Last year was already a very strong year for Guapdad 4000. Coming off a few strong features, the Oakland rapper released his debut album, Dior Deposits, and made a plethora of appearances of Dreamville’s star-studded compilation album, Revenge Of The Dreamers III. Bringing that same energy into 2020, Guapdad has been a force moving full-steam ahead. Sharing over ten episodes of his Rona Raps series, one that finds him dropping joint freestyles with his fellow rap peers, he also dropped his Platinum Falcon Tapes Vol. 1. Back with more content for fans, Guapdad returns with a new single.
A solo release this time around, Guapdad drops “No Home For The Brave.” The easygoing track finds him in a reflective light as he points out the dangers in the world and the constant reminders of its existence as he sings, “I say ‘Be careful’ not ‘Be safe,’ because they break / Land ain’t free, ain’t no home for the brave.” Guapdad also reminds listeners that his bars are in tip-top shape thanks to a pair of verse that are laced with punchlines and metaphors.
The track arrives after Guapdad and Denzel Curry joined forces for their “Lil Scammer That Could” single. Welcoming Curry into his world, the two rappers paired the single with a surreal video that included human plants and a Thomas The Tank Engine-style train. Also, check out Guapdad’s recent performance of “Greedy” for UPROXX Sessions.
Listen to “No Home For The Brave” in the video above.
Guapdad 4000 is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
On paper, Happy Endings was just another sitcom about a group of young adults navigating this messy thing we call life.
There were breakups and hook-ups and racist parrots — okay, that last one feels unique — but the basic premise wasn’t anything revolutionary. And yet, nearly a decade after it introduced a bizarre gang of Chicago-based weirdos named Brad (Damon Wayans Jr.), Jane (Eliza Coupe), Max (Adam Pally), Penny (Casey Wilson), Alex (Elisha Cuthbert), and Dave (Zachary Knighton), we still feel the anger rising at its too-soon cancellation. Anger even a rage-chill rewatch of Downton Abbey can’t cure.
So instead, to survive the wait before the cast’s planned reunion (and to distract us from the fact that Penny’s break-up play, Black Plague: A Love Story, is our current reality) we’re rounding up some of the best episodes of Happy Endings in case you need a re-watch.
10. “Dave of the Dead” (Season 1, Episode 7)
ABC
The Story: Dave mulls a job change after believing he may slowly be transforming into a zombie while Penny channels her inner hipster to impress a guy.
Why It’s On This List: Hipsters were millennial scum when Happy Endings first aired and they’ve only gotten worse with age so watching Penny don oversized spectacles, flea market duds, and practice her “Over it” catchall just hits different – and by different we mean funnier – the second time around. Of course, Max is there to guide her through the world of fashion scarves and bike locks as belts and hating froyo before she wises up to how dumb this whole vibe is, and while she’s doing that, Dave is gestating an idea that will soon become his signature food truck, Steak Me Home Tonight.
9. “Like Father, Like Gun” (Season 1, Episode 12)
ABC
The Story: Brad’s overly-strict dad pays a visit, and Penny learns she can only speak Italian when plastered.
Why It’s On This List: Damon Wayans. We’ll say it again: Damon, Wayans. Watching Wayans Jr. act against his dad is a special kind of treat for comedy fans, but the two actually craft an uncharacteristically emotional storyline from the pair’s strained relationship that offers a deeper glimpse into Brad’s psyche. Oh, and Alex teaches us all how to take BBQ ribs like a champ while Penny perfects her drunken Italian.
8. “Spooky Endings” (Season 2, Episode 5)
ABC
The Story: A Halloween party at a warehouse goes horribly wrong when Penny and Max choose the wrong couple’s costume, Alex gets mistaken for a man in drag, and Dave’s Austin Power’s getup doesn’t land the way he hoped.
Why It’s On This List: Adam Pally strapped to Casey Wilson in a Baby Bjorn. Need we say more? Fine, Quiche Zones, Elton John, ZZ Top Gun, and weird gay turkey parties. There, you’re welcome.
7. “You Snooze, You Bruise” (Season 2, Episode 19)
ABC
The Story: Dave gets bullied at the gym, which prompts Alex to recall her early years as a schoolyard tyrant and Jane takes Penny’s advice to relax her standards a bit too far.
Why It’s On This List: One word: Slo-mo-homo. Dave and Max get some quality gym time that really plays to both character’s strengths: Max, the reluctant gay, and Dave, the lovable goof. The gym subplot also means the return of D-Rock (Stephen Guarino), which is always a good thing, and an appearance from SNL alumn, Bobby Moynihan. Really, there are just too many funny people in this episode to praise each one but one of the highlights belongs to the Kerkovich sisters. Tough love takes on a new meaning when you have to talk your sibling out of some Gaucho sweatpants.
6. “The Butterfly Effect Effect” (Season 2, Episode 15)
ABC
The Story: Penny and Dave anticipate the annual Jane and Brad Spring Smackdown while Max hibernates through his seasonal depression.
Why It’s On This List: It’s the philosophical quandary of our time– which is funnier: Watching Adam Pally mumble his way to becoming a human-version of Winnie The Pooh or watching the rest of the gang hype up our favorite couple’s yearly fight like it’s some Pay-Per-View event? We don’t have a good answer but what we do know is this: “The Butterfly Effect Effect” is real, and it’s already impacted Ashton Kutcher’s movie career.
5. “The Kerkovich Way” (Season 2, Episode 17)
ABC
The Story: Penny and Max pull out all the stops to top an annoyingly perfect couple in the neighborhood’s annual scavenger hunt, and Alex enlists Jane’s help in “Inceptioning” Dave with an ancient Serbian-wiping memory technique passed down in the Kerkovich family for generations.
Why It’s On This List: Jane always had a particular kind of crazy about her, and Eliza Coupe chewed up every bit of comedic screentime she was given, but there’s something deliciously dark (and funny, obviously) about watching the more maniacal Kerkovich mindf*ck her friends, her husband, and her sister with the energy of a campy Bond villain. There are other gems here, like Penny’s patenting of “floor pie,” sadness crumping, and Brad’s love of Meryl Streep, but this episode really belongs to Jane and she does the most with it.
4. “Blax, Snake, Home” (Season 2, Episode 1)
ABC
The Story: Penny moves into a haunted apartment and begins morphing into a cat-friendly spinster, much to her horror. Max and Brad have a tiff over Brad’s networking commitments. And Jane’s plan to bring Dave and Alex together again as friends goes sideways.
Why It’s On This List: Where to start? Maybe with Penny, who’s elation over becoming a new homeowner is darkened by random cats popping up in her home, DVR recording of The View, and the fact that her hookups are too intimated by her Italian marble countertops? Or maybe we should focus on Dave and Alex’s budding rivalry? They’re each competing for worst pet-peeve this episode, and it’s between Dave’s running socks and sh*tty taste in music vs. Alex’s inedible jambalaya and insistence on feeding her pet snake Tyler Peeps for breakfast. Or maybe it’s the two-minute opening melee that begins with Max stabbing Brad with an oyster knife and ends with Penny administering an EpiPen when a shrimp cocktail tower falls on an allergic Jane? Really, take your pick.
3. “Baby Steps” (Season 2, Episode 2)
ABC
The Story: Alex’s boutique becomes a hot spot for teenagers with a fetish for baby tees, which sparks a desire in Penny to return to her high school days. Meanwhile, Max struggles to pay rent, and Jane stalks her egg-donation, which has now become a full-fledged preteen.
Why It’s On This List: This episode perfectly channels the soul-crushing realization that every 30-something has at some point in their tenure as an adult: you’re just not cool anymore. For Penny, that just doesn’t fly, so when a group of mean girls start repping Alex’s baby onesies as makeshift crop-tops, she chases that hollow-high of popularity to the mall’s food court. And while she’s going through a mini-mid-life-crisis, Max is operating a German sex hostel and bemoaning the millions he lost when the Beanie Baby bubble burst. Aren’t we all?
2. “Cocktails & Dreams” (Season 2, Episode 16)
ABC
The Story: The group stars having sex dreams about Dave after imbibing at his food truck when his liquor license comes through while Max worries that he might be getting a bit too domestic with Grant (James Wolk).
Why It’s On This List: Besides giving us the heavenly vision of Wolk cooking a whole-ass frittata, the show nails the cringe-inducing awkwardness of sleep-lusting over your best friend. It happens to everyone eventually, though Brad’s reactions are by far the funniest, and while his friends are trying to control their nighttime urges, Dave gets to pal around with Colin Hanks and his coke-loving intern, Beans. But the greatest gift of this episode is Penny’s defiant speech when she thinks Dave is slut-shaming her for taking a “Whore’s Bath” (really, it’s just the name of his new drink). Did you know you were pronouncing Au Bon Pain wrong? Well, now you do.
1. “The Marry Prankster” (Season 3, Episode 12)
ABC
The Story: Fed up with years of Max pulling pranks on them, the group decides to dole out some ice-cold revenge by tricking their old buddy into thinking he’s won the lottery. When he finds out he’s still the poorest one of the group, Max vows to exact slow, torturous payback on them all.
Why It’s On This List: Look, do we condone psychologically terrorizing your friend group as a healthy method for managing feelings of betrayal and loss? Well, if it’s this funny then yes, yes we do. Adam Pally has a hell of a time taking his character to the brink of insanity as his “gotcha”s become increasingly disturbing — paintball rigged muffins is something only a true psychopath could think up. What’s even more funny than watching Penny get slimed and Dave breakdown over his friend’s faked death is Alex’s rising panic that she too will be pranked. She just can’t handle the truth — that they’re all just little prawns in this twisted game, swimming around, waiting to be eaten by Max Broom… we mean Mark Bloom. Oh damnit, you get the picture.
This past April marked three years since Joey Badass delivered his sophomore album, All-Amerikkka Badass. Since then, besides a few features here and there, mostly with his rap collective Pro Era, the Brooklyn-born rapper has stayed relatively quiet. However, continuing to tease the release of his third album in the near future, Joey Badass opted to warm fans up with a “bundle of songs” prior to its release. Delivering three songs to fans, Joey Badass calls on a fellow east-coast rapper for a guest appearance.
Rolling through with Pusha T, the two rappers connect for “No Explanation.” Looking to hit listeners with some lyrical miracles, Joey Badass leads the way with his own verse, stepping through with confident bars like “If we talkin’ ’bout their rhyme for rhyme / My stats combined got stocks and bonds” before lending the mic to Pusha T. Sticking to his textbook topic on his verse, Pusha keeps the confident raps going with some of his own saying, “Olympic divin’ in this money, watch me jackknife / My rap life ain’t like yours / I’m really goin’ home to five stories and bright walls,” before allowing Joey Badass to close the song.
Joey Badass and Pusha T first announced the collaboration back in August 2018 at the Afropunk festival saying “it already happened.”
Press play on the video above to hear “No Explanation.”
The Light Pack is out now via Pro Era and Cinematic Music Group. Get it here.
Joey Badass is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Once labeled a one-hit-wonder, thanks to his breakout single “iSpy” with Lil Yachty, Kyle ripped off that label and placed it in the garbage with his strong debut album, Light Of Mine. The album showcases much of his artistry while keeping intact that fun and carefree rapper that he was and still is today. Just a couple of months removed from celebrating the two year anniversary of that album, Kyle returns with his sophomore effort, See You When I Am Famous!!!!!!!!!!!!.
Of the album’s 12 songs, an early standout is the Bryson Tiller and Raphael Saadiq-featured song, “The Sun.” Backed by an easy-going guitar and Kyle relaxed vocals, the song finds him focused on getting back to brighter days and out of the storm that has engulfed his love life. Recruiting Bryson Tiller for the rare musical effort, the Lousiville-native stands in line with Kyle’s theme, singing about his own hope for improved days in his love life.
As for his sophomore album, See You When I Am Famous!!!!!!!!!!!!, the album also sports appearances from Tyga, Rico Nasty, Trippie Redd, and more. Last month Kyle revealed that he previously intended to wait out the coronavirus pandemic in order to release the album, but soon release that his fans could use a new album in a time like this.
See You When I Am Famous!!!!!!!!!!!! is out 7/17 via Atlantic. Get it here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Netflix’sUnsolved Mysteries revival appears to be a hit, given that the show landed in the platform’s Top 10 list two weeks ago and shows no sign of losing audience interest. The series mixes up the old format slightly, mostly by going hostless and doing deep dives into one mystery per episode, but it keeps an invaluable feature — asking anyone with knowledge of these cases to reach out at Unsolved.com. I wondered whether keeping that signature touch might prove even more useful in 2020 than it did in the 1990s. After all, Michelle McNamara started investigating the Golden State Killer case on an Internet message board, the Internet can help resurface darkness for the greater good. Well, it hasn’t taken long for the clues to start flowing in.
Co-creator and executive producer Terry Dunn Meurer recently told Variety that the show’s received at least 2,000 tips so far. A very small percentage of those tips will be credible ones, but some of them could lead to cracking cases that have already captivated viewers around the globe. Netflix has also decided to up the odds by hopping onto Reddit in an effort to get the train rolling even faster. On the Unsolved Mysteriessubreddit, the streaming giant posted a link to Google Drive full of evidence (case files, interviews, and video clips) that didn’t make it on air. Theories are brewing for the Rey Rivera case, and it’s also happening regarding an allegedly homicidal French count.
Netflix
The episode in question, “House Of Terror,” crosses the Atlantic to lift the veil on the gruesome Dupont de Ligonnès murders that took place in Nantes, France. The prime suspect, a French count (Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès) remains on the run and accused of murdering his wife, four children (ranging in age from 13 to 21), and two Labrador Retrievers in April 2011. The bodies of these five human (all killed, apparently execution style, with a .22 rifle) and two animal victims were discovered buried underneath the house’s patio. Authorities believe the murder happened two weeks prior to discovery, and Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès had apparently vanished into thin air.
Where on earth could a French count have disappeared to without a trace? Police scoured caves in 2012, and in 2019, a man that physically resembled the Dupont de Ligonnès was arrested in Glascow, Scotland but later ruled out following a DNA test.
The Netflix series already speculated that Xavier was secretly a DEA agent or had even lost all of his money before killing his family, and Reddit has other theories. Here are the most intriguing ones:
Theory #1: Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès Didn’t Act Alone
A Reddit user named dnrexy finds it hard to accept that — despite no mention by French authorities of other suspects or alleged accomplices — that Xavier could have killed his entire family (and the dogs) without assistance. The idea that he couldn’t have acted on his own might be disproved by the traces of sleeping medication reportedly found in the childrens’ bodies, but this theory’s still worth reading:
“A man in his 50’s with supposedly a bad back moving 4 dead bodies worth of dead weight and two dogs outside. Placing them in trash bags and burying them the way he did is close to impossible to do alone. Not to mention the organizational aspect of the whole thing. You mean to tell me he found a long rifle when his dad passed away and all of a sudden he becomes a criminal mastermind? I believe he hired professional help from somebody. Someone helped him coordinate those murders and helped him get away.”
Theory #2: Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès Studied The Methods Of An Infamous U.S. Serial Killer
Xavier’s alleged acts were startlingly similar to those of another “family annihilator,” John Emil List, who killed his family (wife, three children, and his mother) in New Jersey before disappearing. Following the 1971 murders, the bodies were discovered at least a month later, but List was long gone for nearly two decades. After List was featured on America’s Most Wanted, tips led to his 1989 arrest. A Reddit thread includes chatter of the similarities in both cases with one user pointing out that Xavier, like List, apparently removed family photos on his way toward total family annihilation.
Following Netflix’s dumping of additional evidence onto Reddit, users dug into newly-released footage that featured a statement from journalist Anne-Sophie Martin, who appears in the “House Of Terrors” episode. What Martin said supports this theory:
“In the United States there is a much-cited case that resembles the Ligonnes case in a fascinating and disturbing way … All this precise and exhaustive preparation from beginning to the end, they’re madly similar.”
Theory #3: Xavier Dupont de Ligonnèss’ Family Members Believe His Wife And Children May Still Be Alive
This is a truly wild one that not even the Reddit user in question (Hairyfeetfairy) fully believes, but it does give him pause. The user refers to a blog that was purportedly authored by Xavier’s family. They posted a timeline of events related to the case and make claims that include possibly botched autopsies and death certificates, and they point out how difficult it would be for Xavier to have moved “over 1 ton of soil… in an area where you could not stand up” to bury the bodies. Fair point?
It gets weirder. The family members claim that Xavier’s wife was sighted several times after her stated death date, and that she had contact with the children’s friends. Then there are these several claims of inconsistent events in the house after Xavier reportedly departed France:
“Apparently things seemed to be moved in the house after the supposed departure of Xavier. The family says police reports were inconsistent, talking about a tablecoth that would sometimes be there, sometimes not. Cleaning equipment being moved as well. They mention that on the day that the police found the bodies, there was a bucket and mop in the kitchen, and the mop was still wet. They also say that the slab of concrete on top of the bodies was still soft, which could indicate that it was laid much more recently than Xavier’s departure.”
Theory #4: Xavier Dupont de Ligonnèss Was Being Blackmailed Before Murdering His Family
Reddit user Jackp536 wonders whether Xavier owed a lot of money to a lot of people and that he was possibly also being extorted or blackmailed. Around the time of the murders, Xavier did withdraw money from the family’s accounts, but that seems like a standard move for someone who’s going on the run and doesn’t want to leave an electronic/credit-card trail. Still, it’s conceivable that he was involved in some shady transactions or even that he was being extorted for an unknown sum, like so:
“The hesitance to kill his oldest biological son, while the show draws the conclusion it could be about inheritance of his aristocratic title, could it also have been that he was being actively blackmailed/extorted? Like to me there’s something fishy about how he came home and at some point or another was given sleeping pills, but not once in that time was the son given reasonable evidence to leave … Furthermore, the money he withdrew. Yes it makes sense to not leave a trail with a credit card while on the run, so ofc he wanted to make sure he was only paying things with cash. However, is it possible that he was being extorted in some way or blackmailed?”
Theory #5: More Theories Are Yet To Come
This one seems like a no-brainer. Obviously, people will continue to keep churning out theories in an effort to help solve this family-annihilation case. One can only hope that one will lead to the killer(s).
Netflix’s ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ is currently streaming six episodes with more to come.
In 2016, 03 Greedo broke out to the mainstream world thanks to his Purple Summer mixtape trilogy. Two years later he would release his God Level mixtape but was unfortunately incarcerated with a sentence of 20 years for drug trafficking and two possession of firearms charges. Since his imprisonment, 03 Greedo’s team has done a phenomenal job ensuring his artistry and music continued without interruption. Looking to start another chapter, 03 Greedo returns with a new single.
Working alongside Chief Keef, the two artists reflect on their past hustling days on their catchy single, “Bands In The Basement.” Recalling his trapping past the song is upheld by its melodic hook that finds 03 Greedo saying, “Bands in the basement, money in the mattress/Work in the walls, I got millions in my mansion.” Produced by Ron-Ron, the song will serve as one of the many releases from 03 Greedo fans will hear in the coming months before another project arrives later this summer.
03 Greedo’s upcoming project will surely be another strong effort thanks to the plethora of music the rapper left behind and his team that impressively stitches projects together. His last two projects, Netflix & Deal, a joint offering with Kenny Beats, and Still Summer In The Projects, a collaboration with Mustard, are living proof of quality work despite his imprisonment. Dependent on good behavior, 03 Greedo is eligible for an early release from prison in 2023.
Press play on “Bands In The Basement” in the video above
This past May marked one year since DJ Khaled shared his 11th album, Father Of Asahd and as he’s done multiple times throughout his career, Khaled refused to let another year go by without an album as he revealed in an announcement earlier this week. Khaled revealed that his twelfth album would be titled Khaled Khaled and the upcoming project would be led by not one, but two Drake-featured singles.
Arriving right on schedule to kick off the album’s promotional campaign, DJ Khaled and Drake premiere their latest collabs, “Greece” and “Popstar.” The former single was first teased a couple of months during an Instagram livestream with Drake and fellow labelmates, OVO Mark, and initially caught some attention after Drake rapped a few of the song’s lyrics in French. As for their second release of the night, “Popstar,” serves as Drake first fresh release since his “When To Say When/Chicago Freestyle,” as much of the songs on Dark Lane Demo Tapes were released or leaked prior to the project’s arrival.
The pair of tracks succeed a long list of collabs between DJ Khaled and Drake dates back to 2010 with “Fed Up” which also features Lil Wayne, Usher, and Jeezy. Throughout the years, the two have connected for fan-favorite records such as “I’m On One” and “For Free” and their most recent offering, “To The Max.”
As for Drake’s upcoming album, he revealed last week on his Instagram story that his sixth album is 80% done.
Press play on the videos above to hear “Greece” and “Popstar.”
Here is a partial list of movies that were supposed to be out by now: A Quiet Place Part II, Mulan, The New Mutants (lol), No Time to Die, Promising Young Woman, Antebellum, Black Widow, F9, Wonder Woman 1984, Candyman, Soul, Top Gun: Maverick, In the Heights, Free Guy, and Minions: The Rise of Gru. It’s not all bad, though, at least we got Money Plane. The minions wish they were baddest mother fu*kers on the planet.
Those films, as well as Tenet, The French Dispatch, and Morbius, among many, many others, all had their release dates pushed back due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, making this an empty summer of blockbusters. But just because theaters are closed doesn’t mean that movies stopped coming out. On the contrary, it’s been a strong couple of months for new films. Here are eight of the best to come out via digital in the quarantine-era (a.k.a. since Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson went public with their coronavirus results on March 11, with one exception), arranged in alphabetical order.
Bacurau
This is the exception (by a few days, so whatever).
Bacurau is a wild, wild movie. It’s a Western, but it’s also a thriller, and there’s some horror and science-fiction elements in there, too, including a mysterious UFO; it’s also grotesquely funny and sometimes straight-up grotesque. The plot summary — “Bacurau, a small town in the Brazilian sertão, mourns the loss of its matriarch, Carmelita, who lived to be 94. Days later, its inhabitants notice that their community has vanished from most maps” — does not do justice to this bonkers should-be cult classic about colonialism and ugly Americans and this guy in a Wu-Tang shirt. It’s a sweaty fever-dream Seven Samurai, but with Udo Kier being his typical batshit self. Bacurau rules.
Do the Right Thing remains Spike Lee’s definitive movie, his mission statement as a filmmaker. But Da 5 Bloods isn’t far behind.
The Netflix film follows the titular bloods (minus one) as they travel back to Vietnam, where they once fought as soldiers, to both recover the remains of their fallen squadron leader and dig up buried treasure. If that intoxicating hook doesn’t grab you, then maybe Delroy Lindo’s Oscar-lock performance will. This is a powerful (if overstuffed) movie, full of rage and fear and humor and passion, about how Black people are continuously written out of history — but no one will forget what Lee accomplished with Da 5 Bloods.
After watching A24’s latest masterpiece, I tweeted (what an obnoxious way to start a sentence, I’m sorry), “First Cow is the best depiction of male friendship since Magic Mike XXL.” It was meant as a joke (shout out to the three people who gave my nonsense a Like; zero retweets), but in the days since, I’ve convinced myself that it’s true. The two films couldn’t be more different — one, set in the 2010s, has Joe Manganiello grinding against a Pepsi machine to “I Want It That Way,” the other, which takes places in the 19th century, features indie-rock legend Stephen Malkmus as a fiddler; guess which one is which! — but both share a refreshing depiction of male friendships. First Cow‘s King-Lu (Orion Lee) and Cookie (John Magaro) live and work together, just as the platonic Magic Mike guys share a bed without anyone making a gay panic joke. Straight men can have affection for each other, too. Save for the lust for the fine-looking oily cakes.
Written and directed by Kim Bora, House of Hummingbird is a keenly observed coming-of-age drama about a teenage girl growing up in Seoul in the mid-1990s. Eunhee (Park Ji-hoo) is emotionally ignored by her parents and physically abused by her brother at home, she has a rocky relationship with her best friend, and she discovers a threatening lump on her neck, all told through the backdrop of a real-life bridge collapse — if that sounds like A Lot, it is, but so is being a teen. However, House of Hummingbird never drowns in its misery. It’s a tender film about small moments of happiness when surrounded by sadness, like when Eunhee asks her teacher if she ever hates herself; the adult responds yes, often, but whenever the self-loathing creeps in, “I just try to look within.” She also tells Eunhee that it “takes some time to learn like yourself,” but it won’t take any time for you to like House of Hummingbird. The connection is instant.
The title, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, refers to a series of questions asked to 17-year-old Autumn (played by the impressively composed Sidney Flanigan) at an abortion clinic. “In the past year, your partner has refused to wear a condom — never, rarely, sometimes, always.” “Your partner has threatened or frightened find you — never, rarely, sometimes, always.” Nearly the entire scene, from director Eliza Hittman, is a tightly-framed close-up of Autumn. One-shot takes are usually associated with fast-paced physically-demanding scenes, like the car sequence in Children of Men, but they can also be used to show a character’s emotional journey. As she’s being asked the most personal of personal questions, Autumn barely moves, yet it’s as gripping as anything in war epic 1917. Never Rarely Sometimes Always belongs in the teen movie canon.
I like what Vince Mancini wrote about “damn near perfect” Palm Springs: “Palm Springs‘ twists will inevitably become over-emphasized, because talking about Palm Springs’ twists is a way of talking about the film without revealing too much, and Palm Springs truly is best experienced cold. Yet presenting Palm Springs as a movie about twists does it a disservice. It’s a film full of surprises whose appeal doesn’t rest on surprise.”
The Lonely Island-produced Palm Springs cannily understands that the gimmick isn’t what makes Groundhog Day (the film it’s frequently been compared to) great; it’s the characters, and how they react to being placed in “one of those infinite time loop situations you might have heard about.” Without Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti’s chaotic evil chemistry, the comedy would fall flat, even with a stirring premise. In that sense, it reminds me of the toxic-yet-lovable You’re the Worst, the best romantic-comedy of the 2010s. Palm Spring may end up in the discussion for the best of the 2020s.
Elisabeth Moss gives one of her best career-best performances in Josephine Decker’s beguiling and dream-like Shirley, where the Mad Men star plays author and “half witch” Shirley Jackson. It would have been nice to see Moss and the equally-wonderful Michael Stuhlbarg, as a college professor and Shirley’s contemptible husband, torment a young couple staying in their home, and each other, on the big screen, but the nervy gothic drama works on TV, too. Just make sure you’re not eating anything with mushrooms in it.
I’m grouping these two movies together, as they’re both promising debuts from filmmakers to watch: Andrew Patterson for The Vast of Night and Channing Godfrey Peoples for Miss Juneteenth. The former, which takes place over one night in a small New Mexico town in the 1950s, is a showcase for blockbuster effects on an indie budget, while the latter, about a former-Miss Juneteenth winner grooming her daughter for the same pageant, “rings with the kind of authenticity you only get from a filmmaker who knows their subject. It has a sense of detail, a cultural richness that can’t be faked.” Both films have their faults, but they suggest a promising future for Patterson and Peoples (which would also be a good name for a law firm, if the directing thing doesn’t work out).
Despite all the critiques and social media talk about him, Logic has had one of the modern era’s more consistent and successful rap careers. A member of the 2013 XXL Freshman class, he’s best known for his work ethic, having dropped a project every year since 2010. But that looks like it’s coming to an end: On Thursday night, Logic took to social media to announce his retirement with what will be his last album.
Officially announcing my retirement with the release of “No Pressure” executive produced by No I.D. July 24th…
It’s been a great decade. Now it’s time to be a great father.
“Officially announcing my retirement with the release of ‘No Pressure’ executive produced by No I.D. July 24th,” Logic wrote. “It’s been a great decade. Now it’s time to be a great father.” The album’s title serves to complete a circle started with his debut, called Under Pressure, which arrived in 2014.
Logic’s retirement comes over a year after he shared his fifth album, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, which also served as his third Billboard albums chart-topper, following his 2017 album Everybody and his 2018 project Bobby Tarantino II. While retirement and rappers rarely last very long, it seems like Logic is content with spending time with family, an opportunity he more than deserves.
Check out his announcement in the tweet above.
No Pressure is out 07/24 via Def Jam and Visionary.
Nia Long has a new movie out: Fatal Affair, a Fatal Attraction-y Netflix movie in which she’s stalked by a deranged old flame played by Omar Epps. But doing press for it has stirred up some old, less-than-pleasant memories. While talking to Insider (as caught by Entertainment Weekly), the Boyz N the Hood alum spoke about missing out on a big role in a big movie: the 2000 movie version of Charlie’s Angels. She says she was up for Alex Munday, one of the investigating trio, and she claims she didn’t get it due to her age and her race.
“The feedback that I received from my agent was, ‘She just looked too old and sophisticated to be next to Drew Barrymore,’” Long told Insider. “I was like, ‘What?’” Long told Insider. “I love Drew Barrymore, I think she’s amazing, but I think that was just a nice way to say you’re a little too Black. Personally, that’s what I think. Because if you notice there were no brown skin [actors]. I mean, honestly, I would have been the blackest thing in the film.”
The role ultimately went to Lucy Liu (while Cameron Diaz nabbed the other spot), so at least it wasn’t an all-white cast. But the experience left a bad taste in her mouth. ” I’m thinking to myself, it’s an actor’s choice to walk in the room how they want to look, but it’s a director’s vision to help create and curate a character,” Long said. “So if you couldn’t see beyond the fact that I had on a blazer and a pair of jeans then that was clearly not the job and opportunity for me. So, no problem, I’ll keep it moving.”
As EW notes, this is the second time in the last two weeks that an actress of color has spoken about almost playing Alex Munday in the 2000 Charlie’s Angels. Thandie Newton did an extensive chat with Vulture, in which she had a less-than-encouraging meet-up with then-Sony Pictures head Amy Pascal.
“I had a meeting with her, and she said, ‘Look, I don’t mean to be politically incorrect, but the character as written and you playing the role, I just feel like we’ve got to make sure that it’s believable,’” Newton said. “I was like, ‘What do you mean? What changes would you have to make?’ She’s like, ‘Well, you know, the character, as written, she’s been to university and is educated.’ I’m like, ‘I’ve been to university. I went to Cambridge.’ She went, “Yeah, but you’re different.”
Newton continued: “She’s like, “Maybe there could be a scene where you’re in a bar and she gets up on a table and starts shaking her booty. She’s basically reeling off these stereotypes of how to be more convincing as a Black character. Everything she said, I was like, ‘Nah, I wouldn’t do that.’”
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