Alternative Music
Better Call Saul: 7 Big Questions About the Series Finale, Answered
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers through the series finale of Better Call Saul, “Saul Gone.”] There’s so much to be asked, when one of television’s great achievements comes to an end. So the morning after the Better Call Saul series finale aired, co-creator Peter Gould and stars Bob Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn very generously spoke with reporters via Zoom for a press conference that explored so many aspects of the final episode, “Saul Gone.” Below, Gould, Odenkirk, and Seehorn answer maybe not all, but at least a few of the biggest questions from the end of the season, from the choice to continue filming in black and white, what was cut from the finale, and when the idea to have Jimmy end up in prison first came up (and why that nearly caused problems with another Breaking Bad...
Robert De Niro Will Try to Kill Robert De Niro in Wise Guys
Robert De Niro has finally met his match in Wise Guys, a new film that will find him trying to kill Robert De Niro. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the two-for-one special will star De Niro as both Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, a pair of real-life crime bosses that ran rival families in the middle of the last century. Genovese tried to assassinate Costello in 1957, and — 65-year-old spoiler alert — Costello’s survival broke Genovese’s grip on power, forcing him into retirement. Wise Guys will be directed by Barry Levinson, who made his name with Good Morning, Vietnam, Rain Man, and Wag the Dog, but who has spent his later years helming quiet character studies with aging titans. Since 2010 he’s led a series of parades from HBO lots to the Emmys nominat...
Former Wiggle Sings Radiohead’s “Creep” as Zombie on Masked Singer
From The Wiggles to The Walking Dead, former children’s entertainer Emma Watkins was unveiled as the Zombie on The Masked Singer Australia. Her final performance turned out to be a fitting tribute to her more adult avatar, as she performed Radiohead’s “Creep” as a spooky ballad of longing and self-loathing. The first female Wiggle became the fifth celebrity to get the boot. Of the four judges, Chrisse Swan correctly guessed that Watkins lurked behind the mask, The Music reports, while Mel B tossed out the name Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Abbie Chatfield tried Bec Hewitt, and Dave Hughes, perhaps giving up, said that Doctor Strange star Rachel McAdams was slumming it on Australian reality television. “I’m really nervous about singing,” Watkins said during her exit intervie...
Going There with Jewel: Knowing the Tide of Mental Health Will Always Come Back In
Listen via: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Pandora | Stitcher | Google | Pocket Casts | Radio Public | RSS Jewel joins the Going There podcast to discuss her personal mental health journey and how she learned to except the changing tides of wellness. Advertisement The iconic singer-songwriter shares that the cornerstone of her approach to mental health is what she calls the concept of emotional impermanence. Jewel explains that one of the most difficult issues we face on our mental health journey is that oftentimes when we experience depression, anxiety, or addiction, there is such a powerful feeling that our emotions and behaviors are permanent. But her concept of “emotional impermanence” suggests that we are dyna...
The Undeclared War Is a Prescient But Ponderous Cyberthriller: Review
The Pitch: It’s 2024, and a post-Brexit Great Britain faces a general election beset on all sides with misinformation, anti-government grievance, and stark division on all sides. What’s more, a foreign cyberattack hits the country’s Internet access, hitting everything except social media. Luckily, it hits the same day 21-year-old student Saara Parvan (newcomer Hannah Khalique-Brown) starts her work placement stint at the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the UK’s first defense against cyberterrorism. She quickly figures out how to disable it, and even finds a second exploit that would have further crippled England’s infrastructure. It’s a hollow victory, though, as the young Muslim woman struggles to fit into the “tediously male, stale, and pale” organization even after her im...
Madonna’s Top 20 Songs
This article originally ran in 2014 and has been updated in honor of Madonna’s birthday on August 16th. Here’s a funny picture: In July 1983, metalheads and popsters all stormed into their closest Sam Goody, where they likely collided head first in the aisle at M whilst clamoring for Kill ‘Em All or Madonna. Parents scoffed at the time, but either party held the debut album to the future leader of their respective genres. Wild, huh? It’s almost like something out of a Far Side comic; the two most opposite musical forces, both then and today, essentially born as twins. Cowabunga. Of course, as history goes, Madonna’s self-titled debut didn’t exactly blow out the mall doors upon arrival. The album entered the Billboard 200 at No. 123, and it wasn’t until over a year later that it peaked… at ...
Megan Thee Stallion’s Traumazine Is a Kaleidoscope of Pain and Gain
Do not let the title of Megan Thee Stallion’s sophomore album, Traumazine, fool you — she is stronger than ever, even as she processes her pain through vulnerability. Honesty is at the heart of working through any kind of trauma, and Megan has decided to let us into her process. Meg comes out swinging with “NDA,” finding pockets within pockets of the beat — one of her greatest assets as a rapper. “I ain’t perfect, but anything I did to any of you n****s, y’all deserved it/ You see me in that mode, don’t disturb me when I’m workin’,” she declares. She’s focused over the entire 51 minutes of the project, zeroing in on the intensity that pulsed beneath the surface of her earlier mixtapes Tina Snow and Fever. Traumazine (released Friday, August 12th) is absent of obvious club bangers, which wi...
Low Cancel Tour Dates, Citing Mimi Parker’s Cancer Treatment
Low have canceled some of their August 2022 shows in Europe, citing drummer/vocalist Mimi Parker’s ongoing cancer treatment. “As some of you know, Mimi has been fighting cancer,” the husband-and-wife duo wrote on social media today (August 15th). “Recent developments and changes in treatment have made extensive travel impossible at this time. Our hope is that she will respond to new treatments and be able to play the shows we have scheduled for the fall, including the Water is Life Festival in Duluth on September 4.” The band continued: “We are very sorry for the inconvenience of ticket shuffling and travel expenses/changes. We welcome your positive hopes/prayers as we hope and pray for you all.” Advertisement Related Video In January 2022, Parker revealed in an interview on the SHEROE pod...
Academy Apologizes to Sacheen Littlefeather for Mistreatment While Declining Marlon Brando’s Oscar
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has apologized to Sacheen Littlefeather, who endured racist mockery and threats of arrest and violence when she appeared on Marlon Brando’s behalf at the 1973 Oscars and declined his award for Best Actor. Via The Hollywood Reporter, the Academy privately apologized to Littlefeather in June and will read the apology publicly on September 17th, when she’ll be the guest of honor at an event at the Academy Museum. “I was stunned. I never thought I’d live to see the day I would be hearing this, experiencing this,” Littlefeather said. “When I was at the podium in 1973, I stood there alone.” An actor herself, Littlefeather was mocked with tomahawk chops and ululations when she spoke for Brando, who had won Best Actor for his work in&n...
Better Call Saul Series Finale Review: This Is How They Get You
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers through the series finale of Better Call Saul, “Saul Gone.”] Sometimes you hit play on an episode of television and see the runtime and groan to yourself, “This did not need to be longer than an hour.” But with the Better Call Saul series finale, coming in at a cool 70-plus minutes (per AMC+, anyway), every extra second of goodbye was quite welcome. After Gene Takovic (Bob Odenkirk)’s unsuccessful attempt to flee the law, as summoned by that nice old lady Marion (Carol Burnett), the identity of Gene is shed forever (following one last diligent phone call to Krista at Cinnabon). Instead, Saul Goodman suits up (eventually literally), using his formidable weaseling abilities to weasel out of “life plus 190 years” for the many, many crimes he com...
R.I.P. Steve Grimmett, Grim Reaper Singer Dies at 62
Steve Grimmett, the longtime singer of UK metal band Grim Reaper, has died at the age of 62. The sad news was reported on social media by both his brother and his son, with no cause of death reported as of yet. After the band initially formed in 1979 as part of the new wave of British heavy metal, guitarist Nick Bowcott essentially re-formed Grim Reaper with Grimmett on lead vocals in 1982. The band released three albums: See You in Hell (1983), Fear No Evil (1985), and Rock You to Hell (1987). After their breakup in 1988, they regained notoriety when their videos were featured on Beavis & Butt-Head in the 1990s. Advertisement Related Video Grimmett re-formed the band without Bowcott as Steve Grimmett’s Grim Reaper in 2006, and they had been active until the present day. During the gro...
A$AP Rocky Charged with Assault in A$AP Relli Shooting
A$AP Rocky has been charged with assault with a firearm in connection to a shooting that occurred last November, Rolling Stone reports. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón charged Rocky, born Rakim Mayers, with assault with a semiautomatic firearm with allegations of personally using a firearm. The rapper, whose arraignment is set for Wednesday, August 17th, could face up to nine years in prison if found guilty of the offense. “Discharging a gun in a public place is a serious offense that could have ended with tragic consequences not only for the person targeted but also for innocent bystanders visiting Hollywood,” Gascón said in a statement. “My office conducted a thorough review of the evidence in this case and determined that the addition of a special firearm al...
