language single, Israeli-born pop singer Noa Kirel delivers the swaggering tune “Bad Little Thing.” The irresistible tune proves her pop star status as she sings of having a partner wrapped around her finger over a revved-up beat.

Chelsea Cutler — “Forever”

Platinum-certified songwriter Chelsea Cutler was another pop star who released an album this week. Her captivating sophomore effort When I Close My Eyes debuted with the snappy track “Forever,” a song that highlights Cutler’s relatable songwriting and luscious voice.

Rence — “Track Shoes”

Pop newcomer Rence expanded his catalog with the effortlessly catchy track “Track Shoes” this week. With his breathy lyrical delivery and a disco-twinged beat, Rence proves he’s well on his way to stardom. “The song is about processing the complexities of breaking up with someone, but still caring about their heart and well-being,” Rence said about ‘Track Shoes.’ “It will always sting to hear that someone I used to care so much about is going through a hard time, even if it is completely unrelated to me. That’s how I love.”

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

It has, somehow, been 30 years since the release of Barry Sonnenfeld’s The Addams Family. What became a massive hit seemed anything but during the production. What started out at Orion was sold to Paramount before filming had even completed, then, according to Sonnenfeld, the person at Paramount who bought the movie was fired later that same day. So here’s this weird movie, based on a quirky television show from 25 years before, that the studio that owned it didn’t even really want, being directed by a guy who had never directed a movie before. The Addams Family would go on to gross just under $200 million worldwide and became one of the highest grossing movies of 1991.

Before The Addams Family, Sonnenfeld had been the cinematographer on some huge films – Big, Misery, When Harry Met Sally – but it’s still a little bit shocking that The Addams Family was his first time as director, and only a few years away from the even more massive success he’d achieve with his Men in Black movies. Ahead (with the release of a new 4K print, which includes an extended cut of the film), Sonnenfeld looks back on his directorial debut, which sounds like a fraught experience. Sonnenfeld also discusses his ill-fated pilot for what supposed to be a Beverly Hills Cop television series. Sonnenfeld says what they shot was good (it’s still never been released), but why did it never make it to air? His best guess sounds like it basically comes down to “spite.”

There are a lot more characters listening to MC Hammer in this movie than I remember…

MC Hammer wrote a great song for us, actually! I really liked it.

“Addams Groove.” That was a big hit.

Yeah!

The other part I forgot about was when Gomez is playing with his toy train, there’s a passenger on the train and I looked it up and that’s you.

I wanted to find places where I could do a filmic version of some of Charles Addams famous cartoons. And one of his cartoons shows a person on a commuter train and he looks out the window and he sees some guy with a Lionel set. And I just love how Charles Addams always played with layers of information. And how surreal his stuff was. So, that was taken right out of a Charles Addams image.

The opening shot with the carolers and we boom up and we see the Addams family on the roof with a cauldron of boiling tar or oil or something? That was also a Charles Addams cartoon. There’s another moment where Fester is on the phone to his mother and Pugsley is in the background and Wednesday is tied to a chair and Pugsley brings Fester some poison to choose…

He chooses the arsenic, I believe.

That’s right! Arsenic. Well, they’re all based on Charles Addams drawings, so there’s that.

It’s surprising this is your directorial debut.

Because it feels like not a freshman director? Or why?

I get that you shot some of the most famous movies made – and Three O’Clock High, one of my favorites – but it’s this big movie with IP involved that made a lot of money.

You know, it’s funny. I was very happy being a cinematographer. As you stated, I shot the first three Coen Brothers movies, Three O’Clock High, Throw Mama From the Train, Big, When Harry Met Sally, Misery, so I was really happy being a cinematographer. I wasn’t looking to be a director. But Scott Rudin, who was a producer of the show, sent me the script. He tried to get Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton to direct Addams Family. And when both of those directors passed, he decided that he’d rather have a visual stylist because he felt The Addams Family, correctly, needed a certain visual style as opposed to just going to a comedy director. Because most comedies, for some reason, and I’m one of the exceptions, tend to have no visual style. They tend to be funny screenplays, but Addams Family really needed a very strong visual style. And that’s why I’m so glad we put all of “The Mamushka,” because it’s such a great song and dance number and Raul Julia is so good in it.

I want to talk about Raul Julia a little bit just because when I first saw this I wasn’t watching Kiss of the Spider Woman or The Morning After when was in 10th grade. Was he always the first choice? Because it seems like a brave choice to put someone who’s not known to maybe the target demographic as the main character?

We started at Orion Pictures and we were able to convince Orion early on because they really wanted Cher to be the female lead, to play Morticia.

That makes sense.

Yeah, you can see it. But in any case, we were able to convince Orion that we didn’t want movie stars. That the IP, the Charles Addams of it all, was the star. And that a real name, a big name, would just get in the way and would bring their own historical baggage with them. So, we really wanted non-stars. We were very quickly able to convince Orion to go with Raul and Angelica because they agreed that The Addams Family was going to be the star, the concept, and that we didn’t need stars or star salaries for that. What happened halfway through the movie, Orion was going bankrupt and we were the most saleable piece of IP they had. So, halfway through the movie we were sold to Paramount. And because Paramount bought something that was in progress, they had much less say. In fact, they bought it Friday morning and that afternoon the person who bought it got fired and the new person came in and hated our dailies.

What? Really?

Yeah.

Wait a second. So the person who bought The Addams Family got fired…

Not because of the movie…

But the same day?

The same day. Yeah. So now we’re at a studio that didn’t want us. So that was hard. That was very, very, very hard. But we got through it. And then after we finished, the marketing and distribution people loved the movie so much. They did a fantastic job. They were the ones that said, “We’ll give you more money if you can get MC Hammer to write that end credit song,’ because they really felt it was going to be value-added in marketing and distributing the song. So, they were great.

That song was everywhere.

No, he was great. A lovely guy. Lovely guy.

With all that going on, how’d you even keep morale up on set?

Well, I think we kept some of that secret from the actors. It’s funny. It started to get word-of-mouth before we came out and the industry had been going through a slump, which they do from time to time. But suddenly people were talking about The Addams Family and that it was going to be a hit. And they were predicting a $12 million opening weekend which, at the time, would have been a very big opening, 30 years ago. And our opening weekend was actually more than double that, so it was shocking how that happened. It was really amazing.

Was the ending a re-shoot? The whole movie Christopher Lloyd’s Fester is an imposter, but then in the last scene it’s explained it was actually Fester all along…

No, there was no re-shoot. Though the original ending had Fester still being an imposter. And Gomez saying, “You know what? You out-Festered Fester. And family is a state of mind and not biology. You’re the new Fester.” And at the table read, the cast rebelled. They hated that ending. And they went off into a corner and made Christina Ricci the spokesperson for them. She was probably nine at the time. And Christina came back and said to Paul Rudnick, the writer, and myself and the producer and said, ”This can’t work. The audience will be emotionally disappointed. They’ll wonder why Gomez worried about Fester for all these decades and then just doesn’t think about him anymore because he likes this guy. It’s an intellectual ending, not an emotional ending.” And she convinced us. We realized, “Oh, jeez. Maybe she’s right.” Paul Rudnick did a re-write. But that was not a re-shoot and when we first started to shoot, that was already in there. It might be slightly abrupt.

Maybe that’s the word I should have used, abrupt.

Right. That whole ending with hurricane Irene and Tully and Fester’s mother being thrown out the window? We were out of time, out of money, and Paramount was out of patience. And all that came together very quickly, so we didn’t have enough money or time to shoot that ending as properly as I would have liked to. So, that might be part of it, what you’re also experiencing.

You directed the pilot for the Beverly Hills Cop television series that wasn’t picked up. I’m curious if it would have had a better shot with the current streaming landscape.

Yes and no. The pilot was really good and I really enjoyed working with Eddie Murphy. There were two issues. The pilot wasn’t really about Eddie Murphy’s character, although he’s in it. And he’s really funny and really good. But it’s about Eddie Murphy’s son. But the other big issue, and I can’t say I know this for a fact, is the head of CBS was, oh, you know. What’s his name?

Les Moonves.

Les Moonves. And the head of Paramount, which was Tom Preston. But Les and Tom did not get along and Les, I think, wanted that job and Tom got it. Whatever. Somehow Les didn’t pick up that show in part because he didn’t want Tom to have that success. So there were internal politics involved. But the pilot was fantastic and I was really surprised that it didn’t get picked up.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

If there’s one defining feature to Donald Trump‘s presidency, it’s that he bounced every Friday afternoon to go golfing at his personal resort in Florida, essentially funneling taxpayer money into his own business. So it was especially rich when Eric Trump appeared on Fox News on Monday to criticize Joe Biden for not spending enough time at the White House.

“Afghanistan is falling,” the young Trump said. “Guess what, you have President Biden, who is in Delaware, not solving the problem.”

Again, Eric’s attack on Biden was particularly ironic given the elder Trump’s long-standing reputation for golfing every weekend and spending the majority of his time in the White House shouting at the TV and eating fast food. Once video of Eric’s specious attack on Biden hit social media, the reactions were quick and fierce (as Aaron Rupar put it, “Irony is deader than dead”):

Now, has President Biden spent personal time with family on the weekends? Yes, of course. But there’s naturally a vast difference between an occasional car ride from Washington D.C. to nearby Delaware, and Trump’s weekly flights to Florida. And when it comes to golf, well, the numbers speak for themselves.

According to Business Insider, President Biden only golfed once during his first 100 days in office, and he waited 87 days before hitting the green. By contrast, Trump had gone golfing 19 times during his first 100 days, and he currently holds the record of the most golf trips taken by a commander in chief. Unless Tiger Woods becomes president, Trump will probably be sitting on that record for a long time.

(Via Aaron Rupar on Twitter)