Reviews
Mortal Kombat Is a High-Gloss Gore Fest That Repeatedly Delivers: Review
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-22T23:35:23+00:00“>April 22, 2021 | 7:35pm ET The Pitch: Hi, kids. Do you like violence? Get over here and check this out. Mortal Kombat is an ages-old tournament of death between members of the Outworld (mutants, mystics, people with fabulous costumes) and the Earthrealm (UFC fighters, mercenaries, a woman eerily resembling Marjorie Taylor Greene). Sanctioned murder to determine the fate of the world, winning tournaments so the bad guys don’t turn Earth into Mordor. The current tournament’s roster includes heroes like: Cole Young (Lewis Tan), a pit fighter from the South Side of Chicago. Liu Kang (Ludi Lin) and his behatted cousin Kung Lao (Max Huang). There’s also Jax (Mechad B...
Luther Vandross Seized the Moment and Redefined R&B with Never Too Much: Classic Review
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-22T17:20:55+00:00“>April 22, 2021 | 1:20pm ET April 20th marked what would’ve been the 70th birthday of the late, great Luther Vandross. To celebrate his memory and musical legacy, we’re holding a giveaway for a one-of-a-kind prize pack, featuring Never Too Much and This Is Christmas on vinyl, plus a special plaque commemorating the icon’s gold and platinum singles. Visit here for more information and a chance to win. And in the meantime, enjoy Rashad Grove’s classic review of Vandross’ game-changing debut, Never Too Much, which will turn 40 later this summer. Nobody aware of his backstory would ever characterize the emerging stardom of Luther Vandross as an overnight success. Va...
Big Shot Scores While Relying on Familiar Sports Tropes: Review
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-19T21:30:25+00:00“>April 19, 2021 | 5:30pm ET The Pitch: It’s The Mighty Ducks with high school girls’ basketball instead of hockey, as an hourlong TV show instead of a movie. Another Underdog Story: That pitch may seem reductive, but Big Shot really doesn’t have much on its mind — at least in the three episodes made available to critics — aside from being a redemption story with youth sports as the backdrop, as a plucky, young team turns its prospects around thanks to a new coach who doesn’t really want to be there. A major difference is in the ages of the students. Whereas the original Mighty Ducks were pre-teens, the players here are teenagers, thus enabling co-creator David E...
Mare of Easttown Shows the Emotional Labor of Caregiving: Review
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-18T22:20:33+00:00“>April 18, 2021 | 6:20pm ET The Pitch: Mare Sheehan (Kate Winslet) is a local hero in the titular small Pennsylvania town. Twenty-five years after making the game-winning shot in a high school basketball tournament, she’s now a police detective and local savior of sorts. But community faith in Mare is beginning to wane as she has not been able to find Katie Bailey (Caitlin Houlahan) a young mother who disappeared and is presumed dead. The murder of another young mother on the one-year anniversary of Katie’s disappearance reignites the cold case and plunges Mare into a word of dark cruelty and impossible choices. Craig Zobel’s new HBO miniseries is a dour, but re...
Netflix Strikes Reality Television Gold with Season Two of the Trendy, Bubbly The Circle: Review
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-18T19:50:25+00:00“>April 18, 2021 | 3:50pm ET The Pitch: Against all odds, in one of its many, many endeavors to try and become the premiere destination for streaming content, Netflix has ended up as one of the most surprising forces in reality television. Between the national treasure/’90s revival Queer Eye, the Malibu moguls on Selling Sunset, and the charmingly inept Nailed It, Netflix hosts a remarkably diverse array of reality shows at its viewers’ fingertips. There’s one reality series, though, that rises above the rest — the rare bird that’s not only a great reality show, but a timely, vibrant one with a truly exciting premise. I’m talking, of course, about The Circle, whi...
Netflix’s Dad Stop Embarrassing Me! Falls Short as a Hip Family Sitcom: Review
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-14T23:51:28+00:00“>April 14, 2021 | 7:51pm ET Meet the Family: Before Netflix’s new sitcom Dad Stop Embarrassing Me! premiered today, early trailers provided high hopes for the premise. At an initial glance, the series — created and starring comedian Jamie Foxx as Brian Dixon — revolved around a widowed father attempting to catch up with his Gen-Z daughter, Sasha (Kyla-Drew). Sure, it relied on a common-but-true trope of young women viewing their aging, out-of-touch parents as humiliating, but it also appeared to highlight impactful and sweet moments between them. Foxx’s relationship with his daughter, Corinne, now 27, served as the inspiration for the show’s scenes. While Corinn...
El Clásico’s impact on La Liga title race
In the 246th competitive fixture between Real Madrid and Barcelona on Saturday, it was Los Blancos who came out on top at the final whistle. First-half goals from Karim Benzema and Toni Kroos were enough to claim three points at the Estadio Alfredo di Stefano despite a second-half consolation for the visitors by Óscar Mingueza. With little over a month left of the season, we look at just how their 2-1 victory has impacted the La Liga title race. Which teams are battling it out? There are three teams left fighting for the title at this stage – Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid. Since Valencia in 2003/2004, these three are the only teams to have won a La Liga title. Atlético have done so on one occasion in that time frame, pipping Barcelona on the final day of the 2013/14 campa...
Concert Review: Philip Anselmo Celebrates Pantera Classics and Deep Cuts with Livestream Show
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-10T16:53:18+00:00“>April 10, 2021 | 12:53pm ET Setting the Stage: Before worldwide touring was shut down due to the pandemic, Philip H. Anselmo and the Illegals provided hard-hitting support on Slayer’s farewell tour in late 2019 by offering up a set full of Pantera classics. But for obvious reasons, the band was unable to build upon the buzz in 2020. So, how about a streamed concert performance dubbed “A Vulgar Display of Pantera Live”? Sadly, the idea of a Pantera reunion is no longer feasible following the tragic deaths of legendary brothers Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul. The band’s iconic singer, Philip Anselmo, has opted to keep the band’s spirit and music alive with these...
BROCKHAMPTON Get Introspective on the Soul-Searching ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE: Review
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-09T16:21:05+00:00“>April 9, 2021 | 12:21pm ET The Lowdown: We’re now deep into the heart of hip-hop’s psychedelic era. As modern-day rappers and producers have begun to embrace the use of psilocybin and LSD, the mind-altering effects are starting to bleed into the music. But for the same reason that shrooms are being legalized for therapeutic purposes, these drugs, if taken in the right doses and circumstances, can inspire deep reflection and serious psychological growth. Not that BROCKHAMPTON needed any help to gaze inwardly. This Texas crew opt for introspection over braggadocio and thoughtfulness over arrogance. But the tone of their sixth full-length and the subject matter wi...
Taylor Swift Honors Her Own Vision on Fearless (Taylor’s Version): Review
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-09T21:50:09+00:00“>April 9, 2021 | 5:50pm ET The Lowdown: “For years I asked, pleaded for a chance to own my work,” Taylor Swift wrote in a 2019 social media post after her longtime label, Big Machine, sold her master recordings without her consent. Swift had been unable to gain control of her first six albums through contract negotiations, and then Scooter Braun, who’d demonstrated public enmity with the singer-songwriter, was collecting the checks. (Braun’s company has since sold the masters to Shamrock Holdings for $300 million.) What’s one of the world’s brightest superstars and the preeminent pop poet of a generation to do? The answer: Do it all again. Swift has begun to re-...
Taylor Swift’s Fearless Re-Recording Is a Thrilling Timewarp
Before we start, a note: There really is no precedent for what Taylor Swift is doing. Sure, artists have re-recorded bits and pieces of their catalog over the years. Frank Sinatra, Def Leppard, DMX — they’ve all redone at least some of their greatest hits due to prior contract disputes or other financial incentives. In 2018, JoJo re-released new versions of her first two albums, after years of label quarrels and not owning her masters — troubles not so foreign from Swift’s contentious ending with Big Machine Records and feud with super-manager Scooter Braun, who acquired the pop megalith’s first six albums in 2019 and flipped them to a private equity firm for a cool $300 million in November. No artist in their prime, let alone one of the best-selling singers of the last 20 years — fr...
Godspeed You! Black Emperor Charge Forward into the Unknown on G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END: Review
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-07T16:31:02+00:00“>April 7, 2021 | 12:31pm ET Editor’s Note: Our review looks at the physical version of this release, which consists of four total tracks — two long, two shorter. On many streaming services, the longer tracks have been broken down into a total of eight tracks. The actual music remains the same. The Lowdown: Godspeed You! Black Emperor have always played at being impenetrable. The Montreal post-rock cooperative give their albums and songs difficult, often poetic names (Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress, “[…+The Buildings They Are Sleeping Now]”), and the group would much rather hide in the shadows of large, projected images at their live shows than drink in the sp...
