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Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek, who made his stage IV pancreatic cancer diagnosis public last year, offered an encouraging update on his health. “I’m doing well. I’ve been continuing my treatment and it is paying off, although it does fatigue me a great deal. My numbers are good. I’m feeling great,” he said in a video message before revealing that even he wrote a book, due out July 21. Trebek is also sporting some impressive facial hair, as he’s had time to grow a beard due to a break in Jeopardy! taping schedule.

About that: it’s still not safe for Jeopardy! to resume production, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but Trebek is busy at home “recording show openings for some very special Jeopardy! episodes that will be coming out in July,” he said. “For the first time ever, we are going to open the Jeopardy! vault and take another look at some of our favorite episodes, including the very first Jeopardy! show I ever hosted.” He’s so smiley!

Here’s the schedule:

July 20-24: The Best of JEOPARDY!‘s First Decade
This week features five of the best and most exciting shows from the 1980s, including the series premiere, the first “super-champion,” the first record-setting contestant, and more.

July 27-31: The Best of Celebrity JEOPARDY!
Throughout the years, JEOPARDY! has invited celebrities to play for their favorite charities, and more than $9 million has been won for great causes. This week features five of the most entertaining celebrity games ever.

August 3-7 & August 10-14: Million Dollar Masters (2002) Encore Presentation
For its first-ever million-dollar competition, 15 of the best contestants from the first 18 seasons of the show competed in a two-week contest taped at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

Here’s more on his book.

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There are few spirits more American than bourbon (although apple jack enthusiasts would beg to differ). Distilled the United States since the 1800s, for a whiskey to be called a ‘bourbon’ it must fit certain criteria. Among the specific parameters it has to follow, it’s got to be made from at least 51 percent corn in the mash bill and barrelled in first-use American oak (it doesn’t, however, need to be made in Kentucky). The corn is where the spirit gets that mellow, corn-honeyed sweetness that every bourbon lover expects when they crack open a new bottle. The oak gives it the mellow, toasty spice.

In the hierarchy of bourbon, there are a handful of names that dominate in both name recognition and production. They include Jim Beam, Wild Turkey, Buffalo Trace, and — on the elite end — Pappy Van Winkle. But while these brands and their various subsidiaries continue to craft whiskey at high levels, there are a handful of other brands perhaps equally if not more deserving of accolades.

With literally thousands of expressions on the market, every serious drinks writer is going to develop a few favorites. Check out my list of underrated bourbons below.

George Remus Repeal Reserve

Story:

From MGP, this high rye bourbon is in its third year of availability. Made from a blend of 11-12-year-old bourbons and two different mash bills, Remus Repeal is named for a bootlegger and crafted to pay homage to the repealing of prohibition in the United States on December 5, 1933. The new Remus Repeal is released on King George’s birthday on November 13 every year.

Price: $77.99

Tasting Notes:

If you’re able to find a bottle, you’ll be treated to the velvety smooth mouthfeel of the 2019 limited edition bottling. This blended bourbon is created to have a full range of flavors including toffee, baking spices, candied orange peel, rich caramel, and just a hint of pleasing rye spice that builds throughout.

Old Grand-Dad Bonded

Story:

You might not know it, but the “Old Grand-Dad” on the bottle is none other than Basil Hayden (yes, that Basil Hayden). That’s because his grandson Raymond Hayden created the brand in the 1800s. Currently, the brand is owned by Beam Suntory (who also own Basil Hayden’s) but that hasn’t changed the overall Old Grand-Dad experience.

The core Old Grand-Dad line comes in three different proofs: 80, 100, and 114.

Price: $21.49

Tasting Notes:

Old Grand-Dad Bond is inexpensive, 100 proof, and surprisingly easy to drink. Sure, it works well as a mixer for your favorite whiskey-based drinks. But if you sip it neat or on the rocks, you’ll be met with an initial spicy hit of cinnamon followed by dried fruits before gently gliding into sweet caramel and subtle oak.

Four Roses Yellow Label

Story:

This high corn (75 percent) whiskey is aged between 4 and 12 years. That range guarantees a fairly high-quality bourbon at a value price. Sure, you can pay a little more to get a bottle of small-batch, single-barrel or small-batch select, but you honestly don’t even need to.

Even at a low sticker price, this bottle if well-suited for sipping neat or mixing into an old fashioned or mint julep.

Price: $19.99

Tasting Notes:

We hate to keep harping on the low price of this offering, but it should be noted that even though you don’t have to pay a week’s rent to get a bottle, it’s perfectly balanced, soft in mouthfeel, and full of fresh sweet corn, dried fruits, vanilla, and just a hint of pleasing peppery spice at the very end of each sip.

Very Old Barton

Story:

Very Old Barton actually isn’t very old at all. The juice inside is somewhere in the 6-year range. But at less than $15 dollars at most retailers, we’ll let someone else worry about the age semantics. For the price, this is a can’t miss bourbon. Made by the Sazerac company, Very Old Barton is bottled in multiple proofs including 80, 86, 90, and 100 and was once given a very surprising score of 90.5 in Jim Murray’s Whiskey Bible.

Price: $12.99

Tasting Notes:

You’d be hard-pressed to find a better bottom shelf bourbon on the planet. With a mash bill of 75 percent corn, 15 percent rye, and 10 percent barley, this is a very well-rounded whiskey. Due to the overwhelming amount of corn, this bourbon is sweeter than most, if you dig that sort of thing. It’s full of sticky toffee, honey, and stone fruit flavors as well as just a hint of peppery spice at the end thanks to the rye.

Bib & Tucker

Story:

There’s a reason bartenders enjoy this Tennessee-based bourbon. It’s only been available since 2014 but has already gained a cult following for its high quality that starts with 70 percent corn-based mash bill and 6 years of maturation. While the distillery listed for producing it is 35 Maple Street Spirits, it’s rumored that it’s actually produced by George Dickel. This would surprise no one, as it’s the same high level as the beloved Tennessee whiskey brand.

Price: $44.97

Tasting Notes:

While this 90 proof offering is made up of 70 percent corn, it’s also comprised of 26 percent rye. The result is a highly complex, well-balanced whiskey with smoky cinnamon on the first sip followed by hints of anise, cloves, and dried fruits, all brought together by sweet cream and light peppery spice from the rye.

Baker’s

Story:

Baker’s is the sometimes-forgotten member of Jim Beam’s Small Batch Bourbon Collection. Basil Hayden’s, Knob Creek, and Booker’s seem to get all the press. Named for Baker Beam, the grand-nephew of Jim Beam, Baker’s is aged for 7 years and sits at a highly potent 107 proof. This doesn’t stop it from being extremely sippable and bold.

Price: $59.99

Tasting Notes:

Even though this whiskey is 107 proof, it’s surprisingly mellow — with subtle Christmas spices prevalent on your first sip. This is quickly followed by vanilla, caramelized sugar, and rich dried leather. The heat is long-lasting, but not harsh as it seems to warm you all the way through by the end of your first glass.

Jay-Z, Rihanna, and many more stars of the music world have created and signed a petition to reopen the case of a man who was shot and killed by police in 2010, according to NME. The man, DJ Henry, was shot and killed by police officer Aaron Hess outside of a bar in Pleasantville, New York when officers reportedly asked him to move his car out of a fire lane. Police later reported he’d rammed two of them with his car, prompting them to open fire, but eyewitness accounts contradict the official report.

Rihanna and Jay were joined by Charlize Theron, Mary J. Blige, Pharrell Williams, and more, addressing the petition to New York Attorney General William Barr asking him to “reopen the case and probe the wrongful death of Danroy ‘D.J.’ Henry.”

“As the Department knows, this agonizing case remains an unhealed wound for the Henry family and the people of New York,” the letter reads. “More concerning, even a cursory review of the fact pattern of what occurred distills more questions than answers. DJ, a Black youth with a bright future ahead of him, was killed for no apparent reason inside his own vehicle. The facts of the case reek of local conflict of interest, racial bias and even false testimony.”

It continues, “But like so many other unarmed and innocent young, Black men who find themselves guilty of being at the wrong place at the wrong time, DJ too, lost his life for no good reason and with absolutely no good explanation — to this very day, Justice, it appears, has been denied.”

The petition comes as protests against police violence continue across the nation including the participation of many hip-hop stars such as YBN Cordae, who was arrested at a sit-in in Kentucky demanding accountability for officers who shot and killed Breonna Taylor.

The making of Charli XCX’s quarantine album, How I’m Feeling Now, was a transparent process, more so than the creation of most music. Charli sought ideas and input from her followers in real time, bouncing ideas of them as she released songs and created visuals. Still, fans didn’t get to see the entire process, but Charli will be pulling back the curtain even more with a new documentary, 6ft Apart.

Charli spoke about the film with Variety, saying:

“It felt only natural to document myself making this album. I don’t think I’ve ever made music in such a unique situation: being so logistically far apart from my collaborators, but going through exactly the same thing, writing songs about my relationship with my boyfriend sitting in the next room, and being so connected to my fans in such an intense and creative way, it felt quite overwhelming and heartwarming all at the same time. So I wanted to film it all.

Why not add to the pressure of making an extremely personal album within a five-week timeline by putting a load of cameras in my face and zooming in on my personality and insecurities too??! You know???”

The official announcement also reads in part:

“The project would be a virtual experiment like no other, with Charli making use of all the tools at her disposal – collaborating online with select artists and her fans around the world via social media. No fancy recording studios. No glossy music videos; everything is made at home, and yet everything is made with the world watching. ‘6ft Apart’ depicts how this project would become a cathartic lifeline for both Charli and her fans, called the ‘Angels’, and a welcome distraction for the wider music world. At the very heart of ‘6ft Apart,’ we uncover the profound power of music to inspire hope, bringing people together in a time where we are forced to be apart; from Charli’s own relationship with her long-distance-now-live-in boyfriend, to a generation around the world in times of global crisis.”

6ft Apart does not yet have an announced release date, but it is currently in post-production and is set to be released later this year.

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

Chrissy Teigen has blocked over one million Twitter accounts in the days since Jeffrey Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested. The author has been the subject of conspiracy theories linking her to the convicted sex offender, “never mind the fact I have never even met the man. Or been to the island. Or on the plane,” she wrote.

On Wednesday, Teigen tweeted, “I have block chained over one million people, ONE MILLION people today and I am still flooded with sick psychopaths. So please, spare me the ‘just ignore them, they’re just trolls.’ I’ll do my best to stop entertaining them. They have definitely been living for this and have zeroed in on ONLY me. Thank u to EVERYONE for helping me.” She also recently “deleted 60,000 tweets because I cannot f*cking STAND you idiots anymore and I’m worried for my family. Finding me talking about toddlers and tiaras in 2013 and thinking you’re some sort of fucking operative.”

The social media blitz against Teigen started last week with claims that her name appeared on unsubstantiated flight logs said to belong to Epstein, who killed himself while awaiting trial in a New York federal detention center in 2019. (Via)

Teigen, who is convinced that the theorists “won’t stop until I die” (and “even then they’ll think of another conspiracy”), has considered leaving Twitter altogether if the platform “doesn’t do something about this *actually scary* harassment… I have a family and job and there are too many to target. I’ve tried everything. every lawyer says it will take many years and not change a f*cking thing. because they will ALWAYS be crazy.”

But she found one silver lining: “ok pissing them off is way more fun than being sad.”

(Via USA Today)

The long list for the Polaris Prize, one of Canada’s biggest musical honors, was revealed last month. Among the most notable works included among the 40 potential nominees included albums by Andy Shauf, Caribou, Daniel Caesar, Dvsn, Kaytranada, Jessie Reyez, US Girls, and The Weeknd. Now, that list has been further pared down to just ten albums, and there are snubs.

Of the aforementioned artists, Caribou, Kaytranada, Jessie Reyez, and US Girls earned nominations. However, The Weeknd, Andy Shauf, Daniel Caesar, and Dvsn did not.

Despite his super successful career and his status as one of Canada’s biggest music stars, The Weeknd hasn’t had much success with the Polaris Prize. His debut mixtape, 2011’s House Of Balloons, earned a nomination that year, but none of his other works have.

As for the other artists who have been nominated this year, previous winners include Caribou (who won in 2008 for Andorra) and Kaytranada (2016, 99.9%). Previously earning nominations are Caribou (2010, Swim; 2015, Our Love), US Girls (2016, Half Free; 2018, In A Poem Unlimited), and Reyez (2019, Being A Human In Public).

Find the full list of nominees below.

Backxwash — God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It
Caribou — Suddenly
Junia-T — Studio Monk
Kaytranada — Bubba
Nêhiyawak — Nipiy
Pantayo — Pantayo
Lido Pimienta — Miss Colombia
Jessie Reyez — Before Love Came To Kill Us
US Girls — Heavy Light
Witch Prophet — Dna Activation

It was around the first week of April that the nightmares started, nightmares that persist to this day. I’ve come to notice there are two kinds of tweets about the pandemic: those from people who were in New York City in April, and those from people who weren’t in New York City in April. And I’ve become very good at being able to tell which category any given tweet might fall into. There’s a special kind of urgency from those of us who were in New York City in April, shouting as loud as we could to take all this seriously because I promise you don’t want to experience what we did. The sirens really were nonstop. Mass graves were dug. Trucks full of bodies were parked on the streets. I remember one week, the worst week, when my only goal was hoping we didn’t get sick that week, because the chances of getting treatment seemed poor. If we were going to get sick, please let it be another week. The impact of that month is only starting to hit me lately. At the time, you just kind of do it. But, I don’t sleep well. I suspect I’ll have nightmares about that month the rest of my life.

As the pandemic rages through other parts of the United States, it’s hard not to feel despair. At least, I thought, others will look at what happened to us and take the necessary precautions to make sure that it doesn’t happen elsewhere. Though, even then, when I’d talk to friends not in New York, there was always an underlying sense that this was “a New York thing” and certainly couldn’t happen to them. It is really frustrating trying to warn people of something that is so real, so dangerous, yet they refuse to listen. Anyway, yes, when someone tweets about the pandemic, I can tell right away if they were in New York City in April. You can still read the fear.

It was pretty early on that I realized my life as I knew it was over for the considerable future. This seems to be something a lot of people are still struggling with and actively trying to resist, which is leading to a whole host of problems. And I’m not talking about the frontline workers who are bravely showing up every day to keep things going, I’m talking about the idiots putting those frontline workers in jeopardy because they don’t like wearing a mask, or think they can still have a robust social life during a pandemic. So, yes, it was early on I conceded this would be the lost year. (I am still holding out hope it’s only a year.)

But then, I thought, what if it wasn’t a “lost” year?

There’s no way around the fact we’ve all been dealt a bad hand right now, even though there still seem to be plenty of people out there who still think they can win with a pair of twos. So, I made a pact with myself that, after all this is over, I wanted to be able to look back on it and think, well, at least I did that. When this all first started there was the whole King Lear meme, but I wanted to be realistic. (And I knew whatever my version of King Lear drivel I came up with in my current headspace, would turn out more like “The Big Heist,” the book Chevy Chase writes in Funny Farm.)

So, we’ve all been there. Those awkward moments when someone references a movie we haven’t seen, but we totally should have seen, and we just kind of play along, “Oh, yeah, what a line!,” even though we haven’t seen that particular movie. What if I compiled a list of pretty much every time this has ever happened and watch them all? What if I filled every movie blind spot I have? What if I watch every movie that I’ve either watched to see and never got around to it, or just plain feel guilty I’ve never seen? What if, after all this is over, I have another decade’s worth of pop culture knowledge I didn’t have before, all crammed into one year?

So, now, about three and a half months into this, I’ve watched 173 movies. Some of these are new streaming movies I’ve watched for work. Some are movies I’ve seen before. (Weekend nights are usually reserved for stuff I’ve seen before, but just want good escapism.) But before this started, two of my biggest blind spots were Robert Altman movies and Humphrey Bogart movies – I would consider neither of these to be “blind spots” anymore. I’ve become a bit obsessed with all this. On the nights I don’t watch something, I feel kind of guilty. Like, I’ve been “given” all this extra time and I need to do something with it. Which is also why I get so frustrated with the people we see without masks, trying to live their lives like before. Not just for the obvious health risks to others, but also, this is your chance to go do something productive. But, instead, they’d rather stand around and whine about how they don’t like masks.

But something weird has happened. With no movies in theaters, old and new movies have morphed together into one conglomerate. There are no longer new movies and old movies. All of a sudden, since there are no new movies in theaters, every movie was now released in 2020. Everything is fair game. A few years ago, a friend of mine was working on a story about how if movies stopped getting made, the average human being would still have enough classic movies they haven’t seen to last a lifetime. When he told me that, I found that fascinating, because it’s true. But it was also unrealistic, because movies weren’t going to stop and the impulse is to watch the latest, greatest thing and not something from the past we haven’t seen.

But movies did stop. And it’s a fascinating effect. (Even if you look at the box office numbers right now, The Empire Strikes Back, Gremlins, Black Panther, and Jurassic Park are all in the top 10.) And I don’t think I’m alone here because when I peruse through people’s Letterboxd accounts, I see a lot of similar journeys. All of a sudden, movies stopping has created this weird time vortex where the date a movie released no longer matters. It’s all “now.” When I someday look back on 2020, and I bet I will quite a bit, I’ll remember April. I’ll always remember the fear. But I’ll also remember it as when both Palm Springs and Key Largo came out in the same year. It’s the year both Da 5 Bloods and California Split came out.

There are no longer new movies and old movies, there are only movies that help us get by and, at least, give us something to hold onto for now.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Nick Cannon is at the center of controversy at the moment after making anti-Semitic comments on his Cannon’s Class podcast. Following the June 30 episode, Cannon was dropped this week by ViacomCBS, which owns MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, and TeenNick, all of whom Cannon has worked with over the years.

However, it appears his job as host of The Masked Singer is safe. Fox shared a statement about Cannon, saying they plan to “move forward” with him:

“When we were made aware of Nick Cannon’s interview with Richard Griffin on YouTube, we immediately began a dialogue with Nick. He is clear and remorseful that his words were wrong and lacked both understanding and context, and inadvertently promoted hate. This was important for us to observe. Nick has sincerely apologized, and quickly taken steps to educate himself and make amends. On that basis and given a belief that this moment calls for dialogue, we will move forward with Nick and help him advance this important conversation, broadly. Fox condemns all forms of hate directed toward any community and we will combat bigotry of any kind.”

After sharing a lengthy statement about the situation on Tuesday, Cannon penned an apology to his “Jewish sisters and brothers” last night.

Back in 2017, Dakota Johnson spoke with Vogue magazine to promote Fifty Shades Darker, and she made a few remarks that people are now noticing afresh. When I say “people,” I mean the Internet, and more specifically, Twitter users. The passage in question revolves around the actress’ remarks in reference to her breakup with Drowners singer/model Matthew Hitt. Yes, Dakota mentions the word “bisexuality,” though it’s not clear if she’s being hyperbolic because prior to mentioning that choice noun, she asks, “Can we make things really juicy?”

Here’s what the Bad Times At The El Royale and Suspiria actress said in full while stating that she was single following the breakup:

“Sh*t happens. I think I’m a little bit heartbroken all the time, even when I’m in a happy relationship. I don’t do casual very well, and my feelings, even the good ones, get so intense that they hurt … Can we make things really juicy? Can we say that I’m taking this time to explore my bisexuality? Or that I have given myself to the Lord following the release of my sexually explicit trifecta of films?”

Does it sound like Dakota’s actually suggesting that she’s bisexual or simply making a point that there’s always too much speculation about actors’ love lives? The “given myself to the Lord” following the 50 Shades movies makes it seem like she’s possibly joking around. The same could be said about “taking this time to explore my bisexuality.” However, people want to believe that she’s being serious about that sentence (rather than the religious part), and here’s a sampling of the many celebratory tweets to that effect. For the record, Dakota has not commented on the resurfaced quotes, but people do love her kitchen.

(Via Vogue)

If Billy Zane dies in the first five minutes of a horror movie, you can be reasonably certain that he comes back. We call that Chekhov’s Billy Zane. So when Zane, playing a Nazi officer who boxes (obviously), gets his brains unceremoniously splattered all over a dusty French road in the first act of Butterfly Effect filmmaker Eric Bress’s new film, Ghosts of War, we know instantly that this won’t be the last of him. And thank God for that. Billy Zane is exactly what a film about a haunted Nazi mansion needs. And yet, Bress boldly makes us wait a full hour and 10 minutes for more Billy Zane, which is a long time indeed to delay gratification in a 94-minute movie. Should we call that tantric Billy Zane?

Ghosts of War, hitting VOD July 17th, stars a handful of young actors vaguely recognizable enough to play second fiddle to Billy Zane, spouting dialogue that feels cribbed from How To Write Soldier Jargon For Dummies. There’s Skylar Astin from Pitch Perfect, Brenton Thwaites, the kid from The Giver, Thad from Blue Mountain State (Alan Ritchson) and a couple other guys. They practically wear their characters’ shticks on their foreheads — The Jock, The Brain, The New Yorker, The Crazy Hillbilly, The Audience Stand-In.

These battle-hardened SOBs have come to relieve a squad of their compatriots, guarding a big ol’ mansion that we’re told had been “liberated from the Nazi high command.” The mansion is fully stocked with sausages and cheese and wine and fine furniture, yet the guys who were guarding it practically leave skid marks getting the hell out of there. Why did they seem to hate such a plum assignment? Gee, I wonder.

What follows is the usual assortment of mirror scares, bathtub visions, and cryptic words left mysteriously carved into wood, spiced up with just-read-the-Wikipedia-page WWII dialogue like “Before the Nazis come, should we, like, 23 skidoo?” and “Situation normal all fucked up.” “It’s a SNAFU alright.”

The mansion is obviously haunted, a point which is never in doubt, despite how obnoxiously long the soldiers take to acknowledge it. The big questions left outstanding are: what do the ghosts want? And, for whose sins do these ghosts demand atonement, our heroes’ or the Nazis’? Throughout Ghosts of War, just when you think you have a handle on what’s really going on, Skylar Astin will burst through the ceiling with his pilfered journal (he’s the only one of the crew who can read German) to breathlessly reveal, “Actually, it says here that poltergeists are allergic to water!” or whatever. Then we travel down that mini rabbit hole for a while.

Even as most of Ghosts of War‘s scenes fall flat for lack of coherent action or believable dialogue, it’s mildly entertaining to watch Bress (credited as writer and director) repeatedly write himself out of narrative jams by just blowing a hole in the sky. Poor Skyler Astin always has a lot to explain. Bress seems determined that if Ghosts of War doesn’t work, it won’t be for lack of invention.

Just when the novelty has all but worn off, Ghosts of War finally, belated lays its cards on the table with a third act twists so preposterous that you can’t help but enjoy it. It helps that Billy Zane is back, getting huge laughs with every shout of exposition and furrowed brow (which he does while listening to other characters shout exposition). Zane single-handedly almost makes this hare-brained sizzle reel of historic bummers fun. Is there a better B-movie cameo actor guy than Billy Zane?

In summation and without spoiling anything, the smartest thing Eric Bress did in Ghosts of War was to cast Billy Zane, and the dumbest thing he did was keeping Billy Zane off screen for 90% of the movie.

‘Ghosts of War’ opens OnDemand and digital July 17th. Vince Mancini is on Twitter. You can access his archive of reviews here.