17 of the Most Disturbing Moments in The Emoji Movie

 Posted on June 10, 2024  |  6 minutes  |  1204 words  |  Sherie Connelly

Spoilers ahead for The Emoji Movie. As an attempt to turn the available intellectual property of text-message glyphs into a coherent narrative, The Emoji Movie is a failure. On a surface level, it tells a story of self-empowerment so bland and meaningless it was once literally titled EmojiMovie: Express Yourself. But as a disturbing example of what happens when you try to turn a brand into a movie, it’s darkly fascinating. [Read More]

20 Awesomely Absurd X-Files Fan-Fic Crossovers

 Posted on June 10, 2024  |  13 minutes  |  2703 words  |  Sherie Connelly

You have to hand it to them: Fans of The X-Files are a creative bunch. Shortly after the series’ debut on Fox precisely twenty years ago today, they began posting their own fictional stories about the show on newfangled Internet listservs and forums for consumption by other rabid X-Philes. Occasionally, these stories would mix universes, so that Mulder, Scully, and other X-Files characters could hang out with the likes of Anglea Chase, Xena, and George Constanza. [Read More]

20 Great Aussie and Kiwi Shows You Can Stream in the U.S.

 Posted on June 10, 2024  |  20 minutes  |  4207 words  |  Aldo Pusey

From Nicole Kidman to Lucy Lawless, from Taika Waititi to the Brothers Hemsworth, Hollywood has long benefited from the wealth of talent coming out of the Antipodes. But while most Americans would be able to name at least enough Australian and/or Kiwi actors to fill an Australian rules football team (roster space: 22), chances are slim we’d do even half as well if asked about the state of Antipodean TV. [Read More]

2023 Spotify Wrapped, Memed

 Posted on June 10, 2024  |  2 minutes  |  423 words  |  Aldo Pusey

It’s that time of year again! You’ve finally eaten through your Thanksgiving leftovers, the psyop known as Black Friday has come and gone, and now it’s time to find out what your most online friends listened to all year. Spotify Wrapped brought all sorts of new insights this year, most strikingly the “Sound Town” innovation. Spotify is now sorting everyone into districts based on their listening habits, in what can only be the first step in making the Hunger Games happen IRL. [Read More]

21 TV Procedurals to Watch That Arent About Police

 Posted on June 10, 2024  |  9 minutes  |  1722 words  |  Elina Uphoff

Angela Lansbury in Murder, She Wrote and Anika Noni Rose in The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. In the middle of a worldwide outcry against racism and police brutality, TV is long overdue for a reexamination of one of its most popular and widespread characters: the cop. There’s been criticism of police stories on TV for years, but shows like Law & Order and Blue Bloods have persisted as not just prominent, but the kind of TV that many viewers turn to when they want something easy and comforting. [Read More]

25 Modern Songs That Sound Like 90s Country

 Posted on June 10, 2024  |  18 minutes  |  3744 words  |  Aldo Pusey

We’re in the middle of a full-on revival. Blame It On Their Roots ’90s country is still the one in Nashville. Illustration: Maria Contreras Blame It On Their Roots ’90s country is still the one in Nashville. A decade ago, country music of the ’90s was treated like a novelty from a bygone era. In 2012, Jason Aldean released “1994,” a single that had him chanting the name of honky-tonker Joe Diffie like a wannabe hip-hop hype man. [Read More]

28 Days Later Is Getting Another Sequel 17 Years Later

 Posted on June 10, 2024  |  1 minutes  |  184 words  |  Sherie Connelly

7,502 days after the original movie was released, there might be a second sequel to 28 Days Later, possibly even more. The Hollywood Reporter shares that Danny Boyle and Alex Garland are reuniting to make 28 Years Later and are shopping the movie to potential buyers this week. Lucky for the buyer, they’re not just going to get one movie; the duo hopes to relaunch this franchise with three films in total. [Read More]

35 Musicians Confess Their Favorite Christmas Songs

 Posted on June 10, 2024  |  12 minutes  |  2551 words  |  Janel Helmers

Snow Jams We’re making our lists and playing them twice. Snow Jams We’re making our lists and playing them twice. Annie Lennox loves the Pogues. Santigold loves Otis Redding. Kacey Musgraves loves Kacey Musgraves. If there’s a single sound that announces holiday season, it’s the opening twinkle from “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” Hearing those familiar ascending notes feels like stepping into a snow globe. Over the years since its 1994 release, Mariah Carey’s juggernaut has become one of the standards that soundtracks supermarket speakers, radio stations, Spotify playlists, and every eggnog-sloshed party worth attending. [Read More]

5 Days on the Road With Comedian Kyle Kinane

 Posted on June 10, 2024  |  5 minutes  |  1053 words  |  Elina Uphoff

“The road,” as comedians call the act of performing a stretch of shows outside their home city, is often mythologized for its mundanity. It’s defined less by sex, drugs, and rock and roll and more by walking around a small town looking for something to eat that’s not a chain and something to do that’s not naked-tweeting in your hotel room. It is, however, part of the job, and often necessary for a stand-up trying to refine his or her act. [Read More]

54 Bombed in 1998. Now Its Been Resurrected as a Cult Gay Classic.

 Posted on June 10, 2024  |  12 minutes  |  2400 words  |  Zora Stowers

Breckin Meyer and Ryan Phillippe in “54” In the summer of 1998, writer-director Mark Christopher’s 54, a clumsy cinematic paean to New York’s legendary disco club Studio 54, was released to dismal reviews, a lukewarm box office, and then promptly forgotten — at least by most of us. But just last week a director’s cut of the film, which starred Ryan Phillippe, Mike Myers, Salma Hayek, Breckin Meyer, and Neve Campbell, was shown at the prestigious Berlin Film Festival. [Read More]