Reviews
Paper Girls Is Prime Video’s Paper-Thin Attempt to Make Their Own Stranger Things: Review
The Pitch: It’s Hell Day 1988 — the waning hours of Halloween Night, and four girls are out on their paper route in a sleepy Cleveland suburb. There’s Mac (Sofia Rosinsky), the chain-smoking rebel whose haircut and leather jacket are giving 1991 Edward Furlong; KJ (Fina Strazza), the young Jewish girl from a well-off family; Tiffany (Camryn Jones), an adopted Black girl and certifiable tech nerd; and Erin (Riley Lai Nelet), the shy daughter of Chinese immigrants who just moved to town. They don’t know each other very well, but they’ll have to band together after the sky turns purple and they’re suddenly shot into the far-flung future of… 2019. Turns out they’re caught in the middle of a war between feuding factions of time travelers — the orthodox “Old Watch” and the rebellious STF, o...
B.J. Novak Deals Out Some Intriguing But Muddled Vengeance: Review
The Pitch: Ben (B.J. Novak) is a guy who doesn’t necessarily have something to say, but he wants to be the type of guy who says stuff worth hearing. That’s why, despite being a working writer in New York, with publication credits including The New Yorker, what he really wants is to make a podcast. “Not every white guy needs a podcast,” producer Eloise (Issa Rae) tells him when he tries to hard-sell her on his ideas at a party, but things change when a former hookup of Ben’s ends up leading him to podcasting gold. Awakened in the middle of the night by a phone call from a stranger, Ben finds out that a girl named Abilene Shaw, who he’d slept with a few times and texted casually, has died, and her family back home in small-town Texas thinks he was the love of Abby’s life. So, after a guilt t...
Maggie Rogers Embraces Rock Star Abandon on Thrilling Surrender
If there’s been one deserving criticism of Maggie Rogers since Pharrell Williams famously likened the then-NYU student to the Wu-Tang Clan in 2016, it’s that the singer-songwriter entered the pop zeitgeist too fully formed. Sure, songs from the Maryland-born artist’s anticipated debut LP, 2019’s Heard It in a Past Life, were deftly penned — a sharp cross-section of her folk and soul-heavy upbringing and later French club obsessions. But they also were rightly dinged for being overproduced. As with so many buzzy debuts, a major label’s efforts to prove a young star’s maturity breeds contrivance. Flash forward three years, much of which Rogers spent self-sequestering on the coast of Maine, and the singer, now 28, returns Friday with Surrender, an emphatic and generally more unbuttoned sophom...
In Better Call Saul’s “Nippy,” The Future Is Now: Review
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Better Call Saul, Season 6 Episode 10, “Nippy.”] In its fourth-to-last episode, “Nippy,” Better Call Saul executed its most abrupt pivot yet. From just the title, we knew something different was in store, as a totally different naming scheme was in play (Saul does switch up its approach to episode titles from season to season, but within each season they typically remain consistent). But after seeing Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) in all his sleazy glory at the end of the previous episode, “Fun and Games,” it was clear that whatever was going to come next would be a departure from the past. However, this episode, written by Alison Tatlock and directed by Michelle MacLaren, catapulted us viewers a lot further forward than we might have e...
Red Hot Chili Peppers Make It Look Easy at US Tour Kickoff in Denver: Review
Not many high school bands last 39 years. Even fewer make the transition from punk underground to venerated rock establishment, while continuing to jump around like teenagers with functional and highly lubricated knee joints just a few months shy of 60 years old. But Red Hot Chili Peppers are still doing it, and they’re making it look easy. They are the Rolling Stones of Generation X. And they are very much here to stay. Gather ‘round, children; way back in the ‘80s and early ‘90s, there was a burgeoning new genre of popular music called “Alternative.” Red Hot Chili Peppers, which formed in 1983 in Los Angeles with Anthony Kiedis on vocals, Flea (Michael Bazary) on bass, Hillel Slovak on guitar, and Jack Irons on drums, was one of the first American bands to really dominate the genre, pavi...
Kendrick Lamar Big Steps Into “King of Rap” Role In Dallas: Review and Setlist
“Is Dallas in this shit tonight?” Kendrick Lamar asked a roaring crowd before performing “Purple Hearts” from his new album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. “You know it’s been five years since I seen ya’ll, right? So I maybe a little bit rusty on this stage. I may need a little help. I think I need ya’ll to help me sing this … Let’s get it.” The last time Kendrick Lamar performed in Dallas was July 14th, 2017, when he brought the “DAMN. Tour” to the American Airlines Center. Then, he was one of hip hop’s biggest attractions with the highest-selling album of the year, on the verge of becoming the first-ever rapper to be awarded the prestigious Pulitizer Prize the following year, and arguably the new King of Rap. Exactly five years later, Lamar brought “The Big Steppers Tour” (get tickets...
Jordan Peele’s Nope Is Dazzling, Self-Reflective Horror Blockbuster Spectacle: Review
The Pitch: In the rolling hilly countryside outside Los Angeles city limits, the Haywoods — descended from the first Black horserider/stuntman/movie star to ever be captured in motion — try to make ends meet as Hollywood horse wranglers. But when the family patriarch (Keith David, radiant as always) dies from a freak accident, the task is left to introverted Otis Jr., or OJ (Daniel Kaluuya) to keep the family ranch afloat, with the reluctant help of his fast-talking, hustle-happy sister Emerald (Keke Palmer). At first, they resort to selling off the family horses to nearby Jupiter’s Claim, a hokey Wild West-themed amusement park run by former child star Ricky (Steven Yeun). But fortunes start to change when they realize there’s something above them, in the clouds, scaring the horses and sh...
Interpol Are Surprisingly Vulnerable on The Other Side of Make-Believe
Interpol’s debut album, 2002’s Turn On the Bright Lights, thrust them into the blistering limelight of New York indie rock and solidified their signature sound: addictively melancholy rhythms (“NYC”), gargantuan anthems (“PDA”), and despondent ballads (“Leif Erikson”). The band also embraced the mystery that enveloped them: They quickly became known for their earnest demeanor, monochromatic wardrobe, and lyrics that quested after ambiguity so badly they were borderline obtuse. (Was the subway ever really a porno?) Though Turn On the Bright Lights is routinely lauded as their best, subsequent Interpol albums have noticeably demonstrated their evolution. Antics showcased leaner and tighter songwriting, and much of their later work experimented with new textures (keyboards, strings, beats) an...
5 Reasons to See Rage Against The Machine Live This Summer
Back in 2020, the timing for a Rage Against The Machine reunion couldn’t have been more appropriate: after nine years away and ahead of a symbolic and high-stakes election, the Los Angeles quartet decided it was time to be back in front of the people once again to serve politically-charged catharsis en masse. But of course, the pandemic offset Rage’s tour plans by not one, but two years, and even compared to 2020, the world is quite different than it once was. Luckily, attendees at Rage Against The Machine’s tour stop at Festival d’été de Québec in Québec City didn’t let the 11-year absence hinder an amazing time on Saturday evening (July 16th). The festival itself is a true experience — rather than erect a typical three or four-day festival on one large plot of land within the city, Festi...
Better Call Saul Reminds Us That This Was Never a Love Story: Review
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Better Call Saul, Season 6 Episode 9, “Fun and Games.”] For the past few episodes of Better Call Saul, a pretty dark pattern has emerged: As the countdown towards the end of the series continues, each week we’ve seen one of the show’s primary characters, who we always knew didn’t appear in sequel series Breaking Bad, be eliminated. Episode 7 ended with the casual execution of Howard Hamlin (Patrick Fabian). In Episode 8, Lalo Salamanca (Tony Dalton) laughed his last laugh after a fierce firefight with Gustavo Fring (Giancarlo Esposito). And Episode 9, “Fun and Games,” also ended with a casualty: Specifically, the death of Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk), with the shell of Saul Goodman left behind in his place. Advertisement Of course, another...
Lizzo’s Vibrant New Album Makes Us All Feel Special
“Hi motherfucker, did you miss me?” Lizzo asks by way of introduction on “The Sign,” the bouncy first song on her new album Special (available today, July 15th — stream it below). Quite honestly, we did. How has the Grammy-winning chart-topper been spending her time since we last saw her? Lizzo is happy to share: She’s been healing, making smoothies, training and twerking — plus, working hard on this record, her follow up to 2019’s Cuz I Love You. In just about everything she does, Lizzo has a magical knack for making the listener or viewer feel like her best friend, whether it’s her candid and cheeky TikTok presence, inclusive energy onstage (get tickets to her upcoming tour here), or stories told through her music. Of the 12 tracks on the album, two were released ahead of time as si...
With Jack in the Box, j-hope Isn’t Afraid to Embrace the Darkness
“It was Hope that was kept in the innermost nook of the box. It trailed behind the miasma of darkness, assuaging the ill effects on humankind. Hope gave people the will to keep on living amidst the pain and strife.” The introduction of j-hope’s full-length debut solo album, Jack in the Box, is a female voice recounting the myth of Pandora’s Box; it’s a story j-hope, who was born Jung Hoseok, has long gravitated towards, and a partial source of his stage name. For nearly a decade now as part of BTS, j-hope has more than lived up to the name. He’s embodied it — epitomized it, even — by developing a reputation as the ray of sunshine in the global, record-smashing group. His energy onstage is astounding; anyone who is lucky enough to have seen BTS in concert inevitably walks away amazed by the...
