Editorial
What’s the Scariest Scene in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining?
It’s been 40 years since Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining axed its way into theaters on May 23, 1980. Since then, the Stephen King adaptation has haunted multiple generations, who have all made their way through the Overlook Hotel doors, be it through repertory screenings, video store rentals, Saturday night sleepovers, or simply cable. Today, The Shining is a fixture of pop culture, having spawned countless memes, GIFs, homages, figurines, you name it, it’s been done. And yet, most would agree it’s still one of the most terrifying films of all time — if not the most terrifying. Of course, as with anything, fear is entirely subjective, and what’s scary to one person may be hilarious to another. Editors’ Picks That’s why we polled our staff and contributors to see what they think is the ...
40 Years Later, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining Is a State of Mind
The Overlook Hotel will never close. It’s been burned down, shuddered up, and even burned down again, but there’s no moving on. The walls, halls, and spooky rooms of the ghoulish institution are as obdurate as the spirits within, and they’ll remain that way forever. Point being, the Overlook Hotel isn’t just a setting in a story or a movie. It’s no longer just a name Stephen King gave to his own vision of The Stanley Hotel. And it’s not just the prismatic hell that Stanley Kubrick dreamed up a few years later. It’s been absorbed by the public consciousness; no different than Jack Torrance at the very end of the 1980 film. Of course, none of this would have happened without said film. Thanks to its labyrinthine qualities and MoMa-ready aesthetics, Kubrick’s chilling masterpiece has spawned ...
Petty Prez: President Trump May Block Unveiling Of Obama Presidential Portrait
Source: The Washington Post / Getty Political observers have long noted that President Donald Trump and his rise to power came on the heels of his freewheeling and often contentious stances against his political opposition. In recent weeks, the divide has grown as chatter is brewing that Trump may elect not to unveil his predecessor President Barack Obama‘s presidential portrait, which would disrupt a decades-log tradition. A report from NBC News highlights the potential for Trump to bypass the ceremonial display of the portrait inside the White House, an act Obama himself partook of when unveiling his predecessor President George W. Bush’s portrait. However, Trump has made it clear that he is no friend of Obama or his past policies, and has adopted stances from conservative pundits and gr...
Old Footage Of White Cops Harassing Ahmaud Arbery Surfaces
Source: Sean Rayford / Getty Ahmaud Arbery was apparently a target of Glynn County Police for some time, this after older video footage was unearthed and shared publicly. In the clip, Arbery is seen being cooperative and had his hands up but police still attempted to fire a taser gun at him. The Guardian shared the clip of the 2017 incident in where Glynn County cops approached Arbery’s vehicle as he sat in a Brunswick, Ga. park rapping to instrumental beats and enjoying a day off from work. Police claim that they approached Arbery because the area was known for drug activity and ordered him out of the car. Naturally, Arbery attempted to defend his actions and why he was there and even told the officers that he worked at a local truck washing facility. The video was obtained through a publ...
While You Watch: How to Work Out at Home
While You Watch is a new health and wellness series that outlines a range of activities you can do at home. Today, to quote Olivia Newton-John, we’re getting physical. Your health doesn’t have to suffer just because you’ve been glued to the television. Low or moderate-intensity workouts can be done from the comfort of your living room. But, let’s be honest, distraction is key when it comes to less-than-desirable activities, which is why we often need something short and easy to stay motivated. We want results, though, so in order to find the most effective workouts, we consulted with personal trainer Viggo Clausen for all the right moves. Below, you can start doing any number of these exercises, all without buying any new equipment. Just pop on your favorite 20-minute show … and act accord...
Pearl Jam’s “Present Tense” Was Always the Perfect Swan Song for Michael Jordan’s Last Dance
Pearl Jam is no stranger to Chicago sports. They’ve performed at Wrigley Field multiple times. They’ve brought out a rolodex of athletes on stage. Hell, they’ve even written a song for the Cubs. In a sense, they’re as much a Chicago band as they are a Seattle export, and all of this has to do with the Midwestern blood that pumps through frontman Eddie Vedder. So, it’s not just poetic, but rather fitting that Vedder and co. would close down shop on ESPN’s The Last Dance, the fantastic 10-episode docuseries on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls that have kept us sane these past five weeks. “Time to go,” a now-grey Phil Jackson says of his Chicago Bulls. Soon after, the soft strings of Pearl Jam’s “Present Tense” begin — and with it the emotions. Slowly, we float around Chicago’s United Cen...
The Complicated Legacy of Joy Division’s Ian Curtis
As we think back on 40 years without Ian Curtis, Dan Weiss examines the sad nature of the young frontman and Joy Division’s music, especially as we collectively experience these strange times of isolation in quarantine. “Surrendered to self-preservation/ From others who care for themselves” — Joy Division, “Isolation” I know I’m beholden to the perpetual motion machine of anniversary cycles because I’m the press, but what’s your excuse? Yes, it’s the 40th anniversary of a day that was particularly grim long before there was any pandemic. On May 17, 1980, Ian Curtis died by suicide, possibly the most “famous” hanging in rock history, a morbid martyrdom that secured his legacy as the accidental inventor of just about anything goth. But that doesn’t mean you have to do something stupid like l...
The Who’s Live at Leeds Remains a Peerless Document of Rock and Roll Power
Today, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of arguably the greatest live rock and roll album of all time. June 1969. Back from the brink, The Who are bigger than they ever imagined possible. With Tommy selling 200,000 copies in the first two weeks in the US alone, it was a remarkable turnaround for a band who, only a few months earlier, neared bankruptcy and calling it a day. In what must have seemed like the blink of an eye, the rock opera was born, and, with it, Pete Townshend ascended to his throne, the last high king of 1960s counterculture. With FM-friendly Tommy A-sides “Pinball Wizard” and “I’m Free” refining their “maximum R&B” down to proto prog-inflected rock, The Who found themselves zig-zagging across the world, topping major festival bills and — full testament to their expan...
Obamagate: Trump’s Latest Attempt To Smear President Barack Obama Explained
Source: WENN.com / WENN President Donald Trump has spent a portion of his presidency seemingly intent on discrediting the legacy of President Barack Obama while adopting debunked theories crafted to tear down his predecessor. This past weekend, the former business mogul and reality television star took aim at Obama during an especially intense tweetstorm accusing his predecessor over a so-called criminal act framed as “Obamagate.” To bring things into focus as best we can, Last Friday (May 9) Yahoo! News exclusively obtained a leaked private web call Obama held with members of the Obama Alumni Association. In the call, Obama said, “The news over the last 24 hours I think has been somewhat downplayed — about the Justice Department dropping charges against Michael Flynn.” He added, “And the ...
Robert Pattinson Is the Best Kind of Crazy, And These Quotes Prove It
Let’s great one thing straight: Robert Pattinson is an incredible actor. After rising to reluctant fame on the shimmering back of the Twilight franchise, he’s challenged himself and audiences alike with roles in films like The Safdie Brothers’ excellent Good Time or Robert Eggers’ brilliant The Lighthouse. Despite his resistance to maintaining his workout regime while The Batman is on hold, all signs point to him making an intriguing Bruce Wayne. We love R. Patz — but the dude is an agent of chaos. Don’t get us wrong, he’s the best kind of crazy, a playful loner who very simply is who he is. He’s a genuine article, unflinching in his own offbeat persona and peculiarities. Few other Hollywood stars can play the big-budget franchise and selective indie film circuits the way Pattins...
Jerry Stiller Gave Seinfeld Its Greatest Blooper
Jerry Stiller stole the screen. That’s not exactly a hot take, so much as it’s a known fact, but it’s worth saying on the day of his death. At 92 years old, the legendary comic lived a lifetime of on-screen vitriol, the likes of which felt limitless and ageless. So, if there’s anything more to say, it’s that we didn’t just lose a person, we lost an energy. Because really, nobody could dust up a storm like Stiller. It’s why most of his famous lines all end with quotations, be it “Serenity now!” or “A Festivus for the rest of us!” or “That’s what I’m talking about!” Hell, he couldn’t even reference colleagues without making a banner statement, which is why we’ll always scream names like “Sid Farkus.” Now, it’s almost impossible to distill a legacy into one clip, but if there was a proper In ...
Center Stage Gave Us Zoe Saldana, Mandy Moore, and the Dance Film of a Generation
On May 12, 2000 many lives were changed forever. But most of us didn’t know it, because we were too young to get ourselves to a movie theater without a ride from our parents. On May 12, 2000, the motion picture Center Stage came to theaters. The teen movie focuses on Jody Sawyer and her fellow students at the American Ballet Academy (ABA). Only the best of the best get in, and every student is fighting for a spot in the company. Unfortunately Jody has bad feet, but is reluctantly accepted into the school because of her stage presence. Along the way, Jody discovers jazz, and has a romantic relationship with Cooper Nielsen, the male star of the company and teacher. In that a man helps a woman discover jazz, it’s sort of like La La Land, but more deserving of accidentally being announced as t...